Audio Recommendation??

[Clark Kent]

Bose is absolutely not what you want to purchase. The speakers they make are generally way overpriced for what they deliver. I understand that Bose is probably the most well known audio name to the general consumer but it got that way through a massive advertising budget. I think Mdabb's recommendation of Revels is excellent. Best Buy unfortunately has a history of pushing very dodgy audio products. Yamaha is a fine name for receivers though.

[Colglizity]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Bose is absolutely not what you want to purchase. The speakers they make are generally way overpriced for what they deliver. I understand that Bose is probably the most well known audio name to the general consumer but it got that way through a massive advertising budget. I think Mdabb's recommendation of Revels is excellent. Best Buy unfortunately has a history of pushing very dodgy audio products. Yamaha is a fine name for receivers though.

+1... my buddy sells and installs home theater equipment (including Bose) and his quote is always, "There are a lot of idiots in the world, that's why I own stock in Bose." Good advice on the yamaha receiver, too. I love mine.

[NDK32489]

Appreciate all the recommendations, I've written down all the speakers and found some SKU's. Next weekend I'm going shooping at some audio specialty stores and am going to check as many of these out as possible. While checking out some of the recommendations, I found these: http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/p...onwall/rm6880/

What do you guys think about these?? Judging on a physical comparison ALONE to the Bose, I found these to be quite nice, but am just curious if anyone has had any first hand experience with them. thanks guys

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by NDK32489

Appreciate all the recommendations, I've written down all the speakers and found some SKU's. Next weekend I'm going shooping at some audio specialty stores and am going to check as many of these out as possible. While checking out some of the recommendations, I found these: http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/p...onwall/rm6880/

What do you guys think about these?? Judging on a physical comparison ALONE to the Bose, I found these to be quite nice, but am just curious if anyone has had any first hand experience with them. thanks guys

I really like my Polks, and people around here like them as well, but with your budget I think you'd be much better off going with what these guys are telling you. There are a lot of great knowledgable people on this forum. Personally, my budget was much less than yours and they helped me put together a great bang-for-the-buck system.

Good luck and take pics when you're all through.

[Durentis]

The audio suggestions look good to me.. I'm kinda partial to the Paradigms, myself, but they'll put you a fair bit over budget. crackinhedz knows what he's talking about, so I'd trust the Polk suggestion.

As for your wall-mounted 52" tv.. why?

For about the same price, perhaps a little more, you can get a good quality 1080p projector (either on a tower or ceiling mounted behind your seating area - great given the location of your receiver and such). PQ is fantastic on my W9000 and I can get a 100"+ screen.

For example, the BenQ W5000. Screens seem to be really cheap right now too, or you can get away with a white wall if it doesn't have any significant dings in the frame. If you don't like pull-down screens (automatic or manual), there are fixed-frame screens that you just mount to your wall.

After owning a projector, I'll never buy a TV again - at least not for the primary movie room. TVs get way too expensive in the larger sizes, don't give a significant PQ improvement over a good projector, and take up much more space in the room.

To each their own, but you should at least give them good consideration..

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by NDK32489

Appreciate all the recommendations, I've written down all the speakers and found some SKU's. Next weekend I'm going shooping at some audio specialty stores and am going to check as many of these out as possible. While checking out some of the recommendations, I found these: http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/p...onwall/rm6880/

What do you guys think about these?? Judging on a physical comparison ALONE to the Bose, I found these to be quite nice, but am just curious if anyone has had any first hand experience with them. thanks guys

Don't just limit yourself to the suggestions that we have given. Ask whoever you are talking to at the store about comparable units. You may get to hear something that sounds better to your ear for the same price. Or, you may encounter a set of speakers that are only a bit more expensive but produce a massively intense sound compared to what you would get from these suggestions. Don't close your mind off to the possibilities of finding better.

Originally Posted by Durentis

As for your wall-mounted 52" tv.. why?

For about the same price, perhaps a little more, you can get a good quality 1080p projector (either on a tower or ceiling mounted behind your seating area - great given the location of your receiver and such). PQ is fantastic on my W9000 and I can get a 100"+ screen.

The only downside to a projector is the bulb replacement. Not only are you paying more than the price of the TV, you are also buying a screen (and yes, it makes a huge difference from a white wall) and committing to a regular maintenance fee for those bulbs. However, that being said, you can't complain about the 100+" screen. That's more than twice the screen size for a little extra cash!

[Durentis]

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

The only downside to a projector is the bulb replacement. Not only are you paying more than the price of the TV,

That really depends on the size and quality of the TV. Projectors can come in cheaper if you go much past 50" in a decent quality TV and you get more than double the diagonal. Quality for the buck, even with bulb replacements every 3000+ hours, which is a long time even under reasonably heavy use, I think projectors are the way to go. Especially if you're considering wall mounting a TV.. that just screams projection to me.

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

you are also buying a screen (and yes, it makes a huge difference from a white wall)

Gotta agree with you there.. the white wall is more of a temporary measure but so long as it is white and relatively blemish free, the main drawback is more a result of it not doing well with ambient light.

I was projecting onto a beige wall for months and it still looked pretty good. You have all the detail and such, just with a beige wash over the dimmer colours and the room had to be fairly dark. Getting a white screen allowed a little more ambient light (albeit not much - it's a cheapy until I find something I like) and removed the beige wash. Skys became clear blue instead of overcast.. buildings looked new instead of weathered. It's little different than buying a TV with gimpy settings though - different colour temperatures and whatnot - and not calibrating it. A white wall at least wouldn't alter the colours.

Anyway, just something to consider.. projection is definitely the next step beyond TV.

[Driver_King]

NDK, if you're looking for something similar to that package, look at the Polk Monitor 50's in my sig. You can get seven of them for a bit more of the cost of that package, resulting in superior performance. If you like my idea, then give me a budget for a sub. Also, if you want an incredible reciever to go along with those speakers, you should also check out the 805 in my sig. That's one of the cheapest and most reliable sites around to get the 805.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

NDK, if you're looking for something similar to that package, look at the Polk Monitor 50's in my sig.

wow, I was looking at Frys.com yesterday and could not find that deal! $79 each is excellent.

[monster_man]

Bad
Overpriced
Sound
Equipment

[Playmobil]

Most well known speaker manufacturers:
B&W, Rotel, JBL, Monitor Audio, KEF, Polk Audio, Celestion, Definitive Technology, Klipsch, Totem Acoustic, Bang & Olufsen etc... and of course McIntosh if you have the dough.

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

wow, I was looking at Frys.com yesterday and could not find that deal! $79 each is excellent.

Holy $hit! I didn't even notice that. I thought they were still $99 each. $79 is great! That makes me want to get a few for the hell of it.