Which should I buy? (1 Viewer)

[Paymon]

Hi everyone,
I currently have
Sony KDF-50WE655 (black version) TV
Philips DVP642/37 DVD Player

and I want get a Bose Acoustimass 10 or 16.
I was wondering which to get and what is the best receiver to buy not higher than $600 or so? (preferably from one that best buy carries)
I've also heard that the Sony DAV-LF1 Dream System is very good and I'm not sure which one to get?

Thank you so much for reading and appreciate your time in advance!

PS. How many watts is the bose system???

 

[Philip Hamm]

You'd be well advised to avoid the Bose speaker systems. They are generally regarded to be very highly overpriced.

 

[Paymon]

Really? what do you recommend then?

 

[Shawn_KE]

What is your budget for speakers?

I listed to all the receivers at best buy, and felt the Yamahas sounded the best.

 

[Paymon]

For the speakers, I'm willing to go about to $2000 but as long as bestbuy carries them and for the receiver about $600 unless there is a really really good one for a little bit higher.
Thanks for replying!

 

[Nhan_H]

Why best buy? Are you getting a good deal from them? Anything but bose will do. I can't think of any speaker systems at BB really worth buying, especially if you have $2000. Is there a Magnolia within your local BB? Some of those speaker maybe worth getting.

 

[BrianShort]

I'm planning on upgrading my receiver and speakers sometime this year. SVS is well thought of here and at other major HT forums. They have a new bookshelf system that sells for right around $1000 for 7 speakers and a sub, or $100 less for 5 speakers and a sub. It seems to be getting good reviews. They're coming out with some larger systems later on. I've also been checking out Swans and Axiom, mostly because they're both internet direct dealers that all seem to have a reputation of good bang for the buck. When I buy, I'm going to have to go over the internet, since there are no audio stores where I live and it's not worth traveling just to buy speakers.

Brian

 

[SethH]

Watts are generally determined by the receiver, not the speaker. Do a search in the speaker forum for Bose and you should find lots of other options -- although you're really limiting yourself by only purchasing at BB. If you need really small speakers, then look at the Athena Micra-6 package with a Yamaha receiver. Also, with your speaker budget you could pick up a smaller SVS or Hsu sub that would destroy the POS Bose "bass module."

 

[Paymon]

First off, Thanks Nhan, Brian and SethH for the help and replying.

The reason I want to get them from Bestbuy is because I can get really good discounts off of them. For example the sony system for $2000 will be reduced to $1200. I'm not willing to pay more than $1200 or so after all the discounts.
I had in mind the Bose Accoustimass 10 with a good $500 receiver to total around 900 bucks after discounts. However, after what you guys have informed me of, I'm not sure if bose are worth it? Or if I should even buy a sound system now.
I do prefer small speakers a lot more than the bigger ones.

PS. Could I add extra subs to any system? How does that work? Does the Athena Micra-6 sound better than Bose AM10?

 

[SethH]

Well, I figured you could probably get a discount and that's why you wanted to stick with BB. Listen to the Klisch and JBL speakers they sell -- both companies make pretty decent speakers that will sound better than Bose. For really small speakers, the Athena Micra-6 is pretty darn good. You could add another sub to it, but you'd be better off just not using the sub that comes with it and purchasing a better one (Hsu or SVS).

Also, you should seriously consider the SVS speaker package as it is we within your price range. The speakers are considerably larger than Bose, but will sound MUCH better. The pre-order pricing ends today at SVS, so if you don't order it today it will cost about $100 more tomorrow.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Frequency response graphs are available for the micra 6 and bose.

You will get deeper bass with an athena (30Hz vs 46 Hz), although whether 30 Hz is deep "enough" is err... debatable.

 

[Paymon]

Great guys, thank you.

My last questions, If I were to get a Bose AM 10 or 16, then which Receiver would you recommend?
If I were to get a Athena Micra-6, then what Receiver would you recommend for it?

Receiver budget = $600 tops

 

[SethH]

I don't think at your price point you need to worry about a receiver "matching" the speakers. At BB I would get Yamaha, but that's just my personal preference out of what they carry.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Does your Best Buy have one of those Magnolia mini-stores? If so, you might check out some of the Pioneer or Denon receivers. Compare, contrast, whatever.

One possible benefit to getting a receiver with hdmi is that it could make it easier to set up DVD-Audio. But this does dramatically limit the number of choices available.

Personally, if I had your budget, I'd go for the SVS speakers.

(I don't have a SVS subwoofer. I do have a now discontinued Dayton Audio subwoofer that goes down to 25 Hz. Last night, I watched the Two Towers, and each time the Nazgul's fell beast flapped its wings, I was reminded exactly why low bass is so very important.)

 

[Paymon]

I know of 3 Bestbuys in my area all very close to me, but I'm very sure non of them have a magnolia mini-center. I am going to BB in a few minutes so I will ask. (I live in Maryland)
The thing is, I really can't pay more than $1100 on (receiver+speaker) system right now so I'm hoping I can get the discount I'm expecting.

I also don't really understand the Hz you speak of about Subwoofers and if you could explain a little bit, that would be fantastic!
The SVS sound great too btw but it doesn't come with a receiver right?

I Appreciate your help!

 

[JeremyErwin]

The SVS package is just the speakers plus subwoofer. You'd have to supply the receiver-- anything from 20 Watts to 120 watts, 8 ohms will do.

Hz is cycles per second. 20,000 Hz is a very, very, very high note; 20 Hz is a low note. Generally, in Music, the subwoofer has not been as important, because it is rather technically demanding to build a music instrument capable of playing the lowest notes. But in movies, low notes are used for a lot of special effects: Helicopters. Depth Charges. Large Waves. Explosions. Humans can't generally hear the lowest notes. But they can feel them.

A bose acoustimass won't greatly add to the realism of a 40 ton dinosaur chasing after its prey. It won't shake the very theater. An SVS will.

One more thing. I don't know if you're close to the Virginia border, but there's a mini-Magnolia in Fairfax.

 

[Paymon]

That's great Jeremy, I understand, thanks so much!