Hmm, well if no Bose, I'll need help

Hey guys,...Thanks for the input on the Bose 3-2-1. I think I will listen and not go with that purchase. The problem is,..I know nothing about home audio. I noticed there is a few people contributing some good input even though Gear is gone. Would you guys be willing to walk me through some stuff so I dont throw money away? If so, let me know and I will let you know what the room is like, what TV, etc etc. We will get this party started ~!! Thanks again for the help, look forward to "hearing" from you soon

- Dennis

 

Everyone (me included) will just suggest the same thing they have, because that's what they have the most experience with. Understandable. I'd say to just go to some stores and see and listen to what they have. You can get out fairly cheap, going to Best Buy or Circuit City. If you have a little bigger budget, check out Tweeters, if one is near you. They sell a little higher end stuff, than the others I mentioned, and they have a seperate room set up for listening.
I wouldn't buy an HTIB (Home Theater In A Box). Unless you get into the high end HTIB's, you just don't get quality stuff.

To demo equipment, will take a little time, but that's part of the fun of it. Take a Saturday, go to all the places you can find, and listen to different stuff. Take notes. You may need to go a second time, after going over notes and eliminating the lesser sounding stuff. Enjoy it as much as possible!
Good luck!

 

jvc, how are you going to go to a store and listen to home theater stuff and try to imagine what it will sound like when you get it home? just experiment dude buy stuff and if you dont like it take it back, most places have a couple weeks of a return policy on home theater electronics.

 

dukhnt---don't listen to jvc about the home theater in a box thing either, if you want to save money and still have a rocking home theater system look into onkyos all in one in a box systems, they really do have good quality stuff in those boxes. they wont be the best but i swear to you you'll love it, especially since you said you don't have experience in home theater, you'd believe you were at the movies with a decent onkyo 7.1 all in one in a box systems.

 

just my opinion but if i had the money i would buy almost any speakers from polk audio infinity or Klipsch which is probably my favorite

 

Please stay away from the Bose. OVERPRICED. I once bought in to the Bose marketing machine. There are a lot of Internet only speaker companies out there. Try here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=89 and search around for speakers. What is your budget?

 

Since this thread don't seem to be going anywhere, I'll add a little more. I'll also return the advice to brandonb, and say, don't do like he said, and go blindly buying stuff, and return it.

Blind buys hardly ever work out. It's folks like him that keeps the prices higher than they should be. When you return a bunch of stuff, the business has to end up selling them again as "Open Box" items, at a reduced price. You need to demo stuff in the stores. If you like it there, then buy it. If it sounds that much different, when you get it home, then take it back. Just dont go blindly buying a bunch of stuff. Go to real Home Theater forums, with real enthusiasts, that know what they're talking about, and see how many tell you to go buy blindly and return it, and keep doing it until you find something. It don't work that way!

As I said before, unless you absolutely [bold]HAVE[/bold] to, stay away from HTIB's, unless you get a high end one. No matter what brand they are. They are better than nothing though.........
The reason I say this is because the build quality isn't there. They are cheap for a reason. One of the main reasons is [bold]inputs.[/bold] The HTIB's don't usually have enough digital inputs. People have satellite or digital cable boxes to hook up to them. They have dvd players. They may have a dvd recorder. How about a Tivo. Then some want to hook up their X Boxes, Playstation 2 consoles, and Game Cubes. Some folks have multi disc cd players, that have digital outputs, that they want to hook up. Then there's the HDTV's that have the built in HD tuners (for OTA HD TV), with digital output, they want to hook up.

See what I mean. There is no HTIB (except the very high end ones), that's gonna even come close, to having enough inputs. Most HTIB's have one digital coax input, and sometimes two optical inputs, but usually just one. Then it may have one set of analog inputs.

So, if you're just gonna watch a dvd, and maybe digital cable, an HTIB may suit you just fine. But if you have more stuff to hook up, you won't be happy with HTIB. The choice is definately your's, but i wanted to give you some things to think about, if you haven't already bought something.
Good luck! )

 

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for the recent input on this thread. I actually started this a while ago when I started thinking about purchasing home audio. At the time I was under the impression that Bose was a leading name in quality and sound. Im glad I checked here first and decided to ask around. Since starting the thread I spoke with JVC and Gerry at great lengths and this is what I have purchased and/or decided on

SPEAKERS

Front - Polk RTi8's
Center - Polk CSi5
Surround - Polk FXi3's

I havent decided on a sub, but was thinking about Polk PSW-404. There is another company that seems to be a favorite in the sub world, (starts with a "V"...sorry i dont have it in front of me) I need to do some more checking before I buy the sub.

And for a receiver, I decided on the Denon 3806. I wasnt able to buy everything at once and am in the process of putting piece by piece togeter, but its coming along. Thanks again to everyone for all the help.

 

Hi Doe-nut!!! How have you been ... where have you been? So you decided to rain on my bragging rights and get a 3806 eh? LOL! Well, as JVC has so eloquently predicted, you couldn't have done better LOL! The truth of it is, when you start getting into that class of AVR, regardless of the make, things become a matter of taste as quality and sound are there across the board regardless of the manufacturer ... well, for the most part.

But now that you're looking at the speakers there are three things to consider: 1) a chain is as strong as its weakest link...you bought an awesome receiver which can only sound as good as the speakers you buy for it; cheap speakers will make your 3806 sound like junk ... thought you'd probably blow the things straight to the moon anyway; unlike many, when Denon says 120w per channel, they mean it and they'd better for the $$ you shelled out for that beast lol! 2) Do you want large or small speakers ... there are excellent models in both categories ... with new technology including subs, bigger fronts isn't necessarily better anymore and lastly 3)there's that "personal taste" thing again ... you can line up every make of the top of the line models which you're now committed to since you bought a top of the line AVR...but they're all very high quality, astonishing sound, frequency responses etc. yet they all sound different! Again, like the receiver you just bought, it becomes a matter or personal taste when you're talking about that sort of quality. My friend has top of the line Polks ... excellent to be sure but I'm not crazy about them because I find them unnaturally bright...almost "screetchy" in the high end ... but hell, given what he listens too, he likes it that way. I have top of the live Mirage which he isn't crazy about because they're too color neutral for his tatste but given what I listen too, I want it that way. With that kind of quality...it's taste that one must go with. JVC is right ... go to a place with a sound room and listen to the 3806 through what they've got ... its (probably) true that you don't have a $50,000 listening room to put it in but it at least tells you what its capable of over other speakers and there are cheap ways to make your listening environment better. I believe I've looked up your speakers a while ago and they were very impressive ... I'll do so again just for the hell of it. Taste, my friend, is what we're talking about here. One can't dictate or fight over taste ... quality and specs yes, but in these classes of equipment, that isn't the issue. My one piece of advice would be not to turn your nose to the small speakers anymore especially if you have a small listening space. With the new technologies routing lower frequencies to the sub, many of them will knock your socks off so at least listen to them before ruling them out. Personally, I still prefer towers, yet, it's that taste thing again ... I find the small ones awesome with video but music just isn't quite right. With the frequency cut off to the subs of the small speakers, sometimes...a guitar, for example, will be coming through your left front, the notes start to get lower and all of a sudden the guitar, because of the frequency cut off, is now coming from a totally different place...too strange for me but I'm a musician and I notice these things; a lot of people don't given the awesome quality of the sound these speakers are now capable of producing.

The sub you were thinking of is Velodyne. I can only say that gear wanted to get rid of his ... he was going to go with Klipsch or Mirage. My one suggestion is to remember what you're connecting to that sub ... depending on how you like it to thunder, a sub can really get put through the ringer. A sub should be able to "effortlessly" handle what you give it otherwise it becomes "noticable" like a forth speaker in the front. Bass is nondirectional...if you can tell the direction from which it's coming then either your sub is too weak or you have it improperly set. Hope you are well! ... Gerry

 

dukhnt........
A Denon 3806? You've done very well! You won't be sorry. The only thing I don't like about a Denon, is their remotes. They have a big learning curve. They have Harmony 628 remotes at Amazon.com, for under $45. They usually sell for $129.95 at retail stores. It's a very good remote. It will work everything you have. You setup and program it online. Type in your equipment's model numbers, and download the info to your remote. If you push the "Watch Movie" button (with all equipment off), the remote will turn on your tv, and put it on the right input, turn on your dvd player, and turn on your A/V receiver, and put it in dvd mode. Also turns everything off, with the push of one button. I love mine. Is also [bold]VERY[/bold] wife or gf friendly! My wife very much likes pushing one button, instead of dealing with 3-4 remotes.

I think you're talking about the Velodyne? I've never heard one, but lots of folks like them. Best sub I've ever heard is an SVS. This thing is a beast of a sub. But they aren't cheap! I can't get one.

You should like the Polk speakers too. A friend has a Denon 2803 receiver, and Polk LSi9 mains. They sound very good!

Glad you're getting such a fine system! You shouldn't need to upgrade for quite some time. You should get many years enjoyment from it. )

EDIT:
Ha....Gerry and I were typing at the same time, and he finished before me. That's why the repeat on the sub thing. Gerry's right about the speakers. I didn't think about some people find them bright. But some folks like bright speakers. I think Klipsch speakers sound bright, but at least they don't make your ears bleed! I have Allison speakers, as my mains (PB 8.2). I like them a lot. You can see them here: http://www.allisonacoustics.com

Hey Gerry!

 

@JVC...my but don't great minds think alike lol! Allison speakers are beauties...I remember looking them up. Thanks for the info about the SVS subs; I'll look them up. I have a bit of a problem which I mentioned to dukhnt ... my Klip is not quite powerful enough for my system. It's a great sub and the bass is awesome but I should have bought one a step or two up. Doesn't matter at the moment as I'm not in the position to let the system roar anyway so it's fine but when I really let the system loose, it works too hard and the sub becomes too "noticable" and it's annoying.

 

Here is one model of the SVS. It's a real beast! Sounds great, but, as I said, they're not cheap. They do have the box style too.........

 

That's the strangest looking sub I've ever seen! Looks like another tower ... a bit tough to make inconspicuous ... can't exactly just pop a plant on it lol!! I'll have to look it up. Thanks for the pic JVC!

 

Here's the link to SVS. Sorry I didn't put it here before.
http://www.svsound.com/

The one in the pic, is tall, but doesn't have much of a footprint. It will fit in about any space that a cube will. It's down firing, and gets extremely low! It amazed me when I heard it, at a guys house.

 

my home theater in a box systems reciever has one coaxle and 3 optical inputs, and as for regular composite inputs, it has like four and then one labled dvd player. but anyway, not all home theater in a box are crap really, its the cheapest fastest way to get surround sound

 

@brandonb: you're absolutely right, not all home theater systems in a box are crap ... hell, not by a long shot. I don't know what kind you've got but I recently heard a samsung system which I found rather impressive. They run the range of budgets from cheap to expensive and they target any number of "personality types". A couple of months ago, somewhere in this particular forum, I recommended that someone buy a good one (box system). And while a number of people didn't like what I was saying, I recommended it because I could tell that the guy who was requesting information was not the sort of guy who enjoys tinkering ... you know, setting things up, playing with settings, audio measurements etc. He was obviously the sort of personality who would get extremely frustrated right after he started while others of us, though we cuss like marines at the time, enjoy every minute of it lol! Some in the box systems truly do sound good...very good and, for any of a number or reasons from budgetary to technophobia, there are many reasons why one would buy one or why I would recommend one to a certain "type" of personality. I'm not just a movie buff but a musician, I like the best of the best, I love to tinker and set up and sample (though you would never think so if you heard me cuss while I'm doing it lol). So, yes, there are many in the box systems that are not crap but rather, very good systems indeed and, depending on the sort of person I'm speaking with, I have recommended them on a number of occasions despite the protestations of others. Sometimes people like me...us tinkerers and us perfectionists have to remember that there are lots of people who want something that sounds good that they can just easily put together and have done with it. I would NEVER recommend what we're talking about here to such a person; it would be a great disservice to him/her if they're not into the nuts and bolts of it; it only frustrates them. One must always gauge to whom one is speaking and what the needs of that person are ... and that they're often different from your own. JVC often and rightly reminds us that we've got to break away from recommending what we like simply because we like it and he's right to do so. What I found rewarding and fullfilling for my needs might just drive the next guy bonkers depending on his nature.

 

@brandonb..........
I didn't say your HTIB was crap, or that all HTIB systems are crap. I said:

When I think of HTIB's, I think of the ones in Wal Mart, Sam's Club, Sears, Circuit City, etc., and most of those are crap. They are plastic, don't have many features, and don't have many inputs. Your's being an Onkyo, is probably better than the ones I'm talking about, since you have inputs. It's probably a metal case too? It's also probably a more expensive one, that you found on sale?

I said an HTIB is better than not having anything, and if it's all you can afford. If all I could afford was $300, an HTIB is exactly what I'd buy, to get me started. There are high end HTIB's that are very good systems, but I'd still buy seperate pieces, over a high end HTIB.

You pissed me off by telling dukhnt to not listen to what I was saying! You offer him other options, to think about or look at. But don't ever again tell anybody to ignore what I said! Everything boils down to personal taste, like gerry said. And the part about buy it and return it, with the insenuation(sp?) to do that until you find something you like, is just plain bad advice. Sure, if you get something home, and it sounds bad, take it back. But don't make it a predetermined part of the shopping. I'm sorry I had to go back on you, but you pissed me off. Watch what you say about me and others, and we'll get along just fine.

gerry...... I sent you a PM earlier. Did you get it? Check out the sites I mentioned in it.

 

JVC, Do you own a SVS sub? I bought one 3 years ago and my wife snapped at first. I own the PB12-Plus/2. Seen here http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-plus2.cfm
Now she accepts it. We use it as an end table nestled in the corner of the room. I have read the cylinder subs sound great. Money well spent IMO

 

sd72667.............
No, I don't own one. I can't afford one! That one in the pic I posted above, was at a guy's house, where we had an HT get together. I had heard so much about them, that I had to hear that one. That thing is awesome! I wish I could get one............. )

That's a nice looking one you have. I've only heard the one in the pic above. But being an SVS, I'm sure your's sounds great too.

 

hey man, you gotta know i was joking about buying stuff and returning it. come on, seriously. also i never said you said mine was crap man. but anyway it don't matter for real.