# New HT Advice - $4000 budget



## Davesnums (Jan 24, 2013)

Everyone - I have about a 4000 budget - give or take for a home theater room. This needs to cover the tv, receiver, blue ray and the speakers. I have been researching and here is what I am thinking. This is a dark room.

Tv - Panasonic 65GT50 - 65 inch 3D Smart Plasma - 2400
Speakers - 5.1 set of ProCinema 800s - 1000
Receiver - Yamaha RX-673 or 573 (550 or 350)
Blue Ray - Panasonic BDT220 - 100

What would you change to get better overall results? The room is 12.5 x 18. Seating will be about 10ft from the screen. I have access to run speakers thru ceiling for the rear sound.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Speakers: Have not heard the ProCinemas, I am personally a fan of both Polk and Klipsch, both have options in that price range.

Polk @ Amazon, total under $1000:
TSi300 x 2 $380
CS10 $150
TSi100 x2 $220
PSW505 $190

There is also a lot of bang for buck in the Emotiva XRM/XRC speaker series (get your sub elsewhere).

Best of luck!

Edit: Just saw the PSW505, 300W RMS, MSRP $600, a steal at $190


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## J&D (Apr 11, 2008)

Single best upgrade you could make to that list is a better sub and second would be a receiver with sub EQ - unless you go with an outboard option. The Onkyo TX-NR818 with XT32 is hard to beat and there is an open box available on Newegg right now for $599.

The Procinema's are very good compact speakers but I have also auditioned and just purchased a set of Polk Blackstone TL2's for my son using them in a two channel system with subwoofer and they are excellent compact speakers for $99ea so $500 for all five channels and you can put the $500 saved toward a more potent sub. HSU Research makes some very solid subs and if you can stretch your budget just a bit to get a VTF-15H you would never regret it. The Outlaw LFM-1 EX is also a solid performer and offers a lot of bang for the buck. Bass you can feel for movies is addictive and makes watching an experience.

Good luck with your search,

JD


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## zieglj01 (Jun 20, 2011)

Davesnums said:


> What would you change to get better overall results? The room is 12.5 x 18. Seating will be about 10ft from the screen. I have access to run speakers thru ceiling for the rear sound.


I would get bigger speakers >
Look at the HTD Level Two speakers - and a 10% off sale
The coupon code is - 2013sale
http://www.htd.com/About-Us-HTD/14th-Anniversary

2 pair Level Two Bookshelves
1 each center channel
http://www.htd.com/Products/level-two-speakers/Level-TWO-Bookshelf-Speakers
http://www.htd.com/Products/level-two-speakers/Level-TWO-Center-Channel-Speaker

And, a hard hitting sub - Look at Cadence CSX12
http://www.cadencesound.com/products/CSX12-Mark-II.html

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article/review-cadence-csx-12-mark-ii-subwoofer?page=0,2

Go to AC4L and look at the refurbish receivers
http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...iver/Home-Audio/Home-Theater-Receivers/1.html


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

+1on looking at Polk speakers from the RTiA line.


If I were to change anything out of your proposed set-up (and this is without knowledge of key factors like room size)... I would look into a screen and projector.


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## Davesnums (Jan 24, 2013)

Thanks for ideas. 

On the receiver - I considered the Onkyo but was concerned about reliability issues - I looked at the 616 and 717 - the 818 is 1200 and blows the budget. Besides I think I should be able to get a solid receiver in the 400-600 range for everything I need. One other idea was a Harmon Kardon or the Pioneer sc-1222k

On the speakers - ideally I want to wall mount the center and front sides - that is one reason I looked at the ProCinema 800s. I am trying to balance the aesthetics to keep the wife happy. I could do the left and right as floor speakers with the center mounted. 

Room size - it is 12.5 x 18. Tv goes on the 12 wide wall which is really 10 foot wide at the front because of a dormer bump out that is thru the middle of the room. So a screen and projector doesn't do much with the small wall. 65 or 70 is as big as will fit centered in the wall at 3 feet up. Viewing distance will be about 10 feet with space behind the seating for an open bar area - so I need to ceiling mount the rear speakers.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

Spending about 55% of your total budget on just the TV is probably not the ideal approach to take. While the set you chose is excellent, you aren't really left with enough to get anything for the rest of your system that will equal the quality of your TV. From 10' away you would still get very good results from a 60" set, so if you want to balance the distribution a little better that might be one way of pulling a few dollars out of the video purchase and put it into the audio side.

If you really want that particular TV then some suggestions for speakers and a subwoofer are below (I left a few of your original choices as they were, which are listed in italics):

_TV: Panasonic 65GT50 ($2400)_
*Speakers:* Four Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 and one CMT-340, or four Premier Acoustic PA-6B and one PA 4.2C
_Receiver: Yamaha RX-673 or 573 ($550 or $350)_
_Blu-Ray: Panasonic BDT220 ($100)_
*Subwoofer:* SVS PB1000

The DefTech speakers are actually pretty good, so those are probably still worth keeping in play. I'd advocate the 1000's over the 800's though.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Davesnums said:


> On the speakers - ideally I want to wall mount the center and front sides - that is one reason I looked at the ProCinema 800s. I am trying to balance the aesthetics to keep the wife happy. I could do the left and right as floor speakers with the center mounted.


Yes, the WAF must be considered. My wife gave up arguing long ago from my whining "But honnnneeeeeyyyyy, it HAS to be this way." Add my pouty face, and I win every time. I pay for it later in antiques and books, a small price.:T


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## Davesnums (Jan 24, 2013)

Ok - have a few other ideas:
- TV - leaving the same - Panasonic 65GT50 - 2450 - ordering tonight before Amazon raises the price again.
- Receiver - could save a little on the Onkyo 616 - or go with the 717 - or the Yamaha 573/673 options. - 400 to 650 
- Blue Ray - Pan DMP-BDT220 - 100
- Speakers - 
- Sub - PSW505 as suggested - 190
- Center - Definitive Center 1000 - 220
- Fronts - Floor Towers - Polk TSI300s - 420 pair
- Rear Speakers - Definitive 800s - 300 pair

Puts me at 4000 to 4200 total + expenses for mount, brackets, etc - another 200 or 300. 

How will the Definitives work with the Polks? I like the size of Defs for the rear (to mount from the ceiling) and the center to mount under the tv. Open to other similar sized options.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

Davesnums said:


> - Sub - PSW505 as suggested - 190
> - Center - Definitive Center 1000 - 220
> - Fronts - Floor Towers - Polk TSI300s - 420 pair
> - Rear Speakers - Definitive 800s - 300 pair
> ...


Probably not very well. Different speakers from different manufacturers using different drivers will always have a blending issue. For the rears that's not such a big deal, because they do very little, but it's critical the front three match.

The PSW505 sub is probably something worth reconsidering as well. Anything in the $200 range will have fairly substantial compromises in sound quality; realistically there's only so much a company can invest in the driver, amp and cabinet while still turning a profit. Sometimes you can get a decent buy in the $300 range -- like the Klipsch RW12-d that goes on sale from time to time -- but less then that and you may find yourself looking to upgrade much sooner then anticipated.


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## zieglj01 (Jun 20, 2011)

Davesnums said:


> - Speakers -
> - Sub - PSW505 as suggested - 190
> - Center - Definitive Center 1000 - 220
> - Fronts - Floor Towers - Polk TSI300s - 420 pair
> ...


Definitive for the surrounds is OK - Not recommended to mix speaker brands up front.
If you go with Polk, then go with the proper Polk center. >> Also the Cadence CSX12
subwoofer, will out-perform the Polk subwoofer.

Your option/choice and decision.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
While I absolutely adore my 60T50, given the budget, I too would consider allocating more towards the speakers. The TC-P60ST50 offers a very similar picture to the GT50 while freeing up some resources. Same applies to the UT50 provided you are setting up the HT in a light controlled room. (UT50 does not have an Antireflective Filter)
Cheers,
JJ


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

On the PSW505 that I suggested earlier: I readily admit that I am primarily a two channel listener, and put less priority on a sub than a lot of the serious theater folks around here. But with the $1000 speaker budget, I have a hard time seeing you spend more than that on the sub. Sounding musical above 80 Hz has got to be a priority, too.

If, however, you increase your speaker budget, as suggested above, then the sub might be a good place to put a bigger chunk of the speaker money, maybe even leave the rest of the speakers the same and give all of the increased budget to the sub. I could see that working. My two cents worth, _again._:sn:


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