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New member Username: MafiloPost Number: 1 Registered: Jul-05 | I want to buy the Yamaha HTR-5860 (I'm almost sure of that!) the dilemma starts when I look for speakers. I am a real music-lover (rock, alternative, blues, jazz, techno, world music). However, I like to watch movies once in a while (no big explosions, shooting or car racing!!). I would like to have music in the living area (living room, dining room, kitchen and my bedroom), and my budget allows me to buy something like the Quintet system and a SLX 3.1 system (both Klipsch). And what I want to do is to use the rear speakers of the Quintet system for my bedroom and the rest of the Quintet system plus the SLX 3.1 for my surround sound system. By doing this, I wonder: how crazy or wrong am I???? Help, please! |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 1187 Registered: Mar-05 | Being a music lover, you might want to look at this thread, especially the 5 numbered questions that I asked the original poster: https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-audio/145915.html I'm not familiar with the Quintet system but generally speaking, packaged speaker systems and especially pre-packaged receiver+speaker systems are often false economy because they cut a lot of corners on the speakers. You can usually get better quality from some cheap $100/pair bookshelves if you know where to look, versus the bundled speakers. That Yamaha HTR-5860 will be good for movies but you can probably get better music performance elsewhere for the same money. |
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New member Username: MafiloPost Number: 2 Registered: Jul-05 | Answers to the questions in the posting mentioned by Edster922. Questions & Answers: Q: Maximum budget for the whole thing: receiver, speakers, subwoofer, dvd/cd player? A: $2000 Q: % music vs. movies usage? A: 80% music 20% movies and TV Q: type of music, and how loud do you like to listen? A: As I mentioned: rock, alternative, blues, jazz, techno, world music. I do NOT intend to crack my drywall, therefore I do want to consider systems with more than 120 Watts/channel Q: do you watch a lot of Hollywood action flicks or do you prefer dramas and comedies? NO big booms and bangs. Drama, black comedy, independent films, suspense, psycological thrillers. Q: size of listening room? 800 sq. feet. Living room, dining room and kitchen are in a single big rectangular high ceiling room |
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Silver Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 175 Registered: Apr-05 | Marianna this looks like a sweet receiver spec wise, however have you heard it? Do you like how it sounds? Seems to me like it is geared more towards HT than an audio source which is ok, but you say you listen to 80% music and 20% TV. There are a lot of options for your price range. If you want to get this Yamaha, then spend more money on the speakers. I'v never heard that Klipsch set and they do generally make good speakers, but I have to agree with Edster that packaged speakers are generally not that good. Take a look at Ascend, Axiom, M&K and Paradigms. Definitly go with a HSU subwoofer though. Even the lower end model. I can't praise this sub enough. I am very impressed by it. The process can be maddening, but lots of fun |
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New member Username: MafiloPost Number: 3 Registered: Jul-05 | But what about mixing and matching speakers from different systems? Is it OK? Is it all just WRONG?! I do understand a little bit about the terminology and the technology (please give some feedback) but I need help because I've never owned a REAL stereo receiver (sniff, sniff...) |
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Bronze Member Username: ZiggyzoggyoioiOutside Philadelphia, PA Post Number: 44 Registered: Jun-05 | I can't imagine liking the sound of any Klipsch speakers powered by a Yamaha amp. Stof's speaker suggestions are all good options that should match a little better with the Yamaha. For great receiver values, look at the HK refurbs from Harman Direct on Ebay. Even the AVR235 should compare favorably to the Yamaha for music, and they can generally be had between $260-280. This will allow you to improve the speakers tremendously and with that the overall sound of the system for music. If you're trying to run a 7.1 system for your surround system, I would hold off on that now. You'll get better mileage buying a 5.1 system for now and adding 2 more speakers later when you can afford them. To that end, I would also consider the Energy C-3 bookshelves (2 pair) for front and rear with the C-C1 center channel. Add a sub like the HSU and you'll be set. As Edster mentioned there are a lot of 'decent' bookshelves available for ~$100/pr for your bedroom that will be much better than the ones in the pre-packaged systems. |
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Bronze Member Username: ZiggyzoggyoioiOutside Philadelphia, PA Post Number: 45 Registered: Jun-05 | In the main room there are advantages to matching the speakers if you're going to be listening to multi-channel audio - DVD concerts, DVD-A, and/or SACD. It's called timbre-matching, and to do that you will want to match the drivers between the speakers. For HT, timbre-matching is not nearly as important, but you will still want surround speakers that are fairly close to the mains in terms of sound and efficiency. But for HT, the surround speakers only do ~10% of the work. |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 1196 Registered: Mar-05 | Mariana, your answers seem very similar to Annie's (the original poster from the thread that I linked) so I would suggest something along the same lines except instead of the Ascend 340s I'd get the 170s to save some money because you have a smaller room than Annie does, and maybe instead of the Hsu STF-2 you can get the smaller STF-1. > But what about mixing and matching speakers from different systems? Is it OK? If doing HT, keep the front 3 speakers from the same manufacturer, but feel free to mix and match the surrounds unless you plan on doing a lot of SACD/DVD-A surround music. With your budget, I would strongly recommend taking a long hard look at buying a high quality 2-channel setup instead of a mediocre or crappy multi-channel setup. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say that 7 bad speakers from a bad receiver sounds 7 times worse than 2 good speakers from a good receiver! Here's one possible config (retail prices on NAD gear can usually be haggled down by at least 10%): Ascend CBM-170s + Hsu STF-1 sub, $646 shipped from ascendacoustics.com NAD320BEE integrated 2-channel amp, $400 retail http://www.hipposaudiovideo.com/nadc320bee.htm NAD521BEE CD player, $300 retail http://www.hipposaudiovideo.com/nadc521bee.htm Toshiba 3980 DVD player, $70 shipped http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_26751.htm#26751 (or any other cheap Sony, Pansonic, etc. mass market DVD player) |
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Max Smart Unregistered guest | The NAD C-541i cd player is way better than the 521BEE and you can probably find it for the same price |
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New member Username: MafiloPost Number: 4 Registered: Jul-05 | Thanks a lot :-)) |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 1206 Registered: Mar-05 | You're very welcome; please come back and let us know how your purchases work out. |