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Turb posted:About to be upgrading my whole sound system from a last generation huge shelf system. I play mostly music some TV and movies all from my desktop computer. I have a tendency to play music of many genres for long periods of time at a very high volume. Id like to keep my budget around 800 for a 2.0 or 2.1 setup and I dont mind coming back for the sub later to get quality stuff up front. With Polk Monitor 70's, more watts will sound better, but it's not as big a difference as one might think. The problem with driving large hungry speakers to loud levels with a lower wattage amp is that eventually, you will max out the amp as you turn the volume up. This will eventually cause the amp to clip. Clipping an amp is generally the easiest way to blow your speakers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yLoltfJImM Home theatre guys like to use big wattage amps for the overhead. Sure they might only be using 15 or 30 watts on average for a movie, but when the big explosions hit on screen, you want enough available wattage to reproduce that peak sound effect without clipping the amp. This is not normal living room volume levels though. We are talking about people who run their systems loud, at reference levels with 105db peaks and 85db dialogue. The Pioneer amp you listed, while very well featured probably only really gives out around 65-80 watts per channel when driving all the speakers. The 110watt value they like to advertise usually is from only driving 1 or 2 speakers for short lengths of time. Amps that actually put out that much wattage per channel in real world conditions usually weigh in around 60 - 70lbs from the large independent transformers and things. The pioneer likely weighs around 22 lbs. I run an older version of that receiver and can get the volume going loud. For someone like you who might be using the speaker system as a P.A. for parties, you may want to think about piecing together an audio processor with seperate amps that actually put out their advertised wattage. Basically you have a device called the processor which is just like a receiver, except it only does the decoding part, it then sens a line-voltage signal out to the amp(s) that you have running to the speakers. You could start off with a processor and a 2 channel amp to drive your speakers, then add additional amps once you step up to a 5.1 system. This setup is beyond what's intended for this thread, however it can be done on a budget, and this setup is a bit more future proof. You don't need to replace amps when new audio standards come out, just swap out the processor (or upgrade it's firmware). I like the emotiva brand of equipment for processors and amps. There is better stuff, but it usually costs 3x as much, there is also much cheaper stuff. Emotiva seems to be the best bang for the buck. http://emotiva.com/umc1.shtm <-- processor http://emotiva.com/upa2.shtm <-- 2 channel amp, 125 real watts There are cheaper ways to go, and used amps can be found on craigslist/ebay. Old amps still sound good.
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Aug 18, 2011 22:50
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jonathan posted:A very thought-out and informative post TLDR version: The rule of thumb, as I've understood it, is: if you're going to be playing loudly, get an amp rated at a the same or higher wattage than your speakers. The Monitor 70 seems to have a sensitivity of 90 dB/W, though, which is pretty OK, so you'll probably go deaf before a 110W (rated) receiver starts clipping...
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Aug 19, 2011 09:41
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jonathan posted:
Do you use the UMC-1? Its on a clearance right now for a pretty sweet price but some looking around the web gave me the impression that the software is fairly buggy and a decent amount of features do not work as advertised. Just wondering if you had personal experience with and what your thoughts were. Thanks.
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Aug 19, 2011 13:34
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jonathan posted:Basically you have a device called the processor which is just like a receiver, except it only does the decoding part, it then sens a line-voltage signal out to the amp(s) that you have running to the speakers. You could start off with a processor and a 2 channel amp to drive your speakers, then add additional amps once you step up to a 5.1 system. This setup is beyond what's intended for this thread, however it can be done on a budget, and this setup is a bit more future proof. You don't need to replace amps when new audio standards come out, just swap out the processor (or upgrade it's firmware). FWIW, this is also the EXACT sound system setup of every movie theatre. In some rare circumstances cinemas are running digital sound through a brand new processor but with amps and speakers from the 40's and 50's. The discrete solution is the way to go for redundancy proofing, if the budget allows.
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Aug 19, 2011 16:31
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I'm looking to get my first audio system, but I'm planning to do it in several steps as money allows. TV use is currently 10% TV, 30% movies, 30% Xbox, 30% computer games (will be a lot more once BF3 comes out) Am I doing any of this wrong, or should I change the order of any of these? Step one: Receiver (Denon-391) L&R Speakers Step two: Center speaker Sub Final: L&R rear My budget for step one is $500 which allows for $250 for front speakers. Is that a lot for an entry level system? Or could I get a nice center speaker + sub along with the two fronts with the $250 left after getting the receiver? I have a lot of woodworking tools and could easily make my own stands for speakers, so I'm unsure about getting floor standing speakers. Other than that, I have no brand/type preference or anything, and I still need to go to stores and listen to different speakers.
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Aug 20, 2011 16:39
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I'm not sure what the consensus here is, but I would personally suggest getting the centre speaker at the same time as the L&R. It makes movie dialog a lot more discernible to me.
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Aug 20, 2011 17:39
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emocrat posted:Do you use the UMC-1? Its on a clearance right now for a pretty sweet price but some looking around the web gave me the impression that the software is fairly buggy and a decent amount of features do not work as advertised. Just wondering if you had personal experience with and what your thoughts were. I don't own one myself. I live in a condo so my pioneer pushes my klipsch stuff to sound levels that are more than adequate for non-dedicated-theatre listening. I've played with the umc-1 though, and listened to a few setups with them. Overall it sounded really really good. Was listening to some Jazz and blues demo material on a 3.1 setup with some sort of live music/concert mode decoding. It really sounded great at a loud level. The common complaints with the umc-1 (according to the avr and klipsch forums) were launch issues and have since been fixed with a year's worth of firmware updates. Once I move out of this condo and into a place that allows for a dedicated theatre/listening room (good luck near vancouver. I'll need $1000000)
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Aug 20, 2011 18:11
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Re: The Pioneer 820 with Monitor 70s: I have a 920 with M70/CS20/M40 surround setup and the volume in my large open living room can go so loud it flat out hurts my ears before I noticed any kind of distortion or clipping. This is just set up with direct plugs, no bi-amping or whatever, as simple as you can get it. These things can get very, very, very loud. I do think a sub would really help the setup though, especially for music. For movies its alright, the M70s reproduce the sound of lows but not the feel, if that makes any sense. Music would certainly be better served with a sub, I listen to a lot of electronica/dubstep/etc and it's lacking that certain punch. Ron Burgundy posted:I'm not sure what the consensus here is, but I would personally suggest getting the centre speaker at the same time as the L&R. It makes movie dialog a lot more discernible to me. I was surprised by how much of the sound from TV shows and movies gets run through my center speaker, it's almost like the two towers are the extras and the real speaker is the center
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Aug 21, 2011 23:15
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Is it only one wire per speaker to receiver? Or is it power + sound to the receiver? I'm having trouble finding out how many wires I need ahead of time. Looking to get These before the sale ends as my front mains, since I will be getting a center as well.
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Aug 22, 2011 01:00
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Carta posted:Is it only one wire per speaker to receiver? Or is it power + sound to the receiver? I'm having trouble finding out how many wires I need ahead of time. Yes, unless you want to purposely biwire or biamp your speakers. However, that's extremely unlikely with the Polks, and whether or not bi-amping improves your sound is nebulous at best.
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Aug 22, 2011 01:29
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Alright, so I only need to get 4 banana clips + speaker wire cut to size per speaker. I have never had anything but tv speakers, I can't wait to buy everything and get it all set up.
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Aug 22, 2011 01:46
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Ron Burgundy posted:I'm not sure what the consensus here is, but I would personally suggest getting the centre speaker at the same time as the L&R. It makes movie dialog a lot more discernible to me. Yeah but if you don't have the money you don't have the money and you don't want to cheap out on the center. Just having the new L&R will sound better than anything cheap and receivers are designed to play well with any number of speakers.
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Aug 22, 2011 04:16
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Carta you'll need to run the amp in stereo mode, or with LR on regular mode you will be getting [movie title] - the original motion picture soundtrack with some muffled dialog and sound effects.
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Aug 22, 2011 04:24
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Dolby Digital receivers are required to downmix everything to an arbitrary number of speakers as long as the receiver knows it's got left and right it shouldn't gently caress up anything you feed it. If you put on a surround track and it's trying to send audio to speakers that aren't there then you didn't set the thing up correctly.
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Aug 22, 2011 17:00
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jonathan posted:A very thought-out and informative post Thank you very much this makes a lot of sense to me and probably is the way I will go, Im thinking umc1 processor, check Craigslist for a used amp, and go to a nice store and test out a lot of different speakers will be the way to go Will update whenever this all comes together!
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Aug 25, 2011 04:48
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I have a Toshiba 40G300U (http://us.toshiba.com/tv/lcd/40g300u/) and I love it, except for that it's way too laggy to play some video games. For example, with Rock Band, the audio lags a bit and when someone sings, you can hear their voice come out of the TV a split second later, making it kind of a horrible experience. Would this be something that's fixed by a receiver? I've been wanting a receiver for a while, in particular to have awesome Rock Band parties with my nerdy friends, but if the lag problem isn't going to be addressed, it'd be a waste of money. By the way, just in case it helps, I'm using an Xbox 360, via HDMI. I've tried setting the resolution to 720p/i and 1080p/i and even using the "Game Mode" on the TV (which I think just turns 120Hz off and makes it work at 60Hz), and some are better than the others, but there's still lag. I've also done the in-game calibration a bunch of times, and I even have the guitar that does it with light/sound sensor.
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Aug 29, 2011 03:47
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Also, since this is from February...jonathan posted:My recipe for a budget build that will still destroy a $2800 Bose setup: Would it be a safe assumption to replace the VSX-820-K with the VSX-821-K? Also: How about these speakers? http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Home-Theater-Systems/SP-PK21BS I
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Sep 1, 2011 18:33
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Alfajor posted:Also, since this is from February... Not a lot of change between the two receivers. Choose whichever one you can get for the best deal or if the 821 has an important feature, go with that one. As for the bookshelf speaker, I'm sure it's decent, but the price of the floorstanding makes it a much better buy. Bookshelf speakers are midway between a floor and a satellite speaker as far as frequency range etc.
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Sep 1, 2011 20:48
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I am building a new house and want to set-up all my A/V right the first time. Ideally I'd like to run all my cable, along with HDMI to the mechanical room in the basement where I'd like to put all my cable boxes, router, etc. in a ventilated media cabinet, or even on shelves in order to get rid of the cable boxes in each room. Are there good RF remote control sensors out there that someone would suggest for this purpose? Along with that, these cable/HDMI runs from upstairs bedrooms, etc won't exactly be 10ft. runs. Do these lengthy runs cause PQ problems in HDMI cables, or even cable for that matter. Also, I am having the builder prewire all my speaker locations, which I will then install my own volume controls and speakers. Recommendations for user friendly/quality volume controls? And what about some good mid-range speakers for my 2.0 system in the living room. Will mainly be used for iPod music. One of these pre-wires will be out in the patio, recessed in the ceiling of the covered patio. This is in North Idaho where the winter months can get below 0 at times. Is there are certain type of speaker I should be looking for that is "weather proof"?
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Sep 3, 2011 06:13
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I'm looking to build a 2.0 or 2.1 setup for $400-$500. These speakers will go in my dorm room, so I'd prefer bookshelf speakers. I'm fine using just an stereo reciever or a t-amp because I'm only using these for music. I've looked at the Paradigm and PSB speakers recommended here, but not really sure which ones are best suited for my budget and listening needs. If anyone could recommend me speakers and a receiver or t-amp, or point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciatd.
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Sep 5, 2011 02:23
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Picked up a Denon 1912 over the weekend and need speakers to pair with it. I wasn't planning on spending so much and it looks like speakers are even more of an expense. I figure I will go with Polk monitors 60 or 70. They're on sale on Newegg for $114 and $179. Is the jump in sound so great as to make the $55 difference worth it? edit: I'll eventually add the other bits but drat this is spendy.
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Sep 5, 2011 03:25
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Bunk Rogers posted:Picked up a Denon 1912 over the weekend and need speakers to pair with it. I wasn't planning on spending so much and it looks like speakers are even more of an expense. I figure I will go with Polk monitors 60 or 70. They're on sale on Newegg for $114 and $179. Is the jump in sound so great as to make the $55 difference worth it? The Monitors are on the low end of expense/quality. I'm very happy with my M70+M40 surround setup. I think the general consensus is that if you have a sub, the M60s will do. No sub? THe bigger M70s will punch more bass. I dont plan on getting a sub so I went with the M70s and theyre very loud and clear with a clean but not resonant bass. You hear the lows, but you dont feel them.
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Sep 5, 2011 06:01
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AzCoug posted:Are there good RF remote control sensors out there that someone would suggest for this purpose? It is largely dependent on the construction of your house, what materials, how far away you are and so on. You might want to look into AirPlay, especially if you have iPad or iPhone. I know some hifists of greatest degree that swear by it. quote:Along with that, these cable/HDMI runs from upstairs bedrooms, etc won't exactly be 10ft. runs. Do these lengthy runs cause PQ problems in HDMI cables, or even cable for that matter. Maybe. Read this first. You're possibly one of the edge cases where buying the cheapest cable is not smart. At the very least test the cables before you install them into walls: doing your first test run when everything has been painted over and noticing it doesn't work is a bummer. Remember to install Ethernet cabling while you're at it. quote:Also, I am having the builder prewire all my speaker locations, which I will then install my own volume controls and speakers. Recommendations for user friendly/quality volume controls? And what about some good mid-range speakers for my 2.0 system in the living room. Will mainly be used for iPod music. If you go with AirPlay, use this. What quality files do you listen to? What's your budget for mid-range? I can heartily recommend B&W 683. quote:One of these pre-wires will be out in the patio, recessed in the ceiling of the covered patio. This is in North Idaho where the winter months can get below 0 at times. Is there are certain type of speaker I should be looking for that is "weather proof"? Yes. Look for outdoor speakers and specifically something that can handle cold temps. Many speakers degrade if left to the elements, so consider installing them in a way that easily allows you to take them inside come winter or cover them during the worst weather. This is also one legit case of golden banana plugs: they're cheap and corrosion resistant.
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Sep 5, 2011 09:58
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Hob_Gadling posted:If you go with AirPlay, use this. Not sure AirPlay would work. I would be trying to listen to/watch .avi, .mkv and full 1080p blu ray torrent files. Budget for mid-range would be $150ish per speaker. Is that a lot or will not get me nowhere?
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Sep 5, 2011 21:39
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AzCoug posted:Budget for mid-range would be $150ish per speaker. Is that a lot or will not get me nowhere? Go visit a hifi shop and listen to some bookshelf speakers. Maybe a pair of Genelec or Q-Acoustic bookshelf speakers would suit you? The floorstanding Pioneers from earlier this thread might also be nice. You'll have to let your own ears decide. I'm still interested in the music quality you'll be listening to. 128kbps MP3 or lossless FLAC? With low quality stuff you needn't invest too much into speakers. The better your source material, the more you benefit from a good pair of speakers.
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Sep 5, 2011 22:23
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Ive listened to monitor speakers and they were pretty shite Id get these http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...s&condition=all get a sub to go along with them
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Sep 5, 2011 22:58
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Hob_Gadling posted:Go visit a hifi shop and listen to some bookshelf speakers. Maybe a pair of Genelec or Q-Acoustic bookshelf speakers would suit you? The floorstanding Pioneers from earlier this thread might also be nice. You'll have to let your own ears decide. Sorry, guess I should have specified. These will be in walls, both out on my patio and in the living room. More for iPod playing. I don't get to worried about the lossless FLAC bullshit  just whatever is on my iPod, I don't even pay attention to the quality of all my songs. To me, it all sounds the same.
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Sep 6, 2011 01:45
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There's not really a huge difference unless you compare 128 mp3s and flacs on good stuff anyways. MP3 in V0 is pretty much all you need unless you like having 1:1 backups or something wasteful.
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Sep 6, 2011 01:57
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Echo_ posted:I'm looking to build a 2.0 or 2.1 setup for $400-$500. These speakers will go in my dorm room, so I'd prefer bookshelf speakers. I'm fine using just an stereo reciever or a t-amp because I'm only using these for music. Here is a suggestion for a super bang for buck system. Lepai TA2020 t-amp. $25  along with a pair of Dayton Audio B652 bookshelf speakers. On sale right now for $29 a pair  An option for a more powerful tamp, the Dayton Audio DTA-100a 50w/$100, or perhaps go with a more traditional amp design, the Dayton Audio APA150 150w/$160. If you're thinking of going with a sub, or building up multichannel in the future, a receiver is a great choice. I prefer the models that use the Audyssey room correction system, but any of the big names make good stuff, the best receiver under $500 thread has plenty of good advice. From Paradigm the usual entry level choice is the very well know Atom from the Monitor Line, now just out in version 7. From PSB the Alpha B1 is the entry level star, although I notice DMC there has the B15 at a similar price, those would be nice as well. The Energy RC-10 is a great speaker and is in closeout pricing, excellent buy. The Pioneer SP Line is very nice for the money, widely available. The Infinity Primus line is good bang for buck, the P163 bookshelves and the P363 towers are the sweet picks. You might optionally consider active studio monitors; Yamaha, JBL, KRK, Behringer would have some in your price range.
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Sep 6, 2011 06:50
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AzCoug posted:These will be in walls, both out on my patio and in the living room. I can't help you with outdoor speakers, but for indoors you could look at what Linn has to offer. Their Diskreet speakers should fall within your budget. quote:To me, it all sounds the same. What a terrible thing to say. 
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Sep 6, 2011 18:43
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Doc Spratley posted:Great Advice I found a pretty good price on the PSB B15, so I'll probably snag those. Would there be a noticeable difference between using the $100 t-amp and the $160 amp? I guess is it worth the extra $60?
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Sep 6, 2011 19:00
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So I have been thinking about setting up a home theater system for some time now, I started to do a bit of research and was planning to the system around the end of fall beginning of winter. But that kinda changed as I got a really really good deal on a pioneer VSX-30. It is slightly used, but it only came with the reciever, power cord and remote. I currently have no speakers but will have a set of left right and center speakers for it. I know it has a microphone slot to calibrate the audio but it didn't come with it. Would any microphone do? or should I order the pioneer one? Any suggestions on speakers? I have the ability to build speakers and think it would be fun to learn and try it out. Or should I just go a save up and buy assembled speakers? In the instructions it says it can handle a "9.1" system which has L and R height speakers or L and R wide speakers. What is the deal with that? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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Sep 6, 2011 21:52
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Echo_ posted:I found a pretty good price on the PSB B15, so I'll probably snag those. Would there be a noticeable difference between using the $100 t-amp and the $160 amp? I guess is it worth the extra $60? The apa150 will be heavier, draw more power, and does have a fan that may come on at times. It is however bridgeable whereas a t-amp is not and has a handy lowpass crossover control. It was sold by Emotiva for a while as the BPA-1, which may help you find some more reviews. T-amps are very cool though, and the tk2050 chip based dta-100a will be able to power up most speakers to ample listening levels. As a plus, they are highly portable, have a headphone output, and they are a greener design being very efficient with power. Don't underestimate that little Lepai, I know the price might be offputting, but for pocket money you get a nice little 2020 based amp with by-passable tone controls.
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Sep 6, 2011 21:59
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LordPancake posted:I know it has a microphone slot to calibrate the audio but it didn't come with it. Would any microphone do? or should I order the pioneer one? You need the Pioneer one. Before ordering it, you might want to take a look at the settings and see how complicated they look to you. If it doesn't look too bad you can set it up by hand and save a bit. quote:Any suggestions on speakers? I have the ability to build speakers and think it would be fun to learn and try it out. Or should I just go a save up and buy assembled speakers? If you can build your own speakers you will get considerably better bang for your buck as long as you know what you're doing. There's a linked thread for building your own speakers in OP, take a look there and judge for yourself. quote:In the instructions it says it can handle a "9.1" system which has L and R height speakers or L and R wide speakers. What is the deal with that? Check manual p. 17 It's pretty much what it says on the box, an extra pair of speakers to provide directional audio.
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Sep 6, 2011 22:25
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Hob_Gadling posted:You need the Pioneer one. Before ordering it, you might want to take a look at the settings and see how complicated they look to you. If it doesn't look too bad you can set it up by hand and save a bit. Thank you! I have been looking at the build your own speaker thread and I believe I can build the speakers without to much trouble so I will head in that direction. I will check out the settings to see what I can do. I hope it is easy to save me 30$. I didn't get the box with the reciever. So all I knew was it was a 7.1 system and say you could use the 9.1. I figured they were just for more speakers in a difference position, but I just wanted to make sure. Thank you. I hope I can get this set up soon, I will let you know how I think about it.
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Sep 6, 2011 23:05
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Doc Spratley posted:The apa150 will be heavier, draw more power, and does have a fan that may come on at times. It is however bridgeable whereas a t-amp is not and has a handy lowpass crossover control. It was sold by Emotiva for a while as the BPA-1, which may help you find some more reviews. I am planning on eventually getting a sub, so it seems that the apa150 is the best choice, if I don't want to upgrade, right?
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Sep 6, 2011 23:18
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What's the general consensus on using in-ceiling (drop ceiling) speakers like the Polk RC60i for providing the rear L/R channels in a 5.1 setup? Is it a bad idea to try combining these with floorstanding front speakers because of audio coming at you from two different heights?
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Sep 9, 2011 18:04
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Parker Lewis posted:What's the general consensus on using in-ceiling (drop ceiling) speakers like the Polk RC60i for providing the rear L/R channels in a 5.1 setup? Thx.com recommends thusly: quote:Surround Left & Right Speakers (SL & SR): Place the SL & SR speakers between 90° to 110° to each side and 2 feet or higher above the listener. The SL & SR speakers recreate the enveloping sound and intense special effects that you experience in the cinema. The quality of rear speakers matters the least in a 5.1 setup. In my experience their quality is largely irrelevant: I am perfectly satisfied with a €40 pair of Argon speakers for surround. If you want in-wall speakers, go right ahead.
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Sep 10, 2011 16:23
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Never mind. Question was more appropriate for a different thread.
Tacier fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Sep 13, 2011 |
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Sep 11, 2011 23:45
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Can't really find where to put this question but I think here would be best: I have a nice pair of headphones which I use almost all the time. However, I've been getting tired of having to be near the desk in order to listen to music or have the phones on in order to play games. I spent about 85$ on these headphones, and dont mind spending a similar or a [preferably] cheaper amount for decent speakers. Are there any 2.1/2.0 speaker systems you guys could think off the top of your head that sound well?
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Sep 14, 2011 04:28
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