I know I can buy an Onkyo or Bose system but something tells me for the same price maybe slightly more that I could piece together speakers/amp set up and get a better overall system. Or is that not true anymore?
Living room is 15x22 feet. Budget is $1000 +/- Curious to see if any if u have pieced together a system before, thanks!
Living room is 15x22 feet. Budget is $1000 +/- Curious to see if any if u have pieced together a system before, thanks!
Typed it up and accidentally deleted it so lets try again.
You can beat a home theater in the box system without even trying. Those things are always anemic and only good for college kids for the cool factor in my opinion.
If you don't want to build anything and just want to buy speakers then:
1) Andrew Jones Pioneer 5.1
2) Any 5.1 capable receiver
3) ???
4) Done/profit
This should be about $800 total. The recommendation is a few years old buy my buddy has it and it still sounds good. Or you could look at the newer Elac Debut lineup by the same designer. I haven't heard them but reviews glow. That would be about $1500 all in.
Since this is diyaudio of course you could build speakers.
1) Volt 6 surrounds from Diysoundgroup
2) HTM10's for L/C/R from Diysoundgroup
3) 2 PA-460 for V.B.S.S. subs.
4) Any 5.1 receiver
5) DSP capable sub amp
I personally never recommend less than 2 subs for acoustic reasons, combating room modes has been talked to death here and elsewhere if you're curious. This will probably push a little past your $1k by about $400, but in my opinion is well worth it, it's currently what I'm running now.
Or if you want to focus more on vocal intelligibility rather than straight neutral speakers, you could look at project nexus by Matt Grant.
1) WMTMW for L/C/R
2) MTM for surrounds
3) 2 PA-460 for V.B.S.S subs
4) Any 5.1 receiver
5) DSP capable sub amp
I've only built and installed the L/C/R of this set for someone but I loved them and would have happily built the matching surrounds. Add in capable subs and I think it's another winner. These speakers are BIG though so you could consider just the MTM for L/C/R.
Or of course you could design and build your own.
You had a vague requirement of "better" so can't really guide you further than that. But long story short is avoid HTIB like the plague and yeah, you can beat them easy.
You can beat a home theater in the box system without even trying. Those things are always anemic and only good for college kids for the cool factor in my opinion.
If you don't want to build anything and just want to buy speakers then:
1) Andrew Jones Pioneer 5.1
2) Any 5.1 capable receiver
3) ???
4) Done/profit
This should be about $800 total. The recommendation is a few years old buy my buddy has it and it still sounds good. Or you could look at the newer Elac Debut lineup by the same designer. I haven't heard them but reviews glow. That would be about $1500 all in.
Since this is diyaudio of course you could build speakers.
1) Volt 6 surrounds from Diysoundgroup
2) HTM10's for L/C/R from Diysoundgroup
3) 2 PA-460 for V.B.S.S. subs.
4) Any 5.1 receiver
5) DSP capable sub amp
I personally never recommend less than 2 subs for acoustic reasons, combating room modes has been talked to death here and elsewhere if you're curious. This will probably push a little past your $1k by about $400, but in my opinion is well worth it, it's currently what I'm running now.
Or if you want to focus more on vocal intelligibility rather than straight neutral speakers, you could look at project nexus by Matt Grant.
1) WMTMW for L/C/R
2) MTM for surrounds
3) 2 PA-460 for V.B.S.S subs
4) Any 5.1 receiver
5) DSP capable sub amp
I've only built and installed the L/C/R of this set for someone but I loved them and would have happily built the matching surrounds. Add in capable subs and I think it's another winner. These speakers are BIG though so you could consider just the MTM for L/C/R.
Or of course you could design and build your own.
You had a vague requirement of "better" so can't really guide you further than that. But long story short is avoid HTIB like the plague and yeah, you can beat them easy.
Diy subs can certainly be a cost effective way of increasing sound quality.
But for $150,00 you can buy speakers that are nearly impossible to improve upon for that price. Thinking about the Jbl LSR305 or Kali audio LP6.
5 of those will set you back $750,00 add $250 for a diy sub, dsp and enjoy
At a later point, you can add more subs for a more even frequency range over a greater area.
At least that's my 2ct.
Old thread revival!
To elaborate more, current set up is Onkyo ht-r60. It goes into thermal shut down (no fans just a big heat sink). However I did buy an AC Infinitiy external USB powered fan for it that turns on when the power is on. It hasnt went into thermal shutdown since. System is 8 years old so thats also the reason why I'm looking to upgrade.
What about this set up, currently is on sale $1,500
Pair of Klipsch R-625FA Atmos Floor Standing Speakers
Pair of Klipsch R-41M Bookshelf Speakers
One of Klipsch R-52C Center Channel Speaker
One of Klipsch R-12SWi Subwoofer
Pair of Klipsch Reference R-14S 2-Way Surround Speaker
Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A780 7.2-Ch A/V Receiver
To elaborate more, current set up is Onkyo ht-r60. It goes into thermal shut down (no fans just a big heat sink). However I did buy an AC Infinitiy external USB powered fan for it that turns on when the power is on. It hasnt went into thermal shutdown since. System is 8 years old so thats also the reason why I'm looking to upgrade.
What about this set up, currently is on sale $1,500
Pair of Klipsch R-625FA Atmos Floor Standing Speakers
Pair of Klipsch R-41M Bookshelf Speakers
One of Klipsch R-52C Center Channel Speaker
One of Klipsch R-12SWi Subwoofer
Pair of Klipsch Reference R-14S 2-Way Surround Speaker
Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A780 7.2-Ch A/V Receiver
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Thanks for being patient. I was in Kentucky visiting the bourbon trail so a few days off from here.
Do you mean the Onkyo ht-r360? I believe there was a recall on that, did you ever have Onkyo service it? Might be too late now, might not. I don't know what the recall was for. In general receivers don't go bad in 8 years. Though itching to upgrade the speakers is totally understandable.
As for the speakers on sale. Overall you could do worse, or you could piece together better. I think you'd be happier if you could swing legit in ceiling atmos speakers, and that sub is only meh. Overall not terrible.
With Klipsch though some people love it, some people hate it. Have you had a chance to audition any of those in person? Some best buys and such have one or two klipsch you can listen to. They can be a little forward, or screechy. Aka the high end is a little too much. And that's worse on some speakers than others of theirs. The towers might not sound bad to you but some people can only listen to them for a few hours, just enough for a movie before they start getting listening fatigue.
Another thing to note is you have listed a 7.2 channel receiver, but have 7.1.2 speaker setup listed. The R-625FA takes TWO separate sets of cables. One feeds the front signal to the lower floor standing part, the other is the atmos connection for the built in atmos module on top. Other than that Yamaha Aventage line isn't a bad choice. I prefer Denon personally as I've never liked Yamaha's YPAO room correction, but it isn't terrible.
Do you mean the Onkyo ht-r360? I believe there was a recall on that, did you ever have Onkyo service it? Might be too late now, might not. I don't know what the recall was for. In general receivers don't go bad in 8 years. Though itching to upgrade the speakers is totally understandable.
As for the speakers on sale. Overall you could do worse, or you could piece together better. I think you'd be happier if you could swing legit in ceiling atmos speakers, and that sub is only meh. Overall not terrible.
With Klipsch though some people love it, some people hate it. Have you had a chance to audition any of those in person? Some best buys and such have one or two klipsch you can listen to. They can be a little forward, or screechy. Aka the high end is a little too much. And that's worse on some speakers than others of theirs. The towers might not sound bad to you but some people can only listen to them for a few hours, just enough for a movie before they start getting listening fatigue.
Another thing to note is you have listed a 7.2 channel receiver, but have 7.1.2 speaker setup listed. The R-625FA takes TWO separate sets of cables. One feeds the front signal to the lower floor standing part, the other is the atmos connection for the built in atmos module on top. Other than that Yamaha Aventage line isn't a bad choice. I prefer Denon personally as I've never liked Yamaha's YPAO room correction, but it isn't terrible.
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