Equipment and Setup Advice

[germ79]

I recently moved and I had to leave behind my old home theater setup. I had an Epson projector, with the HSU Ventriloquist speakers (7 speaker) and the VTF3 sub. To be honest, I'm only mildly heartbroken, as this is an opportunity for me to upgrade my setup! I've been eyeing the HSU Hybrid 15 7.1 setup, but am open to suggestions in a similar price range. I also need a receiver to power this new setup. My budget is about $3500 for receiver, speakers, and sub (if possible).

I've attached the layout of the new home theater area and would like your advice. I realize having the main listening area in the middle of the room doesn't lend itself well for bass response, but I would like to have the rear speakers if possible. If I have the couch up against a wall, I'm ASSuming I'll have to do a 5.1 setup. Perhaps that isn't as big of a deal as I think.

So, have at it. Please give me your advice for speaker, sub, couch, screen, and receiver etc placement. Thank you SO much!

Looking forward to a whole new setup!

Thanks in advance!

[callas01]

would it be possible to build a wall behind your seated area? i realize it would stil be about 6 feet behind you, but it would really help to enclose the area and provide a better experience.

from there, theres several ways that you could go, but it would all depend on how you like to listen. do you want it defening? or just loud? how much output is sufficient for you? I dont want to pass judgement on how loud you want to listen, because I know the ventriliquists are rather small speakers, so the HB-1 will be much larger.

the hb-1s are nice speakers, i got to hear them with a vtf15h and it was very good. if youre kinda set on those then take the plunge.

you could also consider the focal 706s as mains and the 705s as surorunds and cc700 center, theres the ascend acoustics cmt 340s and cbm 140s, any of them paired with the same hsu sub would be very good.

if you can stretch your budget just a little the Monitor Audio rx line is going on sale, so 3 pairs of rx1s with a center channel would be awesome.

id look at something like a marantz 5008, denon x3000 or onkyo 828 to power your setup with.

[germ79]

callas01,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I don't think building a wall down there will work for us at this time. I do like that idea, though...

The Ventriloquist speakers were nice for their size and price, but I would like to have a richer, fuller sound even at higher volumes. This setup would be used for movies probably 95% of the time.

The HB-1's seem quite nice and I think would get me the fuller sound I am wanting, but I am certainly interested in the others you mention.

Where is the Monitor Audio rx line speakers going on sale?

I have looked at each of those receivers you mentioned! I had a high-end Onkyo receiver at my last house and quite liked it. I hear some negative things about them in forums, as compared to Denon and Marantz, but have no experience with either of those. It seems like you can get some of the higher-end bells and whistles for less $$ with the Onkyos.

Thanks again!

[callas01]

you can look up the monitor audio speakers on both audioadvisor.com and saturdayaudio.com. you can look up the focal speakers at musicdirect.com. based on what i have recently learned regarding the onkyo receivers it seems the best bargins might be with the denons considering what you get for calibration and power and features, although ive been fond of marantz sound for years. I do have an integra(onkyo) and its been good. recently i have heard the newer ones are a little bit brighter sounding. havent heard any of the newer ones recently tho.