New Home Theatre Setup for Basement Living Area

[reedsie]

Looking for Recommendations on the ideal setup for living room surround sound with a 73" 3d Mitsibushi TV, IMAC, IPAD. Would like to stream music to the audio system as well.

I've heard the All in One's aren't the way to go and components purchased seperately are the way to go.

I'm not an AV/Video guy, please advise. I have attached photo of basement area.

I have attached a photo of the area the TV and stand (not purchased yet either) will go..

 

[EvilC5]

depends on your budget....I could lay something out that you would probably spend 8-10K on and it will sound great, but im sure something very nice could be had much much cheaper...

 

[reedsie]

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Definitely not looking to spend that much somewhere around 1k would be ideal

 

[emaja]

Lots of questions...


How many HDMI ports do you need?

How many speakers - 5.1 or 7.1?

Percentage of music to movies involved?

$1000 is not a huge budget, but if you want bang for the buck, Onkyo offers some nice HTIB systems that you can get under 1K. The weakest parts of these HTIBs are always the speakers which can be upgraded later.

 

[reedsie]

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2 or 3 hdmi, 5.1 should work

 

[EvilC5]

spend your money on a nice center speaker and sub as most of the sound in a movie will come from those 2 speakers....

you can get a nice 5.1 receiver with several hdmi's in's, a nice center speaker, a nice powered sub, and 4 nice bookshelf speakers and have a nice setup. 1000 will be tight, but it can be done.

 

[emaja]

Agreed - the center and sub will have the most impact. Problem is that a nice subwoofer and center would easily use up two-thirds of your budget. That's why I recommend going the HTIB route. You will have everything you need and you can upgrade a piece at a time later if you want to. They come with a decent receiver which is important.

If you really want to piece it together, start by looking at the Onkyo TX-NR509 receiver - $277 at Amazon right now. It is 5 channel system with 4 HDMI inputs. I had their SR608 and was very impressed.

I would also look at the Polk Audio TSi100 or TSi200. They are $170 and $250 a pair respectively. Their CS10 center channel is about $110. That only leaves you $160 for a sub which is not much. You could go with the Polk PSW10 which is highly regarded for its price, but it's strictly average. That's what you will get out of a $100 sub though.

That gets you in under your $1000 budget. You will need cables - go to Monoprice for those. Probably get what you need for about $100 depending on the speaker cable runs needed.

My personal opinion is that you open up the budget - if you can.

Onkyo and Polk give you a lot for the money, but it is still all about personal preference. For a bit over $2000 you could really have something especially good. An Onkyo TX-NR609 with four Paradigm Monitor Minis, a Paradigm CC-190, and an Elemental Designs A3s-250 subwooofer gets you in at $2100-ish plus cables - and the sound will utterly blow you away. Those three brands a renowned for offering sound well beyond their price. I have heard them all and am extremely impressed.

I know it is easy for me to spend your money, but I think going with some better equipment will give you much more out of your system as a whole.

 

[EvilC5]

I agree, onkyo and polk is a great combo, the smaller 10 inch sub is plenty for most and will give a very nice experience. if you open it up to 1200-1500, you will certainly get something that you can be satisfied with.

 

[reedsie]

Here is what I have came up with....

2 Tsi300
2 Tsi100
1 Tsi10
Pioneer Elite VSX 30
Polk 12" Sub

What are everyon'es thoughts? I could perhaps purchased an Airport Extreme or Apple TV to stream music through Itunes?

 

[emaja]

You will be VERY happy with that system.

Polk gives you great sound for the money. My preference would be to go with Onkyo for the receiver - it is cheaper, too - but that is a personal preference. I have never been impressed with Pioneer receivers.

Enjoy!

 

[reedsie]

You will be VERY happy with that system.

Polk gives you great sound for the money. My preference would be to go with Onkyo for the receiver - it is cheaper, too - but that is a personal preference. I have never been impressed with Pioneer receivers.

Enjoy!

Thanks! Looking for something that will allow Itunes to be streamed though. Pioneer Elite should do it.

 

[emaja]

Thanks! Looking for something that will allow Itunes to be streamed though. Pioneer Elite should do it.

If you are streaming with an Airport Express, be sure to get an optical cable and hook it into your receiver. That way, you will be using the better digital audio converter in the Pioneer instead of the "meh" one in the AX. It will make your music sound much better.

That, and rip your music in the highest bitrate you can do. I have all my music ripped in Apple Lossless and stream through an AX to my Onkyo TX-NR3008 and it sounds fantastic. As someone who has re-encoded his 2000+ CD collection from MP3 to lossless, I can tell you it pays off to do it right the first time. YIKES!

 

[Irishman]

Looking for Recommendations on the ideal setup for living room surround sound with a 73" 3d Mitsibushi TV, IMAC, IPAD. Would like to stream music to the audio system as well.

I've heard the All in One's aren't the way to go and components purchased seperately are the way to go.

I'm not an AV/Video guy, please advise. I have attached photo of basement area.

I have attached a photo of the area the TV and stand (not purchased yet either) will go..

For the heart of your system - the AV receiver - I'd go with either one of the 2011 Pioneer or Denon models. The In-Command Denons and the Pioneers from the VSX1021 on up do Airplay handily, but audio only. I would give the slight edge to Pioneer's AVRs because of 2 reasons - a bit more cost effective, AND the free,awesome iControlAV2 iPad app, which lets you do all manner of system tweaks in a VERY user-friendly way.

Secondly, about speakers. I'm a bit hesitant to offer brands and models right off the bat, without knowing what kind of sound you like. Do you like bright, detailed, forward sound? Or laid back, musical sound? Or something else?

Have you ever listened to a really great pair of speakers? What was it you liked about them?

You could do much worse than these, designed by premium speaker designer Andrew Jones:

SP-FS51-LR http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer...lack/1147998.p?id=1218224796804&skuId=1147998

SP-C21 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer...aker/1147943.p?id=1218224803917&skuId=1147943

SP-BS21-LR http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer...air)/1148218.p?id=1218224799780&skuId=1148218

These speakers are VERY well regarded because of their pedigree and because of how much performance they managed to build into a budget package. If what you want is transparent, accurate sound, then these easily outperform speakers costing 2-3 times as much.

 

[reedsie]

For the heart of your system - the AV receiver - I'd go with either one of the 2011 Pioneer or Denon models. The In-Command Denons and the Pioneers from the VSX1021 on up do Airplay handily, but audio only. I would give the slight edge to Pioneer's AVRs because of 2 reasons - a bit more cost effective, AND the free,awesome iControlAV2 iPad app, which lets you do all manner of system tweaks in a VERY user-friendly way.

Secondly, about speakers. I'm a bit hesitant to offer brands and models right off the bat, without knowing what kind of sound you like. Do you like bright, detailed, forward sound? Or laid back, musical sound? Or something else?

Have you ever listened to a really great pair of speakers? What was it you liked about them?

You could do much worse than these, designed by premium speaker designer Andrew Jones:

SP-FS51-LR http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer...lack/1147998.p?id=1218224796804&skuId=1147998

SP-C21 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer...aker/1147943.p?id=1218224803917&skuId=1147943

SP-BS21-LR http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Pioneer...air)/1148218.p?id=1218224799780&skuId=1148218

These speakers are VERY well regarded because of their pedigree and because of how much performance they managed to build into a budget package. If what you want is transparent, accurate sound, then these easily outperform speakers costing 2-3 times as much.

Would I be better off purchasing Apple TV or another device to stream audio and possibly video versus purchasing it integrated in a receiver?

 

[Irishman]

Would I be better off purchasing Apple TV or another device to stream audio and possibly video versus purchasing it integrated in a receiver?

The AppleTV can Airplay audio and video, IF a given app supports it. (some, like HBO Go, do not). So, if you want to Airplay video, then the ATV is the way to go.

Everything else is audio only - right now. That may change.

 

[reedsie]

The AppleTV can Airplay audio and video, IF a given app supports it. (some, like HBO Go, do not). So, if you want to Airplay video, then the ATV is the way to go.

Everything else is audio only - right now. That may change.

From price point it seems more logical to buy Apple TV versus the built in features on a receiver...

 

[emaja]

Secondly, about speakers. I'm a bit hesitant to offer brands and models right off the bat, without knowing what kind of sound you like.

Agreed. I recommended the Polk due to their balance and price, not because of any specific quality. In order to correctly recommend speakers, a little perspective from the eventual owner is needed - something that is hard to get over the internet.

Irishman is right however. The best way is to go listen to speakers and then you can say, "I like this one - it's brighter than this one."

I made an assumption that "reedsie" didn't want to go through a lengthly audition process like I and others do. Apologies.

From price point it seems more logical to buy Apple TV versus the built in features on a receiver...

I prefer to keep it separate, but that is a personal preference. I only stream music to one system and do not use my iPad or iPhone for music at all, so AirPlay wasn't important to me.

It sounds like you want a more basic receiver with a few HDMI and no need for pre-outs or anything that might be on a higher-end receiver. The Elites and Denons are well regarded, but IMO Onkyo offers most of what YOU need at a better price.

 

[j2048b]

do your self a favor and get the pioneer The receiver that’s ready for tomorrow is here today. Introducing the Pioneer 7.1-Channel VSX-1021-K AV Receiver

with airplay, 3d ready, and a host of other features, bluetooth with the dongle u buy seperately, and tons of apps to assist you in set up of the whole system!

get it!! now!!!

amazon for around 450!

http://9to5mac.com/2011/03/08/pioneers-vsx-1021-puts-airplay-in-your-rack/#more-54878