New setup, any advice?

[jayturner514]

I've never really been into home theater setups, but I'm getting ready to move into a townhouse and I bought a denon AVR-S700W. It was a decent deal, and I figured I needed to start somewhere so why not there. I've read reviews around the net, but has anyone here ever dealt with one? Any good? I also found a decent deal with 2 double-cube bose speakers, I wanted something somewhat on the small side. I already have an older samsung sub that's still in pretty good shape (I know it's not powerful, but it was free). Now I'm thinking of something like a polk tl2 center speaker just to kind of balance it out somehow. As you can tell, I'm not dealing with a large budget by any means, so I'm just trying to piece together something reasonable for as little money as possible. I'll eventually buy better, and possibly, matching speakers as I go but does anyone have any advice about what to do or what not to do when setting this stuff up?
Thanks guys.

[Mr.Poindexter]

I would avoid Bose at all costs. They are massively overpriced poor performers that even at a discount are not a good deal.

You can get good deals on used speakers, but you would really want to make sure you stay in one brand to keep them sounding the same. If you buy some used main speakers, try and find the center and surrounds that will match them.

When buying speakers, it is like car engines: there is no replacement for displacement. Small speakers today sound better than they did 50 years ago, but just like then, the larger ones sound better than the smaller ones. Decide how big you can live with.

The biggest bang for your buck for sound will come from your main speakers and your sub. Don't fall for the cable/speaker wire hype. Lamp cord will work as well as the high priced stuff for speaker wire and Monster Cable is going to fall into the same overpriced category as Bose.

[jayturner514]

Thanks for the input Mr P.. The only reason I went with the deal on the bose is because I have had a soundlink speaker for a couple years and have enjoyed it, so I figured these might be ok. Good point about mixing/matching, haven't really thought about how some speakers differ in sound output (yep, I'm new at this). Like you mentioned, I kinda figured that I would be ok primarily concentrating on the left front-right front-and center for now. Also, thanks for the wire advice, I hadn't even thought about that yet. That will be my next step. Thanks again.

[schan1269]

Samsung sub?

When did they make a powered sub?

Cubes? What about the bass module? Without that, the cubes are door stops.

[sonic_debauchery]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/fluance-...uId=1309033546

way better than bose! gives you a full set up for not a lot of coin.

[Bassman614]

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't Bose "cubes" have a specific wire connector that won't plug into a REAL avr? I've never owned thing one of Bose and never will. But I'm assuming, and take no offense, the OP is young and short on funds and may lack the knowledge of modifying a speaker harness. OP please throw those Bose pieces of crap in the trash and get a better setup. The link in the last post is a good deal for someone new to audio systems that don't want to spend much money. You can get away with using different back speakers but timbre matched fronts and center go a long way.

[AnubisNefer]

Originally Posted by Bassman614

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't Bose "cubes" have a specific wire connector that won't plug into a REAL avr? I've never owned thing one of Bose and never will. But I'm assuming, and take no offense, the OP is young and short on funds and may lack the knowledge of modifying a speaker harness. OP please throw those Bose pieces of crap in the trash and get a better setup. The link in the last post is a good deal for someone new to audio systems that don't want to spend much money. You can get away with using different back speakers but timbre matched fronts and center go a long way.

Im not sure about lacking funds, i think its more know-how. Bose spend 80% of their funds on marketing. So that people who just want hassle free setups will always FIRST say BOSE.

I'm sure it's not the funds. Cause Bose is overpriced and although the do have some quality products, there are alot more cheaper and more importantly... better sounding products out there.

And as the post above. Matching centre and fronts are a must!

[jayturner514]

Took the advice...got rid of the bose cubes and bought Definitive 1000 Left, Right, and Center speakers. I'll add more when I can, but this should get me started. But found some good deals...All in, including the brand new receiver...$475