New Home Theater Setup

[loganvonstone]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums so first off I just want to say hello. I currently have an Onkyo ST-HR800 HTIB. I've had it for a few years and it's been great. I'm looking to upgrade my home theater setup and I'm not too sure where to begin. What would be some good options considering that the home theater is mainly used for Blu-Ray and Playstation 3?

[Finmaan]

I'd start with the TV.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by loganvonstone

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums so first off I just want to say hello. I currently have an Onkyo ST-HR800 HTIB. I've had it for a few years and it's been great. I'm looking to upgrade my home theater setup and I'm not too sure where to begin. What would be some good options considering that the home theater is mainly used for Blu-Ray and Playstation 3?

Welcome to the forum logan !

What do you have right now !

[loganvonstone]

I currently have a Panasonic TH-50PZ80U that I'm content with. Probably should have mentioned that.

[tbizzle]

First off, welcome, and nice TV!

I would start with a quality receiver and some nice towers first. Then you can build from there when you can afford to upgrade. Take a look at Polk, Energy and Infinity for some nice speakers that won't break your wallet

[loganvonstone]

Thanks for the advice. What would you recommend for the receiver? I want one that is going to be able to handle lossless audio for Blu-Ray.

[^Lestat^]

Originally Posted by loganvonstone

Thanks for the advice. What would you recommend for the receiver? I want one that is going to be able to handle lossless audio for Blu-Ray.

Well first thing these guys are gonna ask is what is your budget. For me advise i could give you is audition recievers as different brands sound different.

[loganvonstone]

Probably around $500ish for the budget. Most likely will be looking around on ebay once I have a better idea of what I'm looking for.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by loganvonstone

Probably around $500ish for the budget. Most likely will be looking around on ebay once I have a better idea of what I'm looking for.

As Lestat said , You should go audition things first to see what you like . Not only do receivers sound different , But speakers do to as well .

[loganvonstone]

Okay. As far as brands go are there any to stay away from or to keep an eye out for? I'm not that familiar with audio equipment

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by loganvonstone

Okay. As far as brands go are there any to stay away from or to keep an eye out for? I'm not that familiar with audio equipment

Denon ~ Yamaha ~ Pioneer are all good receivers .
Polk & Energy & Infinity & Klipsh are good speakers for starting out !

[loganvonstone]

Would my local Best Buy be a good place to check out some of those brands? Thanks for all the help guys

[tbizzle]

Yeah they might have some of the receivers, but probably not those particular speaker brands. A local Fry's might have some Polks and Infinity's. You can also look online for local Speaker shops. Those will have dedicated audition rooms and a wide variety of equipment and speakers to choose from

As far as receivers, different models won't sound any different to the average listener, but they might to an audiophile's ear. For speakers, the difference will be more noticeable, but still might not seem any different to some. Most people that come on here and ask for help in upgrading usually get a nice set of Polk speakers, even without auditioning. This is because Polk speakers sound great to most people, and for the price, they're hard to beat.

You can get a nice Polk 5 speaker sound system for about $500, a nice sub for $350, and a nice receiver for around $500. So for under $1500, you're movies will be forever better, and you're house will be rockin!

[loganvonstone]

I'll be sure to check those out tomorrow. I found a few systems looking around online. Would any of these be decent ones to check out for what I want to do?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Polk+Audio+%26+Pioneer+Home+Theater+Audio+Package+ with+550W+5.1-Channel+Receiver/9999112300050000.p?id=pcmprd112400050000&skuId=999 9112300050000

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?cl...&m=HT-S9100THX

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Klipsch+...99117200050003

[tbizzle]

Nah not really, you can do much better than that. Here's a system that would blow those away

Polk Monitor 60's - $220 shipped
Polk Monitor 40's - $150 shipped
Polk CS2 - $150 shipped

Elemental Designs A2-300 - $350 shipped

I would definitely grab those Polk Monitor 60's right away, because that's an awesome price. And if you can't afford an entire system right now, then at least start with the basics: your 2 tower speakers and a receiver. And from there, continue building a quality system when your wallet allows it

So that's $870 right there, and you can get the CS2 center speaker for even cheaper when it goes on sale (newegg often has sales for Polk speakers). Lots of people have come on here for advice and ordered a system like this and been very happy with it. Take a look around and you'll see lots of Polk systems in peoples galleries. And the A2-300 subwoofer is pretty much the "best bang for your buck" sub out there right now, most everyone on here will agree

You can get a pretty nice receiver for around $500 that power your system nicely. This would be a pretty sweet setup

And for all of your speaker and home theater cable needs, go to monoprice.com. It's the most recommended cable site on this forum, and have left a lot of us happy with their inexpensive, quality products. Hope this helps

[slickooz]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

Nah not really, you can do much better than that. Here's a system that would blow those away

Polk Monitor 60's - $220 shipped
Polk Monitor 40's - $150 shipped
Polk CS2 - $150 shipped

Elemental Designs A2-300 - $350 shipped

I would definitely grab those Polk Monitor 60's right away, because that's an awesome price. And if you can't afford an entire system right now, then at least start with the basics: your 2 tower speakers and a receiver. And from there, continue building a quality system when your wallet allows it

So that's $870 right there, and you can get the CS2 center speaker for even cheaper when it goes on sale (newegg often has sales for Polk speakers). Lots of people have come on here for advice and ordered a system like this and been very happy with it. Take a look around and you'll see lots of Polk systems in peoples galleries. And the A2-300 subwoofer is pretty much the "best bang for your buck" sub out there right now, most everyone on here will agree

You can get a pretty nice receiver for around $500 that power your system nicely. This would be a pretty sweet setup

And for all of your speaker and home theater cable needs, go to monoprice.com. It's the most recommended cable site on this forum, and have left a lot of us happy with their inexpensive, quality products. Hope this helps

+1 def look into the polks they always have great sale for them. the 60s are the lowest i seen them, two for 220 is a steal. the 40's were always 150, and the lowest i saw cs2 were like 110. i bought these back couple months ago when they were the reg price and i dont regret getting them. they are great speakers will improve your movie experience with each movie u watch.

i been also reading the eD thread and there are many happy owners of the a2-300. that sub is a beast. best bang for your bucks. im thinking about buying an ed a2-300 but i dont know if i should be spending a lot before black friday

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by slickooz

+1 def look into the polks they always have great sale for them. the 60s are the lowest i seen then two for 220 is a steal. the 40's were always 150, and the lowest i saw cs2 were like 110. i bought these back couple months ago when they were the reg price and i dont regret getting them. they are great speakers will improve your movie experience with each movie u watch.

i been also reading the eD thread and there are many happy owners of the a2-300. that sub is a beast. best bang for your bucks. im thinking about buying an ed a2-300 but i dont know if i should be spending a lot before black friday

Haha thanks for backin me up slick

I really do think you should get the A2-300 (both of you), no other sub can touch the performance for that price.

[loganvonstone]

I'll be sure to look into that sub. I'll let you guys know what I end up going with in the next few days.

EDIT

Any reccomendations for a receiver on Newegg?

[tbizzle]

Might wanna do some research on receivers and find out which one sounds best for you. I'll let the receiver experts chime in

I would say an Onkyo 706 would be a nice one to get, or you could get a 606 (but the 706 will put out more power). Either that, or a Pioneer Elite, those are sexy. I've heard you can get those for around $600. Onkyo, Pioneer, Denon, Marantz, Sony and Yamaha are all great brands.

[loganvonstone]

Opinions on a Denon AVR790?