home theater sound system

[Tai]

anyone got a suggestion on a home theater sound system? somthing that can take input from both my dvd player and my wife's muisc desktop. I'm looking for a receiver and 5.1 speakers that won't cost me an arm and a leg and that won't break in a year...

[Shadowrat]

I love mine. it's a sony dxt something or other. it's got a boatload of inputs, does hdmi upconverting, and has great sound to my non audiophile ears.

i can't remember the exact model though.

[Tai]

If you think of it, can you check when you get home? Is that a full system with speakers and stuff?

[Falhawk]

if I recall correctly rat has the same receiver I have:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/501792-REG/Sony_STR_DG910_STR_DG910_770W_7_1_Channel_A_V.html

it is pretty fantastic for the $$. 3 HDMI inputs etc

for speakers I have polk audio for my main system and athena speakers for my living room.

audioadvisor.com has great prices on athena speakers.

If you want the system to double as a solid music system you could get two reference speakers for the front http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATLS300, some bookshelf speakers for the rearhttp://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATLS100, a center http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATLSC100 and a good powered sub http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATASP4100B.

[Tai]

Thanks Falhawk :) I shall run those by the wife and see if she gives me a green light. :)

[Shadowrat]

yeah, you saw but maybe didn't pay attention to it at my house. i've only got 2 speakers hooked up to it some giant athena tower speakers.

[Tai]

Doh, no tower speakers allowed, and the bookshelf ones are just a tad shy of the bookshelf dimensions (11 x 9 vs 12 x 9.7)

[Tai]

yeah, you saw but maybe didn't pay attention to it at my house. i've only got 2 speakers hooked up to it some giant athena tower speakers.

I blame the 6 beers I had at jackrabbit's. And I was watching Kermit set the world record for Beer Ball.

[Falhawk]

I have the athena bookshelves as my main speakers for my living room and they are pretty darn good.

what kind of space limitations are we looking at tai? There are other sizes available.

[Tai]

let me take some pics...

[Tai]

These are the bookshelves, there is plenty of room for the center speaker, but the two front L/R speakers need to be able to fit in shelves that are 11 inches tall by 9 inches deep. The depth can be somehwat flexible since the speakers could stick out over the edge of the shelves to a degree. From LCD to eyeball is about 8 feet, and the width of the room is about 10 feet. (normalized)

http://www.againsttheherd.com/images/personal/qb/tv/tvfront.jpg

You can see the location of the current three front speakers:

http://www.againsttheherd.com/images/personal/qb/tv/tvmiddle.jpg

The rear speakers go on the wall back here. Almost any mounting system works since we can bolt directly into the wall:

http://www.againsttheherd.com/images/personal/qb/tv/tvrear.jpg

[Falhawk]

alright, you've actually got a good room to work with. That makes it all pretty clear. I like that room, it is comfortable and the sound system should blend well.

what we'll be looking for is more of a surround system rather than an ad hoc music/surround system I put above. My main system is something like that so I can check out what's similar. I should mention Im not a die hard audiophile or anything, I made my system for movies though and passive use. I bought stuff I figured I'd have for 10+ years...and actually I'm about to hit that anniversary. I'll see what I can find tomorrow

[Tai]

Thanks man, Sharon says "as long as it makes noise". We're not audiophiles either, but I like that ten year target. :)

[Falhawk]

well, for space considerations you could go with four of these:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATWS15

as well as the center channel and subwoofers I linked above. You can pretty much put the sub wherever you want in the room.

My surround system is from polk audio. The closest thing I could find would be:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=208085

which, to me, is a fantastic price. My setup is similar and retailed for like $1500


ten years ago...

[armerius]

you want my advice.. my speakers are about the best i've ever heard. They blow every HTIB out of the water and frankly i think they make Bose sound like tin cans in a fishbowl.

Cambridge Soundworks T300 Newton main channel, MC300 center, S300 surrounds, T300 rear.

no need for a subwoofer due to the dual subs in each of the T300's... huge sound.

driven by a Pioneer series 850 reciever in bad need of an upgrade.

www.hifi.com

honestly, best speakers and warrenty i've ever had or heard... i've had issues with one of the speakers (bought refurb), the amp blew out after 5 years... called them up, got instructions on its removal.. shipped to them.. repaired for $60. the rest of the speaker is still under 10 year warrenty.