Rebuilding HT/Living room setup - Suggestions?

[Worthington]

So, I'm finally retiring the antique JVC reciever and floor standing speakers I've been using since.. Hell since I was in college (13+ years ago) and looking for suggestions as I've been out of the AV scene for a while. All I need at this point is a reciever and speakers. The living room is an open air multi-purpose room (16x20) so going all out isn't really an option. As it is I'll need to run the wire for the rear speakers through the wall, up through the attic and then back down to the back wall. I'd like to keep everything under 1k - 1.5k which should be doable.

I'm outputting to a 60' Pioneer kuro plasma. Any thoughts on a decent reciever to pair with it? The two i'm looking at are Denon AVR-1912 and the Pioneer VSX-1021-k. I very much want one with network support since I'm pretty much addicted to Slacker, although I couldn't care less about Airplay (no apple in my house). The inputs are all hdmi (except for the CD player). My HD-DVD player (lol yes I have one HD-XA2) is a beast at upconverting so it's not a feature in the reciever that is important to me. That leaves me around 1k (although less is always better) for speakers. The only thing I can re-use is my old AR Sub, everything else speaker-wise will need to new. Speakers are probably where I am the most lost. Anyone have a set or combination that they love?

Cliffs:

1. Need new reciever and speakers - 1.5k budget.
2. 16x20 living room - open air.
3. Outputting to 60" plasma
4. errr, need help

 

[Anubis]

how much less could you care?

 

[Worthington]

excuse me? Ah, gotcha. My bad.

 

[Fallen Kell]

how much less could you care?

excuse me?

I think he is referring to the following

...although I could care less about Airplay...

...so I don't really care if the reciever can do it or not...

 

[Worthington]

Ah, I see. I guess there does seem to be a little apathy there. When I was looking around and reading reviews things like Airplay seemed to make or break people's impression of the reciever. I don't need so I figured i'd mention that.

 

[A5]

How many speakers do you need? I'm assuming 5 (2 mains, center, 2 surrounds)?

 

[Worthington]

yeah, that was my plan. I just don't think I have the space for 7.1.

 

[Anubis]

i was point out that you used the phrase wrong. do you want full towers or bookshelfs? if there a size limitation?

 

[Worthington]

Either would work as far as the front speakers are concerned, currently I have towers. The surround speakers on the other hand should probably be bookshelf, or at least wall mountable.

 

[Worthington]

Is it feasible to install the rear/surround speakers where the wall meets the ceiling (right behind the couch) angled down? I've been under the impression that you really want speakers at head level but if I could do that, that'd make life much easier.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I rent so I have the rear surrounds on the floor next to the couch. Ideal placement might be better, but it works fine for me.

 

[blackangst1]

My suggestion:

Yamaha RX-V467 5.1 receiver. Has HDMI 1.4 support, YPAO setup, and should be good for what you want.

For speakers, I would go with Polk RTI 7's in front, RTI A3's for rears, and the CS 10 for center.

This puts you at $1470, and your speakers would be future proof should you decide to upgrade or add an amp later.

 

[Worthington]

thank you much for the suggestion, I'll take a look at those links.

 

[TheStuck]

My suggestion:

Yamaha RX-V467 5.1 receiver. Has HDMI 1.4 support, YPAO setup, and should be good for what you want.

For speakers, I would go with Polk RTI 7's in front, RTI A3's for rears, and the CS 10 for center.

This puts you at $1470, and your speakers would be future proof should you decide to upgrade or add an amp later.

Get a CSI center channel as it matches the RTI series. You want the fronts to match sound wise. If you are going the polk route, their direct store on ebay is a good place to get everything too.

 

[blackangst1]

Get a CSI center channel as it matches the RTI series. You want the fronts to match sound wise. If you are going the polk route, their direct store on ebay is a good place to get everything too.

Agree. The CSi A4 would be a better fit, at $100 more; however, I was trying to stay within his budget.

 

[Worthington]

my budget is flexable, just trying to stay within a ballpark figure.

 

[blackangst1]

my budget is flexable, just trying to stay within a ballpark figure.

Then, I suggest the setup I put above, but with a CSi A4 center channel. I have the big brothers to that setup, and I can tell you it does not disappoint. You could easily hook up a 300w/channel Sunfire, McIntosh, or Carver amp and these would handle it beautifully.

Also, with Polks ebay store, you can sometimes find what you need in factory refurb. Remember, this is refurbed by Polk, and comes with warranty. They are top notch.

 

[Worthington]

Those RTI A3s are bookshelf only speakers.. what about going with something like the Polk FXi4s so I can mount them behind the listening area?


http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Sur...0562087&sr=1-1

 

[TheStuck]

Those RTI A3s are bookshelf only speakers.. what about going with something like the Polk FXi4s so I can mount them behind the listening area?


http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Sur...0562087&sr=1-1

Im using RTI 6s as L/R fronts which are basically the same as the A3s and they work great. Also if you use a sub you dont have to go up to an A7 IMO which should same some money. I also have FXI 4 as the sides and they work great as well. My setup is 6.1. All polk with a velodyne sub.

 

[blackangst1]

Those RTI A3s are bookshelf only speakers.. what about going with something like the Polk FXi4s so I can mount them behind the listening area?


http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Sur...0562087&sr=1-1

That would be a very nice upgrade from the RTi 3's. I use their big brother (the FXi A6) as my surrounds and theyre no joke. Going from a bookshelf type speaker to something like the FXi A4 or 6, youre moving to a different technology also, as they are di-pole/bi-pole. If you'd like a little reading, Google will help and HERE is Polk's write up on it. Very, very nice speakers.

Also, the ideal setup would be to place them about 1 foot above the seating area, right next to your listening area, in di-pole mode. This is how theaters are set up.

 

[blackangst1]

Im using RTI 6s as L/R fronts which are basically the same as the A3s and they work great. Also if you use a sub you dont have to go up to an A7 IMO which should same some money. I also have FXI 4 as the sides and they work great as well. My setup is 6.1. All polk with a velodyne sub.

There is a MASSIVE difference between the RTi 6 and the RTi 7. Even with a sub, its a major difference.

 

[TheStuck]

There is a MASSIVE difference between the RTi 6 and the RTi 7. Even with a sub, its a major difference.

Yes but to properly drive the RTI A7s you need real amp power which will cost more.

 

[blackangst1]

Yes but to properly drive the RTI A7s you need real amp power which will cost more.

I called Polk and spoke to a tech before I bought mine, and was told a decent mid range receiver or better (like what I suggested to the OP) would be fine. Of course there are benefits of an amp, but its not needed. Now, if we were talking about the LSi series, this would be a different discussion.

 

[mojaveron]

You should check out AVS Forums you can get a lot of Info there.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

 

[Worthington]

Yup, the stuff is all here and installed.. well except for the rears. Need to run inwall cabling for that. Hope to get it done this weekend.