Hey everybody. I am starting to look at a home theater speaker setup. I have an LCD 1080p TV, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. I am looking for a resonably priced setup. I would need 2 fronts, 2 rears, center channel, subwoof (I am looking at Klipsch). I would also need a receiver that is HDMI compatible. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks for your help.
Pioneer makes good receivers. try b&w speakers http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_9_1/b&w-series-300-speakers-1-2002.html
Ive got a Harman kardon receiver with 2 hdmi ports. I'm running psb speakers (6 total) + 1 velodyne subwoofer.
I have some 5 ft. tower Klipsch speakers for my 7.1 channel surround sound system - they are HIGHLY recommended... i've owned upwards of 10 different brands of speakers for HTS in the past 10 years - and Klipsch have been the best to date...
One suggestion would be to look at a Paradigm setup. They strike a pretty good balance between price and quality. A friend of mine has a very nice 5.1 setup that she got for around 2K that works very well for music and for Home Theater. If your room is not too big you can look at four or five bookshelf-sized speakers and a nice sub for much less than that. Go to a store with some DVDs and some CDs and listen to what sounds best to you being aware that no matter what it will sound a little (or a lot) different in your home as the acoustics are not the same. But, as the earlier poster mentioned, you really need to set a budget and then see what you can afford. Finally, HT or stereo stores make a ton of money on cables. Do NOT buy your cables from the store unless they are reasonably priced and you want to throw the salesmen a bone because he/she was very helpful. Don't say up front that you are not but after you've closed the deal and they start asking about cables say that you've already got them. I find that thicker wire is generally better; not expensive wire. If your runs are not too long just get the thickest stuff you can find in a spool at Home Depot. Look at Monoprice.com for HDMI cables or even spools of speaker wire. I just purchased a 15 HDMI cable for about $6. Amazon has 4 Meter Monster Cables for $75. For short runs you can't beat a monoprice cable. Here at Gizmodo is an interesting test.
If you have optical out from your TV, you're set without needing HDMI on the receiver. I have an older Yamaha receiver with Optical, so I just input every video source to the TV and then output to the receiver. I send Optical Laser out to the receiver, and never have to change the source on the receiver. I have a 6.1 (6 speakers plus .1 subwoofer) system that has many modes of output, with Dolby 5.1, DTS, THX, and Pro Logic I and IIx among those. You don't really need HDMI output or input on your receiver if your video sources go HDMI into your tv and then out to your receiver with Optical, is all I'm saying. I know HDMI is tops in video/audio, but I am not sending any video to my receiver anymore. My TV handles all the video.
For speakers I would definitely recommend Klipsch. They are incredible. Best Buy was doing a promo last year that included the Klipsch Quintet III, a 10" Klipsch Sub and a Yamaha reciever for 999.99$
Bose is terrible for home theaters. Get the new Denon 888 receiver then shop around for some decent speakers. Also, go to www.avsforum.com for help.
These sound great. I was considering the upgraded Klipsch system. I just need to find a receiver that will do what I need it to in order to know how much money I am looking at for the project.
I'm pretty loyal to Klipsch......I have the RF series in my home theater for a 7.1 setup, along with a pair of Forte II's that I've had for almost 20 years....and some outdoor speakers.........and multimedia speakers in my office. When I bought my home theater setup, I went out and listened to just about everything available in Houston. I really like the B&W speakers I listened to, but I just couldn't stomach the tariff. The Paradigm's I listened to were OK, but they were a bit more expensive than a set of the reference series Klipsch, and I didn't think they sounded as good. Still, as much I love mine, I'd still have to say: go out and listen It's a big investment; make sure they sound good to your ears. ps....my home theater receiver is a Denon........almost seven years old, so the model number probably isn't relevant, but I've been very pleased with it. The one I had before--which now sits in our bedroom--is a Yamaha. It still sounds great as well.
Go listen to some speakers. The average human would probably think a direct-to-market set of speakers is just as good as "higher end" models. Find yourself a budget first. Trust me, if you're like 90-95% of human beings out there, you can get good sound without spending a fortune. I'll start you off with receivers : Pioneer, Yamaha, Onkyo : they all have great features and are reasonably priced. I prefer Pioneer products, but Onkyos are loaded with features (Onkyo's 805 model is a fine receiver, it should last you a while, has a ton of connections, and its price has dropped recently - it was selling at Amazon for under $700). You need to define "reasonably priced" first.
