Need sound system advice

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

You got the YAS-109, right? For the money, it does seem good value for what you get. Like we say, no miracles but nevertheless I'm impressed what it offers at the price point. Have a play with the DTS Virtual X setting and Clear Voice. Clear Voice may well work similar to a DRC/night mode for you when the aim is understanding dialogue without having to reach for the remote every time there's an explosion on screen.

Yes, that's the one I got. I tried it out all afternoon and even though I wasn't expecting much, I have to say I'm still disappointed. It's not bad at all per se, pretty much what you'd expect for the price. Better than TV speakers, but then again, anything is. Definitely helps with the reaching-for-the-remote problem and voice clarity, though. When it comes to music, it's not much better than the little portable bluetooth speaker you bring to the beach. Overall, you have to keep the volume way down, otherwise it distorts fairly quickly. Not really a problem in my case, but I'm still disappointed with overall performances. The DTS Virtual X setting doesn't help at all, at the end of the day it really is a stereo soundbar. I'll just return it.

The Denon AVC-S660H is no powerhouse but I guess it's more than enough for the room I'd use it in (4 meters/13ft long, 3 meters/10ft wide). I'm not sure 7.1 is even a good idea for a room that small, 5.1 should be more than enough too. I was considering buying a 7.1 AVR for when I do move to a place more suitable for a real home theater, also those prices are not going down anytime soon and physical media is dying so it will probably be my first and last AVR, it's probably best I buy a 7.1 AVR now.

Originally Posted by KubrickKurasawa

There's a saying. It goes like this. If you buy a soundbar.

[Show spoiler]Buy once, cry once. Buy soundbar, cry twice.

IMHO buy that Onkyo and a 50 foot wire, then wire strippers if you don't have a pair. Then buy 1 nice center and hook it up. Plug in your HDMI basically. Ya done.

[Show spoiler]Buy once, cry once.

After that speaker you will "know" where to go from there. Good Luck Sir! Well read that manual for awhile and get your bluetooth running

I read "hire strippers if you don't have a pair"

Why would you choose the Onkyo over the other two ?

I can buy a full 5.1 speaker set right now, or even 7.1. The 5.1 bookshelf speaker pack bundled with the Denon AVR could be a good start, then I could buy a couple floorstanders for a full 7.1 setup and move the front bookshelves behind me like you said in your previous post. It's too bad the Denon is limited to 5.1, there's no speaker bundle option for the other two AVRs.

Is it better to have a good AVR and decent speakers, or the other way around? In other words, what should I spend the most money on to get the best sound possible, the receiver or the speakers?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Rolling Dice

Is it better to have a good AVR and decent speakers, or the other way around? In other words, what should I spend the most money on to get the best sound possible, the receiver or the speakers?

I'd buy the AVR you need (I'd imagine you're fine until 8K gaming becomes a thing) and the speakers you can afford.

It's also worth looking locally for Craigslist offers for decent speakers as well as thrift stores. It's amazing what you can find.

[oddbox83]

I'd agree, 7.1 really isn't for a small room (tried it, it just muddied rather than enhanced the sound.)

If you ever want Atmos in the future, the 7.1 receivers with Atmos just mean 7.1 available channels, you assign whether you use the extras connections for rears or Atmos. And fine not to use them at all for now.

[Rolling Dice]

I'll buy the AVR soon. I'm still not sure about the speakers, especially size wise, the lack of space is a real problem. Are mini speakers any good? A 5.1 set like this one:



They're small, the size of little computer speakers. They'd be perfect for my room size wise, but what about sound quality?

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by Rolling Dice

I'll buy the AVR soon. I'm still not sure about the speakers, especially size wise, the lack of space is a real problem. Are mini speakers any good? A 5.1 set like this one:



They're small, the size of little computer speakers. They'd be perfect for my room size wise, but what about sound quality?

They'll be fine for a small room, I have a similar setup on my secondary TV and it's quite clean and thunderous for such small speakers. You'll likely need to turn the bass way down because those little subwoofers can pack quite a punch with a good lossless LFE track.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by Alister_M

They'll be fine for a small room, I have a similar setup on my secondary TV and it's quite clean and thunderous for such small speakers. You'll likely need to turn the bass way down because those little subwoofers can pack quite a punch with a good lossless LFE track.

I found an affordable 5.1 speaker set, it's worth a shot. I'll buy a couple floorstanders for a 7.1 home theater and for music (my father just gave me his old stereo amp), but I'm worried about the size difference between floorstanders and those small speakers, is it going to be a problem when watching a movie?

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by Rolling Dice

I found an affordable 5.1 speaker set, it's worth a shot. I'll buy a couple floorstanders for a 7.1 home theater and for music (my father just gave me his old stereo amp), but I'm worried about the size difference between floorstanders and those small speakers, is it going to be a problem when watching a movie?

For movies you won't notice any difference since the LFE takes care of all the heavy lifting during loud action-type scenes. My main lounge system has large front floorstanders and 4x wall-mounted surrounds which are about 1/10th the size, and the surround effect never sounds unbalanced or weird. The only thing that could possibly be an issue is the centre speaker since that generally carries 95% of dialogue, so if that ends up sounding weak you may need to invest in a larger one, but if you're buying a quality brand like Klipsch then I'd say it'll sound perfectly fine.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by Alister_M

For movies you won't notice any difference since the LFE takes care of all the heavy lifting during loud action-type scenes. My main lounge system has large front floorstanders and 4x wall-mounted surrounds which are about 1/10th the size, and the surround effect never sounds unbalanced or weird. The only thing that could possibly be an issue is the centre speaker since that generally carries 95% of dialogue, so if that ends up sounding weak you may need to invest in a larger one, but if you're buying a quality brand like Klipsch then I'd say it'll sound perfectly fine.

Yeah that's what I was thinking about, mini center speakers are really small. I don't think it would be an issue in itself since my room is quite small, so every speaker will be close to where I'm sitting, I was rather worried about balance indeed, or lack thereof. I'll try it out and return the speaker set if anything goes wrong, I'm keeping the floorstanders in any case.

I assume it's better if I buy a 5.1 speaker set and floorstanders from the same brand?

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by Rolling Dice

I assume it's better if I buy a 5.1 speaker set and floorstanders from the same brand?

Honestly, it won't make any audible difference. If it's easy and feasible to do so then I'd go for brand uniformity just for the sake of aesthetics, but something like a Klipsch surround set paired with Wharfedale or Pioneer floorstanders will still sound just as good as the entire setup being one brand.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by Alister_M

Honestly, it won't make any audible difference. If it's easy and feasible to do so then I'd go for brand uniformity just for the sake of aesthetics, but something like a Klipsch surround set paired with Wharfedale or Pioneer floorstanders will still sound just as good as the entire setup being one brand.

Alright. I bought a 5.1 speaker set, I'll try it out before buying the last two speakers. Since my AVR has 7 channels, I won't be able to get more than a couple other speakers. I was wondering whether a setup like this is possible for Dolby Atmos and DTS-X with a 7-channel AVR: L R C LFE Ls Rs + 1 rear speaker and 1 ceiling speaker? Maybe send a mono signal to the rear and ceiling speakers, if that's even possible, since this setup lacks 1 rear speaker and 1 ceiling speaker.

[Alister_M]

Originally Posted by Rolling Dice

Alright. I bought a 5.1 speaker set, I'll try it out before buying the last two speakers. Since my AVR has 7 channels, I won't be able to get more than a couple other speakers. I was wondering whether a setup like this is possible for Dolby Atmos and DTS-X with a 7-channel AVR: L R C LFE Ls Rs + 1 rear speaker and 1 ceiling speaker? Maybe send a mono signal to the rear and ceiling speakers, if that's even possible, since this setup lacks 1 rear speaker and 1 ceiling speaker.

If the AVR is Atmos-compatible then I'd assume you'd go for a 5.2.1 setup. But if it doesn't have the onboard decoding then it'll only output the 7.1 core anyway.

[BobbyMcGee]

Late to the party but I would have recommended the Klipsch Fives powered speakers (they also have Klipsch Sevens and Nines coming soon) or the SVS Prime Wireless Pro speakers for your apartment in-lieu of a soundbar. Both have Bluetooth and HDMI.

I have personally heard the Fives quite extensively and I think they sound quite nice. You can even add a subwoofer which is pretty cool as well.

But, looks like you have decided to go down the rabbit hole of an AVR and passive speakers (which I prefer, see my sig).

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by Alister_M

If the AVR is Atmos-compatible then I'd assume you'd go for a 5.2.1 setup. But if it doesn't have the onboard decoding then it'll only output the 7.1 core anyway.

I returned the first AVR I'd bought (Onkyo TX-SR494) to get a Denon X-1700H instead, both are Atmos compatible (5.1.2). This AVR alone cost me nearly as much as what I was originally willing to spend on a full sound system, but hey

That means I'm still looking for speakers, the mini set I bought is not enough. Don't care anymore about the neighbors, I'm getting floorstanders AND a sub, along with satellites and Atmos speakers.

Originally Posted by BobbyMcGee

Late to the party but I would have recommended the Klipsch Fives powered speakers (they also have Klipsch Sevens and Nines coming soon) or the SVS Prime Wireless Pro speakers for your apartment in-lieu of a soundbar. Both have Bluetooth and HDMI.

I have personally heard the Fives quite extensively and I think they sound quite nice. You can even add a subwoofer which is pretty cool as well.

But, looks like you have decided to go down the rabbit hole of an AVR and passive speakers (which I prefer, see my sig).

Yeah, I finally gave in. I thought I would be content with a soundbar--oh how wrong I was!

I considered active speakers for a while, but down the rabbit hole I go indeed. I need 2 floorstanders in my future 5.1.2 setup, essentially for music (stereo). What I'm looking for is a warm sound, not a bright/tinny/aggressive/ear-piercing sound. I see you've got a few Polks, do speakers from this brand sound rather bright, neutral or warm?

[oddbox83]

LOL. It happens, don't it?

I asked about potential new speakers in a thread, ended up being convinced to buy my SVS sub instead.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

LOL. It happens, don't it?

I asked about potential new speakers in a thread, ended up being convinced to buy my SVS sub instead.

I know the feeling, I originally joined this forum to ask a question about a specific BR, now I'm building a home theater

Unfortunately, I largely underestimated the physical limitations of my small room. I tried a 5.1 setup with floorstanders and a large center speaker, it (barely) fits but that means many compromises with furniture. That also means speaker placement is not ideal. Smaller bookshelves would be a much better option in that regard and I guess bookshelf speakers with a sub is OK for movies and music.

I was just wondering if I can use the fronts from the 5.1 mini speaker set I bought and mount them as atmos speakers? I'd keep the other satellites from the set as surrounds, keep the mini center speaker if it blends well with the bookshelves, otherwise get another one or go the phantom center router if possible. That would be a cheap, decent enough 2.1 (music)/5.1.2 (HT) setup that does fit in my room.