# Home Theater Equipment Advice



## Guest (Jul 10, 2008)

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and I am looking for advice on equipment for my situation. I am planning a new HT in my new house as well as two additional music listening areas (dining room and outside patio). My budget for this project is around $2000 - $2500. The HT will be in the family room which is 19' wide (TV wall) and the sitting area will be about 12' away from that. The room itself is an open room that continues into the kitchen. I have six speaker drops in the family room, two speaker drops in both the dining room and outside), so I don't have to worry about running speaker wire. I also have a conduit between my TV and my media closet (about 40' away). I would like to only run one HDMI cable between my TV and my gear, but if it makes sense to run other wires I can. I would like to get all in-wall and in-ceiling speakers (except for the outside) too.

As far as our music/movie/tv ratio I would say it is 50/35/15. I do not play console games, but if buying a PS3 to use as my Blu-Ray DVD player I would do that.

I would like to be able to listen to the same music source in all three areas or be able to watch a movie in the HT and listen to a second source in the dining room and outside. I will not need to listen to two different music sources between the dining room and outside.

Here is my current gear:
TV: Panasonic TH-42PX25 (3 years old)
Subwoofer: Polk Audio PSW 450
That's it (I sold my old stuff)

So, I am looking for recommendations for:
- In-wall/In-ceiling speakers
- Blu-Ray DVD player
- Receiver (I would like to get HDMI 1.3 and also be able to use the recevier to control the 2nd zone)
- and anything else I am missing.

Thanks in advance for you help and please let me know if you need more information.

Keith


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

First of all ... Welcome :wave: :wave: :wave:



tateke said:


> ... I am planning a new HT in my new house as well as two additional music listening areas (dining room and outside patio). My budget for this project is around $2000 - $2500.
> 
> Here is my current gear:
> TV: Panasonic TH-42PX25 (3 years old)
> ...


Any reason you want to go with In-wall/In-ceiling speakers??? ... if I recall correctly, I read before that a good in-wall/in-cealing is expensive, somebody said this are good speakers http://www.inwall-speakers.com/ ... :yes:

I been reading a lot about the Onkyo receivers (http://onkyousa.com/products_compare.cfm); you need something with two zones, I think you can combine the dinning and outside to zone 2, or if you can get a receiver with 3 zones it will be better (I don't know what is the difference in price.

I think your missing accoustic treatment for your living room ... that will help too.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Blu-ray=PS3


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2008)

Thanks for the advice guys.

I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion on the receiver that I should be looking at?

Thanks,
Keith


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

The Onkyo refurbs from shoponkyo.comseem to be the best price/performance ratio. The 605/606 on up will suit your purposes.

Some folks have questioned the Onkyo reliability as of late. If you're worried about that, look for Harmon Kardon refurbs from the official HK reseller on ebay. Don't be afraid of the seemingly low power ratings, HK rates their receiver using a stricter system, makeing the more "true".


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

How much are you willing to spend on a receiver? The Onkyo Tx SR805 is by far the best bang for buck. Its well built, has a very large power supply so it can output the 130watts per channel it says it can, has all the latest audio surround modes, is THX ultra certified and has HDMI 1.3.


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2008)

I was looking at the Onkyo 606 and 805, but was wondering if the difference in price is worth it for my situation. I was also looking at the Pioneer 91TXH receiver. I would like to keep the price around $500, but if the 805 is worth the extra cash then I would be willing to do that.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Stay away from in wall/in ceiling speakers unless absolutely necessary, if your room is fairly large the 805 would be much better as you would need to get some decent speakers to fill the room properly with sound.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

What about the Yamaha RXV663 ... I 'm sure it cost less than $500.00

Have you visited any store for an open box bargain??? ... I'm always on the look for something that I can use, I got my RXV-2700 for $399.99 as open box (retail was around $1100.00)


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## Guest (Jul 14, 2008)

In order to get my wife's approval in wall/in ceiling are necessary. I was thinking about Polk Audio's TC series, but I will look into the ones that David mentioned above. 

I have been to a few stores to see what they have on clearence or open box speacials, but nothing too great yet.

Thanks for all of the advice guys.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

My advise on in-wall and/or in-ceiling,.... pony up the cash! Go with something from the likes of:
Triad
RBH Sound
James Loudspeaker
Snell

In-wall/in-ceiling can be a very good way to go but, it'll cost some cash. If you're on a budget consider in room/free standing speakers.


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## tanchiro58 (Aug 4, 2008)

Hello,

I am new too and looking to build a HT system in my living room. I had tried to build one before but friend of mine said that the center and the front speakers have to be the same manufacturer due to the coherence between them. Is this true since i have three different speakers? 

Many thanks,
Tan


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Well, they don't have to, but it helps. You want the speakers to sound as close to identical as possible so that during a pan from left to center to right (a passing car, maybe a running voice) it sounds like one fluid motion. Same manufacturer is good (i.e all Aperion), same series is better (i.e. all Aperion 5), same exact speaker is best (i.e. All Aperion 5B Bookshelf).

Whether you will see the largest overall improvement in your system by buying new speakers, or spending that money somewhere else, will require you to evaluate you entire system.


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