Pondering $1500 Home Audio Setup

[tbates757]

Hi Guys--

I am a home audio novice and I'm thinking of putting together a nice home audio system, either 2.1, 3.1, or 5.1. It will be in my living room with an 84" Sharp TV and Apple TV (the only components currently). I want to keep it under $1500. I'm considering going with Klipsch speakers (they look really nice and have been good to me in the past), but am open to your expertise. What is there when determining between Floor Speakers vs. Bookshelf Speakers?

Also, what is a quality receiver to go with it? Beyond wire, banana plugs, and a crimping tool, anything else I will need?

 

[exar333]

Primarily movies, music, or both? 5.1, 2.1 and 3.1 would be great accordingly. Any way you go, I would budget $500 for receiver and $1000 for speakers. With that budget, a great 2.1 or 3.1 gives you a lot of room to expand. I run 3.1 right now and will be going 7.1 later this year. Buy good stuff so you don't need to replace. Expect to replace the receiver the most, as that tech changes. Speakers should be where you put the most $$$.

Floor (full range) help music a lot. Otherwise, not as key for movies.

 

[nsafreak]

I agree with exar's post above, I would also highly recommend personally auditioning whichever speakers you're looking at if at all possible. I'm lucky in that there are several audio & video stores in my area that specialize in audio and have a variety of speakers from the likes of Paradigm, Psb, Monsoon, KEF, Focal etc. Insofar as receivers go I would probably recommend looking at what's available in the $500 range from Denon, Pioneer or Yamaha.

 

[tbates757]

I agree with exar's post above, I would also highly recommend personally auditioning whichever speakers you're looking at if at all possible. I'm lucky in that there are several audio & video stores in my area that specialize in audio and have a variety of speakers from the likes of Paradigm, Psb, Monsoon, KEF, Focal etc. Insofar as receivers go I would probably recommend looking at what's available in the $500 range from Denon, Pioneer or Yamaha.

Thank you for your guys' advice. Currently, I'm looking at this receiver: http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...300-5.1-3d-networking-receiver-airplay/1.html

It seems to have all the features I need and a hell of a price. Is there anything lacking on it?

Also, if I got two of these floorstanding speakers, would I even need a sub right away, or could I get away with just having these as a 2.0 and later upgrading to 3.1 or 5.1? http://www.klipsch.com/rp-280f

 

[soulcougher73]

If you like klipsch check out BIC Acoustic. Basically clones but better price. Some say not as harsh as klipsch either.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...d-keywords=BIC+speaker&rh=i:aps,k:BIC+speaker

 

[giantpandaman2]

Hi Guys--

I am a home audio novice and I'm thinking of putting together a nice home audio system, either 2.1, 3.1, or 5.1. It will be in my living room with an 84" Sharp TV and Apple TV (the only components currently). I want to keep it under $1500. I'm considering going with Klipsch speakers (they look really nice and have been good to me in the past), but am open to your expertise. What is there when determining between Floor Speakers vs. Bookshelf Speakers?

Also, what is a quality receiver to go with it? Beyond wire, banana plugs, and a crimping tool, anything else I will need?

You'll almost always get more bang for the buck with a floor speaker over a bookshelf speaker. The difference is whether you or your significant other want to use the floorspace or whether the floor speaker is just too big.

Starting with 2.1 and expanding from there is the better way to go given your budget if you want high quality speakers. Then again, if "good enough" is all you need, then why spend the extra money? Either the 5.1 Pioneer floorstanding system or the Energy Take Classic 5.1 might already be fine for you.

If not, internet direct will always give you better bang for the buck than anything you can buy in store. Ascend Acoustics, Aperion, or SVS are all pretty decent if you move up from the Pioneers/Energy level.

 

[s44]

You'll almost always get more bang for the buck with a floor speaker over a bookshelf speaker.

Disagree. Since OP should run with a sub anyway, there's no need for him to pay for a lot of extra cabinetry/bass extension that won't have any real effect.

OP, you have to answer the question about purpose though... and room size.

 

[tential]

You'll almost always get more bang for the buck with a floor speaker over a bookshelf speaker. The difference is whether you or your significant other want to use the floorspace or whether the floor speaker is just too big.

Starting with 2.1 and expanding from there is the better way to go given your budget if you want high quality speakers. Then again, if "good enough" is all you need, then why spend the extra money? Either the 5.1 Pioneer floorstanding system or the Energy Take Classic 5.1 might already be fine for you.

If not, internet direct will always give you better bang for the buck than anything you can buy in store. Ascend Acoustics, Aperion, or SVS are all pretty decent if you move up from the Pioneers/Energy level.

There is a lot of extreme generalization in this post.
Bookshelf isn't always worse at all, floorstanding isn't always better.
Those are some decent recommendations I guess but it all depends on what you want OP and what your goal is.
Is your goal to have speakers that look nice and you can watch movies comfortably in the living room?
Is your goal to have a home theater setup that looks nice and rocks the house?
Is your goal to have the best output of audio bar none?


This is an enthusiast section so you'll get enthusiast opinions from across the board of enthusiast varieties in audio.

IMO if you want the best advice, you have to say what your priorities are. For me, my priority is quality/output so my choices were JTRspeakers or DIY(do it yourself) so I choice DIY.

But you may prefer decent speakers that are aesthetically pleasing, you may prefer floor standing speakers, and thus you may like something different than a person who is space constrained and uses bookshelf for convenience as they want smaller bookshelf.

You may have a person who wants output, small size, and don't care about looks and choose a pro audio style speaker. All depends...

 

[SithSolo1]

Here links for some internet direct options in your budget range, some have already been mentioned. This isn't the end all list but it'll give you some options to look at.

Mainly Speakers:
https://www.aperionaudio.com/
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/ (also sell Rhytmik subs)
http://www.chanemusiccinema.com/chane-loudspeakers


Mainly known for Subwoofers but also make speakers:
http://www.svsound.com/
http://www.hsuresearch.com/ (Horn style tweeters like Klipsch)

Other Subwoofers:
http://www.rythmikaudio.com/products1.html
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/ultra.html

 

[elitejp]

just go with svs and you will be fine. They are highly recommended for their subwoofers but have just recently started making front and surround speakers etc.

Another option would be to just build your own subwoofer . Google 'modeled infinity reference 1260" for an extemely cheap yet extremely good subwoofer.

Now here are my thoughts and what i have noticed after just recently setting up a 5.1 system. Personally I think just about any name brand receiver will do well. I got a denon。I had a very old set of towers and a front. i then bought an svs pb1000. Im living in an apartment so music and movies cant be too loud. Later I bought just a cheap pair of surround speakers to get my 5.1. This is what i have noticed. Because the sub can handle all of the lows i really have no need for anything the towers subs can offer. So that leaves me with just needing to pair mids and highs for the system and just about any speakers can do that fine. In fact due to not wanting to buy speaker stands for the surrounds i just moved the surrounds to the front and the towers to the back without any loss of audio quality. I hope that makes sense.

 

[purbeast0]

OP i'd definitely go listen to some klipsch before you go buying them. i was set on the RF-7 II series a while back and went and listened to a setup in someone's home, and i was glad i did because i ended up not being a huge fan of those speakers. they sounded good don't get me wrong, but they were on the higher-pitch side of things that i had listened to. once i listened to those, i kind of took a step back and slowed my process down and did more research.

that said, i DID end up purchasing speakers that i had never listened to beforehand, and they were a lot more expensive then the klipsch RF-7 II speakers, so i didn't even listen to my own advice. but i did A LOT of research before and the consensus on the ones i ended up with was that they are some of the best out there and EVERYONE who had heard them pretty much raved about them.

so glad i did not end up going with the klipsch now though as my system is pretty incredible, although i did also end up spending more than i anticipated on doing.

with $1500 bucks, if it were me, i'd go with a nicer 2.1 setup than a 5.1 setup with that budget. you can always piece the other parts around it down the road to get a better system instead of rushing to get it all at once for $1500.

 

[soulcougher73]

just go with svs and you will be fine. They are highly recommended for their subwoofers but have just recently started making front and surround speakers etc.

Another option would be to just build your own subwoofer . Google 'modeled infinity reference 1260" for an extemely cheap yet extremely good subwoofer.

Now here are my thoughts and what i have noticed after just recently setting up a 5.1 system. Personally I think just about any name brand receiver will do well. I got a denon。I had a very old set of towers and a front. i then bought an svs pb1000. Im living in an apartment so music and movies cant be too loud. Later I bought just a cheap pair of surround speakers to get my 5.1. This is what i have noticed. Because the sub can handle all of the lows i really have no need for anything the towers subs can offer. So that leaves me with just needing to pair mids and highs for the system and just about any speakers can do that fine. In fact due to not wanting to buy speaker stands for the surrounds i just moved the surrounds to the front and the towers to the back without any loss of audio quality. I hope that makes sense.

Im as huge SVS fan. Something like this might be nice to start with. $1000 and then spend $500 on a receiver.

http://www.svsound.com/systems/prime-systems/prime-satellite-5-1

 

[Anubis]

Im as huge SVS fan. Something like this might be nice to start with. $1000 and then spend $500 on a receiver.

http://www.svsound.com/systems/prime-systems/prime-satellite-5-1

TBH that will prob be hard to beat for a grand.

I've heard the big SVS Ultra speakers and the old school orig SVS bookshelf's. as well as many of their subs

while I have not heard these speakers specifically I have to assume they will be solid

 

[exar333]

Disagree. Since OP should run with a sub anyway, there's no need for him to pay for a lot of extra cabinetry/bass extension that won't have any real effect.

OP, you have to answer the question about purpose though... and room size.

A nice full-range tower is fantastic for music + subwoofer. This will generally be superior to separate configuration.

I agree with you on movies however....

There is a real cost advantage to building your own speakers, but that's not for everyone.

 

[s44]

just go with svs and you will be fine. They are highly recommended for their subwoofers but have just recently started making front and surround speakers etc.

Great subs, but their speakers have mediocre efficiency. I wouldn't recommend them for HT in a full-sized space.

OP i'd definitely go listen to some klipsch before you go buying them. i was set on the RF-7 II series a while back and went and listened to a setup in someone's home, and i was glad i did because i ended up not being a huge fan of those speakers. they sounded good don't get me wrong, but they were on the higher-pitch side of things that i had listened to.

Audyssey will correct that anyway.

 

[purbeast0]

Great subs, but their speakers have mediocre efficiency. I wouldn't recommend them for HT in a full-sized space.

Audyssey will correct that anyway.

audyssey won't correct the way the speakers naturally sound. the demo setup i tested it on was calibrated with audyssey already. even the guy who owned them told me if he had to do it all over, he wouldn't go with klipsch (and said he would go with the speakers i ended up getting).

 

[s44]

Well I *did* first suggest the JTR to you here.

It's pretty hard to get high-efficiency speakers at a lower price point, though, unless you DIY. Which is why I wouldn't rule out Klipsch off the bat. All depends on the use cases, which OP still hasn't provided.

 

[purbeast0]

yeah, it's kinda funny how i'm preaching to listen to them first, but i spent a boatload of money on speakers i didn't even hear first heh. didn't even listen to my own advice.

 

[spacejamz]

If you have Fry's nearby, they usually have very nice sale prices on Klipsch, Polk Audio, etc stuff...Newegg has pretty good sales every now and then as well...

I have been very happy my Polk setup....got the RTi 7's from Fry's for $149/each, some Monitor 70's for $129 each (after rebate card) from Newegg, CSi 3 center for $99 from Fry's and a Polk 12" sub (there are probably better sub values, like SVS, but I am happy with mine)...

 

[tbates757]

audyssey won't correct the way the speakers naturally sound. the demo setup i tested it on was calibrated with audyssey already. even the guy who owned them told me if he had to do it all over, he wouldn't go with klipsch (and said he would go with the speakers i ended up getting).

So, what speakers did you end up getting?

The room is medium sized, about 14' x 10', and primary function will be watching movies/TV, with some music but that won't be the primary use. Clarity is the most important thing to me, since I live in a condo, I can't go too HAM with the bass (I have the entire floor to myself, just have upstairs/downstairs neighbors).

That $1,000 package from SVS looks like a really good option, although it sounded like someone was ragging slightly on the speaker quality. It looks like I'm sold on either the SVS or the Rythmik LV12R for the sub. Now I just need to decide on the actual speaker config. Is the SVS Sub and two SVS Prime towers a great option, or would I be better off with 5 prime satellites and the SVS sub package?

 

[tbates757]

Btw, I went ahead and got the Denon AVR-E300 receiver, factory refurbished for $180. Some people were recommending a $500 receiver -- why spend so much of the budget on the receiver?

 

[s44]

The room is medium sized, about 14' x 10', and primary function will be watching movies/TV, with some music but that won't be the primary use.

Btw, I went ahead and got the Denon AVR-E300 receiver, factory refurbished for $180. Some people were recommending a $500 receiver -- why spend so much of the budget on the receiver?

The E300 is a nice unit, but it has its limitations. Most significant is the power output - Denon has finally joined Yamaha, Sony, et al. in going full retard on its advertised specs, so just ignore the published number... you can expect about 60-70watts per channel in a surround setup. Not bad, but there's no upgrade path beyond getting a new AVR - more expensive ones have line-level preamp outs that let you attach a separate power amp for more wattage.

This makes the following really important: since you're mostly going to watch movies, get high-efficiency speakers. You do *not* want your speakers taxed to fill the room during loud passages (or, god forbid, dialogue); it will kill the clarity and compress the dynamics. I would flat out ignore anything below 89db efficiency - the 85db of the SVS set should strike it from your list immediately - and seek out stuff in the upper 90s if possible. Only problem... it's hard to find high-efficiency speakers at that price point unless you DIY or have an untamed horn tweeter like Klipsch.

I was going to say there's no really good option for you, but AVSForum - after discovering/going nuts for the JTR speakers purbeast0 ended up getting - has nurtured/supported a few other internet direct speaker companies with similar high-efficiency designs at a lower price point that may work in your budget:
Reaction Audio
http://reaction-audio.myshopify.com/collections/speakers (forum thread)

Power Sound Audio
http://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/speakers/products/mt-110 (forum thread)

 

[tbates757]

Should I immediately cancel the Denon E300 purchase? What would be your recommendation, as I'm trying to avoid going full retard.

 

[s44]

No, it's a good AVR if you don't need Zone 2. Get a new one when you switch to 4k.

 

[BurnItDwn]

That reciever for that price is an awesome deal IMO. Agree they overstate the power, but, for most people, and with most speakers, that is still plenty of power. For sensitive speakers like klipshorns, you can use very little power and get big sound..

I run cheap old BIC America RTR1530s for front L and R channels, PL200 sub, and some BIC Accoustech PL66 in the back, and I forget what my center is at the momment ...
Its not an audiophile setup, but it is pure bliss for movies and music to my ears.

At some point I plan to move to a house with a better basement (higher ceiling, and a bit wider of a room), whenever that happens, the HT will get upgraded to klipshorns, ideally vintage 70s era horns. I love how they sound so damn much, but they wont fit with my current room limitations...

Anyhow, SVS makes good stuff, make sure to get a sub, and that your sub can go nice and low and handle all the frequencies your speakers cant.