I am building a HT system that will be used equally for music and movies. I am not sure about the receiver/speakers match up. I am looking for opinions and/or suggestions. Here is what I am thinking about:
Yamaha RX-V2400 receiver Denon DVD-2900 cd/dvd player Velondyne DLS3500B sub (160 watts) Is this enough power? Boston Acoustics VRM60B (front) Boston Acoustics VRMCB (center) Boston Acoustics VRMXB (surround)
This is great its always fun hearing that a new Theaterphile is about to be born. Please do us this one favor though. If you could please give us an idea of what size, shape, type of room your putting this equipment in, and what media you plan to use it for most. Alright talk to you soon.
If you are going to spend about $800 on a receiver and about $800 on a universal dvd player you should spend $449 on a HSU VTF-2 subwoofer or similar quality and priced self-powered subwoofer from SVS. The other speakers which have their own character are of your own preference. If you like the BA's then it is fine to get them.
Edwards
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Doc:
The HT system is going in our family room. The room is 18' x 13.5' with 14' cathedral ceiling, and is adjacent to 300 sf kitchen/dinette area. Unit will also be used to drive outdoor speakers (Voyagers III) for our patio and built inwall speakers (BA's) in our dining room.
Gregory:
I was looking at/leaning toward the HSU VTF-2 subwoofer based on everything I have read on this site but they can only be purchased online and since I am a new to this whole HT System our system is being installed by the dealer (Tweeter). So we were limited to the selections they had to offer. Can you recommend a sub that they carry? As far as the BA's speakers are concerned they were my second choice my first choice was the Concertino's but they were a bit much for my budget at this time. So the BA's were suggested as a good speaker for the yammie. I listened to them and they sounded okay but they did not sound like the Concertino's. My tab for this system was already at 7k and I still want to get the Phillips Pronto Universal remote. Do you know if the Phillips Pronto universal remote is difficult to program because I was thinking I would try to find one cheaper than the 1K that Tweeter is asking for?
If you are worried about hooking up your HT, I would call a local person (or have a friend)who knows how to hook it up and then buy your stuff at the best prices elsewhere. Afterall, you can get a Denon 2900 for less than $800 at a few places and the Yamaha 2400 at less than $800 too. Then you have an enormous choice of buying any speaker system: Paradigm's, PSB's, Monitor Audio, Magnepan's, etc. and buying a HSU subwoofer also.
Philips makes a number of universal remotes. I saw at Overstock.com the TSU2000 Pronto at half price--$200 for the $400 remote. I think their top of the line remote is available at eCost.com at around $675. But I don't know what capabilities that has that you would need to justify the price difference.
Edwards
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Gregory:
Thanks for all of the good advice. I will check out the two websites for the universal remote.
First, you'll love the 2900. Second, like Greg says, don't end up with gear simply because it's all that Tweeter carries. Do what you have to do to get the HSU sub, especially since it sounds like that's the one you really want. HSU and SVS make SERIOUS subs. A killer sub can take a nice system to the next level.
Edwards
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Thanks Airforceone I am going to look into getting the HSU VTF-2 Sub. That way I can test it against the Velondyne I already purchased and make a final decision as to which one works best. HSU offers a 30-day trial period right? I can wait to get this system hooked up so can how it rocks!!!!!!!
I plan on building a HT system for my listening room which is 19 1/2' x 14'. I want to get a receiver with at least 120w/ch & a speaker system (Sats & Sub-Woof).I've been looking at Yamaha & Denon for a receiver.Polk Audio for speakers. I will be playing music(70%)movies(30%).I can spend up to $10K (TV,AV rec.,speakers. Can you give me some different suggestions for rec & speakers? Is it a good idea to get a receiver with future applications(?) (such as THX & Dolby Pro Logic11x) or should I get a less expensive unit minus the extra applications? Is it a bad idea to buy, say a Denon 5803 for $4500 & then buy a $1200-1500 speaker system?
It is a terrible idea to buy spend $4500 on a receiver and $1200-$1500 on speakers. The ratio should be the other way around. After the quality of the cd, dvd, and other signals (and these are mostly out of your control), the speakers are by far the most important component, followed by your room acoustics.
You could get excellent Paradigm speakers, Monitor Audio's, Definitive Technology, PSB's, even planar speakers (Magnepan), and various other excellent speakers if you wanted.
You could get a NAD T773 receiver for around $1450 and an excellent Denon 2900 universal DVD player at around $800. Obviously there are other good receivers from $900-$1800. Heck, you could even get an Outlaw Audio separate combo (separate amp and preamp for $1600). I wouldn't get too hung up on whether a receiver is listed at 100 or 120 watts. You'd never notice the difference and some 100 watt amps are far more powerful than some 120 watt amps with 5 channels driven. Many companies just rate it at 2 channels being driven and many rate at 120 x 5 channels, but they are measuring at an easy frequency.
Obviously the Denon 5803 is an excellent receiver, but it leaves you with a proprtionately anemic budget for everything else. Fairly efficient quality speakers mated with an excellent self-powered subwoofer can play loud enough at far less than 100 watts/channel to make your ears bleed.
Depending on whether you spend $3500-$4500 on a wonderful 5.1 system, you could get an excellent Samsung DLP rear projection set of at least 50", a Sony LCD rear projection of 50" to 60", a fairly good 42-43" plasma, or a top quality rear projection CRT of 50"-60".
Thank you G-man for your input to my concerns. I will consider your thoughts on the above info you provided. In regard to the speakers I should be looking into: I'm looking for a good quality sub/sat system (if it exists). I don't want towers or big bookshelfs because of space limitations. Thank you!
If you are close to a dealer that sells Paradigm speakers that would be a good one to audition. If you buy a complete 5.1 speaker set-up from them they should give you a 15-20% discount. If they don't--you just walk out the door. That is good advice on any speakers of quality you buy as a set. And most dealers that sell Paradigm's or Monitor Audio also sell NAD receivers.
As far as HDTV, that is very much dependent on the money you have left and which type you prefer watching. In a few months Samsung is coming out with their next generation of DLP HDTV's. These should be quite good and much thinner and lighter than the current DLP's and vastly lighter than the very heavy rear projection CRT's. Plasma's will probably be too expensive to get a true HDTV set. The plasma EDTV's aren't bad and cost between $2750-$4,000 for 42" models. But the HDTV models usully cost from $4500 on up. The Sony LCD rear projection sets are pretty nice too and Sony makes nice ones from 40" to 70". The 50" and 60" are probably the sweet spot in the line-up.
I think the best fairly thin sets will eventually be made from DLP and LCoS technology. But for good LCoS sets at a reasonable price (that are better than the current Philips Cineos crop) you will have to wait until Intel delivers the LCoS systems to manufacturers by late summer--making HDTV's made from that technology available by late fall through the beginning of 2005.