Need some help on my starter system...under $1000 amp & speakers

Tom New member Username: Biznash Post Number: 1 Registered: Jun-07	Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 08:43 GMT I have been researching home listening setups for a while and i want to upgrade from my HTIB Kenwood setup from Fry's. The sound is crappy and i want something that i actually enjoy listening to. The catch is that i have a limited space in my family room for audio equipment after the comcast digital cable box / dvd player (this will double as my cd player for music) and LCD tv...see picture. The space i am left with for an amp or integrated amp is 5" MAX in height. This would be with NO breathing room for the amp. So one that runs cool would be good. Also, i will be hooking up my comcast box to this for High Def & the Dvd Player. It will be used for tv listening and music listening as well. 2 channel is most important to me, so if it did that well, that would be fine with me. (Here is a picture of my setup) So here are my questions (and sorry if these are dumb, but I am trying to figure this stuff out): 1. If I hooked up an AudioSource Amp 200 High-Current Stereo Amplifier (80 Watts x 2) from the outputs on my TV, would this work for just amplifying the sound, or would this sound like crap? Could I use the volume on my tv remote to control the volume, then? 2. If this idea is dumb, then what is a good integrated amp that could power this setup? 3. for speakers, I am thinking of the Aperion Audio Intimus 533-T's (for 700-ish), but I also hear good things about the Av123 x-ls and the matching x-sub (400-ish). Both of these seem to have a high wife-acceptance factor. Does someone have experience with these or other home speakers for this use? So just looking for some ideas...throw em at me! Thanks in advance
Nuck Gold Member Username: Nuck Post Number: 7560 Registered: Dec-04	Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 13:05 GMT Hi Tom. If you are determined that a receiver must be jammed into the available space that you quoted, and bearing in mind the $ you are looking at, then perhaps a Panasonic XR57 receiver would interest you. It is small and light, requires no cooling(its class D) but has it's limitations. The xls I have not heard, certainly heard of, and a lot of people seem very happy with them. Good WAF there. The Athena f2.2's are also an option(WAF dependant) and I have enjoyed those a couple of times, although not with the Panny. Your source player could use some help, but you didn't ask about that ...yet.
Jan Vigne Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigne Dallas, TX Post Number: 10567 Registered: May-04	Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 14:19 GMT . "If this idea is dumb, then what is a good integrated amp that could power this setup?" The aforementioned Athena's at 93dB sensitivity and 8 Ohm impedance and a T-amp of one sort or another. https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-audio/193312.html http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/trends/ta10.html But you won't have remote control. I suppose that's more important than having something that sounds quite good. You haven't provided sufficient information to make much of a recommendation beyond very generic combinations. .
Michael Wodek Silver Member Username: Mike3 Wiley, Tx USA Post Number: 424 Registered: May-06	Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 14:19 GMT What's behind the wall you set-up is set into?
Tom New member Username: Biznash Post Number: 2 Registered: Jun-07	Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2007 - 23:54 GMT thanks for replies. I knew this forum would be a good source of info - As for the player, i think i would eventually upgrade to the Oppo Digital DV-970HD CD, SACD, DVD-A/V Player. It looks like it is slim enough and it got good review from both the Audiophile crowd AND the AV crowd. plus it is about $150 This would be my source for movies, and if i wanted to listen to a CD. - then for everything else, i would use my Comcast digital box. That has digital music on it. - The speakers would be for music as well as for tv, movies, etc. All the system sound would go through whatever speaker system i get. What is inspiring this change is that I have a Vizio LCD tv and the sound is horrible. I would like some nice sound in the confines of my small space. - The cabinet the tv/dvd/comcast box are in is an island in the middle of family room. So it juts out at a 15 degree angle from the fireplace and behind it is about a foot of soild material and then the back is the exposed 4' wall on the living room side. - new discovery! I have found that the builder put in some kind of sleeving for 2 speaker wires which go behind the fireplace. So right now I have one wire in its own 1" electrical conduit running from one cubby to the other. There are 2 of these - presumably for speaker wire routing. I pulled on them and they seem to move freely in the wall, also, so i guess i could put in a better gauge of wire. I am not sure about running componenet wire through this, however (unless i could add the ends on after i got it through the 1" opening). I am not ruling out putting the amplifier in the right cubby now, however. I guess i could do this (with no height limitations) and just run audio cables back behind the fireplace. So thats where I'm at... keep the ideas coming!
Emcee Hale New member Username: Mchale Post Number: 1 Registered: Jun-07	Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - 22:10 GMT I'm using a Panasonic Class-D in one of my setups right now and its doing just fine. I think its the XR15. The reason I got it was because of its size and price. It looks like you'd have room for some on/in wall speakers on either side of the monitor, it would certainly suit the decor.
Stu Pitt Gold Member Username: Stu_pitt Irvington, New York USA Post Number: 1921 Registered: May-05	Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - 03:14 GMT Tom - What are you sippin' on? And is your coaster a sock? Very nice. If you're married, I'm sure your wife is happy that you've at least made the attempt. I have a small piece of advice. I absolutely hate it when poeple do it, but have you considered placing the TV above the fireplace? From what I can tell from your room (albeit the pics are limited), it seems like the best place. It would open up a lot of room in the cabinets for gear, thus giving you more options. It would also help out with the viewing angle, height, etc.
Tom New member Username: Biznash Post Number: 3 Registered: Jun-07	Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - 04:04 GMT Stu pitt - you got me. I was bacheloring it hardcore that day...usually the sock-coaster method gets me busted. It was only diet coke, so i guess not as hardcore as i'd like to think As for the unit above the fireplace, I initially thought of that when we moved into the place. I didn;t like how small a tv i could get (i wanted to go 60" or so flatscreen, but then I started wondering what would go in that cabinet space. Also, we tried looking up and at an angle from the couch to watch tv, and I was not cool (try it for more that a minute and it tweaks you neck), plus the custom install job, hanging the unit, and hiding the wires would have sucked. I eneded up with a 39" Vizio high def flatacreen that I am thrilled with. As for my current thoughts, I go want to give props to Nuck for his advice...the Panny XR57 or XR55 might suit my purposes great. I am leaning toward the XR55, because I would only run audio through it (I'd use component straight to the tv for video) and i get the bi-amping features of the unit. Anyways, thanks for the input guys...you have been good to a newbie. i will let you know what I end up with.

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