|
I would like to upgrade from my lovely inside the TV speakers to a decent system. I could comfortably spend anywhere from 5 to 700 on a 5.1 system, or even just a 3.1. Mainly listen to music, watch TV, a few movies and games. But most movies tend to stream over netflix, and would that even be surround sound? If I'm very rarely watching actual discs do I care about anything more than 3.1? My main issues after reading the OP is I'm clueless as to where to keep track online. Any good sites that post daily deals on home theater gear? Or sites that just have reasonable prices all year long? I would really like it if I could get a reasonable deal just off of Amazon because of my Prime membership and rewards points. I don't really have much desire to go to a store and listen to a bunch of stuff because I know anything is better than what I have right now. Like if a home theater in a box was decent I would get one. Can I find good speakers on amazon? Do they sell 3.1 sets that are any decent, so the only other thing I'd need is a receiver? Just really looking for low hassle. Happy to research one or two specific components, like making sure I get a good receiver but it feels kind of overwhelming to research it all.
|
#
¿
May 10, 2011 20:02
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 12:39 |
|
|
Reading through the thread some more I'm just going to go with the setup jonathon posted. It sounds like it would be good, and I can afford that in my budget. I'll repost when I've I bought it and set it up (not until I move in a month).
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2011 12:01
|
|
|
Hob_Gadling posted:If music is high on your priority list, consider spending the lions share of your budget in front speakers. 2.0 is the best possible setup for music. 3.0 and 3.1 are for sources that utilize the center channel. Movies with surround sound do: generally their speech track is on the center channel. TV depends mostly on the channels you watch. Do they send stereo (2.0) or surround signal? Center channel is useless for TV if you only get 2.0 audio. Thanks! Where am I going to find the different brands to listen to though? Would Best Buy have mots the major brands you are talking about? How am I really supposed to judge how much better one set sounds over another? I'll definitely blow most my budget on the 3.1 setup, as movies are tertiary to me so I see the surround sound aspect as more novelty than necessary.
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2011 12:25
|
|
|
Got these for my computer in a dented box sale online for cheap. Only plan on using them on my PC for gaming. My question is: what is that kind of surround sound hookup called, with the orange, black, green audio in? My computer has those outputs, but I've never seen that sort of setup on any sort of reciever or the like, and I'd like a name for it.
|
|
#
¿
May 12, 2011 14:13
|
|
|
Hob_Gadling posted:3,5mm miniature jack. It's the same plug that many MP3 players use. So is the multiple 3.5mm jacks for surround sound something computers only do? Never seen it on consoles, tvs, or receivers. They all used to be optical and I guess HDMI is the standard now.
|
|
#
¿
May 12, 2011 15:42
|
|
|
After doing some listening I've decided to get the pioneer speakers that jonathan recommends. Probably just the pair of floor speakers and the center for now, not sure what I want for surround speakers. However jonathan, you say the subwoofer is only alright and that you can get better bang for your buck with a different one. suggestions?
|
|
#
¿
May 29, 2011 18:52
|
|
|
What exactly does a 300 dollar sub get you over something cheaper? I don't quite understand differences in all them. Like what would I miss from getting something in the under 200 category?
|
|
#
¿
May 29, 2011 22:44
|
|
|
Lets say that I'm on the first floor of a three floor house turned into apartments. I'm not interested in too much bass because I don't want to piss off neighbors. Would the pioneer sub be fine in that case? EDIT: Note I do not share a wall with anyone or live above anyone, just below people. I just have never had a home theater system before and I don't know how much sub sound travels upwards. Does it really? If not I have no objections getting a 300ish sub then. Chin Strap fucked around with this message at 14:11 on May 31, 2011 |
|
#
¿
May 31, 2011 12:40
|
|
|
Hob_Gadling posted:Impossible to say. So much depends on the construction of the building. Current speakers are just the built-in tv ones. No bass to speak of. Ill just get the better sub even if i cant use it to full capacity.
|
|
#
¿
May 31, 2011 14:44
|
|
|
So I've purchased the 3.0 Pioneer setup jonathon recommended on the first page, along with a VSX 921-K receiver. Still debating about subwoofers. It just feels kind of silly buying a 300 dollar subwoofer for speakers that I spend 280 on. Im thinking I'll just go with this Polk 10" for now and upgrade later if I find it lacking. Tired of doing so much research  Thanks all, I'll be sure to post pictures and a trip report when it all gets here.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 2, 2011 15:02
|
|
|
I want to make sure I'll have all the connections I need coming. I don't understand how the subwoofer hooks up to the receiver though. The back of the sub looks like this. The back of the receiver looks like this. It looks like I need some sort of Y splitter to go from the sub plugin on the back of the receiver to the red/white plugins on the back of the sub? What with all the other connections on the sub?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2011 11:34
|
|
|
Why only the left and not both? If i have a y cable should i still only do the left?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2011 18:08
|
|
|
Got my initial set up going but my living room is a mess (still moving in) so I'll post pictures after it is more orderly. Couple questions My receiver is the Pioneer VSX 921 and I have the 3.0 pioneer speakers mentioned on the first page of this thread, a polk 10" sub. 1) Besides running the auto calibration, what other settings do I need to play with on my receiver? What should I do about the cutoff knob on the sub? 2) Besides setting my computer audio output to be 3.1, is there any other thing I need to change on the computer hooked up to the reciever? 3) Any good speaker stands for this giant center? 4) Ever since running my computer through the receiver, whenever I turn the tv off then back on, any fullscreened windows get shrunk to half the size, like the desktop resolution has changed. I have to unfullscreen then fullscreen the window again to get it to look right. Why is the receiver doing this? Chin Strap fucked around with this message at 14:29 on Jun 11, 2011 |
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2011 14:19
|
|
|
Hob_Gadling posted:None, they're there in case you want to adjust something that the auto setup didn't get right. Most of the time it sounds ok. Turn the cutoff knob to 80Hz, subwoofer level knob to 12 o'clock position (ie. half volume) and run the auto setup. Mess with the level knob if you think there's too much/not enough bass. I used Fantasia 2000 to determine the proper amount of bass: Pomp and Circumstance is an excellent test piece for that purpose. So if I've run the auto config, then all the center settings should be set automatically? The remote has "auto-surround", but also dolby pro logic and PL II and 12 other things. Should I just leave it on whatever was set from auto setup? Also, what is Dolby Pro Logic in the first place? Is it something I want? In Rock Band 3 there is the option to turn on Dolby Pro Logic. Should I turn that on? If I do, do I need to have the reciever in Dolby Pro Logic mode? So confused 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 15, 2011 13:20
|
|
|
Hob_Gadling posted:No. Most of those are automatic surround mixes for stereo audio. If your receiver is set on one of those it's likely to sound a little strange. Auto surround (manual pages 57 and 122) should be the correct setting for everything. Description of all the modes you likely have is here. So I shouldn't turn it on in games either right? Either the game supports surround or not, and I don't want to automatically upsample stereo to surround.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 15, 2011 20:31
|
|
|
Need some help. We have a reciever with two tower speakers and a center speaker. The setup in our room is that I don't give a crap if it ever sounds like surround sound because we can't parse it anyway. We watch Netflix through Chromecast I've found that setting the audio output on Netflix to stereo, and using my receiver's auto surround emulation, makes it sound much better than having Netflix send the audio as 5.1 surround (which it defaults to). I have to change this every time because Netflix's app is getting some sort of signal from the receiver that surround sound is available and so it defaults to it after every episode of a show I watch. I've determined it is impossible to fix on Netflix's side, so is there anything I should be looking for setting's wise on my receiver to just say "use stereo always"? Not even sure the right words to google.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 13, 2018 17:35
|
|
|
So I have system with 2 pioneer tower speakers and a center, as well as a subwoofer. My receiver supports wireless surrounds. I would be interested in surrounds but don't know that I actually care about the wireless part. I have a drop ceiling in my living room that I can run wires through. I probably want them wall mounted pointed down and small given how my room setup is. What would be the best surrounds to get if I only ever watch stuff that would utilize it every once in a while? Do I need to match brands? Is wired going to get me better quality for price? Can smeone just point me to a pair that'd work well for decent cost?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 13, 2020 14:23
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 12:39 |
|
|
qirex posted:Something that's easy to wall mount is obviously the best but you didn't list a budget. I assume you're talking about the Andrew Jones speakers so getting the bookshelf version of those is certainly cheap but those are heavy and don't have a factory wall mount/bracket option. They are SP-FS-51 which are the previous iteration I guess? I dont really have a budget. If there's a decent easy to wall mount option is pay a bit more for that.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 13, 2020 18:41
|
|