Any home audio geeks out there?

[biju]

Hello Family2.0...

Priorities, priorities... First came the car audio project, and now I'm in preparation for the home audio project. I'm a self admitted car audio hobbyist, however, when it comes to home audio, I know very little...

The time has come to, *eh-hem*, 'invest' in some home audio. I want a very quality set up, but not too gadgety. Meaning, I just want a tad more than the basics. Music comes first, theater comes second. My ideal components? Plasma, solid all in one A/V receiver w/ front monitors (for the music) and complementing surround sound (for movies).

The HD plasma's a check. That's outta the way. Front monitors and sub are a check also (bought the Paradigm Monitor 9's w/ PDR-12 sub). I need help/input/opinions about the surround speakers and this 'all in one' A/V receiver I seek. Anybody have any good experience in this area, or own either that they'd like to share an opinion or recommend?

SURROUND SPEAKERS
They need to be small, as the room they're going in is not that big (Paradigm didn't have smaller speakers that I thought sounded like they should...) Budget 1,000

A/V RECEIVER
I'm thinking for my budget on this one (1,200) I really liked the Yamaha RX-V2600. However, I'm just not sure if that's 'too much' for what I'm looking for... or what their reputation is as a home audio company.

Thanks in advance for any and all input...

-biju.

[Triathlete]

Might check into in-wall type speakers for your surround...take up 0 space. Plus lend to a clean look in the room.

[nater]

I think you should reconsider on the Plasma. Since you live at altitude, as do I, your new plasma TV will likely have a high-pitched whine when on, as well as a shorter lifespan.

LCD panels do not suffer from these issues.

Plasmas in general consume large amounts of electricity; I've heard as much as $1 per hour by some estimates.

If you are dead-set on owning a Plasma, try to find one that is designed for high altitude (rumored to exist, but I have yet to see one).

As far as Home Theater in general, a lot of folks are building Home Theater PC's to serve as their media center. No DVD player or anything, the whole system consists of a high-end TV, high end receiver, a digital cable box, and a PC in a cool case. The PC can even control the cable box as a slave over the firewire:

http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/

As for speakers, there is no limit to how much you can spend. I have a set of polk RM6600's that cost about $1200 in 2000. They sound awesome hooked to a $200 Receiver. I also have a set of $229 JBL's downstairs hooked to a $300 Receiver that sound just as good:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

Frankly, I bought them just to prove to my wife that they wouldn't possibly sound as good as my Polk's. I was astonished at how much I like them, and am pretty smug about the price. I ended up keeping them and am quite happy with them. Basically, speakers are a matter of personal taste. My only advice is don't pay above your own taste.

If you are looking for a multi-DVD changer, there are a few 300 and 400 DVD changers on the market, some with serial ports that can hook to your PC for awesome control over the collection.

As far as Yamaha goes, their musical instruments are world famous. (Heck, their logo is three tuning forks!). I really like their electronics as well, but I'm sure you can find a few haters out there. I for one am extremely fussy about things like an easy to use remote and menus that make sense. I think I would be quite happy with the receiver you picked out.

Nate

[9tinyfingaz]

dont forget your "friendly associate" @ CompUsa. you find something on my website you like message me or email me and ill give you my price. Alot of margin on home entertainment. As far as a tv is concerned. love Zenith 50' magnificent and samsung 42 lcds beautiful.

[iamjacksadrenalgland]

i never knew about the altitude issue with plasmas, of course i've lived near sea level my whole life. regardless, my next investment in a big screen will definately be DLP, rather than plasma or LCD. i've been very impressed with the new 1080p chips.

as nater said, speakers are a matter of personal taste. after a lot of auditioning i've determined that i like dynaudio's audience series for music and klipsch's reference series for theater. though i admit that it's difficult to justify spending a lot more for a marginal difference in sound quality.

your observation that the smaller speakers don't sound 'like they should' is common among the audiophile crowd and seems pretty consistent regardless of the brand or model. if it were me, i'd just stick with paradigm and live with having larger speakers. i don't like to mix speaker brands within one system.

[Hotsauce]

Check my gallery for some serious audio stuff. I'm a hardcore 2 channel analog junky though. And it must be tubes.

This is my computer system...

http://members.aol.com/audiostorage2/CompterSystem.jpg





John C.

[MSHardeman]

I'll say it loud and proud....BANG & OLUFSEN!! I have a set up from 1978 that still looks better, and outperforms, anything being made today. Yeah, it's a little pricy, but WELL worth it. Go see Shea at the Cherry Creek North store, and he can educate the bejezuz out of you.
I sat in their theater room at the store and just about pee'd myself. UNBELIEVABLE sound and picture quality with the ability to blow the roof off of anything without your ears ringing. I'm listing to a pair of their headphones right now and you'd swear I was at the concert.

[etlsport]

i love my bose speakers, i have a pair of 901 series that my dad bought in 1985, and they still sound better than any other speakers ive tried, but they only do high range natural sound, so i needed a good sub to handle lows........ moral of the story.. i love bose speakers!

for the price ive always been very impressed with JBL speakers

all of my sound processing was yamaha.. i was very happy with the sound quality, but the amp died on me in very smokey fashion (it did last 5 years) and i sold the rest, i definately like yamaha's sound... but am not so comfortable with the way the amp died (couldve been a fluke though) so my next setup more than likely not be yamaha

[WyrreJ]

If I were putting together a new system today, I would be seriously considering the use of digital amps. They break the old rule of "you can measure the quality of an amplifier by its weight" - they are light and tiny with amazing accuracy.

In particular I suggest looking at the Panasonic series of receivers with "full digital amplifiers" - the SA-XR57 is one current model, but not much has changed from the earlier versions which may still be available at certain locations.

These units are "wolves in sheeps clothing" - Panasonic uses the digital amp technology to make them cheap instead of emphasizing their high-quality. In fact, since they market them to the "louder is better" crowd, they quote the specs like S/N and THD poorly - they overdrive the amp to get the most volume and quote the specs at that level. When you back the power off by a few watts, the sound quality measurements jump up to the neighborhood of $5000 component amps. No joke - when Panasonic shipped their first digital amp models audiophiles were going nuts over the fact that a $200 receiver could compete (not necessarily beat, but at least make a respectable showing) against $5K component amps.

There are some other receivers with full digital amps out there too, but the Panasonics are probably the best "bang for the buck" currently available. Here is one thread that talks about digital amps in general: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=417894

[Locomigo]

Bill,

Check these out:

Arcam AVR250 - FANTASTIC, and WELL worth it. Ive installed several.
Integra DTR-7.6 - New model of a SOLID performer

Marantz SR7500 - Hard to go wrong here (rebadged Denon)
Denon AVR-3806 - Again, decent unit.


the Arcam/Integra are a little more, but worth popping for the additional capital.

For speakers, check these out:

Axiom Audio - M2i

There are so many solid performers in this range that it is hard to steer you in a direction. Also everyone's ear is slightly different.

Give me a buzz and I can give you additional information.

The plasma thing is VERY true w/altitude, and consumer units dont typically have the high altitude option. The commecial units do, but there are a bit more utilitarian in nature and oriented with BNC connections rather than RCA style.

I prefer a nice DLP to either Plasma, or LCD as you can get bigger for less with a better picture.

A nice DLP front projector/screen combo would be the way I would go, but a lot of other considerations would need to be accounted for in this area.

Curious what else you listened to prior to deciding on the Paradigm? not as though its a poor choice, but I would be happier with a matched set left to right, front to rear as the timbre is important to me, and the subs... I know of some real house shakers that still sound fantastic.

Talk to me...

[VehiGAZ]

I thought I qualified as a "home audio geek" until I read the thread - I'm not in the same league as you guys, although I do like what I have - Yamaha CD player into a Proton D940 amp driving a pair of ESS AMT-1 speakers - the poor audiophile's home system!

Although I am keeping the audio system as is, I am also going big-screen soon. leaning toward a 50" or 60" LCD with DLP. Costco has some great deals on them right now. I will replace our much-heated Philips home theater system when I do, and was thinking of going with something from Cambridge Soundworks. Anyone have any experience with them?

[nater]

More on plasma's at altitude.

http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/p...-altitude.html

[nater]

A few more notes on TV's, be sure to buy 1080p with HDMI and HDCP compliance. DVI is adaptable to HDMI, but you typically lose your HDCP, and the display may go dark.

Also, if you expect to get Cable HD directly into the TV, (with no box), be sure to get CableCard 2.0, otherwise known as M-Card (multistream).

CableCard 2.0 is not yet a finalized standard, so there seems to be no point to buying a tuner in your new TV at all, unless you just want HD locals from an Antenna and nothing else (no Dish, no Cable). So, save a few hundred $ and get the "monitor only" style television; then hookup your cable or dish to that.

Nate

[Hotsauce]

Turntable? No one plays records any more? Soo much more musical than a CD.






My Krells.


845 Single Ended Triode


MG20's with AG2 cables



John C.

[biju]

I too am quite humbled by the spendy equipment peeps on this board have... (Home audio envy...).

Thanks for the replies all...

TRIATHLETE:
Great idea, but unfortunately in this particular room the couch is literally up against the wall opposite the HD Plasma. The surround separates will need to be 'aimed' towards the couch (I know it's not proper, but given the amount of space I have to deal with I dunno if I have a choice...)

NATER:
Too late on the Plasma... A friend of mine purchased the Dell HD. I was so impressed by the quality/price I had to follow suit. I too heard that at high altitude there was a 'buzzzz' sound with Plasmas, but unless my car audio system has made me deaf I simply don't have that problem. Call me lucky I guess.???

9TINYFINGAZ:
I haven't forgot! I'll need loads of accessories (cables, wires, etc.) and have your contact info in case I can't find it cheaper on fleaBay...!!

IAMJACKSADRENALGLAND:
Mmmm... Dynaudio... (Insert drool *HERE*). I only wish I could afford that kind of quality!!! I agree though, I too had a hard time trying to justify spending a LOT more for a marginal difference in sound quality. I think that's why Paradigm appealed to me. Great value, yet still 'higher quality'. I can't wait to hear these puppies in my own home!!!

HOTSAUCE:
That's stuff's insane!! If you EVER need to get rid of that turntable because, oh, say... because you just *want to*, PLEASE contact me. I'll be sure to give it the nicest of homes!!!

MSHARDEMAN:
Dooood! I love B&O! Who wouldn't? Only if I didn't have a budget... *sigh. It's funny you mentioned "Cherry Creek" as it was "Cherry Creek Audio" where I purchased the Paradigm's...!

ETLSPORT:
BOSE! I keep coming back to that brand for the small surrounds I seek - however, not too sure about their power handling? Are there any other small speakers like BOSE (quality/rep/price) that could handle more power if needed? I'm a little spooked by the smokey death of your Yamaha however, like you said it could have been a fluke. What did you end up replacing it with? (or what do you plan to replace it with?)

WYRREJ:
Good link. Thanks. I like the idea of digital amplification, and the technology sound extremely promising. Know of any good A/V receivers with digital amplifcation that offer HDMI out?

LOCOMIGO:
The Integra DTR-7.6 and Denon Denon AVR-3806 are serious contenders to the Yamaha I'm looking at. All three have pro's and con's - however, you probably nailed two of the top three on my list! Before the Para-dig-em's I did give the following brands a listen: Infinity, Axiom (a buddy bought a set of monitors), Klipsch and Polk. In the end physical size, price, and sound quality (what I thought sounded best) won out.

VEHIGAZ:
LOL... I feel ya. Everytime I step into an audio joint to 'talk shop' with the sales folk I'm always humbled by how much I *don't* know about home audio. There's just sooo much technology out there, and sooo much to keep on top of.

-biju.