I currently have a 5.1 set with B& 683 as main, 685 rear, htm61 center. I would like to extend the boundaries of my new Denon AVR-4810ci. Because of the room configuration I am not able to create a wide set up. I know that the height set up is not as impactful but this is my only option. I am including a picture of the room in order to have feedback.
As you can see I could set up the height speakers on the inside of this foyer on the ceiling. Will this work? If so I need help with the 45 degree set up suggested on the audessey web site. I am not sure I understand this principle. Also I have a pair of small Energy speakers(3”mid and .75tweeter) will these speakers be sufficient for the height set up? Should I go with something else? With these pictures will you experts help with the best speaker placement? Thanks
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First let me start by saying I’m new to audio systems. I have owned a few ~$200-$300 HTib systems which have all been pieces of junk. I’ve been researching on-line and trying to learn as much as I can, which I must admit there’s more to this then I first thought. I think I have it narrowed down to a couple different options that I’m having a hard time deciding between. I was hoping some of you seasoned veterans could give me a bit of guidance.

Must Have:
Several HDMI ports to plug in my HTPC, xBox, Wii, DVR (Upscaling prefered)
7.1 capable
THX certified since I split the usage about 90% Movies, tv & Gaming and 10% Music

Other Info:
Room Size 15X20
I only need a receiver and speakers
I hang the front speakers on the wall next to my tv, so it would be nice if they weren’t those tiny speakers. I want something with some meat
~$1000 to spend

Option #1:

Pioneer VSX-9040TXH I have seen several great reviews on the web
Now this is the part that’s giving me some trouble, finding the right speakers. All I have around here is a fry’s which doesn’t have a huge demo selection, so I can’t really demo my purchase (this is a drag). While I was researching I found several I thought I liked but it always seems like they were 4ohms and the pioneer is 8. It seems that the ohms are very important when making this choice. At this point I’m throwing a dart at the wall to choose a good set of speakers. This is where I need the most help and part of the reason option #2 looks so good to me. I’m looking at the reviews for cnet to get opinions, this is the extent of my knowledge. I need a few ideas on this.

Option#2:

Onkyo S9100-THX

At first didn’t want to get another HTiB but then I seen this thing and I have to say I’m very impressed with the features and reviews. I was getting a little frustrated with finding speakers so I decided to take a long look at this.
My concerns are
1. It’s been out for quite some time and I would hate to order it with a new model right around the corner
2. I’m starting to think I can put together something better for the $999 price tag on amazon.

Thanks in advance for all the feedback. I welcome ALL suggestions.

New house and new gear, but it’s a big room.

I just moved in to a "new" house, originally built in 1953, the great room was added in the 80’s and has full access via insulated crawl-space. The room is 35′ x 18′8" and it has a lot of openings- doors & windows.

I’m upgrading from a JVC RX-6000V receiver with Sherwood Sp-430S satellites & a JBL PB10 to a Denon 1910 and Acoustic Research Home Decor surrounds.

I want to run 14 gauge wire from the 7.1 distro plate to individual keystone wall plates.

Like many, the problem I am facing is placement of the speakers. In the coming weeks, I will be replacing my 40" LCD panel with a 50-65" panel (it depends on the tax return total), so the couch is going to be fine positioned anywhere from 10-14 feet from the fireplace (not in use). Again, the room is 35×18, and the couch is roughly centered. The fireplace has a mantle that is almost perfect height if I were to follow the 1-2′ above seated ear position, but to land the fronts on there, our ideal position would be a mere 8 feet back. On the other hand, once we start moving back, the windows and other features begin to compromise positioning of the side and/or rear surrounds.

The attachments are jpgs of the positioning as modeled in Sketchup.

Any input would be most welcome. It’s way to late this evening, so I’ll try to make sure this makes sense in the morning, and I look forward to any help you can muster.

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Hello everyone. I am relatively new to the HT arena, and am having a hard time trying to figure out what cables to order to get my subwoofer hooked up to my system. I bought all of my equipment on a budget and have the following equipment:

Onkyo HT-RC160 receiver - can be seen here

Bic Formula F12 Subwoofer found here

As far as speakers I have:

Side and Rear Surrounds x 4 = Energy Take SAT Bookshelf Speakers in silver found here

Front Surrounds x 2 = Energy Take TWR Tower Speakers in Silver

Center x 1 = Energy Take FPS Center Speaker in silver

Speaker specs are in linked PDF on page 22 found here

I have not yet calibrated my system, as I am waiting for my sub to arrive. I currently have all speakers setup (center, fronts, sides and rears). I am just having a problem figuring how to connect the sub to my system. It seems that it only has inputs for speaker wire - My receiver does not have speaker wire outputs for the subwoofer so I am a little perplexed how to connect it now… I did see a picture of the sub somewhere and it seems to have some type of audio input in the back, although it looks like a 3.5mm jack so I dont know what type of wire would be appropriate….

I do not know if the sub has RCA inputs or not (as I did not yet receive the unit). However, it will be here tomorrow so I would like to be able to get everything I need to hook it up ASAP! Can anyone point me in the right direction as to what I should be ordering?

Also, my speaker wire is really cheap right now, would 14gaug suffice for my runs, which would all be less than 25 feet?

TIA!

I’m assembling a 5.1 audio system to go with my new Pioneer Kuro 600M. I’ve visited 3 specialty shops in my area, and have received their recommended systems. I was impressed by each of them and would be happy with any, but I didn’t really have a clear must-buy-THIS-one favorite. All of these systems fall within my budget, give or take. Without listing specific prices, they are listed here in order from least expensive to most expensive, with the difference between the two ends of the spectrum being at least $3,000.

I’d appreciate your input on which system you’d choose. For my use and listening preferences, this system will be used about 80% for movie watching and gaming, and about 20% for music. The listening/viewing area is about 11×17, and as an action movie fan I’ll prefer an aggressive system with a lot of bass extension. I plan to take this system with me when I move into a larger home, so I don’t mind if the system is overpowering for my current space, I want it to be suitable for a larger room in the future.

To keep things simple (and for my own sanity), please resist the urge to swap out any components of these systems with Your Favorite Brand — I understand everyone is enthusiastic about particular brands that may not be listed here, but these are the systems and brands that are available to me locally and that I was able to audition, and I’m not comfortable spending a significant amount of money on anything I can’t listen to first. I understand there are many internet-only brands that offer high quality for a reasonable price, but I’m already overwhelmed by the number of options to consider here, and would like to keep my selections within this group.

Here are the systems I’m considering:

System 1: Revel / Velodyne / Denon (least expensive)

Fronts: Revel Concerta F12
Center: Revel Concerta C12
Surrounds: Revel Concerta S12
Sub: Velodyne Optimum-12
Receiver: Denon AVR-4310CI

System 2: Paradigm / Velodyne / Pioneer (second least expensive)

Fronts: Paradigm Studio 60
Center: Paradigm CC-590
Surrounds: Paradigm ADP-590
Sub: Velodyne Optimum-12
Receiver: Pioneer SC-27

System 3: B&W / Rotel (second most expensive)

Fronts: B&W CM7
Center: B&W CMC2
Surrounds: B&W M1
Sub: B&W PV1
Processor: Rotel 1570
Amp: Rotel 1565

System 4: Dali Ikon / NAD (most expensive)

Fronts: Dali Ikon 5
Center: Dali Ikon Vokal 2
Surrounds: Dali Ikon On Wall
Sub: REL T2
Processor: NAD T175HD
Amp: NAD T975

System 5: Anthem / Snell (waiting on quote, may be beyond budget)

Fronts: Snell LCR7
Center: Snell LCR7
Surrounds: Snell K7 (or LCR7 if within budget)
Sub: Snell Basis 150
Processor: Anthem Statement D2
Amp: Anthem Statement A5 (if too expensive, use my old existing Kenwood 5 ch. THX amp), upgrade to Snell amp later

Which system would you go for for primarily movie watching? You can vote (if the poll feature works).

Thanks for your opinion!

-R

My simple question is, if I do not have binding plates to connect the pair of positives together and negatives together on my speakers, can I simply use speaker cord to connect them?

Now for the context. When I purchased my home, it came with a pretty nice 7.1 setup in the media room. The front left and right speakers were bi-amped (sort of). I thought they were for real bi-amped since I had a 7 channel amp and a 2 channel amp in the system and since there were 4 speaker lines running to each speaker. However, last night when I went to swap out the pre-pro and generally re-arrange the rack, I noticed that that the setup was really a passive bi-amp setup (i.e., 2 amps per channel, but no active cross-over in line to assign a specific frequency or task to each amp). Whoever set this up simply used an RCA y-cable to split the out signal from the pre/pro into 2 identical signals which went to the 2 separate amps. Each amp was then hooked up to 1 or the other set of binding posts. From the little I know about bi-amping, unlike an active bi-amping setup with an active cross-over between the pre/pro and the amps to split the signal that can result in real benefits, the configuration I had inherited results in little, if any, benefit.

So now I am faced with the choice of either learning more about bi-amping, buying some active cross-overs to put between the pre/pro and the amps, and setting it up right, or simply taking the 2 channel amp out and using it somewhere else, hooking up the amp in a non bi-amp configuration, and gaining some much needed rack space. Presently, I am leaning toward the latter since I really do need the rack space.

So the problem is that I do not have the speaker binding plates. The speakers are Earthquake PN-4521 mains from the Platine Noire series, which are not all that common. I have e-mailed the company, but do not know if I will get anywhere with that. So, my question is, will jerry-rigging the speaker binding posts by connecting them with speaker wire work just as well as using plates?

I might as well ask the other question, if I were to go the other direction, anyone have any information on the types of cross-over I would need and where I would get such a thing? Thank you.

Okay,

I decided to buld a dedicated home theater in my unfinished basement, and with much of the budget going to the HD projector and screen, and actually dividing off and finishing a room in the basement, I’m having to do what I can for the speaker system.

I imagine I just haven’t yet read the right pages or threads, but most of what I find regarding surround speakers involvs their placement more than what "kind" of speakers to use, so I thought I would ask a question that some may simply laugh off: Is there anything wrong with using speakers traditionally considered "fronts" as rear or side surrounds, or will speakers designed for handling the push of the fronts fall flat when it comes to surround and ambient sounds?

Sound-wise, so far I managed to pick up a Yamaha RX-V863BL (7.1, 105×7 @ 8ohms) and a Klipsch 10" 450W subwoofer at great prices, as they were new but opened merchandise.

I also have a pair of Klipsch kg 5.2 Floorstanding Speakers right now in good condition.

Additionally, right now I have the opportunity to pick up:

A Klipsch KSC-C1 Center Speaker for $60

A Polk CS245i Center speaker and a pair of Polk RTi38 Bookshelf Louspeakers (used as fronts) for $125

A pair of Polk RT25i bookshelf/wall speakers for $150

A pair of Polk RT800i floor standing loudspeakers for $140

A pair of Polk S10 Floor standing speakers for $100

I’m not asking for anyone to do my shopping for me (though please feel free to weigh in with opinions given these or similar options); I just wanted to get across what I’m looking at right now, so maybe you guys could understand why I’m asking. So if space isn’t too much a consideration, would floorstanding or otherwise "front" speakers be good to use as side and rear surrounds, or should I go another direction? (I can also drop the kg-5.2’s if buying all the polks above would be a better option, or taking another direction altogether)

I know the best option is to buy a full set of "matched" high-quality speakers, but right now I’m looking at getting the best sound I can for the kind of money I’m indicating here, so I can enjoy the home theater once I finish building it, while I save up for a quality complete new speaker system down the line if needed.

I’m building the room "around" my setup, running speaker and HDMI wires through the walls and celing before putting the gypsum up and whatnot, so I’m trying to do things as "right" as possible without breaking the bank all at once. So if I can get some opinions on what -kind- of speakers to use for side and rear surrounds and why, that would be greatly appreciated, as well as any opinions on where to go with the money I’m looking to spend and the options currently available.

Thanks in advance,

- JoN

Hi all..

My name is Al and I am new here. I am not too sure if this is the correct location to post but if it is not, mods, please move this to the correct location or delete it.

Anyway, recently, I invested in a portfolio of domain names: SoundBar.com, SoundBars.com and a list below.

AudioSoundBar.com
BestSoundBar.com
BluRaySoundBar.com
BluRaySoundBars.com
ComputerSoundBar.com
HomeTheaterSoundBar.com
HomeTheaterSoundBars.com
PCSoundBar.com
SoundBarReview.com
SoundBarReviews.com
SoundBarSpeakers.com
SoundBarSystems.com
SoundBarTheater.com
SurroundSoundBars.com
TvSoundBar.com
TvSoundBars.com
WirelessSoundBar.com
WirelessSoundBars.com

I am seriously looking for help/opinions to develop the portfolio into an "authority" website within this new audio genre. If there are anybody who is interested to help, do PM me. I am also open to any joint-development, etc.

I am also the owner of other home electronics portfolio as below. I am also open to ideas for them..

MegaChangers.com
MicroHomeTheater.com
MiniTabletPC.com
MultiroomAmplifier.com
MultiroomReceiver.com
MultiroomReceivers.com
NASComputer.com
TabletNetbooks.com
PSPConsole.com
CellHDTV.com
PicoPocketProjector.com
HybridDigitalCamera.com
HybridDigitalCameras.com
HybridDigicam.com
HybridVideoCamera.com
LEDBackLitHDTV.com
MicroFourThirdsCamera.com

HTIB (Home Theater in a Box) Portfolio
BDHTIB.com
BestHTIB.com
BluRayHTIB.com
HTIBReview.com
HTIBReviews.com
HTIBSystem.com
HTIBSystems.com
WirelessHTIB.com

HTPC (Home Theater PC) Portfolio
HTPCChassis.com
HTPCGaming.com
HTPCLaptop.com
HTPCSystem.com
LinuxHTPC.com

Thanks for your time and cheers!

Al.

Hey guys. I am realizing that the more I know, the more I realize I little I know. Some of these questions may seem pretty basic, but I’m trying, haha.

Basically, I just purchased my whole HT setup, and have an Onkyo 807 receiver on the way, and just ordered a SVS system including 2 STS speakers, and 5 SCS speakers (1 is mid), along with a PB12-NSD subwoofer.

Now, I have never had a receiver before (I am 24 and finally able to afford such an awesome thing) so this is ALL brand new to me. So here is the list of questions that would be absolutely AWESOME for someone/some people to answer for me.

Subwoofer Questions:
1 - The guide for the receiver says I can hook up both preout jacks to my one subwoofer. Is this something I would want to do?
2 - I noticed the back of the subwoofer has a "high level" and a "low level" input/output. What are these used for?

Speaker Question:
1 - I read about people having two front speakers actually work THROUGH the subwoofer. Is this something I would want to do?

Cables Questions:
I am going to buy all my cables/connectors from monoprice as I have good luck with them. I already picked out my 12AWG speaker cable, and will use banana plugs (http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr…seq=1&format=2) to connect the speakers and the amp. Which ‘interconnect’ cable(s) from monoprice do I want/need? (Edit: Is this what I’m looking for? http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr…seq=1&format=2)

Finally, knowing that I just asked these questions which are likely dumb, is there any other tips or whatnot I should take into account?

Thanks as always!!!

I would like some advice about speaker placement in this specific room.

As you can see from the attached photo, I’ve recently purchased a lot of home theater equipment. Unfortunately, if I don’t get those cables and the equipment hidden soon, I will be divorced guy living in a trailer park and eating frozen food for the rest of my life.

I’m good with tools, and I’m going to install wall plates for my speakers, with the cable routed in the crawl space beneath my house. I ordered the wall plates, speaker cable and a distribution panel. So, technically, I’m all set. But I need to decide on placement before I cut a bunch of holes in my walls.

The room you see is 19 x 13 feet (the television is mounted on the 19 foot wide wall). The five foot wide opening leads to the dining room in the photo, which is 10.5 x 13 feet (the wall with the mirror is 10.5 feet). Besides the leather sofa and armchair, it is a "hard" room — big windows, plaster (not sheetrock) walls, and hardwood oak floors.

For audio, here’s what I’ve got:

• Harman Kardon 357 AVR
• Definitive Tech Mythos 1 L/R
• Definitive Tech Mythos 3 Center
• Definitive Tech Mythos 1 Surround
• (Subwoofer is TBD)

Mostly, I would like advice on the speaker placement, because once I run those wall plates, that’s where the speakers will stay. You can see that the wall with the TV is symmetrical, with 2 1/2 feet of wall, a tall window, and another 2 1/2 feet of wall on each side of the fireplace. So the decision there is which side of the window to place the Mythos 1 speakers. The equipment itself will be housed either next to the fireplace, in a custom-built cabinet (where it’s located now), or else, believe it or not, inside the fireplace.

The fireplace was constructed 80 years ago, and it has an opening in the bottom for ash, which exits outside of the house. I can run conduit through this opening for electrical and low voltage cable. Then I would put the equipment on a custom shelf inside the fireplace, and put a screen in front.

Along with this, I need to place a subwoofer somewhere. I am thinking that perhaps I’ll build the cabinet next to the fireplace and put the sub in the bottom of the cabinet. I’m thinking of getting a sealed sub, probably the SVS SB-12 Plus, which is only 15" x 14" x 14". I could also put the sub inside the fireplace, since it isn’t ported, but I’d like to avoid a corner, because I’m pushing the whole "Wife Thing" pretty far as it is.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

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