# New System 5k-10k Help



## Guest (Sep 11, 2007)

Guys,

Turning to the experts on this one. I am buying a new house and will be equiping it with a brand new home theater system. My budget is $5k to $10k. I definitely want to get decent quality. I will be getting a plasma to mount on the wall. I am looking at a Panasonic 50 or 50 inch that supports 1080p. I will want surround speakers and a HD or BlueRay DVD player as well. If you had this budget range what equipment would you suggest?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Hi John and welcome to the Shack!

You will no doubt do very well with that budget. :T

Is this a dedicated room or combined with living quarters/great room?

Are you going to buy from a local dealer or are you open to Internet shopping?


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2007)

It will be in our family/great room - room is about 16 by 21 with two story ceiling. I'm looking to do a professional install with all wiring through the walls. I'm open to buying on the internet - I purchased my current 42 inch Panasonic plasma on the web a few years back - good experience (the old set is going into the bedroom).


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I don't know much about plasmas, but we seem to have some pretty good deals on those via the store.


If I had that kind of budget I would probably consider the following options... considering there is soooo much to choose from.

*Speakers*:
SVS MTS-01's (If you can wait... they also have a 30 trial period)... 
Paradigm Reference
Boston Acoustics VR1, VRC, VRX system... (if I needed to save money).

Again, there are a host of good ones out there... these are just some I would be considering myself. I have thoroughly enjoyed the SVS SBS-01's and my Bostons, both excellent setups. I'll probably own the MTS-01's as soon as possible. 

*Subwoofer*: 
Consider one offered with the MTS-01 packages to save. 
MTS-01 5.1 Channel Full-Size System with PC-Ultra subwoofer** $3,499 [$3,899]
If I didn't buy an SVS sub, I'd build my own. I'm bias to SVS because they are a sponsor here and I own two of them, but they are truly a great sub company to deal with and have the best bang for the buck subs that I know of. HSU also make some good bang for the buck subs as well. JL Audio, Velodyne and Mark Seaton all have excellent subs too... but they cost more and it may be hard to work with your budget.

*Receiver*:
Onkyo TX-SR705 or 805... these impress me with their features and their reviews are pretty good as well.
Denon 3808CI - I own the 2807, which is plenty for me, but I'd consider an upgrade if I had the budget. I've owned the 3805 and 3806... great receivers.
Yamaha V2700 - I personally like the Yamaha sound best for music, but a few small quirks like display visibility and no independent x-over settings caused me to sell my V1700 and go back to Denon.

I'd go with a receiver to save... I think separates would get into to too much of your speaker money.

*Source*:
Samsung BD-UP5000 Dual Format HD-DVD / Blu-ray Player ... this will most likely be my next player. Both formats are here to stay for a while... I can probably wear this unit out before a clear winner emerges. I'm buying both formats.

I think you can do any of the above combos for less than 10 grand. Combinations should give you a good range from about $6K - $9K.


Again... these are simply options I would be considering that I firmly believe would make for an excellent system.


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## Fred33 (Sep 4, 2007)

I would look on ebay or look around for some whole sale places on the web to get some good deals. Welcome to Shack! Post some pictures if you get the chance so we can see the progress.


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## bob1029 (Feb 26, 2007)

I know you've had a good deal of experience with your 42" plasma, but have you considered lcd as a possibility? I set up alot of tvs for people at work, and I notice that many plasma sets can produce lots of glare in moderately-lit rooms due to the glass panels. If you are setting up in a dark room, this probably wont be a concern though.

As far as speakers/sub goes, Sonnie put down the same things I would recommend. Really excellent speakers for the money, and you can't argue with that 30 day trial period. 

For reciever, I also recommend the onkyo 805/875. If you have enough budget left over, I'd definately go for the 875 since it sports the reon-hqv upscaler, which is excellent for taking standard def up to native 1080p resolutions for your tv. It works on all sources, so you will only have to run a single hdmi cable to the tv set, which can make wallmounting alot easier.

I know this is very controversial in some circles :coocoo:, but I would go hd-dvd for the source. My reasoning for this comes from 2 factors:
1. Hd-dvd is picking up steam, with more exclusivity rights from major studios.
2. Cost of hd-dvd player is low compared to the cheapest blu-ray, and even if the format loses, you will be able to buy a cheap blu-ray player when that happens, and still have paid less buying both seperately than buying a 1000$ combo unit.


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## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

I think Sonnie gave some good suggestions.. but since it's not my money, I thought I'd spend more of it..

I'd also look into some of the offerings from Dynaudio. They make some of the best speakers out there -- in my opinion of course. However, I'd audition as many makes as you can to see what you like best. If you haven't read it yet, you might wanna take a look at this.. The exception would be the SVS offerings. I expect those to be excellent and a great bang for the buck speaker. Regardless of whatever path you go for your main speakers, you will be hard pressed to improve on the offerings from SVS for your sub duties.

Sonnie is probably right about the separates. However, if you were to go for separates, the 2 preamps out right now that seems to be garnering a lot of buzz are the Integra DTC-9.8 and the Onkyo Pro PR-SC885P. As I recall, both offer all the latest connectivity (i.e., HDMI 1.3) and all the latest sound formats. I think the MSRP on the Integra is ~$1600. Don't know if the street price is lower or not though. The Onkyo is a little bit more. For amps, there are several brands I'd take a look at: Parasound, Rotel, Bryston, Anthem, etc.. 

As for the source, I'd go with the latest Toshiba HD-DVD player if you want HD-DVD or get a PS3 if you wanna watch Blu-Ray movies.

So, I think I'd go with something like this:


Preamp/Amp -- $3,400
PS3 -- $500
Speakers -- $6,100

Or


Receiver -- $1,200
PS3 -- $500
Speakers -- $8,300


I was about to finish this post when I just thought of something -- the acoustics. You can have the best gear in the world, but if the room is bad acoustically, you might as well buy Bose :dumbcrazy:

I'd set aside some of your budget for acoustical treatments. You might want to post some questions in our acoustics sub-forum and see what you should expect.

JCD


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I'm with Jacen, I'd spend the majority on speakers. 

Personal preference:
Speakers - RBH Sound Signature or Reference Series. ~6000 http://www.rbhsound.com/signatureseries.shtml
Sub - SVS PB12-PLUS/2 ~1300 http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-plus2.cfm
Receiver - Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer ~1200 http://www.hometheatershack.com/ele...78AO-Denon_AVR3808CI_71_Channel_Receiver.html
HD-DVD - Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD ~200 http://www.hometheatershack.com/ele...4-B000IJV4BC-Toshiba_HD_A2_HD_DVD_Player.html
and whats leftover on a monitor.


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## Guest (Sep 12, 2007)

Wow guys...lots of good advice. I will spend the next week researching it and let you know my choice. Thanks.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

"Avoid like the plague..." ??? :scratch: That's pretty drastic when millions of people own MTM center channels and are perfectly happy. I have absolutely no issues with any I've ever owned. Or maybe I'm confused... without taking his thread totally off topic, briefly explain the difference between a "toppled MTM center" and a "MTM center". You actually explained what a "toppled MTM center" is, but how is it different than a "untoppled MTM center"? Thanks! This might even merit a new thread because it's sounds like it might be a totally new major development to a LOT of people. Millions of centers just became useless and people everywhere are going to have to sell and replace... :raped: (Yes, I'm being sarcastic :bigsmile: )


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## bob1029 (Feb 26, 2007)

Uh oh...Time for some new speakers :hide:

I honestly cant think of any other decent way to create a center channel (besides coaxial). Every design I have seen is almost always [M T M].


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## JCD (Apr 20, 2006)

Where I might say "avoid like the plague" might be a little bit of a hyperbole, there are good reasons for using a vertical array vs a horizontal array.

In any case, I'm am so wickedly jealous of jowens.. I'd love to have that kind of scratch and get to go out an audition a bunch of great speakers. Definitely lets us know what you listened to, what you liked, what you didn't like and what you ultimately decided on.

JCD


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

> .....A "toppled MTM" is a speaker with a tweeter flanked by two horizontal woofers. (A tweeter flanked by two _vertical_ woofers is fine.)


*So this means that if I have an MTM center speaker with two horizontal woofers, I can just place it vertically to get a better sound???? ... I mean, instead of buying a new one ....*



> ...The vast majority of center channels out there are toppled MTM's, which means that the vast majority of surround speaker sets are (barely) suitable for background music at best...


*Background music in a movie or do you mean when playing a CD??? *



> ... A toppled MTM center is like a "subwoofer" with a single 4" driver. Physics dictate that it simply won't be able to do what it's supposed to do effectively.. .


*I'm not an expert, but I read somewhere that the center channel speaker is used for the dialogue in a movie???? ... if that's the case, I think this speaker is doing what is supposed to do ...*

Well, this is just my opinion ...:huh::huh:


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Okay... I did this myself... :surrender: Let's get back on topic with the OP... but there is no reason we can't start a new thread on MTM centers. As a matter of fact... I'll start it and move these few posts that are off topic to that new thread. :T

Here's a link to that thread... Avoid like the plague a "topple MTM" center channel speaker.


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