Getting complete home theater system, need help on what to get.

livewire1337

Hey guys!

I am looking to setup a complete home theater system in my living room (pictures below).

I am not sure exactly how much to spend yet on the whole system and I am looking for some guidance on the whole thing from speaker/receiver selection to where to place them all in the room, etc.

To give an idea, the room itself is 19x18 pictures:

I am hoping for a few suggestions in a few different price ranges, i.e: for $XX you can get x speakers, x sub, x receiver. Or for $YY you can get y speakers, y sub, and y receiver.

Any help would be awesome! Thanks guys!

ken brydson

livewire1337 wrote: »

Hey guys!

I am looking to setup a complete home theater system in my living room (pictures below).

I am not sure exactly how much to spend yet on the whole system and I am looking for some guidance on the whole thing from speaker/receiver selection to where to place them all in the room, etc.

To give an idea, the room itself is 19x18 pictures:

I am hoping for a few suggestions in a few different price ranges, i.e: for $XX you can get x speakers, x sub, x receiver. Or for $YY you can get y speakers, y sub, and y receiver.

Any help would be awesome! Thanks guys!

Really need some kind of budget to offer any suggestions. Trust me, we're REALLY good at spending other peoples $$

livewire1337

ken brydson wrote: »

Really need some kind of budget to offer any suggestions. Trust me, we're REALLY good at spending other peoples $$

What is a reasonable budget for a mid-grade system?

polkfarmboy

High end= 6000 +
Mid grade 3000 +
Good system 2000 +

My calculations are based on used gear

I would buy polk Speakers
rti12 $800 or some RTI8 for $400 for the fronts if you dont need all that bass
csi5 center $180
fxi3 sides $160
rti4 rear $140 new

Sub
HSU VTF-15H Subwoofer $880 or HSU VTF-1 MK2 Subwoofer for $450

Receiver

Pioneer elite sc25 $800 new or less used

Cables are a diff story but for HT spend around $400

This would smash the **** out of a blue ray

ravaneli

mm 1500 for front towers
500 for center
700 for surrounds
700 for rear surrounds or front heights (both optional)

700 for a good sub or two decent ones

700 for receiver
800 for amp

200 for wires and connectors



That would be a solid system, but far from exotic or top of the line..

ravaneli

based on the looks of your place (I like it) you can and should cough up ~5k. Will save u lots of upgrade fever later. These cherry cabinets are gona snap right into your walls. They will make yo place even prettier. I really wouldn't save on speakers and get some cheap looking stuff..

JustinHEMI

I happen to think the system in my sig is a nice mid range system.

livewire1337

awesome! thanks for the help guys, this info is exactly what I was looking for and you guys delivered!

polkfarmboy

livewire1337 wrote: »

awesome! thanks for the help guys, this info is exactly what I was looking for and you guys delivered!

I'm sure your going to have alot more suggestions coming your way from the guys here so prepare to get your read on :cheesygrin:

Fast_Fox

Here's my Home theater setup:

FRONTS: Polk LSI15's ($550)
CENTER: Polk CS2 ($79)
SURROUNDS: Polk Monitor60 ($180)
REAR SURROUNDS: Energy EF-500's ($100)
SUB: HSU Research STF-1 ($200)
RECEIVER: Pioneer VSX-1121-k ($374)
AMP: Adcom GFA-555 ($300)
BLU-RAY: Samsung BD-1600p ($80)
PROJECTOR: Sanyo PLV-Z2000 ($2619)

Cost me roughly $4500...so far

Good luck on your build! It's a hell of a lot of fun doing it!!!

mole'

there is a few killer deals on LSi setups.....

Lietuvis91

The system I would suggest would depend on your listening preferences and desired esthetics. More movies or more music, or just 50/50?! And volume levels (stupid loud, or comfortable easy listening?) Stupid loud I'd go for RTIA, more easy listening would warrant lsi's. I overall prefer the sound of lsi's, but tastes differ.

You have a big enough room to make good use of big towers, but not big enough to where big towers are a must. You may not like the clutter of big towers, so decide on that first. If you like the system to have a small footprint, then big towers are not for you.

RTIA or LSI speakers could be had well within your budget, and any of those speakers(big or small) will sound increadible in your room with the right gear driving them. You just have to decide on how you want things to look. I am saying all this because lately I have noticed that I'm liking the small footprint of bookshelves. On nice stands, my lsi9s actually look pretty darn sexy, and I don't feel like they give up anything to the big towers that I use to have there in terms of sound. I also think that big towers with a large number of different size drivers provide a larger sound stage, but at the expense of clarity/detail. Thus if you were mainly using your system for HT, where you want to hear every pin drop and where clarity is most valued, I would look for small towers (rtia5) or bookshelves and a very nice sub.

Anyway, just food for thought...

livewire1337

DSkip wrote: »

Live, where are you located?

Near the Dallas area.

ravaneli

Klipsch and Energy have beautiful towers in the same price range too, worth checking. KEF are a bit higher and there seems to be an agreement that they a bit better audio-wise, but they really lack in appearance in my opinion, will not in your room too well..

If appearance is as important to you as it is for me.. it really kinda limits your choice : )

PrazVT

@livewire

I'd suggest you make a list of the speakers suggested here and try to get ears on them. Some HT centric speaker series can be a little bright for music, while music centric speakers will work well for both. But it depends on your ears.

@ravaneli

lol the KEFs aren't thaaat ugly

mystik610

These threads are always fun. (nothings more fun than spending other people's money).

Couple pieces of advice:

-Check out Polk's ebay store for deals on refurbs
-Don't be afraid of buying used gear
-In terms of subs, check out the internet direct companies. Hsu is my sub of choice, but svs, epik, rhythmik, and eD make quality stuff too. If you give them a call or post on their forums, most of them will give you an honest opinion on what to buy, and how to place and set-up the sub in your room.

cfrizz

Beautiful room. Welcome to Club Polk!

If you prefer music over movies go with an all LSI lineup, if you prefer movies over music go with the RTi series. Get a receiver that has all the bells and whistles that you want it to have & make sure it has preouts so that you can add a 5-7 channel amp of at least 200wpc @ 8ohms. You also have enough room to have 2 subs, I recommend Polks DSW line of subs having 2 of them will help to balance out the bass. Or you can go with all separates.

If you don't mind used gear keep an eye out on www.audiogon for good prepros, amps and receivers.

Bring a cd of different types of music that you know really well to hear how the speakers sound. Have fun putting it together, if you are married please include the wife when you go to look at and listen to gear. Keep us posted as you go along.

pietro944

mystik610 wrote: »

These threads are always fun. (nothings more fun than spending other people's money).

Couple pieces of advice:

-Check out Polk's ebay store for deals on refurbs
-Don't be afraid of buying used gear
-In terms of subs, check out the internet direct companies. Hsu is my sub of choice, but svs, epik, rhythmik, and eD make quality stuff too. If you give them a call or post on their forums, most of them will give you an honest opinion on what to buy, and how to place and set-up the sub in your room.

I would add REL subs,especially for music.....I have the T-1.....peter

tommyt21

Looking at all those reflective surfaces, i would definetly budget some acoustic room treatments. In my honest opinion

mystik610

Dallas always has great audio finds on craigslist

chumlie

Go with justinHIMI speaker setup. Then swap it out with a Pioneer sc reciever and a Parasound amp and your set. Period !!!

livewire1337

DSkip wrote: »

I've got some RT55's, CS400, FX300i's and also some RT600's if that piques your interest. Fry's has also been having some steals recently on their older RTi speakers. I think they had the RTi12's for $550/pr, RTi6's for $150/pr, so on, so forth. Let me know what you want to spend and I can find you a decent system if you don't mind buying used. I scour nightly and can forward any super deals your way if you'd like.


These would be a good start:

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/eld/2942883788.html

That would be awesome! The speakers in the link you gave are awesome! Also, I am OK with buying used/older models.

livewire1337

tommyt21 wrote: »

Looking at all those reflective surfaces, i would definetly budget some acoustic room treatments. In my honest opinion

What would you suggest I get and where specifically in the room should I put them?