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Surround Sound Systems

MoeCizlak

MoeCizlak

Built for comfort
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
5,131
Location
Iowa
Any audiophiles wanna give some recommendations?  We're moving into a new house in a couple of weeks and there is one room that has been unclaimed by the rest of my family that could make for a nice, little movie/sports-viewing room.  I've done a little research into it and it seems pretty daunting.  I'm on a budget and am never one who has to have the latest/greatest, highest end of anything.  So, is there a Padron 2000 of the surround sound world? :)
 
I'm no expert, but "surround" always seemed like a waste to me. I'd get a nice receiver with plenty of inputs and HDMI pass through and two nice tower speakers for each side of the TV. You can always add a sub and rear/side/center speakers later if you don't think that's enough.

I haven't been able to find any good dual-voltage recovers, so my plan has to wait until I get back to the states.

John
 
I guess I'm an audiophool and I would never recommend a surround system. TV is just not that important to me. I presently have my TV cable box outputs connected to my pre-amp and I'm quite happy with the sound I get. If you're interested in a two channel system, I would be glad to help you out. Just PM me with your budget and I'll see what I can do.

Doc
 
With surround sound, only one person gets to actually experience it because you adjust it to a particular area of the room. Definately a good set of speakers and a sub-woofer for effect (stereo).
 
...yes and no.
 
After building high end home and professional audio systems for years, building and running sessions in recording studios up and down the west coast, I can honestly say for music, two good speakers are what you want.  That's pretty simple.  But....if it's really going to be a media room, for movies / TV / etc, a good Dolby surround system is pretty cool.  In our new home, we did a big plasma set in the "great" room, with wall mounted left, right, and center speakers by the TV, left and right surround speakers in the ceiling.  It really makes watching movies cool, but as others have said, the area where the sound is 'good' is rather narrow.  In 'my' room, I have the old big screen TV set and my vintage McIntosh audio equipment and two nice floor-standing speakers. Guess where I listen to music.... :cool: 
 
But, for a multi purpose room, there's nothing wrong and actually many things pretty cool about surround.  I got a Yamaha receiver on sale and it's pretty fantastic for our uses.  I'd buy Yamaha or Denon with confidence.   Consider ceiling or wall mounted speakers for the surround channels....let's you place them where they need to go, and are pretty much out of the way.
 
One man's opinion - B.B.S.
 
Yeah, I'm a dyed in the wool Audiophile. What is the room like? Dimensions will help. Do the two side walls (on either side of the where the TV will be) plain, or are there windows?
I had a full blown 7.1 system before my son was born. 45 lb speakers on stands and a toddler don't mix, and I became very concerned for his safety. I broke it all down and bought a Yamaha YSP Soundbar. It was like 1500 bucks, has about 40 0r 45 drivers in it. and for Movies it is fantastic.  It has what I consider the most essential thing for clear dialogue, and that is an mic driven equalizer. You put a mic out in your seating area, and it send out noise that the system uses to balance and time the system.
 
Sucks for music though. You still need a Subwoofer.
 
What I consider the best bang for the buck in home Theater eqpt is "Emotiva". They sell everything from processors, amps, to speakers. 5 year warranty on electronics. I think it is transferrable. Also, they hold frequent sales so patience pays back 10 or more percentage points. They design and sell only via the web.
 
Paradigm is also a great company for speakers and subwoofers. Lots of offerings for any budget. 
 
Thankfully you didn't call it a mancave. I would have puled some strings and had you cavity searched before entering and after exiting the plane both ways.
 
Thanks so much for the help guys, I appreciate it.  The room is about 12x18 with a 7ft ceiling.  One wall is an outside wall and the other is the wall to the basement storage.  I'm not too concerned about hiding the speakers, the room is tucked away in the basement and wouldn't be considered an eyesore.  About the only thing I've learned is that the monster cable speaker wire seems to be not needed, heavy duty speaker wire should suffice.  Outside of that, I'm clueless.  We don't have a home stereo, as everyone's musical tastes are too distinct to justify having one.  Sorry Doc, the family just never warmed up to Van Ronk like I had hoped.  So this room will be for movies/TV/Sports only.  The room isn't huge and we don't plan on having huge crowds in there so maybe the small space where the surround sound is best would be enough? 
 
Check out Monoprice.com, they have some inexpensive solutions for surround sound speakers etc. that to an admirable job.  Also my go to for HDMI cables and other items....I have the 5.1 system in a room and it does just fine....HDMI cables are dirt cheap and sufficient quality....I am buying all the wiring and accessories for the audio in the new house from here including in wall and ceiling mount speakers, wall plates, cable, and banana clips.
 
Mono price is good.

Since you don't really have sound and are not am audiophile....grab a package system that CR or an audio site recommends.

You can probably due with 5.1.

I'll look around and see what's out there.
 
You want to also remember (i think this may have been mentioned but..) that if you go with a newer receiver that has the hdmi inputs, unless it has the standby pass through ability, the receiver will need to be on for you to get any sound, and all sound will come through the speakers connected to it and not the tv itself...all the time.

We had an older aging kenwood system that the receiver output to the sub and sub itself went out on. I looked all over and despite finding what looked to be a fairly reasonably priced Sony unit with pass through at best buy, we ended up with some last years floor model yamaha stuff from Paul's tv.

It sounds fine for us, even if the speakers are way old from the kenwood setup, save for the sub, but a bit of a learning curve when it comes to turning everything on and determining if your on the correct input (if the last person watched a DVD or something).

Just something to keep in mind lol if you have non technical people using the stuff. For instance we have two remotes instead of one, have to turn on the cable first, then second remote to turn on the receiver -verify correct input lol, then back to first remote to turn on tv. Sound has to be adjusted from receiver remote.

We got it down to a science and everyone is trained for the most part....as long as no one changes an input lol!
 
What tpc said is exactly why I have a Logitech Harmony remote for my wife and son to use.
 
I have an older Yamaha amp for my system, and some older Sonance plasma series wall mounted speakers for the front and center and a pair of Sonance in-ceiling speakers for the rears.  The sound is good enough for now, I'm no audiophile though.
 
The nice thing about Yamaha amps is that they have what is called Y-Pao, which is a mic that you hook to the amp then put it in the room and the amp "self adjusts".  It doesn't get the system perfect, but it does a pretty good job with it.  I'm sure there are a lot of companies that have a similar setup now though.
 
For my remote, I run a Control 4 setup.  It's an inexpensive home automation system.  As of right now I can control my tv, thermostat, home security system, and a few lights around the house with the same remote control.  I can also control any tv in the house with the same remote.  It's pretty nice to have 1 remote for the whole house.  The system also has an app for Apple and Android that will let you control your system with your phone or tablet.
 
 I had a Logitech Harmony for about 5 years before I went to this system.  The Harmony remotes are a nice setup if you want a reliable and affordable home system remote.
 
DePasta said:
Check out Monoprice.com, they have some inexpensive solutions for surround sound speakers etc. that to an admirable job.  Also my go to for HDMI cables and other items....I have the 5.1 system in a room and it does just fine....HDMI cables are dirt cheap and sufficient quality....I am buying all the wiring and accessories for the audio in the new house from here including in wall and ceiling mount speakers, wall plates, cable, and banana clips.
Click to expand...
 
Another vote for Monoprice.  Got the in-wall speakers for the great room (surround), master bedroom (LR Stereo), and the patio (waterproof ceiling speakers) from Monoprice.  They have the best deal in the universe on wall mounts for your flat panel TV's.  Also got our home security cameras and DVR from them.  It's not 'state of the art' but it's very decent for a very good price.  We watch / listen to the big plasma set every day....I'm very happy with how it turned out, and how it sounds.
 
Like I said, I have the 'good stuff'' in my room.... :laugh:
 
Half of the fun is the research. Take your needs, expectation, budget and room dimensions to a full service store. Talk to as many people as you can who are in the business and learn, learn, learn. A good system is well worth the money because the newer stuff is more likely to last for many years. They don't "smokecheck" themselves at 12 months (usually). Don't buy anything on the internet unless you have heard the exact combinations of the components in a similar room.
 
I don't understand the folks don't value the 7.1 or 7.2 systems for music. They fill the room and you can hear the music as if you are actually there. Besides, if you are going to watch movies, they are invaluable.
 
I am proud to be a lower middle class guy (and damn lucky to be!) but I invested in equipment that I really enjoy. My chairs are more comfortable, the picture is better and the sound is better than a movie theater. When I play "The War of 1812" on a CD, it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. I think my system is 150 watts per channel with 600 watt subs (If I recall correctly) so I have no issues with distortion or a lack of headroom on the base.
 
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