Surround Sound?

[Spacehonkey]

I'm in the market to buy a surrond sound setup for my family tv. I don't really want to spend over $300 but the wife has giving me a budget of $1000. I would rather spend the $700 on some future mods. I've never been the type of guy who blairs the music up and makes your hears bleed. I'm however a movie guy, by that I mean when I watch a movie you better not bother me unless you are dying. I would like a sound system to help put me more into the movie experience.

Anyone have any advice on what I should be looking for?

[Airbozo]

I will have to check the make of my system at home, but I got 5.1 surround with MANY inputs for under $400. Of course I live in a fairly small house (1200 sq ft), but I can turn it up loud enough that the rest of my 'hood can hear it. I think it is 150watts, but I will check.

Heh just realized my car has more wattage than my living room (480w vs 150w). although my office can hit 600w in stereo (150w in 5.2 surround), now if I could afford speakers that could handle that.

[Spacehonkey]

I think what you want will all depend on a lot of things like:

-Manufacturer preference. If Sony has a badass system, but you hate sony, you won't get that setup, plain and simple.
-size of the room it will be in
-whether you want a precomprised setup (receiver with all satellites and sub) or a setup that you pick the components.

with a potential for $1000 to spend on it, there are a _lot_ of possibilities.

-Jeremy

I don't have a preference on manufacturer or setup. I just want what most people want, the best for the cheapest. I not sure about the size of the family room but it pretty long it has a vaulted ceiling and opens up to the second floor. I'm guessing this will effect the acoustics of the room.

[azminisk8r]

hmm well definitely get 7.1 if you're agmovie guy the more coordinated angles of sound you have the better the experience

[CanaBalistic]

FINALLY! SOME ONE WHO SPEAKS MY LANGUAGE!!!

My sugestion to you is this:

If you want a good system for cheap, go to a pawn shop. The shop next door to me has a hardmon & kardon reciever for $300. Obviously the selection will be diffrent but it is by far the cheapest place to buy electronics. Unless of course you have a buddy who sells things out the back of a van. :)

Go check it out. You're sure to find the components for a killer system for less than $600.

[Spacehonkey]

:redface: Sorry I forgot an important bit of info about myself when it comes to the whole surround sound system stuff. Until recently I haven't been in a good financial place to purchase luxury items like this so I never really wasted my time looking for stuff that I knew I couldn't afford. I've never bought or researched anything to do with it and I know next to nothing of what to look for. I don't even know the difference between 5.2 and 7.1 besides the fact that 7.1 is better & more $ than 5.2 but don’t real know why and as far as buying the parts separately I would need a lot more information on what to look for before that happens.

[Redundant]

I looked on the Sony site and this home theater setup should do you well for $500 & 900 watts.

Home Theater Component SystemspacerHT-7100DH (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=hav_HomeTheater_SpeakerSystems&ProductSKU=HT7100DH&TabName=feature&var2=)

It has HDMI, 5.1 Speakers, and comes with a 5 disk changer. (I don't think the CD changer is attached to the receiver so that's good)

[CanaBalistic]

ok, i'll run you through it.

First off, you'll need a Reciever.
Hardmon & kardon, JVC, RCA, Sony, Mirantz, Denon, ect.
If you havent heard the name before, dont buy it.

Things to look for in a reciever:
optical inputs & outputs (you might not need this depending on your tv, dvd player, ect.)
Speaker outputs. You'll want at least 5. Front L&R, Rear L&R, Center. Dont be fooled by A+B outputs. Its rare to find an amp that will run A+B at the same time.
Subwoofer Out
Coax Input
S-video in&out
Component input (this might not be applicable to the rest of your set up(Ry By Py))


Secondly, you need speakers. the 5.1 & 7.1 refer to how many speakers you can connect. 7.1 would be 7 speakers and a powered sub woofer (sub woofers are the .1)

You need 2 main drivers. Thies are the big ones with a 10,12,15 inch woofer. 12 inch is pretty standard. Dual 10's are allright. 15's have more bass.

You need 1 center speaker. Depending on the brand, the center channel speaker should be bigger than the others and perferably bi directional.

You need at least 2 surrounds (4 if the reciever you've chosen is 7.1 compliant). Thies are usually the small cube speakers. Book shelf speakers will work but only if they include a matching center channel speaker.

Most importantly:
Your surrounds and center speakers should all be from the same manufacture and of the same series. Without this, you might get anoying harmonic distortion's from the speakers operating on diffrent frequencies.

Does that cover everything?
[edit] No it doesnt...

Subwoofer:
You'll want a powered sub. This is a bit tricky. Depending on the reciever, you might or might not have a sub woofer output. This is ok though as there are 2 types of sub woofers. Ones with Low Level Input and thoes with High Level Input. With a low level input sub, you simply run a RCA cord to the sub and your all set. With a high level input sub, you have to run speaker wire from the front speaker output on the amp to the sub, there will then be an output on the sub that you attach your main drivers to via speaker wire.

Some subs have both types of input.

Also, avoid high wattage sub's without a power button or a signal activated power switch. This will jack up your electric bill big time. Wattage isnt a big factor with thies type of sub's, i have an 85watt sub that sounds just as good as my neighbors 500watt sub. 8 inch is allright for most people. 10 inch will give more thunderous bass. 12 inch will shake the pictures off your wall.

[Airbozo]

This is the model better than the one I got, and it kicks ass in my house. The sound is clean, has several presets for music and sports or movies, detects the signal in (optical, digital; stereo, 5.1...) and has inputs for switching the video signal too. ~$300


http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S590S&class=Systems&p=i

:up:

[DaveW]

+Rep @ Cana for his help. :)

-Dave

[Spacehonkey]

Thx CanaBalistic :up: I printed out your tips and I'm going to use them as a guideline when I search and compare the systems I like. I'll start by comparing the two setups suggested by Redundant and Airbozo. Before I actually go and spend some green on it I'll post a link and get your guys opinion.

[Spacehonkey]

What about a wireless setup?

Is there a possible sound degradation with wireless?

[AJ@PR]

What about a wireless setup?

Is there a possible sound degradation with wireless?
I'm no expert... but unless necessary, I would suggest against it.

[AJ@PR]

I remembered I read this in /., and I just spent the last 5 minutes searching for it...
When I read it, it cracked me up laughing so hard I had to remove my self from the computer.

To read this, take it kind-of like the Bash.org thread.

SITUATION:
The /. article is about "No Business Case for HDTV?"

There's, as always, lots of comments.

But here's where it gets fun::::: :D

Hey, and toss in the $50 HDMI cable lots of people have to buy

Digital either works or it doesn't. A five dollar hdmi cable will work as good as the fifty dollar hdmi cable. Monster may help on analog audio, but doesn't do jack for digital.

This is a myth.


I see you're not a real connoisseur. My 500$ digital video cable makes the red, green and blue so much richer. It also makes the programs I'm watching subtly more entertaining. You see, that's because the bits are happier when traveling an expensive cable.


I buy only the very best MONSTER Cat5 cable. Otherwise, my tubes go slow. =(


I buy only the very best MONSTER Cat5 cable. Otherwise, my tubes go slow. =(

Can I get Monster Air for my WiFi?

I got lost in the Monster Air... too much man... too much.
It actually hurt.

[Airbozo]

lol...
+rep for the giggle...

[Redundant]

I buy only the very best MONSTER Cat5 cable. Otherwise, my tubes go slow. =(


I think this guy saw the "Tubes on the Internet" video too many times and, even sadder, believed it. :p

[CanaBalistic]

What about a wireless setup?

Is there a possible sound degradation with wireless?

You probly wont get any noticable sound degredation with a wireless setup. However, with a cheap unit, you might get a slight time delay as the sound has to be processed, transmitted, recieved, processed, and then played.

Personally, i would avoid wireless speakers unless absolutely necessary. Thats strictly my opinion though.

[Aero]

I recommend Onkyo. We just got their 7.1 system a few months ago http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-SR800&class=Systems&p=i , installed it all our selves (ran the wires in the walls and all, took awhile but man its nice). We got our for about $400 through ABT Electronics (we know someone who works their). The system is top notch all the way. The sub is powerful enough to shake the glasses about 50-75 feet away and push you back. Amazingly affordable and great quality. However the speakers are huge, about 12 inches by 6 inches by 6 inches, but they put out some good sound.