# New apartment, new setup (home cinema or hifi ?)



## FrenchDavid (Mar 17, 2013)

Hi guys,


I'm currently working on my new apartment audio and video settings. Since I don't know much about sound systems, I need your help to determine what kind of system I should get based on my needs and how I should set it up regarding the configuration of the living room.

Basically, I'll have a huge "library / TV stand" in which I'll have a 55-inch TV, a Mac Mini working as HTPC, a PS3 and a TV box.

I'll use this to watch a lot of sports (40% of the time), TV shows (20%), games (20%), movies (10%) and listen to my itunes music (10%).

Anything is possible at this point, I can integrate the cables in the walls and configure the huge TV stand in order to have the speakers well integrated.


I have three questions to start things off :

Based on my uses and needs, should I get a home cinema system or a hifi system ?
How many speakers should I have in the room based on its configuration, and where should they be set up ?
Would you rather have the TV on the left or on the right of the wall based on where the windows are ?
Sound quality is my number 1 priority, but I'm also looking for speakers that will fit nicely in the living room design. I don't really want to go into premium hardwares, but I want great price quality for systems that will last for many years. To give you an idea, I plan on spending around USD 4.000 for the AV receiver / amplifier, cables and speakers.


Can you advise me on what kind of system I need for my needs, and how I should set it up ? There are so many websites, reviews, and possibilities out there that I really need your help to go into the right direction with this new project.

Thanks a lot for your help, it's great to tackle this new subject for me with well-advised / passionate people 


Living room (simplified version) :









Living room (with furnitures dimensions)









Living room view from dining room standpoint :









edit : pics are not displayed in my message, where shoud I host them so that it can work on this forum ?


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## Utopianemo (Dec 12, 2012)

I'll try to answer some of this. Firstly, in the furniture drawing, what are the rectangles below the one labeled 1.012?

Pardon my asking, but are you in Canada, or Europe? The products available to you are likely to vary quite a bit from those available to those of us Stateside. At any rate, since you do a lot of media viewing, I would advise you to go the home cinema direction. Most decent Home theater speakers these days do well with music, so the main differences between a hi-fi setup and an HT setup are going to be the type of processor you choose and the amount of speakers. 

I would advise the tv to go in the middle of the wall, and to try and center the couch as much as possible to the tv. Based on your available space, you may want to go with "on-wall" speakers, which are designed to be placed on a wall or even in a bookshelf (most speakers identified as "bookshelf speakers" are not really designed to be placed in bookshelves or other enclosures at all). Axiom, a Canadian brand, makes a variety of on-wall speakers, and have been favorably reviewed here and elsewhere. As for A/V receivers, most popular brands do a fairly good job and produce nice sounding receivers at modest prices. Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, Pioneer and the like would all meet your needs for $500-$1,000 USD, provided you include a subwoofer in your budget. I would recommend Pioneer to you because they really support Apple gadgets, although I'm sure the other brands do too. 

I'm going to step aside now, but I would also suggest you allocate some of that $4,000 USD to room treatment. You have wood floors and hard walls, and unless you dampen the room a bit with fabrics and acoustical panels, you're going to have a bright, echoey room. It won't sound good no matter how much you spend.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

FrenchDavid said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> 
> I'm currently working on my new apartment audio and video settings. Since I don't know much about sound systems, I need your help to determine what kind of system I should get based on my needs and how I should set it up regarding the configuration of the living room.
> ...


Welcome to HTS! :wave:

You will need to get to 5 posts in order to post images. ou can use the post padding thread in the Testing forum to get to 5. Once you hit 5, it should update in roughly an hour - maybe less.


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## FrenchDavid (Mar 17, 2013)

The more I think about it :

1. I think I prefer to have a very good headset for my hifi needs. That's the way I like to listen to my music, without bothering other people in my apartment or even the neighbours. Would I need an amp for that ? The source of my music is my computer (iMac).

2. I want the speakers to be well integrated in the room: the less we see them the better. Since my HC needs are related to sports, TV shows and games, maybe a soundbar would be more than enough for me ? I'd put it in the TV stand / bookshelf under the TV...


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## Utopianemo (Dec 12, 2012)

If you're concerned about disturbing the neighbors, a soundbar is probably the way to go. I would not normally recommend soundbars but they have been getting better in the last few years. The upper end Yamahas are reportedly very good, there's a new Martin Logan soundbar that's well regarded, and there's a new LG soundbar that I've heard really good things about. I'm sorry I can't give you any model numbers, but LG teamed up with a third party that uses special algorithms to figure out what's lacking sonically from a particular product(the soundbar in question, for example), and then uses a lot of processing to "fix" the sound. Apparently the result is remarkable.


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## Utopianemo (Dec 12, 2012)

As far as headphones are concerned, that's also a great way to go. There are a few sites you may choose to peruse for more information on that topic. And yes, you may wish to get a separate amp for your headphones, depending on your overall budget. If you're thinking on paying $100 or less for headphones, an amp probably isn't necessary. But if you're planning on spending more than $100, an amp may be the way to go.


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