trying to pick a Surround Sound system
- Thread starter Illum
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$1500 will get you a great music setup. I would focus on 2 channel unless 75% of your listening is concert dvds or something like that. You don't want surround sound unless you are listening to a 5.1/7.1 source like a dvd.
For 2 channel in your price range you're going to want most or all of this stuff:
2 main speakers
1 subwoofer
1 2 channel amp
1 Pre amp
The separate pre amp/amp is optional if you runout of budget after speakers. The sub is somewhat optional but I would recommend separating your bass driver from your 2 main speakers.
I would budget something like this:
$700 - 2 main speakers
$400 - Subwoofer
$400 - Receiver
Good speakers will last forever, I would spend the most on those. If you had more of a budget I'd get a nice amp and pre amp. I might even spend $1k+ on the speakers and skip the sub until down the road.
brighterisbetter
Flashlight Enthusiast
Yep that sounds like the Nautilus alright :twothumbs
+1 I agree 100%
+1 again, you guys and me think alike and it's AWESOME :rock:
So many varieties and tastes for audio. Alot like lights only alot more expensive, especially for quality gear. Go different places and listen to as much as you can. Cost is only 1 factor. Size, weight, do you care where it's made? Service/warranty, resale value, looks, brand name, lots of things to think about. Do you listen to it loud or not so loud? A great speaker will still sound crappy if the amp is not so great. Make a list of your likes/dislikes. You can generally do okay with used gear if you know what to look for. Alot of pro gear would serve you well and most of it is rack mountable too, handy when moving things around. I'm just trying to give some things to think about, have fun and enjoy it. Few things are like a good sound system.
Illum
Flashaholic
The separation of components makes a good place to start....I'm just hoping I can find a place where I can buy it as a package. The issue with web bought stuff is, should it break or DOA, your stuck with calling tech support...who usually is not very tech and very little support. Buying one in a store at least gives the choice of returning it without paying too much on shipping.
oo:
Size and weight doesn't matter at this point...being that its going in a moderately large living room and not in a bedroom. Preferably US made, not that it really matter as long as there isn't a fire hazard
Service can't be helped, warranty usually goes hand in hand with Murphy, so buying warranty only postpones the inevitable.
Define loud? How loud is loud when nothing glass based will vibrate but the doors will? as with brass and woodwinds...loud enough to talk over without having to shout
The issue about buying them in separate pieces is the need to know what uses what the best...connecting 250W speakers to a 5W amp for example...obviously wouldn't work so well, but 150W speakers to a 300W amp wouldn't either...plus the cables and installation...@#$%
Is there a specific need for bass ports and big tweeters? It seems that looking up speakers one tends to notice these things...
ICUDoc
Enlightened
Illum_the_nation just ignore the watts rating on any speakers you buy. The amount of noise they make depends on their efficiency (measured in dB/W and NOT usually printed on cheap junk speakers) and the power output of your amp (watts). So a 92dB/W speaker puts out 92 dB at one watt then 95 at two, 98 at 4, 101 at 8 and 104 at 16 watts etc (a log scale). Their max output is usually overshadowed by the maximum current your amp can deliver. If you use a low powered amp, get efficient speakers. One more thing: if the sales assistant says "peak music power output" or "PMPO" is written on the speakers: find another shop. It is a fantasy number, not for serious speakers, and $1500 is SERIOUS speakers.
Edit: 250W speakers may well work fine on a five watt amp: the efficiency is what will determine that, not the peak power rating. Try to assess the speakers with an amp like you will be using at home.
Edit: 250W speakers may well work fine on a five watt amp: the efficiency is what will determine that, not the peak power rating. Try to assess the speakers with an amp like you will be using at home.
brighterisbetter
Flashlight Enthusiast
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT skimp on the cables. Along the same lines as splurging a bit on the floorstanding fronts, a good set of cables will last a lifetime. Take a look at the Kimber website to read the introduction. They're worth every penny.
I think you may misunderstand me. Actually 150w speakers to a 300 w amp is the direction I wanted you to look in. I listed things for you to think about. If you have more specific questions, do it via PM. I know alot about audio. Notice My RUSH Avatar. Their last concert was probably 100k-150k( yes thats 100,000-150,000 watts.)What I saw was 40 Vertech's @ 4000 watts apiece. The sub's may have been somewhere else, R30 concert! But anyhow I think we can find a solution. Let me know! Front of House. Great sound via Eaw's (KF860's)or JBL's (Vertech"s) etc. Maybe custom Clair Bros boxes. Cheers, Mark
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Also since you asked for brute honesty, $1500 probably won't get you what you want. Orchestra has ALOT more low end than you think. I would say plan on spending 3k at least. Sorry about that. At least 1000 watts on low end. But I want to be honest. Mark
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Yes, ignore it on speakers.
With amps, the more watts the better, assuming you're looking at good gear and not boomboxes. You can drive "200 watt rated" speakers with a 1000 watt amp. In fact, you'll blow speakers quicker with a smaller amp than with a larger amp.
Basically just ignore watts on everything if you are buying good stuff.
If you post your city or zip code we can recommend some good local shops. If your local Best Buy has a Magnolia that might even be a good place to start. A high-end audio store will be better.
That would be ideal but it's like going from a Caprice to a Ferrari. $1500 would get them a Corvette that would be a huge improvement.
At $1500 they could either skip a sub and get it later or get a $300-$400 internet sub, run that for a while and craigslist it when the upgrade bug hits.
I'd get the budget sub, decent bookshelves and power with whatever is left.
B@rt
Flashaholic
A small amp is more prone to clipping at higher volumes and more likely to destroy your tweeters, but unless you want your windows to rattle a decent brand amp of say 2x 50-100 real watts should do fine.
As for speakers, try to get full sized ones ( I like a closed system better for it's better controlled bass), and don't use a sub, with most subs you can tell where it is placed, and if it is not right in the middle it is annoying and unnatural.
Since most of the listening you are doing is in stereo and not surround skip the surround, it seems to sound nice at first, but after a while you will notice how unnatural it really sounds... :thumbsdow
As for speakers, try to get full sized ones ( I like a closed system better for it's better controlled bass), and don't use a sub, with most subs you can tell where it is placed, and if it is not right in the middle it is annoying and unnatural.
Since most of the listening you are doing is in stereo and not surround skip the surround, it seems to sound nice at first, but after a while you will notice how unnatural it really sounds... :thumbsdow
IMHO this information is very wrong. In most rooms the ideal positioning of the low bass drivers is rarely in the same spot as the ideal positioning of the mids/highs. The best way to account for this is to separate the low bass drivers and put them/it where they work best in the room.
If you are hearing where the sub is placed it is because the crossover is set too high or it's in a very wrong spot.
Freq response problems with the low bass are going to exist in most rooms regardless of placement but they are fixable with room treatment and parametric EQs like the Behringer Feedback Destroyer. Unfortunately it kind of a hassle to get them setup properly. It is easier to eq a single sub optimally placed vs full range speakers.
B@rt
Flashaholic
I agree speaker placing is paramount, but adding more equipment is not the way to go IMHO. More is less.
I'm sorry, but that is simply misinformation. I'll stake my yearly salary on the fact that 10 people couldn't A/B the most expensive MIT cable from lamp cord with a P value of less than 0.05.
That's because most subs are tuned too high, have too much upper bass, and are crossed over inappropriately.
A good sub that goes down to 25Hz or below, that uses a steep 36dB/octave crossover (as opposed to the usual 12dB/octave) at 80Hz should never be heard by the observer.
I built my own sealed sub, using components from partsexpress.com, and used an Outlaw Audio crossover, and after making all the proper adjustments, I nobody had any idea that I had a sub at all (they thought it was a piece of furniture, due to the size), but everyone commented on how they could hear notes they never heard before.
For movies, a good subwoofer is essential... and should not be skimped on. For music, that depends on how low your speakers go. If they don't reach much below 35Hz, you should get a sub.
I highly recommend the LFM subs from Outlaw Audio, if you need a "budget" sub. Otherwise, Klipsch, Velodyne, Sunfire, all make fine subs.
Lasernerd
Enlightened
brighterisbetter
Flashlight Enthusiast
I was just trying to give the argument that when you've got a powerful and expensive engine in your car, and you've also got some really nice wheels and tires, why put a cheap driveshaft or axles between them. I'm not saying that you have to buy the most expensive cables out there, just that they should be decent and not some crapola no-name overseas brand.
A trained listener, under the most ideal circumstances, would have trouble telling the difference, because it's only marginally greater than the background noise. Actually, even specialized equipment would have problems. Speaker cables matter very little - what matters are CONNECTIONS because for most people they consist of hand-twisted exposed strands, that oxidize like crazy. What's the solution? Buy gold-plated plugs, and solder the cables to them, then use adhesive heat-shrink to seal the site. That'll do more for your signal path than anything else, for something like $1 per terminal.
