Trying to Build HT System Around 73" DLP

[CoBRaXT]

I just got my new Mitsubishi 73" DLP in the other day and now I'm trying to decide on a home theater setup for this beast.

My living room area is about 17'x13' with 12' ceilings and a total budget of around $1000. I will use the system for 60% movies/games and 40% music.

As for receivers, I was thinking about the Yamaha RX-V465 or V565 as a decent entry level unit. Would a similarly priced Onkyo unit be more suited to my needs?

I'm only looking for front towers, a center speaker, and possibly a sub for now. The rears will come later as more funds become available to me. The living area is size stated above, but the family room and the living area are actually one big room (13'x35') so I was thinking of going with Polk (monitor 60 series perhaps?) for more of a wide spread sound instead of a more directional output like Klipsch (am I right here?).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[sdifox]

You can get the clouseout Polk R50 you see everywhere. You can definitely get surround sound with that budget. Currently 70 each, get 4 and you just need a centre.

 

[CoBRaXT]

Originally posted by: sdifox
You can get the clouseout Polk R50 you see everywhere. You can definitely get surround sound with that budget. Currently 70 each, get 4 and you just need a centre.

Hmm, that's very tempting. I was thinking of the Monitor 70's as fronts, a CS-2 as center, and then adding the sub and rears later on in the future. How do the 70's compare to the 50's? Are they worth the extra price?

 

[s44]

For AVR, I would get an Onkyo or Marantz (refurb from a4less) instead of a Yamaha. Budget Yammys have very weak amp sections, and you have a fairly substantial space. Best would be a unit with pre-outs in case you want to upgrade to a separate power amp.

I'd probably skip both Polk *and* Klipsch (well, both have good high-end lines, but stuff in your range is limited), but if you're going to do a lot of listening from the family room (i.e. 30+ feet away) you may prefer to have the greater efficiency of the Klipsch speakers.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: CoBRaXT

Originally posted by: sdifox
You can get the clouseout Polk R50 you see everywhere. You can definitely get surround sound with that budget. Currently 70 each, get 4 and you just need a centre.

Hmm, that's very tempting. I was thinking of the Monitor 70's as fronts, a CS-2 as center, and then adding the sub and rears later on in the future. How do the 70's compare to the 50's? Are they worth the extra price?

How much can you get the 70s for? You can't really beat 4 R50, it's great for surround music such as DVDA and SACD too. But then those 2 formats are basically dead.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: s44
For AVR, I would get an Onkyo or Marantz (refurb from a4less) instead of a Yamaha. Budget Yammys have very weak amp sections, and you have a fairly substantial space. Best would be a unit with pre-outs in case you want to upgrade to a separate power amp.

I'd probably skip both Polk *and* Klipsch (well, both have good high-end lines, but stuff in your range is limited), but if you're going to do a lot of listening from the family room (i.e. 30+ feet away) you may prefer to have the greater efficiency of the Klipsch speakers.

For the budget he is looking at I doubt he can do better than the R50 when it comes to price/performance ratio.

 

[CoBRaXT]

For a good entry level receiver, would you guys recommend the Onkyo SR606 or the Yamaha RX-V465? Both will be in the low $300's.

 

[erwos]

Craigslist is your friend for speakers, I got all of mine from there (sans the center, which was from Audiogon).

Onkyo 606 is good, but I'd seriously consider the 607 if possible.

 

[Darkstar757]

How do you like the 73 inch set?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

With AV123's forum creeping back to life (Classifieds area is back up etc.), I'm more confident to suggesting that as an option.

For $1k (actually $1200 with shipping), they have a 5.1 ELT / MFW-15 system that should rock you our sufficiently
http://forums.av123.com/showthread.php?t=41020

Not that you can judge true value by regular pricing, but that's essentially a ~$700 subwoofer and ~$1300 5.0 set at normal pricing (not including a couple hundred dollars in shipping).
Sale prices on the set was $599 +$799 + shipping until today's forum reopening sale.

That really would eat up your whole budget on 5.1 so you wouldn't have any extra to actually buy a receiver
Plus if you actually were to spend $1200 + receiver, you'd have a lot of other options to look at anyway.

When I saw the "kilobuck" slant to the sale I thought of this thread, but I guess it's more for the 1.5 "kilobuck" crowd actually

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
With AV123's forum creeping back to life (Classifieds area is back up etc.), I'm more confident to suggesting that as an option.

For $1k (actually $1200 with shipping), they have a 5.1 ELT / MFW-15 system that should rock you our sufficiently
http://forums.av123.com/showthread.php?t=41020

Not that you can judge true value by regular pricing, but that's essentially a ~$700 subwoofer and ~$1300 5.0 set at normal pricing (not including a couple hundred dollars in shipping).
Sale prices on the set was $599 +$799 + shipping until today's forum reopening sale.

That really would eat up your whole budget on 5.1 so you wouldn't have any extra to actually buy a receiver
Plus if you actually were to spend $1200 + receiver, you'd have a lot of other options to look at anyway.

When I saw the "kilobuck" slant to the sale I thought of this thread, but I guess it's more for the 1.5 "kilobuck" crowd actually

For the OP's sake, I hope he takes your suggestion. I just ordered some AV123's a month or so back and I couldn't be more satisfied at the quality, fast shipping, customer service, and sound.
Yoyo suggested the AV123's to me a while back and it took me a while to get them but for the money, you won't find much (if anything) better.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
With AV123's forum creeping back to life (Classifieds area is back up etc.), I'm more confident to suggesting that as an option.

For $1k (actually $1200 with shipping), they have a 5.1 ELT / MFW-15 system that should rock you our sufficiently
http://forums.av123.com/showthread.php?t=41020

Not that you can judge true value by regular pricing, but that's essentially a ~$700 subwoofer and ~$1300 5.0 set at normal pricing (not including a couple hundred dollars in shipping).
Sale prices on the set was $599 +$799 + shipping until today's forum reopening sale.

That really would eat up your whole budget on 5.1 so you wouldn't have any extra to actually buy a receiver
Plus if you actually were to spend $1200 + receiver, you'd have a lot of other options to look at anyway.

When I saw the "kilobuck" slant to the sale I thought of this thread, but I guess it's more for the 1.5 "kilobuck" crowd actually

I wonder if my wife would notice if I replaced my Polk setup with this . I'm thinking she would definintely notice the Polk speakers in the computer room though.

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
With AV123's forum creeping back to life (Classifieds area is back up etc.), I'm more confident to suggesting that as an option.

For $1k (actually $1200 with shipping), they have a 5.1 ELT / MFW-15 system that should rock you our sufficiently
http://forums.av123.com/showthread.php?t=41020

Not that you can judge true value by regular pricing, but that's essentially a ~$700 subwoofer and ~$1300 5.0 set at normal pricing (not including a couple hundred dollars in shipping).
Sale prices on the set was $599 +$799 + shipping until today's forum reopening sale.

That really would eat up your whole budget on 5.1 so you wouldn't have any extra to actually buy a receiver
Plus if you actually were to spend $1200 + receiver, you'd have a lot of other options to look at anyway.

When I saw the "kilobuck" slant to the sale I thought of this thread, but I guess it's more for the 1.5 "kilobuck" crowd actually

I would be soooo pissed that I passed on this deal if I weren't so damn happy with my xsls xcs and svs sub....

 

[kalrith]

I would easily pay $600 for that sub, so $400 for the other 5 speakers makes me thinking about returning my $400 Dell monitor and somehow coaxing the wife to "let me" spend $800 extra on the system (shipping is $200). Does anyone know if they charge sales tax in Missouri?

Edit: If you haven't seen craigsub's ranking on avsforum, here's the link. He gives the MFW-15 103 points. Compare that the the 109 points of the $1500 SVS PB13-Ultra, and you can easily see the worth of the MFW-15.

Edit2: Never mind about the sales-tax question. I have no business spending that much more on HT, especially since my wife and I are in cost-cutting mode right now (the monitor was a use of birthday money and other money I had been saving up).

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: kalrith
I would easily pay $600 for that sub, so $400 for the other 5 speakers makes me thinking about returning my $400 Dell monitor and somehow coaxing the wife to "let me" spend $800 extra on the system (shipping is $200). Does anyone know if they charge sales tax in Missouri?

Edit: If you haven't seen craigsub's ranking on avsforum, here's the link. He gives the MFW-15 103 points. Compare that the the 109 points of the $1500 SVS PB13-Ultra, and you can easily see the worth of the MFW-15.

The sound itself is enough to be worth over double that, however, the beauty of these speakers will shock you.

I can't believe shipping is that cheap, these things are heavy and big....

 

[s44]

I wouldn't say that AV123 is "safe" until they *stop* having these blow-out sales. Have people with the defective amp been made whole yet?

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: s44
I wouldn't say that AV123 is "safe" until they *stop* having these blow-out sales. Have people with the defective amp been made whole yet?

I bought some off a blowout sale a little over a month back and couldn't have been more satisfied. Not saying things are perfect, I am just stating my experience not that long ago with them. I would buy from them again in a heartbeat, if it weren't for the wife..:|

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: s44
I wouldn't say that AV123 is "safe" until they *stop* having these blow-out sales. Have people with the defective amp been made whole yet?

This was posted on the forum not too long ago.

http://forums.av123.com/showthread.php?t=40982

What I've learned about the situation has been through AVSforum and AV123forum, but it would seem that the new sub amps are finally getting sorted out.

At this point, someone ordering a new MFW-15 should not have to worry about the same amplifier issues that were plaguing some of the earlier units.

 

[kalrith]

I already know the MFW-15 would be a huge upgrade over my sub. Can anyone give me an idea of how big of an upgrade it would be to go from Polk R50 mains and a CSi25 center (basically a bookshelf R50) to the ELT speakers? Also, I assume that since the ELT525 monitors have a port on the back that I can't mount them on the wall. I'm not sure the wife will be too pleased about that, but I can deal with that problem later.

I went through the ordering process and found that I wouldn't be charged tax, and the shipping came to only $111 for a grand total of $1109. My wife is very cautiously considering this deal, so hopefully I can come up with the money before it expires.

Edit: Also, how well will my Panasonic XR55s drive these? I'll eventually get a new receiver, but it will likely be a while before that happens.

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: kalrith
I already know the MFW-15 would be a huge upgrade over my sub. Can anyone give me an idea of how big of an upgrade it would be to go from Polk R50 mains and a CSi25 center (basically a bookshelf R50) to the ELT speakers? Also, I assume that since the ELT525 monitors have a port on the back that I can't mount them on the wall. I'm not sure the wife will be too pleased about that, but I can deal with that problem later.

I went through the ordering process and found that I wouldn't be charged tax, and the shipping came to only $111 for a grand total of $1109. My wife is very cautiously considering this deal, so hopefully I can come up with the money before it expires.

*edit* mis-read

As for a comparison, I can say my x-cs and x-ls from AV123 are much much better than those polks. However, I only heard them at a friends house and i dont think he spent more than 15 minutes setting them up.
If I were you, I would have jumped on this so damn fast, they would have already been on my doorstep.

*edit*
Not sure about your receiver, I have a Harmon Kardon av247 running my setup:
SVS pb-10
AV123 x-cs & (2x) x-ls towers
(2x) nsb-111

 

[kalrith]

I realize they're ported in the back. What's the most WAF way to install bookshelf surrounds in a livingroom? She's OK (not thrilled) with the R15 surrounds hanging on the wall with their keyhole slot, but I know that's not possible with the ELT525. There's not really a good place for speaker stands in our livingroom. I'll clarify with some pictures:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...th/livingroom_main.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...th/livingroom_left.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...h/livingroom_right.jpg

The first picture is from the back of the livingroom. The left and right pictures are just that, the left and right sides of the livingroom. The squares are where I would hang the R15 (I haven't gotten around to installing them in the new house yet). Any ideas of what I would do with the ELT525 surrounds?

I know this is a bit of a stretch since I don't even know if I'll be getting them yet. My main question is still how much of an improvement these speakers will be over my Polks.

My receiver is rated at 100Wx7 and has been a pretty highly rated receiver at its price range ($230).

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: kalrith
I realize they're ported in the back. What's the most WAF way to install bookshelf surrounds in a livingroom? She's OK (not thrilled) with the R15 surrounds hanging on the wall with their keyhole slot, but I know that's not possible with the ELT525. There's not really a good place for speaker stands in our livingroom. I'll clarify with some pictures:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...th/livingroom_main.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...th/livingroom_left.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...h/livingroom_right.jpg

The first picture is from the back of the livingroom. The left and right pictures are just that, the left and right sides of the livingroom. The squares are where I would hang the R15 (I haven't gotten around to installing them in the new house yet). Any ideas of what I would do with the ELT525 surrounds?

I know this is a bit of a stretch since I don't even know if I'll be getting them yet. My main question is still how much of an improvement these speakers will be over my Polks.

My receiver is rated at 100Wx7 and has been a pretty highly rated receiver at its price range ($230).

I edited right before you posted, i misread .

I have my surrounds on stands against the wall behind my couch, I will let others give better suggestions. The sound difference should be pretty substantial from what I have heard personally and from what I have read on other forums.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: kalrith
I realize they're ported in the back. What's the most WAF way to install bookshelf surrounds in a livingroom? She's OK (not thrilled) with the R15 surrounds hanging on the wall with their keyhole slot, but I know that's not possible with the ELT525. There's not really a good place for speaker stands in our livingroom. I'll clarify with some pictures:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...th/livingroom_main.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...th/livingroom_left.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/k...h/livingroom_right.jpg

The first picture is from the back of the livingroom. The left and right pictures are just that, the left and right sides of the livingroom. The squares are where I would hang the R15 (I haven't gotten around to installing them in the new house yet). Any ideas of what I would do with the ELT525 surrounds?

I know this is a bit of a stretch since I don't even know if I'll be getting them yet. My main question is still how much of an improvement these speakers will be over my Polks.

My receiver is rated at 100Wx7 and has been a pretty highly rated receiver at its price range ($230).

Well the appearance / construction on the ELTs would likely get you some points for WAF.

You might have to be more worried about the sub though

There are speaker mounts available that allow speakers to be mounted a few inches away from the wall and angled to your desired position.

There are a lot of reviews out about the X-series from AV123, but not so much on the new ELTs.
I haven't read it, but here's one review of the system
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com...ts-speaker-review.html

 

[kalrith]

Unfortunately, reality has sunk in, and I won't be able to get the speakers . It's just not financially feasible right now without charging the whole purchase to a credit card and probably taking a year or more to pay it off.

I appreciate all the tips, but for now I'll just continue to enjoy my Polk setup.