Looking for some input on home theater audio.Im ready to upgrade from standard TV speakers :shocked: Can some experienced members give me an education? I currently have a HDTV big screen.The room I want to wake-up is about 20' x 24' with a vaulted ceiling and fair insulation value.Do they make wire less components for this application? My vaulted ceiling would be a bugger to fish wires thru.How much should I budget? I want this system to have some giddy-up as I enjoy drag racing,Nascar,ESPN,etc.Thanks!

 

I have the bose lifestyle 38 home entertainment system and all I have to say is wow!!!!! I have a xbox 360 and hd-dvd player with a 1080p samsung hdtv with this sound system and it is truly amazing. My wife about strangled me when i came home with a 2200 dollar sound system, but after a while, she can't live without it and now I purchased a bose 3-2-1 system for her spare bed room. Now, I got her hooked on bose products. My dad has had a total of 4 different bose systems, back when they first came out with the 5.1 dolby digital and he still has them, one set being almost 10 years old and still works like new. They put out amazing sound and if you want nothing but the best then go bose, however if you don't want to throw down that much dough for a system, then onkyo makes great speakers and yamaha makes great recievers, I would mix and match because yamaha speakers suck and onkyo recievers are ho hum at best.

Bryan

 

I have a yamaha receiver and klipsch reference series speakers. The yamaha's are really good for the money as marine4life stated. I went to the local Tweeter (electronics store) and tested the equipment in their sound room and then found the stuff online and saved about $400. I've got maybe $1500 in my sound system.

Boston Acoustics makes some nice speakers that are much smaller than mine that sound great...I almost bought them. I highly suggest going to a store and see what sound YOU like. My brother-in-law has a relatively cheap Sony receiver and a mixed bag of surround speakers and it sound pretty good. You don't have to break the bank. I would spend the money on a decent sub, though.

I'm not sure if wireless is a possiblity. I luckily have a drop ceiling in my "movie room" and running wires was pretty easy. I'm no expert, just passing along my experience. You won't be sorry spending the money after a while. My wife and I very rarely go to the movie theaters anymore.

Marine4life, is the HD-DVD player worth the money in your opinion. My 6 year old DVD player still looks and sounds great to me.

Brad

 

Please contact CASMOKIN about this as he is in the industry!

Rick

 

Best bet is to wait and see who wins the war, HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.
Much like the VHS-BETA war of the 80's, and we know who won that one.

Also, there isn't a lot of content available for either format yet, IMHO, a waste of money until there's something worth watching on it.


phox

 

Yeah, I just realized that a friend of mine has a Playstation 3, so maybe I'll go check out a Blu-Ray.

I can barely tell the difference from the 720p DVD and 1080i HD signal that I get. I was just wondering if the 1080p is THAT much better.

Brad

 

i just got a full Denon set up and i am very happy with it. it was actually a reciever, dvd player, 7 speaker, and powered sub. open box & clearence at best buy, $500. i am VERY pleased with the money spent!

 

Its already been said, but I will say it again,


BOSE

I have the 38 as well and LOVE it. The quality is awsome. The louder you turn it up, the better it sounds!!!!!!!!!

 

+1 for Denon w/ Klipsch.



Running a Denon AVR-3806 to Klipsch RF-82 fronts, RS-52 rears, and a RC-64 center. Low end provided by previous sub model RSW-12.

Sound is awesome.
1080p is awesome.

I run HDMI directly from the PC to a samsung DLP w/ 1920 x 1080 @ 60hz.. ohhh baby oh baby.

It looks freaking awesome.

Bamadzl, youve already noticed the quality difference.. 720 is a lower resolution but because its progressive and not interlaced, it looks pretty much as good as a higher resolution 1080 but interlaced. If youre playing a fast action movie or in my case, a fast paced game, on a 1080i display, you will see the lines. 1080p is so much smoother. You usually have to drop down to 30hz to run any interlaced setup.. BLEH. progressive runs smooth at 60hz.

Less eye strain. Better picture. No missed frags.


No comment on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray yet from me, not even considering either until something is standardized.



One negative comment though, is i live too close to my neighbors.. the reciever rarely sees -30db or higher

 

AGREED!!

A good home audio sub is pretty pricey though. I bought my setup in parts. First the sub. Then a year later, the rest of the theatre. LOL.

A weak sub just ruins the whole movie or track.

 

I agree with the BOSE. I also have the Lifestyle system. This is a complete audio home entertainment system. It offers superb sound, elegance, technology and simplicity for music and home theaters. I wouldn't have anything else. I've never heard a system which could surpass or even equal the BOSE systems for overall realism of sound....

Good luck on picking what is right for you.....

 

When it comes to speakers, go listen to them. If you plan on playing music on them, listen to that, too.

For home theater, I'm running a 5.1 system that consists of Bose AM7's for the front sound stage, an ancient set of Bose Omnivectors for the rear, and a powered sub by JBL for the LFE. When it's time to listen to music, I shut off the Bose and turn on the Eosone towers. That's system number 1, in the attic, set up for the 47" wide screen. System number 2 is a 37" Dell LCD widescreen in the parlor, with a Bose 321 GS system for the sound. For such a tiny little set of boxes, it's quite amazing sounding. Quite passable for recreational watching. Also, I record a lot of tv shows on my PC and then burn them to DVD+RW, and the Bose plays them without a hitch. Time AND place shifting, what could be cooler?

 

Thats a large room to be filled with audio. Personally, I'd go with a good AV receiver that puts out around 100W channel. I've got a Yamaha.

Go to a good audio store and listen to a bunch of speakers and listen to them with some favorite CD's. Speakers (either mains, center, or surrounds) may look the same on the outside as well as thier spec's, but there sonic performance can vary greatly on whether or not they sound good to you. Speakers are like oil, and thier use is a personal decision. There are many options besides Bose.

And lastly, as said earlier - get a decent sub. A good sub will fill the room and make a tremendous improvement. I'm running a little Velodyne that puts out 1KW of power. I think it weighs about 50 lbs. There are many subs out there that fit different budgets.

Go visit http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ and poke around the forum that deals with building a home theater (HT) system.

 

It's good to hear you guys are enjoying systems that Bose puts out. Both my son and I have large systems, my son has big electrostatics all the way around, while I have large conventional loudspeakers. But we both agree that dollar for dollar and for the extreme simplicity and space, it's tough to beat the Bose Lifestyle systems. You guys with the 38's....Are you using the hard drives to store your music? How do you find the uMusic feature? Do you use it at all? I'd be interested in getting feedback.

 

I have an NAD 5.1 receiver, Klipsch all the way around and a B&W sub. The Klipsch sound awsome with movies but I prefer my old Rogers LS7's (high end British from the 80's) for music. The sub is unbelievable. I had to use that sticky crap on all the artwork in the house to keep them from vibrating.

A point to consider if you start mixing speaker brands is that they should be "timber matched", which means that they should sound the same, especially for voices. Unmatched speakers are really noticable when a persons voice pans around the room.

I used an SPL (sound pressure level) meter to set the balance on my speakers. Another great investment was a set-up DVD called Digital Video Essentials. It took some time tweaking the picture on the TV but it was well worth it.

As other people have told you, buy speakers that sound good to you. Don't scrimp on receiver power. I traded off power for quality with my NAD and sometimes wish I would have bought a bigger amp. The NAD has 6-channel pre-outs so I do have the option of adding a power amp but it's "not in the budget" right now, so to speak.