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Gold Member Username: JoebruceCrescendo Audio FTMFW!!, AA Havoc 15 ... Your Mom FTW!! Post Number: 3732 Registered: May-04 | Im thinking about putting together a nice budget home theater system. But I am clueless when it comes to home audio. What are some good brands for receivers/amps? For now I just want something simple to run one set of tower or bookshelf speakers. Later on I would like to add a 8" or 10" sub then maybe another set of speakers. I already have some speakers in mind so I just need help with choosing a receiver. I would like to be able to run my DVD player and TV thru the receiver so it will have to have rca inputs for that. Do they make like an all-in-one receiver/amp combo or do I have to buy a receiver and amp seperate? Can someone point me in the right direction or suggest some brands or links to places I should buy from? Thanks in advance. |
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Diamond Member Username: WingmanaliveWww.stainles... .ecrater.com Post Number: 25160 Registered: Jun-06 | Onkyo and Yamaha make a decent receiver. You COULD spend a grand or more on a better receiver but at this point you wouldn't care. Most receivers today have MANY inputs available to allow every possible component you have to run through it. They also have a sub out line that you'll use for your dedicated sub application. Now comes the question on what kind of surround are you looking for? 5.1? 7.1? In either scenario you'll be using more than just one pair of speakers but you can always use the two towers and later run as many or as few speakers you desire. In HT you won't need as many watts to achieve great sound like you typically do in car audio. Mainly because the speaker's sensitivity is much greater so you get more sound reproduction. 100w per channel is more often quite ample for HT. You probably won't need much more than that unless you're talking about a large room or just want to pizz off your neighbors. That said you can easily find a decent receiver in the $350-$450 range. Less if you step down to Pioneer and other brands. Again it's all about the budget. Check Newegg to start. Above all stay away from HTIB. The components are usually crap and the price will draw you in. Cheap 15w speakers and undersized wires will make you shake your head. You're better off piecing it together IMO. |
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Gold Member Username: JoebruceCrescendo Audio FTMFW!!, AA Havoc 15 ... Your Mom FTW!! Post Number: 3733 Registered: May-04 | Well like I said this is my first atempt at home audio,besides my philips stereo that came with "surround" speakers,a center channel,and a small powered woofer. I never even used the center or surround speakers b/c they just didnt sound right IMO. But the whole thing was less than $200 so I didnt excpect much. This setup will be for my bedroom which isnt very big so I planned on starting out with a set of bookshelf speakers for my fronts,then like I said eventually I will want to add a sub,probably an 8" powered sub,that should be plenty. For my speaker selection I think Im going to go with these Dayton Audio speakers from PE. The price is right and for now I think they will be plenty sound wise,even though they are small. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-652 If I decide to go bigger in the future,I can always use those as my sourronds and buy bigger tower speakers for the front. I think I will probably go with Dayton Audio speakers all around. Now back to the receiver,I would like to get a decent one that has all the inputs I mentioned and has speaker inputs for a 5.1 system,7.1 for me is just too much at this point. I was looking at the receivers on PE and the cheaper brands are Sherwood and Pyle Pro. Is Pyle the same with home audio as it is with car audio? Meaning,craap lol? I am just clueless to brands quality with home audio. I would like to try and keep it under $200 for just the receiver if thats possible. I noticed Harmans ebay store has some refurb receivers for auctio and they look pretty nice. Im really unsure on where to even start to look. I may try to bid on one from the Harman ebay store but I really dont know. The Pyle receivers on PE look nice but I know looks dont mean anything. Any more online stores I could check out? Or any more reccomendations for a nice budget receiver? |
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Diamond Member Username: WingmanaliveWww.stainles... .ecrater.com Post Number: 25165 Registered: Jun-06 | Sherwood is PE's bottom line. No frills and basic but gets the job done. Just try not to settle for less now when someday you're going to want a bigger badder dog. Won't be long you'll have a collection of them. I never went high tech with my gear. Technics receiver and various components. KLH surround speaks and a pair of Marantz for the front. And I can't forget the Q sub lol. I guess you could say a hodge podge but it works for me and didn't set me back a couple grand. I'd dive into it some more but E's annoying as hell audio ads are driving me crazy!!! |
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Gold Member Username: PitbullguyThe Chicago area Post Number: 4956 Registered: Oct-06 | Paul I'm ashamed of myself for posting here still. This might be the most horrible website on the internet. |
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Diamond Member Username: WingmanaliveWww.stainles... .ecrater.com Post Number: 25167 Registered: Jun-06 | I agree, and concur. I hate this place now. The ads are...................................everywhere and like mosquitoes. I now wish my 25k+ posts here were targeted elsewhere. We're talking 5+ years. Gone to a sold out site. |
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Gold Member Username: JoebruceCrescendo Audio FTMFW!!, AA Havoc 15 ... Your Mom FTW!! Post Number: 3734 Registered: May-04 | Ads? What ads? I never see ANY ads on this site or any other sites,ever. Im using FireFox with ad block plus and it stops every single ad on every site. Thanks for the advice Paul,youre right I might as well get a nice one first so I wont want to upgrade a year later. Looks like Ive got some deciding to do! |
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Gold Member Username: The_image_dynamicSan Diego, California Post Number: 6021 Registered: Dec-06 | Receivers: Denon, Pioneer, Harman Kardon, Yamaha Stay away from the newer low-end Onkyo stuff. Junk. The best thing to do is go to Crutchfield and do your research and selection there, then find the best price on that piece somewhere else. Looks like you have decided on speakers, but if you haven't, you can't go wrong with the Energy line of speakers, on a budget. |
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Diamond Member Username: WingmanaliveWww.stainles... .ecrater.com Post Number: 25170 Registered: Jun-06 | Well it's been years since I've purchased any receiver. I know Onkyo USED to make decent electronics but I suppose they've scaled back on build quality like so many others. A good product will/should last years without missing a beat. I have components that are 20 years old and work like new. I have no reason to replace them either. |
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Gold Member Username: JoebruceCrescendo Audio FTMFW!!, AA Havoc 15 ... Your Mom FTW!! Post Number: 3740 Registered: May-04 | Ok so now Im thinking the receiver is the easy peice to pick out and the speaker department is where Im gonna need help and suggestions lol. Ill probably just pick up a Pioneer receiver since they seem to get pretty good reviews,the price is fair,and just seem to be the best bang for buck type of deal. So on to speakers now! I fell in love with the look of the Pure Acoustic speakers that PE has,the Supernova series,but Im not crazy on the prices. Kinda out of my price range. Then I thought about Fluance,I hear great reviews on them and you just can not beat the price. Its like $200 for their budget line for 5 speakers and $300 for their higher end line for 5 speakers. But the look and finish on the cabnets just didnt jump out at me. Then I was browsing Newegg and I came across the Polk speakers. I love the cherry finish,the prices are pretty good and they get pretty good reviews too. And I even found I could buy them cheaper from the Polk direct ebay store. Im pretty set on the Polk speakers with the cherry finish,I just wanted to get a few opinions on them. Has anyone ever heard Polk home speakers? Brad? Paul? |
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Gold Member Username: Freezeman_7FOR SALE, BNIB RD AUDI... USA Post Number: 2593 Registered: May-06 | Denon is awesome. Like Brad said Pioneer is also high quality as well. Speakers and subs I would look at Bowers and Wilkins, Definitive Technology, Martin Logan or something along those lines. |