# HTIB vs Speaker/Receivers



## gasteve76 (Nov 21, 2011)

My Samsung surround system is dead. I've always had HTIB but am now considering piecing together a surround system with stand alone blue ray player. Any thoughts on one over the other or suggestions for a good system? Will be used in a fairly open living room. 7.1 not really an option


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## Jstslamd (Nov 30, 2010)

What's the size of the room and your budget ?


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## MikeBiker (Jan 3, 2010)

Any suggestions must be made with a budget in mind. The one advance that an HTIB has over putting together a system is that the HTIB is plug and play. Selecting individual components and putting them together can take some time to get working properly, but will sound much better when finished.


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## gasteve76 (Nov 21, 2011)

Jstslamd said:


> What's the size of the room and your budget ?


Room size is about 60ft2. Budget is NTE $1000.


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## allargon (Jun 13, 2008)

gasteve76 said:


> Room size is about 60ft2. Budget is NTE $1000.


That's a big room. How high are your ceilings? With 10 ft ceilings, you'd need to pressurize about 6k cubic ft with your subwoofer.

Most HThiB won't give you a sub good enough to do this. , most of 'em won't even give you mains good enough for two channel let alone full surround for $1k.

If you plan things out piecemeal you might be able to do it--especially if you get refurbs. You can try out some Infinity Primus speakers for around $300 or so per pair. You can probably build your own sub for around $400-600. The receiver will set you back at least $200. Ooops--we've already blown $1k (unless you live in a state with no sales tax). However, you now have a good 2.1 system to add center and surrounds to later.


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2011)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer...?id=pcmprd164900050018&skuId=9999165100050018

The fronts sell for $200, so you can get the rears and center for $85 more in this packaged price. 

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-America-F...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1321936639&sr=1-1 I've installed this sub, and it is really nice delivered for $190. I don't know of anything else on the market that can touch it near that price.

Maybe others can chime in on a good AVR. You will need a bit of a power house, cause those Pioneers aren't the most efficient, but probably one of the best sounding budget speakers. In the top 5 for sure.


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## Jstslamd (Nov 30, 2010)

http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/products/take-classic-n5-1-overview/

This may not be a bad speaker option. It's not 7.1 but is decent for the money. All you would need is to purchase a decent reciever to go along with it.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

If I were you, I'd look very closely at (and learn about the different lines offered by...) Polk Audio. Great speakers, awesome customer service, good prices (especially if you catch a deal from their Polk eBay store... Also almost every Sunday new egg had great deals in them). Not to take away from home theater shack... But if you are interested, go register at polk's website and join club Polk. Great user forum and a very knowledgable group. You can also PM me if you want to hear my take!


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I really like Turner's suggestion about the Pioneers. Please note, these are not your run of the mill Speaker. Rather, they were Designed by Andrew Jones who is quite well known for his work at KEF and Pioneer's own ultra expensive TAD Speakers. Compared to HTIB Speakers, standalone Speakers offer a tremendous upgrade 99.9 times out of 100. Problems can often arise when you try to use the Subwoofer from one with standalone Speakers as the sub was designed to be used with the HTIB.
Cheers,
JJ


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## MikeBiker (Jan 3, 2010)

Like Jack said, do not expect to have a lot of success reusing some of the HTIB components in a standalone setup. They usually lack the controls necessary, and have unusual design features, to allow them to integrate into a better system. Sell the HTIB system as a whole.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Although most HTIB systems are very poorly put together. I have personally heard several of the Onkyo systems and must admit that if on a tight budget they are quite good. My big concern is your size of the room. HTIB systems tend to use small speakers and subs that simply cant fill a medium to large space correctly and the owner usually drives them into distortion causing damage.


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

Could you rase your budget buy doing this in stages? That would allow you to get a stepped up receiver and a good speaker tower pair. 

You could get the rest as budget permits.


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## gasteve76 (Nov 21, 2011)

I like the pioneer speakers that were suggested. They are at a good price too. Any suggestions for a receiver and sub?i have also looked at the onkyo systems. They appear to be decent size.


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## gasteve76 (Nov 21, 2011)

rab-byte said:


> Could you rase your budget buy doing this in stages? That would allow you to get a stepped up receiver and a good speaker tower pair.
> 
> You could get the rest as budget permits.


I hadn't thought about building it in stages but that is a good idea. Start with the front speakers and receiver.


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