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Author Topic: Wanted: Advice for New Home Sound System Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-19-2003 10:46 PM                     For "reasonably priced" home theater speakers Paradigm is a good alternative (if you're wanting a 5.1 speaker setup in the $1500 to $2500 range). IMHO, their speakers work well for both music and movies. Their subs put out an impressive amount of "slam" for a modest price; certainly worth checking out if you're not going to blow $1500 on a high end sub. Pioneer may not make the lowest cost DVD players. But their players are dependable and they make some good progressive scan models. My Pioneer 5-disc changer has given me no trouble at all, which is a lot more than I can say for the Sony P-O-S DVD player I bought back in 1999.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-19-2003 10:53 PM                        I'll second that about Paradigm's. Their subs have been cause for many visits by the local police.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 11-20-2003 12:42 AM                        Actually Brad, Ian's ass does have quite the flat response. Back at Greenwood Pat Redmond was EQing and Ian had to fart. Pat told Ian to hold it in for a few seconds while he set up his mics and multiplexer close to Ian's ass. At Pat's O.K., Ian let one fly and the frequency response was VERY flat! It had that high, whiffing sound while simultaneously rumbling.  |  IP: Logged Jeff Skallan Film Handler Posts: 65 From: Littleton, CO, USA Registered: May 2001 posted 11-20-2003 01:08 AM                     I third the great advice backing speakers from Paradigm. After listening to nearly a dozen speakers in the price range of $500 to $900, a few years back I decided to spring for a pair of Paradigm Studio 40 speakers for around $750. Smooth as glass! I almost purchased a pair of B&W CM2 speakers for $800 that sounded great, but when it came to acoustic guitar (which is at least half of my CD collection) they fell flat. The cool thing about Paradigm also is that you get to choose a custom finish built for you with no extra cost.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 11-20-2003 02:38 AM                     I've heard very good things about the Outlaw combo. For the price, it should be darn good. I have a Yamaha reciever and have loved it for over two years strong. Denon makes some nice models too, and I heard that the Pioneer THX models are fantastic. For a DVD player, you can't go wrong with Pioneer. I've had mine for almost five years and it hasn't stopped spinning yet. It also plays any discs, including burned DVD's, that I throw at it. Finally, for the TV, look at models from Sony, Mitsubishi, and Pioneer. To me, all of them look fantastic in HD and can be fun to tweek, but they seem to all do a great job on SD stuff like Laserdisc, satellite, and cable. I'm not sure if Pioneer has any newer models, but the ones I sold a few years ago were totally kick @$$. I don't buy into the LCD and DLP stuff quite yet because it just can't look as nice as a good ole CRT. Aw heck, just get a Runco CRT (may have to sell the car and the kids though ). And whatever you do, don't get Bose speakers. AJG  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-20-2003 02:39 AM                     The newer Klipsch's horns can be brutal on the ears if you listen to them for long periods of time at high volume. Their reference series is not bad sounding for movies and adds an interesting element due to the center channel also has a horn. I fourth the Paradigm recommendation. I own the complete studio series system. Studio 60 towers, Studio Center, Studio ADP ( dipole surrounds ) and last but not least, the mighty Servo 15. Aaron, right on with that comment on Bose. For the price they are worth you'd think that Dr. Bose could at least include quality components instead of tweeters that look like they came from Radio Shack alarm clock radios.  |  IP: Logged Joe Schmidt Expert Film Handler Posts: 172 From: Billings, Montana, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-20-2003 06:58 AM                     One of the guys mentioned a McIntosh MC-275, which is a 75-watts per channel tube unit. I'd like to put in a word here for McIntosh amps, anyone who gets these will be very happy plus they are an excellent investment. My front end consists of a C27 preamp, purchased in 1978 and a MR-74 AM/FM tuner, purchased 1974. I was using a HK Citation-A preamp for a number of years prior to the C27. Power amps are a pair of McI 2205 200 watts/channel with the meters, also from year 1978. All of this has been running about 14 hours a day since 1978 with no problems. All I have ever had to do is clean off dust and replace an occasional burned-out panel lamp. Theatre pipe organ played through this system shakes the house with no effort at all. Another consideration reflecting the "investment value" of McIntosh equipment, if one want to look at it that way; is I could sell all of it for possibly more than I paid for it, thereby having had the use of the equipment free for about 25 years! But I would never do this, it would be like selling one's cat or the children. [Some of us have cats, others have children, and some, both.] The best source I know of for used McIntosh items is www.audioclassics.com in New York. Have a look around their excellent website.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-20-2003 08:56 AM                     "Ok Mark and Steve, what do you think of the idea of a system that uses JBL 8340 speakers in all locations for a home theatre? At $360 each, they are more affordable that most home theatre speakers." _________________________________________________________________ I wouldn't use 8330's at home...you'd be replacing tweeters in them constantly. Probably the best speakers money can buy come from Denmark and Dynaudio. I've owned a pair of Dyn's for years now...At 6 grand for the replacements, can't afford to replace them any time soon but I love em too much anyway. Consider the Dynaudio Evidence speaker...the only speaker in the world that can reproduce the full dynamic range on an SACD! They'll only run you 80K. They also make home surround system, and in wall speakers... http://www.dynaudiousa.com/ Ian, wait and go to Hi-Fi expo in San fran next time around before you buy anything. It'll give you a better idea of how good the really good hi-end stuff is these days. Regfarding Khorns.... They only sound really good with certain drivers. I was once going to buy a pair through a person that designs large cinema horn systems...you all know of him..... and he was also going to be sure they had the "right drivers" in them. I don't think Klipsch is much the company it was back in the good ole McIntosh days... for that matter neither is McIntosh. Regarding amps... Pass Labs stuff is by far the best on the market that you can buy. Severl of his amplifiers have already become highly regarded Classics in theor own right. They do make multi channel Surround system amps. www.passlabs.com Mark  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 11-20-2003 09:12 AM                        I've been researching HDTV options as my trusty Zenith 32" is starting to drop hints that it's not long for the world. What I've found so far is depressing at best. Good CRT's are going to run you into some money, good rear-projection TV's are going to run you even more money, and good plasmas will force you to trade in your car to afford them. With the space Ian has for the TV, any CRT should be out of the question. They're just too small. A really good 32" 4:3 will run about $1,000. A 34" widescreen will get you a nice TV-sized image in both 16:9 and 4:3 modes, but will set you back $1,800-$2,400. At that point, you are reaching into the realm of rear-projection DLP's and LCD's. Plasmas are wonderful at the get-go (if you can stomach the price), but their usable life is still very much in question. They do win in the coolness category, because everyone will ooh and ahh over the fact you plunked down enough money to hang your TV on the wall. The two options left are using the same technology: DLP. I know that is a bad word for some here, but the Samsung rear-projection DLP units look really nice, with the Sony LCD rear projections coming in a close second. 3-tube CRT wouldn't even enter my mind as an option. Samsung HLN467W Tantus 46" Widescreen Projection HDTV with DLP Technology 42" Grand WEGA™ LCD Rear Projection TV - KF-42WE610 I think the final option is going to give you the best bang for the buck if you want a big screen; and that is something on the order of the InFocus 7200 DLP front projector. It's very bright, so much so that many people feel the need to tone it down a notch or two in light-controlled rooms, so you would probably be happy with it in a normally lit room. (No projection unit will tolerate a brightly lit room, especially with direct sunlight) InFocus 7200 This is the only way you are going to get a really big image for about $7,000. That's up to three times the price of the rear projection units I mentioned, but those only go up to about 42"-60", so it largely depends on how big you want your picture to be. If SD is lacking on the Samsung DLP rear-projection, I would wager it's because SD is lacking. A good scaler will help to improve that for about $1,000 or so. As far as speakers go, I've always been very biased towards Boston Acoustics. Every time that I have gone speaker shopping with friends and family, we listen to multiple brands, and I keep choosing Boston's. It may be that I'm now so familiar with the sound that I subconsciously prefer the familiar sound, don't know. I currently run 555x fronts, VRS Pro surrounds (all THX) with an M&K dual-12" 100-watt sub, and it equals the sound I get in most theaters around here. I highly recommend Boston Acoustics, both on their Micro line (which perform amazingly well for their size) and their VR line (which bear a resemblance to some Mirage Omnipolars I was impressed with last year). Boston Acoustics Micro Series Bookshelf Speakers Boston Acoustics Reference Series Speakers I advocate spending more on the speakers than I do on the electronics, since I think that the speakers have a greater impact on the sound quality you actually hear. Things like special amps and pre/pro's have an impact but not nearly as great as getting a good speaker in the first place. For bang for the buck in the receiver and pre/pro category, I'm planning on going with the Denon 3803 receiver. This is a well-regarded receiver that has many of the processing electronics of the top-tier 5803 monster, but without the insane extras and huge amplification. 3803 Spec Sheet (PDF) When it's time to upgrade the amplification, I'm going to be looking at the Outlaw amps, which have a very good reputation and are inexpensive. But with 110W per channel on the 3803, I don't expect to need to go that route any time soon. If all you want is bare-bones features, the Outlaw pre/pro might be OK for you, but it pales in comparison once you see what something like the Denon's can do for the price. For the best picture going into that new HD set of yours, you will want a DVD player that can deliver a DVI output as well. The Samsung 931 has worked well, but there are complaints about edge enhancement problems, and other mfrs are coming out with DVI units as well. If the set you buy only has one DVI input, you'll need to decide if you'd rather have the HDTV receiver on it or the DVD player, and then choose the other with good component outs.  |  IP: Logged Jeff Taylor Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 601 From: Chatham, NJ/East Hampton, NY Registered: Apr 2000 posted 11-20-2003 09:13 AM                     There was a recent article in the NY TImes which stated that Plasma is a short term fix, and that LCD will take over the "thin screen" market in 3-4 years as the cost comes down and the ability to produce larger screens is developed. For my kitchen I use a Philips 17" wide screen HD fed from Direct TV and the picture is unreal. For the den I use a Hitachi 57" rear proj. HD and am equally happy. At $2 grand for the Hitachi I couldn't justify going plasma, and that was before I heard all the knocks about screen burning, loss of brightness, etc. For 5.1 I'm still using a $500 Sony receiver and Bose mini speakers. To my ears it's pleanty good enough and not that expensive. Good luck, Ian.  |  IP: Logged Ron Lacheur Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 650 From: British Columbia, Canada Registered: Feb 2002 posted 11-20-2003 11:55 AM                     Plasma TV's are dropping in prices. The same 60" model that was $8000 in April, is $5000 this week. Bare in mind these are Canadian prices.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-21-2003 08:50 PM                     I still have not seen a Plasma TV that looks good to me. Colors just do not look correct or properly saturated like they do with either an LCD or CRT type system. My first generation Mitsubishi 50" HDTV has been functioning just fine for me for about 4 years now. Its been alot fo fun to watch all the HDTV channels(and experimental stuff) come in and the market grow. I'm not exactly sure about the number of channels here but its at least 7 or 8. Here in SLC we have the highest HDTV transmission site in the country located at a bit over 10K feet on top of Farnsworth Peak. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 11-22-2003 12:50 PM                     And of course ALL plasma flat screen TVs still have that problem of not enough native pixels to really be HD. Like I keep saying, when (or IF) their monitors can have native 1080 X 1920 pixels then the monitors will be more legit. Until then I'll keep treating them like they don't exist.  |  IP: Logged Jeff Stricker Master Film Handler Posts: 481 From: Calumet, Mi USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 11-22-2003 04:32 PM                     Joe, Glad you like your McIntosh gear. I have a pair of MC-40's (tube amps P-P 6L6's). Also one (I wish it were two!) MC-75 (tube amp P-P 6550's), and a MC 250 (early solid state stereo 50W/channel). This stuff runs and runs. Normally in the winter months I run the tube amps when any extra room heat is desirable. In the summer, the MC-250 is pressed into service. Other than one GE 6L6 catastrophic failure, all this has been running for about ten years now. BTW, I put Russian 6L6's in the amp that lost one, they seem to doing fine. Mac is fine stuff PS Someone said don't buy Bose speakers, I'll second that!!  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-22-2003 07:36 PM                        Hey Joe Anytime you want to sell your Mac stuff, I'll be glad to give you what you paid for it new Seriously though. Does one of those tuners have a built in preamp?. It's so handy to not have to have both a preamp and tuner. That's the only reason I went with the NAD unit  |  IP: Logged

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