What to buy??? (1 Viewer)

[ScottyM]

I've got $3000 - What is the best I can get for that amount for the whole shabang... TV, rec, DVD plyr, Speaks, etc...
And where to buy....
Thanks for input
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[ErichH]

Welcome Scotti - 3K will get you some fun .
Sine I know you - I'll let the other guys make their suggestions .
Eric

 

[Jeremy Hegna]

Scotty,
Welcome to the forum
$3k is a good chunk to start with, however, depending on your needs/wants...you may be limited. i.e. If you want an HD ready set, this may eat up the total amount, right off the bat. Many HT enthusiasts believe the video to be the MOST important feature in your theater...so if there is more budget down the road to add the audio portion to your system, it may be a good place to start.
I, on the other hand, have waited to do the video in my set up. I do have a good 32" RCA that looks fine for standard definition...
I have spent all of my budget (so far) on the audio end of things. I wouldn't change a thing and I'm very happy with the route I chose.
Receiver, IMO, is tied in importance to the speakers. I would try to dedicate 40% of your audio portion to each. If you decide to get a $1000 monitor, this would leave you $2k. $800 for a receiver, $800 speakers and a sub, $400 for a DVD player and interconnects. This, again, is my opinion and others will disagree. You may want to figure out what is MOST important to you, set up a budget for each portion and go AUDITION!
Some receivers to check out are Denon, Sony's ES group, HK, Pioneer Elite, Marantz...and others you bump into.
Speakers...Hmmm, Energy Take 5 and 5.2 get high accolades, as do Klipsch, Paradigm, B&W, Nohr, and others on this site.
Again, I'd go get an idea of what sounds good to you at your local brick and mortar stores, and report back your findings. Try to stay away from BOSE.
DVD player. Depends on what monitor you get...whether or not progressive scan is important, will you use it as a CD transport, etc.
It's a fun time to get into this hobby. There is some very fine equipment waiting to be discovered by you. Find what sounds best to you, and give us your findings.
Jeremy

 

[ScottyM]

Thanks for the advice Jeremy...
Whatever I do, this is definitely fun stuff!!!!
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[Greg S]

OK I will ask the usual questions here.
How big is your room??
What size TV do you really want (give us a range)??
What brands have you had experience with in the past or have currently auditioned and what did you like/dislike about them??
Any particular feature(s) that you really want to be sure to have (ie - DPLII, THX-ES, DTS-ES, 6.1/7.1 inputs, etc.)??
Give us a few more details and then we can move on from there. BTW I think I can speak for others when I say its fun to spend other peoples money, hehe.
Greg

 

[Dave Morton]

I would do the following;
Norh 4.0 package - 850 (http://www.norh.com )
denon 3801 - 800 (estimated)
svs sub - 700 (estimated) (http://www.svsubwoofers.com )
pioneer dvd player - 400 (I think all pioneers are pretty good)
This doesn't leave much for a tv, but if you got a cheaper receiver and a cheaper dvd player you could probably get a decent 32" tv for about $600. I wouldn't skimp on the speakers or sub.
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------ Dave ------
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[BryanZ]

I would second the nOrh/SVS combo.
nOrh 4.0 package - $850
SVS 20-39PC - $779
Panasonic RV-31 dvd player - $200
Denon AVR- 2801 - $400 (estimated here - can get the Onkyo TX-DS595 for $400 delivered)
TV - $600
Leaving you with $170 for interconnects, speaker wire (12 guage), sound meter, banana plugs, and calibration dvd (either Avia or VE). The speakers will stay in your system the longest.

 

[JohanK]

I'd buy a HD RPTV and implement an audio system as funds allow.
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[Clint B]

Sorry in advance for the long response....
Since you're in the Atlanta area, you may want to check out a store called HiFi Buys (Tweeter in most other parts of the country) and see if they have the "Wise Buy" in your area that I just got. This package consists of:
--Yamaha RX-V596 receiver (last year's model, but it has built in DD/DTS and is 100 w/ch)
--Mirage AVS-500 speaker system with Mirage FRX-S8 8" subwoofer (small speakers, but incredible sound! similar to the Energy Take 5 system).
This "Wise Buy" is $999.
As far as TV's, consider a Sony KV27-FS13 WEGA. It has a cool feature where you can watch anamorphic "widescreen" DVD's without wasting any scan lines on the black letterbox bars. As a result, while the image is smaller than what would be on a 16:9 TV, the picture quality is stunning--probably the closest you can get to HDTV without actually having HDTV. This TV can be had for $599 at Best Buy.
Also at Best Buy, consider the Pioneer DV-343 DVD player. You can get this for about $179. While it doesn't have a whole lot of bells and whistles on it, this player probably has the best picture quality out of all the "bargain" DVD players.
As far as interconnects go, you might want to consider Acoustic Research cables. They are (in most cases) much less expensive than Monster Cable, and many people think they're just as good. Sorry, but I haven't really added up how much I spent on all of the interconnects, but it was less than $200--that I'm sure of.
If I added correctly, that's about $1,980. This is a great system for someone who's just getting started in home theater or who's on a budget.
OK, I'll shut up now!