[Pilege21]

I am looking into getting a surround sound system. I don't know too much about which speakers or amps or recievers to get. I would like a wireless set with awesome sound quality, but at a decent price. Is 7.1 a huge difference over the 5.1? I don't have a set budget, but don't want to spend over $1000. I'll take any suggestions from a few hundred to around $700. Thanks in advance for all replies.

[mjd420nova]

A good investigation into surround systems would lead you to make your best decisions. True surround only needs four speakers, two front and two rear. The other levels above 2.1 are provided by manufacturers to make up for the many problems involved in having to install a 2.1 system in a horrible environment. Center speakers and sub-woofers are added to make up for this lacking parameter. A good surround amp should have the same power in both front and back speakers. If the environs can be adjusted and the speakers have wide enough range, only four will be needed. Moving speakers away from the wall can enhance their response and wall treatments like wall paper, curtains and window treatments can both add and detract from a pleasing sound. I use a pair of AR-1 (Acostic Research) speakers for the front and the rears are Pioneer CS-88 units. In my home, the fronts are mounted high enough to get them above the head when seated for viewing. The rears are above and behind the viewing area. No sub-woofer is needed as both pairs have large woofer speakers of 12 inches. Mid-range and high freq(tweeters) elements can be positioned to the inside or outside to enhance the sound and are dependant on the environment. With the low range having the biggest effect, it isn't so much what you hear but what you feel. Rattling windows and other things on shelves (knick-knacks) can provide clues to what is needed to eliminate the vibrations that make other things rattle. The perfect area is never found but must be built or constructed around the prime listening area. A five speaker system with a sub-woofer can provide good listening but can't make up for the lack in an ideal listening area. Listening to a system in a show room will give you a good adea of what systems and speakers can do but will be hard to duplicate in the home.

This post has been edited by mjd420nova: 26 May 2012 - 10:46 AM

[LincolnSpector]

mjd420nova, on 26 May 2012 - 10:45 AM, said:

A good investigation into surround systems would lead you to make your best decisions. True surround only needs four speakers, two front and two rear.

I disagree. A front center speaker makes a big difference.

Lincoln

[LincolnSpector]

Pilege21, on 26 May 2012 - 07:39 AM, said:

I am looking into getting a surround sound system. I don't know too much about which speakers or amps or recievers to get. I would like a wireless set with awesome sound quality, but at a decent price. Is 7.1 a huge difference over the 5.1? I don't have a set budget, but don't want to spend over $1000. I'll take any suggestions from a few hundred to around $700. Thanks in advance for all replies.

I'm perfectly happy with my 5.1 rig, but then, I've got a shallow room and I wouldn't be able to put the 2 extra surround speakers far enough away from the current ones.

At this point, there are few 7.1 mixes, although that's bound to change. I've only had one experience in a movie theater where I felt 7.1 made a difference--last summer with the movie Super-8.

Another issue that effects price: The size of the room. The smaller it is, the less power you need to get great sound.


Lincoln

[waldojim]

You are likely to get a LOT of varried opinions on this. I am of the firm belief that quality trumps quantity any day of the week. For example, find any Sony product, and I will guarantee it cannot output anything close to the power it is rated for. As such, the "1000 watts" listed on the side of the box is meaningless. For a quality amp, look for Marantz, some Denon products, some Onkyo, and Pioneer Elite. If you don't mind a factory refurbished amp, check out accessories4less.com, and you can get some very nice amps, fairly cheap.

Then, decide on what you would like in the way of speakers. Are you looking straight HT, or music as well? For music, you may want to get real tower speakers for the front pair. If music is more of an after thought, then smaller bookshelf, or cube speakers will work. This is another area where you will find a lot of debate. I prefer B&W when I get the chance. In any event, look for quality speakers that are high efficiency (as this will lower your power needs). Most importantly though, find the amp you want, and then TAKE IT WITH YOU to listen to the speakers you want to buy. The last thing anyone wants, is to buy $600 worth of speakers just to find that the amp isn't powerful enough.

My personal suggestion - grab up the $250 marantz slimline receiver, Velodyne VX-11 ($150), 2 pairs of the Polk TSi-100's ($320) and the Polk CS-10 ($120). At $840, that should give you excellent sound, an amp that can easily handle larger speakers in the future, and plenty of volume for movies. Most of those I have listened to personally, and should work out quite well together. Now as mentioned above, the size of the room will play a large part, as will your desired results.

[Pilege21]

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I do like listening to music, but that is only a second thought. The room I am putting the system in, is the basement. I have a rectangular room, 13' x 27' (ish give or take a few inches). The TV is on the 13' wall, best place to have it with everything else that is down there. So a 4 speaker set should work perfectly.

I have heard that Bose is an awesome company for speakers and such. Given that they are expensive, could you go wrong with them? I have a friend that has a couple Polk speakers and they sound great. They are little book shelf speakers, mounted on metal stands. Polk may be the company I go with for speakers.

Given the room dimensions would I need a center sound bar or anything like that by the TV?

What do you guys have with a setup, or do you know someone that has a great system? I'll take any suggestions or different set ups, to give me a general idea of what to look for.

Thanks!

[waldojim]

Pilege21, on 28 May 2012 - 08:04 AM, said:

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I do like listening to music, but that is only a second thought. The room I am putting the system in, is the basement. I have a rectangular room, 13' x 27' (ish give or take a few inches). The TV is on the 13' wall, best place to have it with everything else that is down there. So a 4 speaker set should work perfectly.

I have heard that Bose is an awesome company for speakers and such. Given that they are expensive, could you go wrong with them? I have a friend that has a couple Polk speakers and they sound great. They are little book shelf speakers, mounted on metal stands. Polk may be the company I go with for speakers.

Given the room dimensions would I need a center sound bar or anything like that by the TV?

What do you guys have with a setup, or do you know someone that has a great system? I'll take any suggestions or different set ups, to give me a general idea of what to look for.

Thanks!

Most people who claim Bose sounds great, never listed to great. Bose charges a LOT of money for what is basically a cheap HT in a box. Sound quality is average at best. I personally have Yamaha NS-55's for my mains, running Polk centers and surrounds. I recently made the move from a Nakamichi receiver to Denon (and chose the WRONG Denon receiver). The Yamahas have enough bass to them that I don't bother with a sub. My parents are still rocking some old Cerwin Vega T-10's a Pioneer receiver, KLH center and rears (odd choice if you ask me - but it really doesn't matter much), and again no sub. If you run the right towers for mains, the sub can actually detract from your experience.

[Pilege21]

How is an Onkyo amp, with 4 Polk speakers? What is a good receiver to get or brand? What would be a good center speaker?

[waldojim]

Pilege21, on 02 June 2012 - 12:13 PM, said:

How is an Onkyo amp, with 4 Polk speakers? What is a good receiver to get or brand? What would be a good center speaker?

Onkyo makes some decent receivers, which one were you looking at?

Polk makes a decent enough center, and would match up well with the speakers.

[Pilege21]

I was looking at this set up (Newegg.com):

ONKYO TX-NR414 5.1-Channel 3-D Ready Network A/V Receiver: was $500, now $280

2 Polk Audio Monitor Series II: They are floor speakers, unless I should stick with ceiling. There are 2 for $149 and 1 at $219, 1 at $249. Not sure which to get, they seem pretty much the same to me when comparing on Newegg. These would be off to the sides of the TV.

Polk Audio CS Series II center speaker: There are a couple for around $100 to $150.

Polk Audio CS Series II speakers for behind.

For this set up, depending on what I get. I'll be looking at around $700.

I can send links if that helps.

Thanks!

[waldojim]

Pilege21, on 03 June 2012 - 08:36 AM, said:

I was looking at this set up (Newegg.com):

ONKYO TX-NR414 5.1-Channel 3-D Ready Network A/V Receiver: was $500, now $280

2 Polk Audio Monitor Series II: They are floor speakers, unless I should stick with ceiling. There are 2 for $149 and 1 at $219, 1 at $249. Not sure which to get, they seem pretty much the same to me when comparing on Newegg. These would be off to the sides of the TV.

Polk Audio CS Series II center speaker: There are a couple for around $100 to $150.

Polk Audio CS Series II speakers for behind.

For this set up, depending on what I get. I'll be looking at around $700.

I can send links if that helps.

Thanks!

Ok, here is the thing I want you to remember when buying that amp. Even though it claims it can deliver 130watts per channel - it CANNOT. It has the power amp stage that can do it, but the transformer supplying that stage can only consume 400watts from the wall. On a 5 channel system, expect your actual power delivery to hover around 65-70 watts (400 watts *.85 [to account for inefficiency with conversion] divided by 5 channels). Keep this in mind, as long as you stay around 1/2 power (you will have to experiment to see where that lies in your total volume), you will have decent sound. That receiver does have Burr Brown 192Khz DACs, so the digital to analog conversion should be superb. As long as they don't screw with the sound in the pre-amp stages, it should sound pretty darned decent.

The speakers you are looking at should be a decent match. With the low power requirements, and high power handling, they should work out very well with that amp. Now, before you buy - I would suggest going down to your local BestBuy, or Fry's, or Home Audio store to listen to that setup. Most of them should have those speakers and a comparable amp.

[euro2012]

LincolnSpector, on 27 May 2012 - 10:13 AM, said:

mjd420nova, on 26 May 2012 - 10:45 AM, said:

A good investigation into surround systems would lead you to make your best decisions. True surround only needs four speakers, two front and two rear.

I disagree. A front center speaker makes a big difference.

Lincoln

I agree with you because a front center speaker makes a big difference.

[ashytoclassy]

From personal experience 7.1 is good but 5.1 was more than enough.

[LincolnSpector]

ashytoclassy, on 12 August 2012 - 04:42 PM, said:

From personal experience 7.1 is good but 5.1 was more than enough.

Agreed.

Lincoln

[Pilege21]

I have been doing some looking around and comparing. I have decided to get these speakers.

For tower speakers that will go next to the tv will be: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16882290206 Polk Audio Monitor60 Series II


For the back speaker that will be mounted off to the rear back on shelves (still thinking of where to put these): http://www.newegg.co...N82E16882290202 Polk Audio Monitor40 Series II


For the center speaker: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16882290210 Polk Audio CS1 Series II


How is this setup?


For the Amp and Receiver. Which one would be great for this setup and do I only need one or both? This is where I'm stuck.

[MLStrand56]

Pilege21, on 24 August 2012 - 07:08 PM, said:

I have been doing some looking around and comparing. I have decided to get these speakers.

For the center speaker: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16882290210

For the Amp and Receiver. Which one would be great for this setup and do I only need one or both? This is where I'm stuck.

You should remember that in 5.1/7.1 mode, MOST of the sound comes out of the Center Ch. speakers. Do you trust MOST of your audio, to small center speakers?

Are you buying an A/V Receiver AND a separate pwr. amp? Doesn't your Receiver have enough pwr amps built into it?. What's the reason for the separate pwr. amp?

MLStrand56