home theatre / stereo help needed

Dont get a soundbar! At best they sound better than the tv. While there are good ones out there. They cost more than a decent componet system. Getting a receiver is the best way to go, because they upgradeable, last longer, and sound better. The best system for the $$$ I feel after selling these systems for a few years. Is the Klipsch Quintet series pair it with a mid range receiver ~$300. And the Klipsch Sub 8" or 10" depending on room size. Best Buy will package and price match the setup down to about $1000. Great system, excellent sounding small speakers. Klipsch is an american speaker company, and they are well known for being used in movie theaters... Best Buy also sells cheaper yamaha packages with a receiver 5 speakers and a sub, which are pretty good...If you got more to spend the sky is the limit. Find a best buy with a magnolia home theater store inside. Listen to some Bowers & Wilkins I own a set with a pioneer Elite receiver and its outstanding, better than theaters!!! Deffinitive Technology, Martin Login, Macintosh are great too. Sorry I wrote to much, Just the facts I have learned after selling/installing/listening to thousands of systems. Hope it helps
 
PS dont worry so much about getting a 7.1 setup. Not many movies are made in 7.1, most are in 5.1 still. Well its still a good idea to get a 7.1 receiver, just to "future proof" yourself....Oh and if you like to just put music on for back ground. Some receivers are networkable now, so you can do pandora,napster,internet radio right on the receiver. Also if you have an iphone or use a laptap with itunes you can do airplay which is my favorite feature!
 
I was in a Best Buy the other night and they had Klipsch, Pioneer, Polk, Sony and Samsung (?) audio components (among others). Being a musician and music nut I've known about Klipsch for a long time. They certainly look appealing to me... at least for the main left and right speakers.
I've seen a lot of home theatres set up terribly. A common mistake is loss of the center "speaking" channel...I thought a soundbar was supposed to fix that problem of voice drop out?
 
Maybe it's a terminology thing, but a "sound bar" to me means a single speaker meant/used to reproduce sounds from all 3 front channels - the center, front left and front right. No single channel can accurately reproduce 3 channels. Is it better than the stock TV speakers? Probably, but it's NOT a good option for a home theater (even a cheaper/low end one).

As for the loss of the center speaking channel, that kind of depends on a couple of things. The audio track/decoding has to match the speaker setup. Ignorant (for lack of a better word) users often mess this up. You have to match the auto track/decoding/DSP to the speaker configuration you have. So if you have no center channel, don't listen to things in dolby digital. Go stereo, or use one of the DSPs most receivers have if you want (I hate them, but some people love them... to each his own).

Something else to keep in mind... for companies that make both electronics and speakers, I've yet to find one that does a good job with both. If they make good electronics (receivers, dvd players, etc), their speakers will likely be sub par at best. The reverse is also true... good speakers = lousy electronics. That's largely why better brands don't do both - they make one type of product and make it REALLY well.

If you're looking to stay simple/cheap, Best Buy is fine. KEF makes a great speaker, though I doubt best buy carries any of their better stuff, and you know about Klipsch. Pair that up with a decent receiver from Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, etc and you'll be set.

I do recommend going to an audio/home theater shop just so you have a frame of reference. Depending on where they start, you can often get far superior products (especially speakers) for fractionally more money.

Once you get there, monoprice.com is a great place to buy cables.
 
plus 1. Most sound bars are ment to be stand alone units. The center channel I feel is the most important speaker and most people just have their system setup wrong, by using weird sound modes. I recommend keeping your system on the "straight/direct" mode. That way you will hear your content the in mode it was intended to be heard. I am sure there are other great systems out there I just know the ones Best Buy carries really well. The polk Tsi series are a great midrange speaker if your looking for somthing a little more music orientated still in the cheaper price range. And if your looking at the HTIB (Home theater in a box, the units with dvd players). There okay but about the same quality as the sound bars...Mono price's higher end cables are great. But I would stay away from there cheaper ones.(the better ones are only a few dollars more)
 
jacksonpt said:
No disrespect, as I'm glad you have found stuff you like, but if you think that stuff sounds good or is quite pricey, you should spend a couple hours at an actual audio/home theater shop. Even the low end PSBs I have with my basic NAD receiver will blow that stuff out of the water.
Click to expand...

No disrespect taken but I'm a long time audiophile and I frequent electronic and audio stores often. I like all kinds of audio equipment. To me, JL probably has one of the best audio systems on the market, if you're will to spend several grand for home theater equipment. JL seems to be spot on with the clarity and crispness of their equipment and have subwoofers that I have yet to find look as nice of sound as clean and strong.

Granted there is a lot of other high end equipment that is comparable but then again you up in the several $1000,s range. Something I've learned after years of installing car audio equipment and doing a few personal home theater systems for friends and family is, you definitely get what you pay for and there is no way around it! $100 is probably going to sound like crap, $500 can buy you a nice system that will please the average person, $1000 will sound great and probably impress the average person, $5000+ will blow even an seasoned audiophile away with quality. It's all about what you can dish out!
 
i agree with the soundbar. although the seem to get decent reviews, i feel that the sound quality as well as future use isn't there. they are mainly for smaller spaces or in places where you can't mount or stand a speaker. although that technology has made it in to quite a few floorstanding or 3.1 systems. i agree with JL if you can swing it. haven't owned any but i've demoed it. i love my set up and honestly can't talk enough about it. personally i'd go to best buy to hear some stuff, but buying online is where it's at sadly. the last thing i bought in a store was my fish stuff because i needed the knowledge. but now with even the corals i ordered. most of what i will get going forward will rarely be in a store. sorry locals :(
 
great thread so far!

great thread so far!

it's certainly helping me form some basic decisions. I'm not in a hurry so that's a good thing.
 
Yes, I think you are thinking about it correctly.

It's basically just another speaker. Functionally, it's no different than a main speaker. The drivers/cabinet may be slightly different, but essentially it's the same as any other traditional speaker.
 
the above center channel by POLK is the exact one i have. I wouldn't exactly say it work as a sound bar, center channels are mainly used for dialog in movies, etc. if you were to power it as a sound bar, you would get dialog and suttle back ground sounds. wouldn't sound great but yeah you can do it.
 
Soundbars are used to replicate center, right and left front sound. The center channel that I posted is strictly a center channel. The center channel speaker will produce as much as 80% of the sound from your system. I purchased my Polk system from crutchfield.com which usually has good deals on them. Right now they have a spend 499 on polk and get a free 10" powered subwoofer. When I purchased mine I split my order and walked away with two free subs ;-)). I certainly don't know much about salt water tanks but I can assure you that you won't be disappointed in a Polk system.
 
great suggestions!

great suggestions!

question: I currently have two bookshelf speakers. They are okay... nothing great. I could temporarily incorporate these into my home theatre system, right?
 
Yes, you could. You could use them as mains/fronts temporarily, then move them to the back as you upgrade. You could eventually remove them from the system completely depending on what you end up with.
 
I have all Polk RTi series speakers and love them, though I think they would really benefit from an amplifier. My neigbor has a klipsch setup but the horn system doesnt mesh as well with my ears.

On the subwoofer front, most of the big name brands are crap (relatively speaking). Much better quality can be had for much cheaper. BIC Acoustech is an unknown name but their subs get top reviews
 
I have $100 credit at Best Buy. I have four bookshelf speakers here at the house already. If a get an amp/receiver, a center channel monitor/speaker and a sub I should be well on my way, right? (I can always upgrade speakers later.) How much does it matter to have "matching" speakers.. I realize better speakers make a huge impact on sound reproduction... but I've been suffering with these bookshelf speakers for so long it's not gonna kill me to use them some more until I can upgrade.

Right now looking for a rock'n'roll solution that's not gonna set me back too much. (ANYTHING will be an improvement over the stock TV speakers.)

I wish I'd never sold my Cerwin Vega's but we all do crazy things when getting married :hammer:
 
You would be ok with using those speakers Gary. You would want to match all of the speakers eventually because matching speakers have the same frequency response. The only speaker that really wouldn't matter would be the sub. If you have a credit for BB you might want to look at some open box deals they might have. Basically they are from people returning items for whatever reasons. They come with the same warranty but you can save some cash on them. If you want you might be able to work them over for a better deal as well. I have a 10" Polk sub that is brand new in the box if you want to trade for future considerations?
 
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