OK, I like nice AV equimpent as much as the next guy and there seems to be at least some correlation between those of us that like aquariums and AV equipment so I am asking here first for some advice. I am by no means an expert and do not have a small fortune invested in AV equipment like some but I like to make the best choices I can when looking at AV equipment and look to buy quality stuff without spending money just for the sake of spending money.
So here goes.
I have the remnants of a 5.1 surround system in our main family room. I have been looking at this underutilized system for over 6 years now and it's time to finally do something about it. I have another room in my basement that serves as the AV nerve center for the house so this is a "one off" set-up that just needs to service the family room off our kitchen with decent 5.1 surround because we tend to do the majority of our TV viewing in this space and when we entertain. Up until now, we have been getting by on the sound from the TV. Typical use is for sports, tv viewing, and occassionally we do watch movies in this room but with the understanding it is not a cinema quality dedicated home theater experience that we are looking to achieve.
It is a pain to make system changes because the system resides in a large custom armoire so it needs to be disassembled into three pieces and moved off the wall to make any meaningful changes to the set up. Therefore, I want to limit the time it takes to get things in place. I do all this stuff myself and I am not looking for a professional installer for this simple set-up.
The previous owner installed wall mounted Canton Plus S L / R front speakers on the wall. Here are the details I have been able to get on them:
Impedance - 4..8 ohms
Frequency Range - 45-26,000 HZ
Music Power Handling - 70 watts
Here is a picture of them.
German speakers, but they don't seem to have a very strong presence in the US just hunting around on the web. I don't know why the previous owner selected them at the time. He took the Canton AV 700 center channel with him as well as whatever subwoofer he was using. The rear channel surrounds are pretty basic in-ceiling speakers. I am almost certain they are Sonance speakers.
So the question I am struggling with is do I try to leverage the use of what was left behind (mostly the Canton S-Plus L/R) or start from scratch? I know the aesthetics of in wall speakers instead of the on wall might be a nice improvement but I don't like the idea of tossing perfectly good L / R Canton speakers. Unfortunately, I don't really have any other use for them in our home right now. I believe I can still get the best matched Center channel speaker which is probably the Canton AV 700.2 for about $375.
Also, I am going crazy trying to decide on a subwoofer to match up with this system. The family room is not enclosed, actually quite the opposite, and the first floor of our home is approximately 2,000 sq./ft. The problem I have is balancing sound quality with the aesthetics of a larger subwoofer. In addition, I don't have a good feel for what is considered exorbitant for a subwoofer. I think there are some decent options out there for $500 or so but can you justify spending closer to $2k on a subwoofer? For example, the Canton SUB 650 is beautiful and the cherry finish matches our armoir but it costs $1,800. Seems crazy to me to spend that much on a subwoofer but I know they can cost well over that, e.g. the Velodyne DD costs much more and there are others out there as well that are well over $3-4k. The Canton SUB 10.2 or 12.2 are options as well and are a priced closer to a $1k target.
Any advice is welcomed. If there is an AV forum anyone likes, let me know and I will check that out as well.
So here goes.
I have the remnants of a 5.1 surround system in our main family room. I have been looking at this underutilized system for over 6 years now and it's time to finally do something about it. I have another room in my basement that serves as the AV nerve center for the house so this is a "one off" set-up that just needs to service the family room off our kitchen with decent 5.1 surround because we tend to do the majority of our TV viewing in this space and when we entertain. Up until now, we have been getting by on the sound from the TV. Typical use is for sports, tv viewing, and occassionally we do watch movies in this room but with the understanding it is not a cinema quality dedicated home theater experience that we are looking to achieve.
It is a pain to make system changes because the system resides in a large custom armoire so it needs to be disassembled into three pieces and moved off the wall to make any meaningful changes to the set up. Therefore, I want to limit the time it takes to get things in place. I do all this stuff myself and I am not looking for a professional installer for this simple set-up.
The previous owner installed wall mounted Canton Plus S L / R front speakers on the wall. Here are the details I have been able to get on them:
Impedance - 4..8 ohms
Frequency Range - 45-26,000 HZ
Music Power Handling - 70 watts
Here is a picture of them.
German speakers, but they don't seem to have a very strong presence in the US just hunting around on the web. I don't know why the previous owner selected them at the time. He took the Canton AV 700 center channel with him as well as whatever subwoofer he was using. The rear channel surrounds are pretty basic in-ceiling speakers. I am almost certain they are Sonance speakers.
So the question I am struggling with is do I try to leverage the use of what was left behind (mostly the Canton S-Plus L/R) or start from scratch? I know the aesthetics of in wall speakers instead of the on wall might be a nice improvement but I don't like the idea of tossing perfectly good L / R Canton speakers. Unfortunately, I don't really have any other use for them in our home right now. I believe I can still get the best matched Center channel speaker which is probably the Canton AV 700.2 for about $375.
Also, I am going crazy trying to decide on a subwoofer to match up with this system. The family room is not enclosed, actually quite the opposite, and the first floor of our home is approximately 2,000 sq./ft. The problem I have is balancing sound quality with the aesthetics of a larger subwoofer. In addition, I don't have a good feel for what is considered exorbitant for a subwoofer. I think there are some decent options out there for $500 or so but can you justify spending closer to $2k on a subwoofer? For example, the Canton SUB 650 is beautiful and the cherry finish matches our armoir but it costs $1,800. Seems crazy to me to spend that much on a subwoofer but I know they can cost well over that, e.g. the Velodyne DD costs much more and there are others out there as well that are well over $3-4k. The Canton SUB 10.2 or 12.2 are options as well and are a priced closer to a $1k target.
Any advice is welcomed. If there is an AV forum anyone likes, let me know and I will check that out as well.
