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New member Username: LobsterPost Number: 1 Registered: Oct-07 | Im going to purchase a new surround sound system. This will be the first time for me with surround sound. Im the type of person who does as much research as possible when buying things like this so I hope you can help me along. The most important thing to me is " user friendly ". I will gladly pay for it if it makes the difference. Im not on a budget but I dont want to pay extra unless advised to. I talked to a sales person and he suggested a sony 3300 es reciever because it adjusted automaticly to what was being played. I have a onkyo tx sv545 and although it sounded fine ,it was a total nightmare to program . any advice on recievers? As far as speakers go, Im all ears ha ha. Im mostly interested in advice on rear speakers and if some of the smaller , less visible will perform as good as some of the larger ones. my room size is 22x13 with 15 x 13 layed out as the living room becuse the other 7 feet are for the stairs and front door. I would also like to know if the rear speakers have to be mounted at the same height as each other. I would also like to have the option of turning the the surround off and just listen to the sound from the tv. any set up advice before buying would be nice. in the mean time I will research this website since I just found it. thanks everyone, chris |
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New member Username: 70chevellePost Number: 10 Registered: Sep-06 | Chris, I'm not an expert, but there are many on this board an others. Do your searches, and decide how deeply you want to be engulfed in this obsession. 1) Since you are a researcher, google home theater forums, and go to town. 2) Don't worry too much about "user friendly". If you can do your interconnects yourself, you can do your setup. If you can't do either, and you have a decent budget, you can contract someone to install and set it up. 3) Everything is a compromise. You need to decide what is most important to you. Small, micro speakers that are barely noticeable or high quality sound, or something in between. Do your research and go out and listen. Make sure you listen to some hi-end stuff also, to hear the difference. 4) Again compromises. If that is the room you have, make the best of it. The best home theater room is a separate, light controlled, sound proofed, dimensionally correct room with the speakers perfectly set for optimal listening. (This also applies to how you hang your rear surrounds) They don't have to mounted at the same height, but they should be mounted a certain way for the best output. You may want to check out Dolby's website for their recommendations. 5) Turning the surround off to listen to the tv speakers is nothing more than turning the tv speakers back on via the tv menu and not turning on your receiver. My recommendation would be to pick a budget that won't upset you when you want to upgrade in the very near future. Since you are relatively new, you may need some time to actually figure out what you like/dislike. Everyones ears are different and what sounds good to me, may not sound good to you. If you are looking for a long term purchase, take your time, do your research, and listen to as many different receivers and speakers as possible. And, keep in mind that what you listen to in the acoustically correct shop, may sound different in your room. |
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New member Username: LobsterPost Number: 2 Registered: Oct-07 | thanks for the reply. |
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New member Username: LobsterPost Number: 3 Registered: Oct-07 | Does anyone have any advice on where to go and listen to different systems besides the obvious chains like best buy etc. who would have the best set ups so that a person could spend some time listening to the different options that they have. thanks, chris |
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Silver Member Username: MccambleyBREEZY POINT, NY USA Post Number: 438 Registered: Jun-05 | Best Buy is good for you r TV,DVD and maybe the receiver. As far as speakers go you need to go to a small high end stereo store, high end does not mean high price. Hometheatermag.com has links to store in your area. You may be able to get everything at a small store and do much better than a large store (Best Buy). |
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Silver Member Username: MccambleyBREEZY POINT, NY USA Post Number: 440 Registered: Jun-05 | Here is the link I refered to. 7%2C50%2C,#t1,http://cgi.hometheatermag.com/cgi-bin/lm.cgi/ep?disp=296400,296500 ,0,,7,50,,#t1 |
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New member Username: LobsterPost Number: 4 Registered: Oct-07 | does anyone have a opinion on paradigm speakers? |
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Silver Member Username: MccambleyBREEZY POINT, NY USA Post Number: 444 Registered: Jun-05 | Love 'em, Best bang for the buck |