Need a little help with HT config...

bluesfusion

Hi, I'm trying to stop my cousin from wasting $3200 on a Bose HTIB. :rolleyes:
I told him that I'd put together a much better system for much less $$$, but need a bit of help with some components. I want to throw 2 configs at him - both need to be significantly lesser than $3200 or he'll probably plop for the Bose. Argh! I think the speaker configs were easy, but if anyone can suggest specific and suitable models for the RX and Sub, it'll bring me one step closer to looking forward to visiting him more often.

This is primarily for HT and maybe a little bit of music. Obviously he's not even in the same zipcode as an audiophile, so keep that in mind.

Config # 1 (RTi10 based)
Polk Audio RTi10 Pair - $864
Polk Audio CSi5 Center - $360
Polk Audio FXi3 Pair - $315
Velodyne DLS-3750R 10" 185W Sub - $450 <---- Not sure about this
Yamaha RX-V659 HT Receiver - $500 <---- Not sure about this
Toshiba D-R5 DVD Recorder/Player - $180
Total - $2,669

Config # 2 (RTi8 based)
Polk Audio RTi8 Pair - $630
Polk Audio CSi3 Center - $180
Polk Audio RTi6 Pair - $342
Polk Audio PSW404 10" 200W Sub - $360 <---- Not sure about this
Yamaha HTR-5850 HT Receiver - $230 <---- Not sure about this
Toshiba D-R5 DVD Recorder/Player - $180
Total - $1,922

Any ideas? Feel free to suggest other surrounds too.

Schris22

What kind of room does he have? Main reason is because dipole/bipole's dont' really work in some rooms. I would check into that.

If he is not in the whole audiophile world then maybe is a good time to introduce him, what does he listen to more music or movies?

If it's more movies spend a lot of money on that center and a sub to create a lot of bass just to create that WoW effect which is a fun factor of watching movies.

I'm building a system for my dad and the sub comprises a little less that half the budget, He wouldn't be able to tell the difference between speakers, and so just bass would be good.

I don't know much about yamaha receivers I've heard they are decent. I would check out some denons' and marantz receivers. You should also think about speaker wire and cables to hook up all this stuff. Well the bose comes with speaker wire so I would factor that into your price, cause it can get pricey when you do 5.1 wiring.


Also are you stuck on polk? Just wondering.


Chris

bluesfusion

The room is oh... I'd guess about 15ft x 28ft. It is carpetted, so moderately soft. The screen will be on the narrower wall and the seating, I'm assuming, will be maybe 15-20 ft away... so there'll probably be quite a bit of space behind the sofa. I'm not sure where they'll want to keep the surrounds, so thats why I figured the bipolar/dipolar would give a bit more flexibility in placement (side or behind), but thats not a major concern. I can convince him about placement once he buys them.

I'm not stuck on Polk, but I like Polk. I've heard the RTi8s and RTi10s and like them, so obviously I started configuring around them. I guess I'm just more aware of Polk's product line. This system will probably be used 95% for movies and any usage for music will be extremely non-discriminating and casual. So lets consider it a HT-movie-only system.

In terms of the sub - they have 2 small kids (below age 5) so I doubt his wife and kids will appreciate window rattling explosions thru the sub. On occasion when we have a guys night or something, the sub may be made to work a little harder, but that will be pretty rare. They're more likely to watch Finding Nemo anyway. :rolleyes: I mainly want to provide adequate, accurate, bass that doesn't overpower their senses and scare the kids. Otherwise his wife will throw me out (and that will defeat the purpose of me setting him up with a decent HT system... you see, he only lives 2 miles from my place.)

gonzalr

sorry, I'm thinking of creating a new thread.

Holydoc

I would suggest Option 1 with modifications. If your budget is $3200, then I would swap the RTi10 for RTi8's. Take the money you save plus the rest of your budget to get the best SVS Subwoofer you can afford.

I like your choice of the CSi5. Do NOT skimp on this speaker since it will handle most of your movie dialogue and action.

I like your choice of FXi3's since you are going for a 5.1 system and not a 7.1 system so diffusion of the sound by a dipole/bipole speaker will be much more needed to reproduce that engrossing effect.

Let me emphasize to get a great subwoofer for Home Theatre. The Bose system has nothing on the impact of a good system with nice midrange and heavy bass. The Bose systems cannot achieve the impact of a subwoofer with their "bass modules".

tonyb

2nd that.I have a Bose and the bass module can do mid bass and thats it.
Not ideal for a good HT set-up.

tledoux

I have the Velodyne DLS-3750R matched up with the RTi10's and the CSi5, and really like the sound. It definitely provides a very nice low end for the price. But this really is my first sub, so I don't have a lot of history to reference against it. But it does balance in nicely with the RTi10's. You probably can get a better one from SVS, but it will cost more too.

TL