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LLM918
12-12-2005, 12:35 PM
Hello,

Could anyone offer any suggestions for a home audio system which uses a minimal number of speakers?

My father wants the Bose 321 System because of the fact that my mother does not want wires running everywhere. My father is an electrician (retired) and can easily set up any system, but because he refuses to drill holes in the floor to run any wiring my mother does not want him to install any system. They do have an odd set-up to their living room, with lots of doorways, so it does pose a problem running the wires.

Several years ago we purchased the Sony DDW830 for him, but when he set it up and had the wires going past every doorway, my mother told him that he could not run the wires past all of the doorways. Instead of explaining to her that he could snake the wiring around the door frames or under the carpets, etc., he got mad and put the system back in the box and hasn't touched it since. Yes, he is that stubborn!

So for the last couple of years he has been hinting that he would love to have the Bose 321 system, " just two small speakers", he says, but after reading reviews and speaking with audiophiles I feel that it is not the best choice for him.

What I need to know is what could we purchase for around $800 to $1,000, or less, that would have good quality sound, but have a minimal number of small to medium sized speakers? He has a Sony 32" Wega TV and the room is not exceptionally large - maybe 14' x 24'. He also has DirectTV, a Monster Cable Surge Protector, a DVD player and VCR connected to the TV if any of that matters.

I don't necessarily have to have a 'system' from one company, I would be comfortable purchasing components from different companies if that's the way to go. Ideally, I would like to have this by Christmas, but if that's not possible, he would just get it later. I have a friend who works for Best Buy who has offered his employee discount, so if there is anything that can be purchased there, we could possible go better quality for the same amount of money. I know from reading posts that true audiophiles suggest higher end specialty stores, but my Dad is 75 and slightly hard of hearing, so this would be more to give him a system that he will be able to hear better, not something that could rattle the windows! Although now he turns it up so loud that the neighbors could probably listen in if they wanted!

I would really appreciate any help/advice/suggestions that anyone could offer. Please include if wood speakers are better than plastic, certain companies that might be harder to deal with in case of a problem; any stuff like that. My siblings and I don't want to get him something that he'd have trouble with, but keep in mind that he is an electrician so the actual hook up is not any problem. Also, is there a way tht he could reconfigure the Sony system using fewer speakers, like use the receiver from the Sony 830 and buy other speakers?

I apologize for the long post, but I need losts of ?'s answered. I'll look for your suggestions and I thank you very much! LLM

L.J.
12-12-2005, 12:54 PM
Hello,

Could anyone offer any suggestions for a home audio system which uses a minimal number of speakers?

My father wants the Bose 321 System because of the fact that my mother does not want wires running everywhere. My father is an electrician (retired) and can easily set up any system, but because he refuses to drill holes in the floor to run any wiring my mother does not want him to install any system. They do have an odd set-up to their living room, with lots of doorways, so it does pose a problem running the wires.

Several years ago we purchased the Sony DDW830 for him, but when he set it up and had the wires going past every doorway, my mother told him that he could not run the wires past all of the doorways. Instead of explaining to her that he could snake the wiring around the door frames or under the carpets, etc., he got mad and put the system back in the box and hasn't touched it since. Yes, he is that stubborn!

So for the last couple of years he has been hinting that he would love to have the Bose 321 system, " just two small speakers", he says, but after reading reviews and speaking with audiophiles I feel that it is not the best choice for him.

What I need to know is what could we purchase for around $800 to $1,000, or less, that would have good quality sound, but have a minimal number of small to medium sized speakers? He has a Sony 32" Wega TV and the room is not exceptionally large - maybe 14' x 24'. He also has DirectTV, a Monster Cable Surge Protector, a DVD player and VCR connected to the TV if any of that matters.

I don't necessarily have to have a 'system' from one company, I would be comfortable purchasing components from different companies if that's the way to go. Ideally, I would like to have this by Christmas, but if that's not possible, he would just get it later. I have a friend who works for Best Buy who has offered his employee discount, so if there is anything that can be purchased there, we could possible go better quality for the same amount of money. I know from reading posts that true audiophiles suggest higher end specialty stores, but my Dad is 75 and slightly hard of hearing, so this would be more to give him a system that he will be able to hear better, not something that could rattle the windows! Although now he turns it up so loud that the neighbors could probably listen in if they wanted!

I would really appreciate any help/advice/suggestions that anyone could offer. Please include if wood speakers are better than plastic, certain companies that might be harder to deal with in case of a problem; any stuff like that. My siblings and I don't want to get him something that he'd have trouble with, but keep in mind that he is an electrician so the actual hook up is not any problem. Also, is there a way tht he could reconfigure the Sony system using fewer speakers, like use the receiver from the Sony 830 and buy other speakers?

I apologize for the long post, but I need losts of ?'s answered. I'll look for your suggestions and I thank you very much! LLM


For starters, take a look at this thread (http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=13813).

GMichael
12-12-2005, 01:05 PM
Take a look at these Yamaha sound projectors. Not the same as a real suround system, but no wires.

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/YSP1/idx_products.htm

westcott
12-12-2005, 06:23 PM
An old man like me (after everyone stated their youth) would suggest spending your budget on a 2 channel system.

Yeah, that sounds crazy but with your budget, two nice towers and a very inexpensive receiver will make your whole world open up.

As your budget allows, get a matching center, maybe a sub after that.

$1000 dollars is not a big budget but I think this would be the prudent path.

LLM918
12-13-2005, 11:47 AM
Hello Everyone,

I want to thank everyone who has offered advice and suggestions, but as a total rookie here I need specific names and numbers! Telling me that two nice towers and a receiver would be a great start are like giving me a book of Japanese and telling me, "here, that will tell you everything you want to know about Japan." In other words, it's all foreign.

To me the difference between a woofer and a sub woofer is, one is a big dog and one is a little dog, and a tweeter, well, that's a bird, right? See, what I mean? Well, I might not be THAT bad, but I'm close.

I'll see advertisments for a center, what is that? Is that a center speaker, or is it a receiver? I need to know EXACTLY what I'll need so that my Dad can put it all together and have a nice system, I don't want to put all our money into a starter system that he's going to have to add to for it to be adequate. That's why I think he's so sold on the Bose, because to him it's all there, but with a minimum number of components, he's not going to have to buy more things down the road to complete the system.

If I could at least have some ideas about what companies to look for, I see Denon and Yamaha mentioned quite a bit, are they good? Who else is pretty consistant with quality? And do the companies that make receivers make quality speakers too, or is there a particular list of speaker companies to look for? I 'd just like to be sort of informed before I go out to the stores, because the audio guys will start spouting their knowledge (or a memorized script that they will attempt to pass on as knowledge) and confusing me and the next thing you know I'll be walking out of there with some junk system, and the salesman will be walking out with a nice commission check with which he'll put towards the system he would have sold me, except it's the one his store doesn't carry.

See what I mean? When you know NOTHING then it's real easy to be persuaded into buying something that might not suit your needs. That's probably why so many people buy Bose, they advertise BIG TIME, so when shoppers go into the stores and see Bose that's what they pick, because it familiar. How many 75 year old men do you think are familiar with Denon, and to them Yamaha is a motorcycle. I can just hear them now, "No, I don't Yamaha, what do they know about sound, they make motorcycles, no, give me the Bose!"

Anyway, I think you get my point and can see why uninformed consumers buy what they buy, because it's really confusing and some people will spend the extra money on Bose because it's all they know. I, on the other hand, like to be informed before I buy something, especially when I'm also spending my siblings money, so if anyone else has anything to offer in the way of advice I would be very grateful.

Many thanks to those that have already taken the time to offer advice and suggestions.

LLM

L.J.
12-13-2005, 01:34 PM
As far as AVR's go. Check out Yamaha, Denon, Onkyo, HK and Marantz. Please don't ask which is best. You are gonna get good quality from any of these brands. You can look at Onkyo and HK at Circuit City and Best Buy carries Yamaha products. If your Best Buy has a Magnolia inside it, you can look at Denon there.

As far as speakers go, look up a mid/high end audio store in your area and start listening. Take a look at this thread (http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=10906) for some great speaker suggestions.

A good portion of your budget should go towards the speakers.

By going this route you can get more for your money.

evil__betty
12-13-2005, 03:31 PM
If you want to minimize wires, maximize sound and vaule have a look at Polk Audio's Sound Bar (http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/flatscreens/surroundbar/). It works very much like the Yamaha YSP1, but it does not have an internal processor/amplifier. You will need to add a reciever - but the advantage is that you are not limited to the 20W/ch - you can use an amp that has 100W/ch if you want to - plus it does not need walls to produce "surround sound" like the Yammie.

As an added advantage, the retail price in the US is $949 - but if you go to a Canadian site like Future Shop, the retail is $849CND! Not only do you save $100, but you also gain the advantage of the exchange rate! Right now there is a 'free sub' promo on - you get Polk's PSW10 ($399 CAN) for free! Check out this link (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=BDL10001171&catid=10552&logon=&langid=EN) Much better sound, one speaker, one 'ribbon' of speaker wire to hide. Thats my 2 cents.