I know that this is an incredibly open, vague question, but I've been surfing through these forums for a solid six hours for the answer to a seemingly simple question. Here's my situation:
I'm a college student(i.e., tight budget but is willing to splurge on home audio at the expense of food, air conditioning). I'm planning on buying a receiver, a preamp, new turntable, and two speakers.
The receiver I have in mind is the Pioneer VSX-815-K; I don't see the point in buying a stereo receiver since I plan to have surround sound for my DVD player in the near future anyway (even though my primary use of this system in the near future is going to be for playback of my vinyl records).
So here's my question. I'm looking to buy two speakers that will be great for listening to vinyl, but could also be used as a part of a possible 5.1 or 7.1 system in the future. Any recommendations?
Sorry if this question is waaaay too newbie for the nature of this forum...I'm trying folks.
Why waste your money compromising your primary listening source with a surround sound solution? You say your primary use is going to be stereo, so get that right and add on surround sound later. In the meantime just take the stereo analogue output of your DVD player and play it through the system too. It'll sound better than you'd think. This would free up enough cash to buy a semi-decent amplifier.
Hmm. Didn't think about that. Is there going to be that much of a compromise? Do multi-channel receivers not perform well when only set up to play through two channels?
with the limited budget that you probably have an HT reciever is probably not the best choice. most if not all reasonably priced HT recievers dont do that well in stereo mode, that isnt theire real design purpose to begin with. if you are strapped on money, get a stereo reciever, you can even go used from ebay or audiogon. your money will be better served that way. you can always buy the HT reciever later. movies still sound great with a decent stereo system. you should look into NAD, Marantz, Harman Kardon, Rotel(that would be killer)
i had held the belief that HT recievers suck, but with my infinity superzeros, my 55WPC X 5ch onkyo DTS reciever TOTALLY stomped my NAD reciever for sound quality. it REALLY improved my STEREO imaging and gave those soft dome tweeters some much needed zing. in comparison, the NAD sounds downright muffled with superzeros.
i THINK that the NAD might be alot stronger in the bass region though. i know that it waxes my old 75WPC realistic integrated amp driving my sub. that 20-25WPC reciever can rattle my walls with a 12" sub. i've never used my onkyo full range.
denon is supposed to be even better than onkyo for similar specs.
regardless of what speakers you go with, DON'T buy cheap speakers planning on buying better mains later. plan on the SAME speakers front and back otherwise you'll get crappy front to surround performance.
i had a decent pair of JBL 6 1/2" 2 ways and tried a pair of mission 5 1/4" two ways (my PC speakers now) and NEITHER pair mated well to my 4 1/2" SEALED NHT superzeros. when i bought a second pair of zeros though, my surrounds perfectly matched my fronts as surrounds should.
give your surrounds the same treatment as you plan on for your mains, otherwise, you'll get messed up tonal shifts when sounds move from front to back and vice versus.
you wouldn't mix one speaker as a left and another as your right would you? front to back is the same thing. my aluminum radio shack mini speakers were an even worse match to my mains.
Chris - Along the lines of what has been said - Dollar for dollar, stereo reveivers and integrated amps will sound better for 2 channel music than surround sound receivers. You can always use the 2 channel stuff down the road and incorporate it into your H/T system. Make sure that the 2 channel gear has a main-in/pre-out loop though. The only thing is that not too many have phono inputs any more. Your turntable may have a phono pre-amp built into it, but probably not. If it doens't, look for something with a phono input, or you can get a seperate phono pre-amp (starting at about $100). If you don't listen to radio often, an integrated amp is probably the best way to go. Dollar for dollar, these will generally sound better than receivers. You can always add a seperate tuner down the road when funds become available. But if you need the tuner now, a receiver will still sound very good.
Some receivers to look into (I don't know your budget), but I don't remember model numbers for all of them - Marantz, Harman/Kardon, NAD, Denon. Of the three, I think only the NAD doesn't have the phono input. It is also the most expensive, but by far the best sounding one (in my opinion). You can get a Pro-ject phono pre-amp for about $100, or the NAD P P-2 for about $120.
For integrateds, check out NAD, Cambridge, Marantz, and Rotel. They all have different levels of performance and prices. My personal favorite for price to performance is the NAD C320BEE at $399 retail, but it can be had for a few bucks cheaper. Make sure the one you get has the main-in/pre-out loop. I think Cambridge and Marantz don't have it, but Marantz has a processor loop which can be used in a similar fashion.
For speakers, I don't think you have to get the SAME speakers for the front and back, but matched speakers. For example - PSB Image towers in front, and PSB Image bookshelves in back. They should be the same brand and voice or timbre matched, but don't need to be the same exact speaker. Again, that's just my opinion. Take it as you will.
it depends on the speakers that you're using. my NHT super zeros sounded dreadfully muffled with my dedicated stereo "high end" NAD reciever. it was like listening to speakers covered by sleeping bags.
i bought my 5 channel onkyo reciever because it's treble was rated to 100kHZ.
i LOVED the treble speed and extension that i gained from my $250 bargain basement home theater reciever. it improved my zeros imaging abilities DRAMATICALLY. sorry, but with THESE speakers, i prefer the 5 channel (similar power output per channel) reciever over the stereo only which retailed for probably $100 more when new.
on the other hand... the system is too bright with my already bright mission M71s.
my point is that decent home theater recievers aren't worse than stereo ones as long as you properly match them. that muffled treble NAD might just be what is needed to tame my mission speakers. i'll have to check it out when i get it fixed.
my NHTs will never be driven by that NAD unless my onkyo self destructs in which case i'd immediately buy something else.