Home Audio

[BusaOfDaKnight]

Ok well now that I am moved into my new place, I think I need to get a nice surround sounds audio system going. As I am looking, I realize that I really don't have much of an idea of what is good.

I have a Samsung LCD TV with a PS3, for all of my blue-ray needs. Anyone have any suggestions on some audio equipment that will complement this system? Preferably for less than $600.

 

[omslaw]

This is a topic that is likened to asking "What's the best oil to use?" or "What's the best tire?"

There are so many different options...and prices.

If you're wanting to stay around $600, you may want to look at the "surround sound bundles" that many of the manufacturers have out there. They will bundle the speakers, subwoofer, amplifier/receiver, DVD player. And now they are starting to include Blu-Ray players. Try them out in the store. Take some music that YOU would listen to. That way you can see how your stuff will sound on it. You can use that system for now and then upgrade later.


As for upgrading, I think your money is best spent in the speakers. You can have a mediocre receiver/amp and get pretty good sound with a great set of speakers. But get a mediocre set of speakers and the best receiver/amp will still only sound "mediocre", ya know?

Again, speakers can be like tires and oil...all a matter of preference. There are all price ranges and quality. Bose, JBL, Boston Acoustics, Klipsch, Cerwin-Vega, etc. How much do you want to spend and what sounds good to you? Do you want tower speakers? Components? Small cubes? I'm partial to Bose. But I know there are those that will tell me that Bose stinks and JBL is the way to go...but you get the idea....

Receiver/Amps are the same. You can look for something together (Receiver and Amp) or you can go the "purist" route and get them separate. Sony makes good stuff... But so does Pioneer, Yamaha, and Denon...to name a few. Look at what features you want. HDMI switching? Multi-room/zone? More power?


Hope that helps a bit...

 

[omslaw]

...and sliding over to Random for housekeeping...

 

[BusaOfDaKnight]

...and sliding over to Random for housekeeping...

My apologizes for posting in the wrong place.

I have always been partial to bose but the guys I work with always give me some grief about it. I was looking at the bundles, but I don't want to get a DVD player that I'm not going to use. I could always ebay it, but probably wouldn't get too much for it. Then I would have to buy a receiver. Idk maybe I'll have to take another walk down that path.

Thanks!

 

[Goatkart]

For the price... Look at some Onkyo Bundled Systems...

Their recievers are top notch, and you get reasonable speaker setup with them...

I was actually looking at getting this one for a spair room...

Newegg.com - ONKYO HT-S7200 7.1-Channel Black Home Theater System


may not be the cheapest price for it out there, i just grabbed it off newegg as an example...


doing component setups will get you better over all setups generally, but your also going to spend significantly more on average...

 

[black07busa]

I can only speak about what I have had. I have 2 sony surround sound/dvd systems, both sound nice, the newer one is louder. One thing I wish I had with the newer one was more inputs. On my older sony has dvd, xbox,tv, and a wii all hooked up at the same time. Compared to the newer sony where I can only have 2 (tv. and something else). When buying a system look for how many inputs you will need.

A few years back a friend of mine had a yamaha component setup which souded great, i've thought about switching over, but I am happy enough with my Sony. Oh and by the way don't by a jvc, sound is basic and mine broke within a month. I took it back to the store for another and it broke a few months later.

 

[BusaOfDaKnight]

I can only speak about what I have had. I have 2 sony surround sound/dvd systems, both sound nice, the newer one is louder. One thing I wish I had with the newer one was more inputs. On my older sony has dvd, xbox,tv, and a wii all hooked up at the same time. Compared to the newer sony where I can only have 2 (tv. and something else). When buying a system look for how many inputs you will need.

A few years back a friend of mine had a yamaha component setup which souded great, i've thought about switching over, but I am happy enough with my Sony. Oh and by the way don't by a jvc, sound is basic and mine broke within a month. I took it back to the store for another and it broke a few months later.

Oh. JVC was one of the recent bundles that I found. I'll have to take that into consideration.

 

[Silent Shogun]

FYI...when i hooked up my PS3 to my surround sound i had to run the audio cable seperately or it will just shoot the audio signal through the HDMI straight to the TV and bypass the surround sound. I just used a Optical audio cable, if i remember right, from the PS3 to surround sound in addition to the HDMI. This could have just been my center being weird for all i know.

 

[twotonevert]

We have a Yamaha receiver and a Klipsche audio system, it rocks for surround sound and shakes the house.

 

[BusaOfDaKnight]

FYI...when i hooked up my PS3 to my surround sound i had to run the audio cable seperately or it will just shoot the audio signal through the HDMI straight to the TV and bypass the surround sound. I just used a Optical audio cable, if i remember right, from the PS3 to surround sound in addition to the HDMI. This could have just been my center being weird for all i know.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Question though, if it shot the sound to the TV, could you have the TV just kick it out to the receiver? or do you get better sound when you go right from PS3 to receiver?

 

[BusaOfDaKnight]

I just saw on amazon that Klipsche was a pretty highly regarded system; although, I had a slight concern as I know they deal more with Computer Speakers, but hey, I guess they still do the same thing.

 

[badazgtp]

I got a RCA bundle (receiver, surrond sond speakers and sub box) from walmart for 200 bucks. Don't sound bad, but where I live you can't have nothing too loud to disturb the neighbors. Shop around at Best Buy or even online. check out Overstock.com. Just a couple places.

 

[BusaOfDaKnight]

Yeah, I have been looking at amazon for a good portion of the day. I want to use best buy cause I got some coupons and got promoted to their silver membership, but I don't seem to be able to see anything online. Guess I'm going to have to take a ride over there and have a look around.

 

[Silent Shogun]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Question though, if it shot the sound to the TV, could you have the TV just kick it out to the receiver? or do you get better sound when you go right from PS3 to receiver?

The model i had actually didn't support audio through HDMI for some reason. It wasn't a huge deal at the time. I just had to run the extra audio cables. The only reason i went into the recieve reverything was so the wires all stayed behind the tv stand and not hanging out of the TV. Im sure the newer models have fixed this....It was just a heads up b/c i spent 3 hours trying to figure it out!

 

[Stumpy]

always! hook stuff to the reciver or you will lose the 5.1 or 7.1, but like he stated above run the HDMI to the tv and run an audio optical to the reciver and you will be golden also my parents bought a pansonic 5 disc all in one and WOW thing sounds good and the 5.1 is amazing, ex g.f parents were runin a pioneer reciver and the klipsch set up and WOW!!! talk about top notch....imo bose blows, get on an audio fourm and read around but also stated buy a mid line reciver and top of the line speakers...good luck

 

[BIG GUY]

I would go with a bundle also. They work really well for what you are wanting to do. I would go to your local electronic stores and see what they recommend. You don't always have to go with what will cost you the most.

 

[BusaOfDaKnight]

I appreciate it and will def take that into consideration.

 

[aussiekeeper]

I would go with a bundle also. They work really well for what you are wanting to do. I would go to your local electronic stores and see what they recommend. You don't always have to go with what will cost you the most.

Agreed. I am a 2 channel guy myself. Not into the surround sound thing, I have 2 ears. For 30+ years I have had $25,000.00 audio systems for serious listening, high end tube mono blocks and pre-amps, very high end speakers, etc. Sold it all and shopped for high end used stuff. It sounds very good. I put an ad on Craigslist in "Electrinics" asking for specific items and the responses hit within and hour. Do it on a Sunday or Saturday night. Sometimes peolpe have items stored away and forgotten. I picked up an Onkyo Integra receiver, looks and works like new for $35.00. The guy had it for years in the closet and forgot about it. It sounds great.

 

[Micfitz]

I ended up with a klipsh system with mid range reciever, but this was my original midrange price system. It's on the high side of your 600 dollars but hey, what mod ever coming in cheaper than your budget
Good luck!!