My home theater setup (need input)
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New member Username: JuvenileCanada Post Number: 1 Registered: Apr-04 | Just want to start off by saying that I'm loving this forum already  Anyways, got sort of long, but please read it. I want to make sure I have the right stuff hehe. If one really needs it narrowed down, I'll try and trim this a little. Thanks http://www.infinitysystems.com/homeaudio/product_detail.aspx?prod=PRIMUS250BK http://shopping.yahoo.com/p_kenwood-vr-7070_receivers_1991285576 These are my first purchases for my system. I'm still a student in first year of University and currently remodeling my whole aspect of what I want to do (aren't we all at one point or another). Let me just give you a basic intro as to how I got into this whole audio business in the first place, so you guys can properly help me out :P First I'd love to say this is a great forum and I'm looking to learning a lot from you guys. The first few minutes I looked through here as a guest, I noticed it's a lot of very knowledgeable people helping out in laymen's terms so that guys like myself who start out can understand what all this is about :P Anyways, when I got into university I started working at Best Buy as a part time job. Even though my knowledge base was in computers they through me into the home theater section. It's coming up to a year as I have been working with them and I have gained whatever knowledge I have from there. I know some is might be off so I'm willing to right my wrongs When we got a change of supervisors, I was put to work mainly in the receivers/speakers section of home theater. At first I hated it but slowly I began to build up a passion for those suckers hehe. A month ago I broke down and picked up the Infinity's. I still live at home with my parents so my dad has a Sony setup in the main room which he wanted. I know Sony is no where near the better selections out there, but he like the sound he gets for the budget, so I'm leaving that alone. Anyways, at the moment this is all for my 200 square foot room. Before hand I had one of those all in one stereo systems connected as my laptop speakers. When I bought the speakers, I used an old Nikko stereo amp to connect them. Two days pass and we're having a clearance on that Kenwood. I pick it up for half the price of the "cost" that best buy gets it at (a few days they did these specials for employees). All in all I spent ~220 for the speakers and ~200 for the receiver in USD's (I'm in Toronto Ontario Canada). Prices in the us and online might be a bit cheaper but compare this to ~530 USD for the speakers and ~480 USD for the receiver off the shelf prices, I got a great deal since I work there. At the moment I don't have a tv or anything else but a laptop connecting to this setup. Sooner or later I will buy a tv, maybe even when I will be moving out (hopefully soon). I am looking to keep on upgrading this system. My questions are a.) The components that I got, how good are they? I know they aren't anywhere near top of the line but you have to remember I'm a student and on budget. I'm still paying off this on the BB card. I really don't want to get into the the thousands ticket price per item type of deal. b.) To continue upgrading I want to get rears, center, rear center, sub etc. Should I just get a home theater package and connect it to this? What I have to choose from is http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/subclass.asp?logon=&langid=EN&dept=10&WLBS=fswe b8&catid=14700 (or browse the rest of the future shop site to see what they have) since I get a discount there also. Or should I continue with infinity's all around (http://www.infinitysystems.com/homeaudio/product_detail.aspx?prod=PRIMUSTPBK) that I have at Best Buy? How good are these? Are the polk audios from future shop better? Or should I pick out separate speakers for center, rears, woofer etc? c.) Do I need to get standalone amps to power each set of speakers/sub etc? Also the A/B option I have on my receiver, if I connect speakers to A, B and run them both at once, will I basically get half the wattage running to each or how does this work? All in all I just want to find out if I'm going the right route or if I should stop where I'm at, enjoy what I have, sell afterwards, and slowly start from another setup. Btw I can also get this http://yamaha.ca/av/Receivers/HTR_5660.asp at a discount if the receiver that I have is not up to par. Or any other choice future shop has. I just dont' want to end up paying too much since I'm only starting to like all this stuff and don't want not sure how long this will last, since it could just be another phase in my younger years. Thus I don't want to end up spending a ton and then end up not being as enthusiastic as I am now. Any input would be great. d.) Last thing, accessories, as in speaker wire/cables. Is it really important to buy better quality stuff? The ones we carry are made by Monster Cable. I'm supposed to sell this as the best out there, is it really? Does it make a difference for audio? I noticed for video, especially component, it makes a big difference, but audio? Maybe I should just get other brands but not exactly Monster all the time? Anyways, sorry for making a really big post, I hope people got this far and can really help me out. It's my first post so I just needed to get a lot of stuff out of the way. Thanks |
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Mr. V Unregistered guest | You are just starting out your adult life, on a shoe string, so the question to ask is: "Do I like how this stuff sounds?" Make do with it, until you have the knowledge and the bankroll to be able to appreciate and afford to upgrade. Hell, back in my day I flew off to college with a mono $20 cheap record player in my steamer trunk, and Black Sabbath still sounded fine. Cabling and accessories certainly do make a difference, but it isn't that noticeable in entry level gear (like yours). I am into High End audio and video, and have several systems dedicated and optimized for that; not bragging, just explaining that once you know what is out there, and know what you want, and can reasonably afford it, the end results are spectacular. I suggest you look through some high end audio mages, like Absolute Sound; don't be put off by the high price of lots of the stuff: some day it will all be used and affordable. I get lots of my gear used, typically speakers and amplifiers. For optimium sound, forget using a receiver: get a separate processor/preamp and dedicated amplifiers; I use a 3 channel for the front, and a 2 channel for the rear. Monster cable is only fair; there is better available. Acoustic Research is superior, at a similar price point. Higher end names to consider, once you have the money, would include Transparent and Nordost. You are at the beginning; how the adventure unfolds is up to you. Learn, take a chance, enjoy. |
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New member Username: JuvenileCanada Post Number: 3 Registered: Apr-04 | Ok sounds good Thanks for the input. Regarding standalone amps, I think I'm going to only run through the main Kenwood amp for now, and down the road upgrade. Regarding Monster vs Acoustic...that's very interesting since Acoustic is much cheaper than Monster. How sure are you regarding that one? (Just wondering not challenging ) Anyone else have any input? |
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