Help with sound system - Blu-ray Forum

SideEffect34 · 11-07-2008, 10:20 PM

Hey guys. I have a Samsung 37" 720 LCD HDTV. It's a Series 3 330. I use a PS3. I have HDMI cables for that and my Comcast cable box. I just got the TV a couple months ago. I'm looking for a home theater set up. I've never had one before so I'm not sure which one would be best for this. Any suggestions? By the way the room is 18 feet by 20 feet.

Here are links to 2 pics of the TV Display:

http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ypics005-1.jpg

http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ypics006-1.jpg

Thanks and I'll greatly appreciate any feedback.

Big Daddy · 11-08-2008, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SideEffect34

Hey guys. I have a Samsung 37" 720 LCD HDTV. It's a Series 3 330. I use a PS3. I have HDMI cables for that and my Comcast cable box. I just got the TV a couple months ago. I'm looking for a home theater set up. I've never had one before so I'm not sure which one would be best for this. Any suggestions? By the way the room is 18 feet by 20 feet.
Here are links to 2 pics of the TV Display:
http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ypics005-1.jpg
http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ypics006-1.jpg
Thanks and I'll greatly appreciate any feedback.

You need a receiver and 5 speakers and a subwoofer for a 5.1 setup or 7 speakers and a subwoofer for a 7.1 setup. There are hundreds of choices available. The total cost can be from $400-$500 to several million dollars Give us your total budget.

SideEffect34 · 11-08-2008, 02:08 AM

I'd say up to about $1,000. I suppose I could go a little over that if I need to.

I was at Best Buy today looking into it and the employee recommended Bose. After I got home, I saw how a lot of you here seem not to like it though. So maybe I should stop considering Bose then?

sokrman14 · 11-08-2008, 02:11 AM

With $1000+ you can do a lot better than bose. Get a decent receiver in the $450-500 range and a nice 5.1 setup like Definitive Technology, Polk, SVS, etc.

DBlackGT · 11-08-2008, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SideEffect34

I'd say up to about $1,000. I suppose I could go a little over that if I need to.

I was at Best Buy today looking into it and the employee recommended Bose. After I got home, I saw how a lot of you here seem not to like it though. So maybe I should stop considering Bose then?

Yes that is about the smartest thing you could do, bose is not well like in home theater forums. Would you mind buying stuff online? You will save tons of cash if you do

Let us know.

Big Daddy · 11-08-2008, 02:38 AM

Try Level Two Speakers from Home Theater Direct.
http://www.htd.com/cabinet-speakers.

You can buy good Receivers for about $400 to $800 by Onkyo, Pioneer, Yamaha, Denon, Sony, etc. Make sure the receiver has HDMI 1.3 connection and also has the ability to decode the HD audio codecs such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. Here are reviews of receivers:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/
http://reviews.cnet.com/1770-6466_7-...g=ltcol;narrow
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/maste...rocessors.html
http://www.hometheatermag.com/buyersguides/avreceivers/
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/receivers/?skip=y
http://www.ultimateavmag.com/avreceivers/
http://hometheater.about.com/od/audi...ts_Reviews.htm
http://www.hometheaterreview.com/receiver_reviews/
http://www.avreview.co.uk/review/rev...0248412684/v/1
http://www.audioreview.com/cat/ampli...S_2718crx.aspx
http://www.audioreview.com/cat/ampli...S_2718crx.aspx
http://www.testfreaks.com/receivers/
http://www.testseek.com/home_electro...ers-c-192.html
http://www.smartratings.com/electronics/receivers
http://wize.com/receivers/t107-home-theater
http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/re...witchers.shtml
http://hometheater.about.com/od/avre...atpmidavra.htm
http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-av...-receiver.html
http://products.howstuffworks.com/a+.../All/award-all
http://www.crutchfield.com/g_10420/R...rs.html?tp=179
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rs=2...2Cn%3A14269281
http://www.epinions.com/Receivers--~...kin_id=3065542
http://search.ecoustics.com/Consumer...rs/Alpha-Name/
http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/section_...gadget=&id=106
http://www.productreview.com.au/cate...hp?cat_id=1070

Steve · 11-08-2008, 03:06 AM

For a receiver take a look at the Onkyo TX-SR605. You can get a refurb model right now at accessories4less for $259.99 plus shipping, and shipping is pretty reasonable. That leaves a good chunk of your budget for some nice speakers. good luck.

http://www.accessories4less.com/inde...3A%22%22%3B%7D

zweet77 · 11-08-2008, 03:18 AM

Never listen to Best Buy or Circuit City or Fry's etc. employees they are totally clueless.The advice you will get on this site or Avs forum is the best way to go.Good luck! Bose!!

SideEffect34 · 11-09-2008, 04:18 AM

So, right now it seems maybe I should get an Onkyo receiver and Polk speakers? Would that be the way to go? I really don't know too much about all this. Can anyone tell me like exactly what they would get in my situation? Thanks again!

andyman1970 · 11-09-2008, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SideEffect34

So, right now it seems maybe I should get an Onkyo receiver and Polk speakers? Would that be the way to go? I really don't know too much about all this. Can anyone tell me like exactly what they would get in my situation? Thank again!

I have been looking at the Onkyo TX-SR606. It's the newer version of the 605. You can get on Amazon for about $350.00. You might want to go on to Amazon and read some of the customer reviews and see what you think. I'm still not sure which way I will go, but really need a new surround system and don't have a lot of cash to put down on one.

JasonR · 11-09-2008, 04:28 AM

For a little over a grand, I got:

2 x Polk Monitor 50s (fronts)
1 x Polk Monitor CS1 (center)
2 x Polk Monitor 30s (surrounds)
1 x eD A2-300 (sub)
1 x Sony STR-DG920 (receiver)

You could replace the receiver with an Onkyo 605/606, Onkyo 705/706, Onkyo 805/806, Yamaha V663, Pioneer 1018, Marantz, Denon, etc....

You are probably looking at $1500 for a decent setup....

Uniquely · 11-09-2008, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SideEffect34

So, right now it seems maybe I should get an Onkyo receiver and Polk speakers? Would that be the way to go? I really don't know too much about all this. Can anyone tell me like exactly what they would get in my situation? Thank again!

First off... I would kill to have a room that shape to put my stuff in. I'm jealous already! My room is like 30' X14.

If you're using the PS3 for a player, you don't have to necessarily have a receiver that decodes the HD audio formats. You just need one that will accept PCM audio via HDMI. However, I say go ahead and get one that does handle the HD audio. You never know if you might want to get a different player one day.

I'm a fan of the Onkyo's, especially when on a tight budget. The 606 is nice, but I'd go for the 705 or even the 805 if you can up your budget a bit.

I recently upgraded my smaller satellite surrounds to full size towers. I can't stress how much of a difference that made to the overall sound field. I would say if possible, get four towers and a center now; and save for a sub later. Newegg has Polk monitor 50's for $99 each and the M 60's for $129 each. 50's all the way around, or maybe a pair of 60's in the front and 50's in the rear. Given that you'd end up buying speaker stands or wall mounts to go with smaller surrounds anyway; I'm now a huge fan of why not just put that extra money towards the speakers and have better sound. Then there's the polk csi21 for $80 for the center.

polk csi21 $80

4 polk M 50's $400

Onkyo 705 $450

Total $930 which will leave you $70 to go to Monoprice.com and take care of your cabling needs.

That's what I'd do with that room and budget.

JasonR · 11-09-2008, 04:58 AM

^^^^I like your thinking.

It should be known that center is not timbre matched. He would want the CS1 or CS2. It would probably be close enough though....

Uniquely · 11-09-2008, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonR

^^^^I like your thinking.

It should be known that center is not timbre matched. He would want the CS1 or CS2. It would probably be close enough though....

I don't have the polk's myself so was not certain of which center matched the monitors. Thanks for not letting me steer him wrong.

I forgot to say, that if you go with the four tower configuration; you will not miss the sub too terribly until you can save up for a good one. You won't be bass poor.

I do have a sub, so I set my front towers on 80hz and my surround towers on 40hz. I would have liked to have put my surrounds on full band, but my receiver will not do that unless I put my fronts on full as well;

SideEffect34 · 11-15-2008, 12:19 AM

Thanks for all the help so far. I was looking through the Circuit City Black Friday ad and they have the Onkyo 5.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver for $139.99 and the Onkyo 7.1 Channel Home Theater System for $399.99. Should I go for either of these? I'm planning on also getting 2 Polk floor standing speakers and maybe a center one, too.

Best Buy will also have the Polk Audio - 10" 100W Powered Subwoofer for $99.99 and Polk Audio - 5-1/4" Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) for $49.99.

Beta Man · 11-15-2008, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SideEffect34

Thanks for all the help so far. I was looking through the Circuit City Black Friday ad and they have the Onkyo 5.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver for $139.99 and the Onkyo 7.1 Channel Home Theater System for $399.99. Should I go for either of these? I'm planning on also getting 2 Polk floor standing speakers and maybe a center one, too.

Best Buy will also have the Polk Audio - 10" 100W Powered Subwoofer for $99.99 and Polk Audio - 5-1/4" Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) for $49.99.

NO.....

Stick with a receiver, and buying Left/Front/Center/Surrounds/Sub separately.......

You won't find an "All in one" system that doesn't have at least a few drawbacks...... the drawbacks of the ones you listed, are the speakers......

Driver_King · 11-15-2008, 03:13 AM

Models, please.

SideEffect34 · 11-15-2008, 04:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Models, please.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo...oductDetail.do

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/produ...d=k134025&mid=

Those are the CC ones

Here are the BB Polk speakers:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1207352528930

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1207956903491
__________

I don't know if these are good at all, I just saw them in the ad. And I think I am leaning towards an Onkyo reciever and Polk speakers, I just don't know which models.

Driver_King · 11-16-2008, 02:03 AM

Nothing there is really worth while.

Beta Man · 11-16-2008, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Nothing there is really worth while.

The polk speakers (bookshelfs) can work for surrounds.... but for the same price, or very close to it, you can get floor-standers from Fry's I think..... I saw the deal somewhere on here....

11-07-2008, 10:20 PM	#1
SideEffect34 Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:Nov 2008 Location:Illinois 4K collection:112 Blu-ray collection:695 Trading Score:57	Help with sound system Hey guys. I have a Samsung 37" 720 LCD HDTV. It's a Series 3 330. I use a PS3. I have HDMI cables for that and my Comcast cable box. I just got the TV a couple months ago. I'm looking for a home theater set up. I've never had one before so I'm not sure which one would be best for this. Any suggestions? By the way the room is 18 feet by 20 feet. Here are links to 2 pics of the TV Display: http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ypics005-1.jpg http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ypics006-1.jpg Thanks and I'll greatly appreciate any feedback.

11-08-2008, 02:38 AM	#6
Big Daddy Blu-ray Champion Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Southern California Home Theater Gallery:79 Blu-ray collection:122 Trading Score:1	Try Level Two Speakers from Home Theater Direct. http://www.htd.com/cabinet-speakers. You can buy good Receivers for about $400 to $800 by Onkyo, Pioneer, Yamaha, Denon, Sony, etc. Make sure the receiver has HDMI 1.3 connection and also has the ability to decode the HD audio codecs such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. Here are reviews of receivers: http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/ http://reviews.cnet.com/1770-6466_7-...g=ltcol;narrow http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/maste...rocessors.html http://www.hometheatermag.com/buyersguides/avreceivers/ http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/receivers/?skip=y http://www.ultimateavmag.com/avreceivers/ http://hometheater.about.com/od/audi...ts_Reviews.htm http://www.hometheaterreview.com/receiver_reviews/ http://www.avreview.co.uk/review/rev...0248412684/v/1 http://www.audioreview.com/cat/ampli...S_2718crx.aspx http://www.audioreview.com/cat/ampli...S_2718crx.aspx http://www.testfreaks.com/receivers/ http://www.testseek.com/home_electro...ers-c-192.html http://www.smartratings.com/electronics/receivers http://wize.com/receivers/t107-home-theater http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/re...witchers.shtml http://hometheater.about.com/od/avre...atpmidavra.htm http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-av...-receiver.html http://products.howstuffworks.com/a+.../All/award-all http://www.crutchfield.com/g_10420/R...rs.html?tp=179 http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rs=2...2Cn%3A14269281 http://www.epinions.com/Receivers--~...kin_id=3065542 http://search.ecoustics.com/Consumer...rs/Alpha-Name/ http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/section_...gadget=&id=106 http://www.productreview.com.au/cate...hp?cat_id=1070 Last edited by Big Daddy; 11-08-2008 at 03:18 AM.

11-09-2008, 04:18 AM	#9
SideEffect34 Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:Nov 2008 Location:Illinois 4K collection:112 Blu-ray collection:695 Trading Score:57	So, right now it seems maybe I should get an Onkyo receiver and Polk speakers? Would that be the way to go? I really don't know too much about all this. Can anyone tell me like exactly what they would get in my situation? Thanks again! Last edited by SideEffect34; 11-09-2008 at 04:56 AM.

11-09-2008, 04:28 AM	#11
JasonR Super Moderator Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Trading Score:12	For a little over a grand, I got: 2 x Polk Monitor 50s (fronts) 1 x Polk Monitor CS1 (center) 2 x Polk Monitor 30s (surrounds) 1 x eD A2-300 (sub) 1 x Sony STR-DG920 (receiver) You could replace the receiver with an Onkyo 605/606, Onkyo 705/706, Onkyo 805/806, Yamaha V663, Pioneer 1018, Marantz, Denon, etc.... You are probably looking at $1500 for a decent setup.... Last edited by JasonR; 11-09-2008 at 04:31 AM.

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11-08-2008, 02:08 AM	#3
SideEffect34 Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:Nov 2008 Location:Illinois 4K collection:112 Blu-ray collection:695 Trading Score:57	I'd say up to about $1,000. I suppose I could go a little over that if I need to. I was at Best Buy today looking into it and the employee recommended Bose. After I got home, I saw how a lot of you here seem not to like it though. So maybe I should stop considering Bose then?

11-08-2008, 02:11 AM	#4
sokrman14 Special Member Member since:Mar 2006 Location:Omaha, NE Home Theater Gallery:9 Blu-ray collection:32 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:1	With $1000+ you can do a lot better than bose. Get a decent receiver in the $450-500 range and a nice 5.1 setup like Definitive Technology, Polk, SVS, etc.

11-08-2008, 03:06 AM	#7
Steve Blu-ray Knight Top ranked HT gallery Top contributor Member since:May 2008 Location:Anna, TX 4K collection:128 Blu-ray collection:416 Trading Score:41	For a receiver take a look at the Onkyo TX-SR605. You can get a refurb model right now at accessories4less for $259.99 plus shipping, and shipping is pretty reasonable. That leaves a good chunk of your budget for some nice speakers. good luck. http://www.accessories4less.com/inde...3A%22%22%3B%7D

11-08-2008, 03:18 AM	#8
zweet77 Senior Member Member since:Apr 2008 Location:San Francisco Home Theater Gallery:12 Blu-ray collection:129 Blu-ray reviews:7	Never listen to Best Buy or Circuit City or Fry's etc. employees they are totally clueless.The advice you will get on this site or Avs forum is the best way to go.Good luck! Bose!!

11-09-2008, 04:58 AM	#13
JasonR Super Moderator Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Trading Score:12	^^^^I like your thinking. It should be known that center is not timbre matched. He would want the CS1 or CS2. It would probably be close enough though....

11-15-2008, 12:19 AM	#15
SideEffect34 Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:Nov 2008 Location:Illinois 4K collection:112 Blu-ray collection:695 Trading Score:57	Thanks for all the help so far. I was looking through the Circuit City Black Friday ad and they have the Onkyo 5.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver for $139.99 and the Onkyo 7.1 Channel Home Theater System for $399.99. Should I go for either of these? I'm planning on also getting 2 Polk floor standing speakers and maybe a center one, too. Best Buy will also have the Polk Audio - 10" 100W Powered Subwoofer for $99.99 and Polk Audio - 5-1/4" Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) for $49.99.

11-15-2008, 03:13 AM	#17
Driver_King Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Tampa Bay, Florida Home Theater Gallery:96 Blu-ray collection:28 Trading Score:10	Models, please.

11-16-2008, 02:03 AM	#19
Driver_King Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Tampa Bay, Florida Home Theater Gallery:96 Blu-ray collection:28 Trading Score:10	Nothing there is really worth while.

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