Building a Home Theater System on a budget

 

New member
Username: Majorjsh

Post Number: 1
Registered: 01-2004
Here is my situation: I am building a home theater system for my new home. As it is with a new homeowner, money is kind of tight so I am looking to spend about $1,000.00. I already have the TV and DVD player, but I need a speaker system and theater receiver. The room is about 14x9 with a tile floor. Can someone please advise me as to the best choices for this amount of money? What would you do with this situation? Thanks so much for the advice.
 

New member
Username: Project6

Post Number: 157
Registered: 12-2003
there are quite a few, but here is what I've listened to and put together for a few folks on a budget. Harman Kardon AVR 230 for around $500 combined with the Athena Technologies point 5 MKII for $360. I have some more in mind but I am at work right now.
cheers
 

New member
Username: Majorjsh

Post Number: 3
Registered: 01-2004
Thanks for the tip. Any more?
 

New member
Username: Hawk

Post Number: 125
Registered: 12-2003
James:

You have a pretty small room that isn't going to accomodate very large speakers and large speakers are wholly unnecessary--especially with the tile floor.

My suggestions is that you get an NAD 742 receiver from Saturday Audio Exchange for $449 (www.saturdayaudio.com) before they are sold out. Easily the best sounding receiver available under $500. Then there are two sub/sat systems I really like for the price. First, I really like the new KEF 1005 sub/sat system. MSRP is $700, but you can easily get 20% off from a dealer, making them about $550 (you may find them at Kiefs--www.kiefs.com, but you will have to call). My second choice is the Athena Micra 6, also a new product, which is priced at $550. Here is a link for the Micras from One Call:

http://ww3.onecall.com/PID_21643.htm

I trust this helps.
 

New member
Username: Project6

Post Number: 171
Registered: 12-2003
Hawk,
have you had the chance to audition the Micra 6's? I'm very curious about that set and the new R series that I haven't seen yet.
cheers
 

XpostFacto
Unregistered guest
Cross-posted for a cross post:

Hsu Research VT-12 + STF-2 for about $600 (www.hsuresearch.com) You can probably get away with the STF-1 for your size room, but use the system sizer at the web site to be sure.

For a receiver, you can go with an Onkyo TX-SR501 or for a bit more a TX-SR601. The Pioneer VSX-D812K (or S) and VSX-D912K also get good marks.

Rule of thumb is:
For a fixed $$ spend more on speakers.

On the cheap, you can get the Onkyo HT-S760 package for about $500 US.

 

New member
Username: Majorjsh

Post Number: 4
Registered: 01-2004
Thanks so much for the tips everybody. Does anybody have any disagreement with any of these suggestions?
 

ASSSSS
Unregistered guest
IF UR LOOKING FOR QUALITY, BUY THE PARADIGM "NEW" SERIES, I FORGOT WHAT IT WAS CALLED BUT ONE SUB WOULD COST YOU 3000 CANADIAN DOLLARS
 

New member
Username: Lamazion

Post Number: 5
Registered: 01-2004
Speaker preference is a personal thing. You may not like the same thing I do. Having said that, I tend to like a laid back speaker matched to a bright reciever (keep in mind these terms are generalizations). In your price range I would consider these options:

Yamaha RX-V630 (running $250 on closeout)

matched to:
Boston CR95 fronts ($316 Closeout)
Boston CRC center ($200)
Boston CR55 ($100 on ebay, new)
Dayton 10" Sub ($125)

OR

Energy c1 fronts and Rears ($400)
Energy C-C1 Center ($200)
Dayton 10" Sub

Both options will come in under $1000 and will be fantastic for music and HT. IMHO, much better than a sub/sat system.
 

New member
Username: Discoshrew111

Post Number: 11
Registered: 01-2004
That Dayton sub (from Parts Express) is a great deal.
 

New member
Username: Justinb

Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2004
I do realize there is a lot of Bose system bashers out there..

But when i first started out and only had about 1000$

i would recommend the bose acoustomass 10 surround system and a kenwood vr7070 amp. the kenwood amp will deff be an amp you can grow into with this set up. and for the money it totally blew me away as far as the whole home theater experience.

The Kenwood amp was rated one to the best bang for your buck amps last year and does all of the thx and dts setups. for under 400$ so for the whole system you can get the speakers and the amp for around 1200-1300. Also don't over look the Jbl systems too. for that amount to money jbl can get you along way.
 

Anonymous
 
how does the Kef 1005 compare to the Def Tech. Pro 60?
 

New member
Username: Majorjsh

Post Number: 5
Registered: 01-2004
It looks like am going to exceed the initial budget. I am considering the NAD T743 receiver paired with the KEF KHT 2005.2 sub/sat system. The recommendations were provided by a helpful user of this bulletin board.
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