Home Theater 5.1 Surround Sound System

I'm currently in the market for a home theater receiver and speakers. I've been looking at the Onkyo TX-SR500 for a receiver. I'm planning to run either fiber or coax (digital) from my computer to the receiver. Anybody have a surround system already?? Please tell me 'bout it--good, bad, anything! My price range is something around $600-800 for the receiver and speakers. I thought about getting a surround package, but it'll be better quality if I get each piece seperately. I appreciate any details, model #s, or other helpful information that would help me in the research for a system!

Thanks!

-CaP

[Binninn]

You take a look at this
I have one of those and it is FOOKing Great..

_http://www.roundsound.com/home.htm

[sigmazeta314]

Try this combo:

Front Channel: Yamaha NS-6390 $100/pair

Center Channel: JBL N-Center $150

Surround Speakers: Yamaha NS-5390 $80/pair

Subwoofer: Yamaha SW-105 $150

Reciever: Yamaha HTR-5540 $300

Total --- $780.00

I realize that this is a Yamaha biased reccommendation, but they make really good stuff at reasonable prices. I myself have Yamaha surrounds and a Yamaha sub and will soon purchase a new reciever from Yamaha.

These prices are Best Buy prices which can easily be beaten on ebay or any online store carrying these items. If you price shop these items, you should have enough left over to get speaker stands for the front channels and good wiring for all of the speakers. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF GOOD WIRING!!! It can make a huge difference.

The Onkyo you were looking at is a great reciever, but I feel you would get more bang for your buck with the Yamaha...particularly if you have a bunch of stuff to hook up.

I hope this post helps. If you want any more advise just ask.

Sig Z 314
________________

P.S. Optical or Coax...hardly any different. I would go with optical...it won't pick up RF interference and more components have an optical out.

[the_chiller]

cappaberra, you're right about getting each piece separately ... most all-in-one HT packages are no good. Anyway, I went through that whole speaker research process, here's what I can say....

I got my HTS a few months ago, all from shopping.yahoo.com . The total was $600, but I believe it was well worth it.

For the speakers, I chose 100W JBL SCS135SI, I got them for $295 . I also bought the matching stands from JBL for $50.

For the receiver, I chose the $238 Pioneer VSX-D711. I figured that I dont need any more than that. It is 5.1 channels, 100W * 5 total power, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Pro Logic II. 6.1 and 7.1 receivers are overkill for me.

Some good resources I found:

www.crutchfield.com (browse through the products, they give you high-res images of all items, like the BACK of the receiver)

shopping.yahoo.com (to buy the stuff, I recommend that you sort by lowest price and then go up the list to find out who has the lowest shipping/tax)

www.etronics.com (look at the products there under Home Theater)

www.audioreview.com (to read reviews)


Some advice:

- You buy all 6 speaker pieces from a single manufacturer, or at least the fronts, center, and rears from the same company. The subwoofer doesnt really have to match the brand of the 5 speakers, but I think its better if it does. Its important for the system to be acoustically matched.

- You get a receiver with Dolby Pro Logic II (yes, this is VERY important) because most sound (other than DVDs) is not encoded in AC3. Dolby Pro Logic II has a much better way of simulating surround sound in 5 discrete channels, as opposed to crappy Pro Logic I.

- You make sure that the wattage of your speakers you chose is more than or equal to that of the receiver. Otherwise you could risk blowing the speakers.

- You go out and buy high quality cables (optical, coxial, ...). Remember, you get what you pay for ... those extra dollars can make a difference. (just don't spend more than $30 for a cable, after that it's ridiculous *lol)

My recommendations:

RECEIVER:
Pioneer (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pi...010400,00.html)

Harman/Kardon (http://www.harmankardon.com/product_...C&prod=AVR7000)

Denon (http://www.usa.denon.com/)

Onyko (http://www.onkyousa.com/prod_class.cfm?class=receivers)

Sony (but not as good as the rest)


SPEAKERS:

JBL (http://www.jbl.com/home/products/ser...=SCS&CatId=HCS)

HK (http://www.harmankardon.com/product_...CS&prod=HKTS10)

Polk audio (http://www.polkaudio.com/home/products.php?category=2)

Klipsch (http://www.klipsch.com/index.asp?pat...&id=43&line=&1)

And again, avoid getting sony speakers .... what they excel in style, they lack in performance.

The system I have right now is amazing, I was watching Jurrasic Park 3 the other day and it blew the roof off! The JBL speakers I have are like little sticks of dynamite, don't be fooled by their small size.

If you'd like some more advice, please send a PM ... I'd love to share my knowledge on this topic and help you assemble a system within your price range.





Last edited by the_chiller at Jul 31 2002, 10:12 PM

wow... thx guys!! I appreciate all the advice... I'll sift through what you've said, and if anybody else has more to add, please go for it! The more content the better!!!

My goal right now is VERY simple: hook up a surround system to my computer for music, DVDs, games, etc... so, I don't need tons of inputs/outputs on the reciever...

@the_chiller, the receiver you have has a 0.2% THD, which is "relatively high"... I've gotten recommendations from friends that I should be looking at a receiver that's <0.1% THD... your thoughts/opinions? Also, let's say I get the speaker set from JBL that you have, what's the *lowest* wattage receiver should i consider (mostly because of price)? The room I'm powering isn't big only 12ft x 12ft... for instance, would the Denon AVR-1602 (70W) be adaquate?

thanks again,
CaP



Last edited by cappaberra at Jul 31 2002, 09:24 PM

[Jessica]

get a reciever w/ DTS. is the only other advice i can offer in addition to whats already been said.

DD5.1 and DTS.

[the_chiller]

well my receiver does not suffer from noticeable distortion, I can turn it up really loud and the sound is still clear. you are right about the 0.2% THD, but I bought this receiver with other reasons in mind... it supplies to my outdoor speakers, as well as my HTS. It has assignable digital inputs and component video inputs, which I needed for HDTV. And it's 100W, Dolby Pro Logic II. But if you need the utmost sound clarity at high volumes, you're friends are right ... look for something with 0.1% THD or even 0.05 %.

Most 5.1 speakers on market are either 80 or 100 W * 5, sometimes they even make the center channel 150 W . The speakers I have are all rated 100W (Fs C Rs), so in order to get full power out of the speakers you should also get a 100W receiver. If not 100 W, then at least 80W ... it depends on how loud you want them to go.

Just DON'T get a wattage for the receiver higher than the speaker's wattage... trust me, you DON'T want to blow speakers by turning the volume too high (it's happened several times to my friend, he's a music freak lol)



Last edited by the_chiller at Aug 1 2002, 01:31 AM

ok... makes sense the_chiller. I'm not planning on multi-room, HDTV, etc. setup, and my main objective on this purchase is for the highest quality sound possible within a budget. Thanks for the explanation... I found an interesting site on THD here: http://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/thd.htm

One thing that the page is lacking is the part about power: a lower THD is less resisent which means more power... make sense?

-CaP

[skloo77]

just got this info from a article......if have a 5.1 sound system, your sound card must have 6 channels (dun know what is this for.....never really into this stuff)

u may like to check it out on your sound card capabilities

My on board sound card has a 6 channel sound processor and has SPDIF audio connectors (digital in/out & others). So, in short, I'm surround capable.

-CaP