# Need advice, help a rookie out.



## Jprime (Apr 8, 2010)

Hey guys,

I've never built or really owned a home theater system so I want to start out very small just to get the feel for it. I have a rl-p sub I took out of my out car I can use in the future, for now lets just worry about the speakers, and I can worry about the sub after.

Really what I want is a little setup for my tv/ps3, I play my music from my ps3 most of the time. For now I just want a 2-channel system. What I need is some speaker recommendations, I still cant decide on doing towers or just some bookshelfs to get started. What are some cheap(er) brands I can look to? I see Dayton mentioned alot, also if anyone knows of any Canadian sellers/distributors so I dont have to deal with brokerage and yadda yadda. Also I guess I will need a reciever to power them, I will be using a 2-channel setup for a long time.

So what do you guys think, just a cheap/simple build, im not expecting amazing results, I just want to get the hang of things and set em up before I dive deeper into this. 

Bookshelf or tower? What kind of setup? WMT? and some product recommendations. (sorry if anything didnt make sense or is just way to nooby :yikes

This is for a smaller basement BTW.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

What's your budget for the whole mess (AVR + 2 speakers)?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Hi, Have you had a look at this post here? It will give you some different prices for complete systems to work with.

For speakers SVS offers some of the best for the money and you can buy them from the Canadian distributor Sonic Boom Audio.


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## Jprime (Apr 8, 2010)

With the reciever aside, and I will build bookshelfs, can something put something together for $200-300, all I need would be 2 tweets, and 2 mids correct? I will build the crossovers. 

As for the reciever (Im about to noob it up), If im just looking to send each bookshelf its rated power, can I find a 2 channel amp? It seems nuts to get a 7.1 reciever to handle audio and video when I just want to give enough juice to a pair of speakers. 

Im not looking to just buy speakers, its more about the build for me at this point, getting the right enclosure size, making the crossovers, etc.. than once im satisfied with that I can move on the bigger things.

Tony, thanks for the links.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

You need a receiver or you would be unable to control the volume or pick more than one input. A receiver is the heart of the system and is necessary if you want to decode any digital audio source or watch HD video an amp will not accomplish this.

You could build your own speakers but have you done so before? Building speakers from scratch can be allot of work and a kit may be a better choice to start with. Its not as simple as building a box and inserting drivers and a crossover.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Agreed, plus, when first starting out, you're time and mistakes will likely negate any potential savings over buying manufactured speakers.

On the other hand, if you want to make speaker building a long-term hobby, now would be a great time.

As for the AVR, I agree that a 5.1 or 7.1 Dolby TrueHD AVR will give you the ability to decode the highest quality audio and offer expansion possibilities for the future.


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## Jprime (Apr 8, 2010)

Ya I realize it will take me a long time, which is why I will stick with some bookshelf speakers to start. I've built a sub enclosure which was easier than this will be. My friend has a small shop in his garage and wants to make the same speakers i do. I think it would be a fun way to spend some weekends and the end result is always that much better when its something hand made. If I fail miserably than you can be the first to say "I told you so". 

That reciever news sucks, I thought there would be a way to seperate the audio/video feed from the TV. I will keep looking around for something.

And yes I do want this to be a long term hobby, I need to start sometime.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

For the AVR, look for a basic 5.1, Dolby TrueHD unit. Anticipate about $300 for brands like Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon, Pioneer.

For $500, you get into the neighborhood where your AVR will have pre-outs allowing you to use outboard amps.


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