HT Help/Advice for Newbie

[kinglerxst]

Audio neophyte here looking for some advice. Never had anything more than a boombox so I'm really starting from scratch. Been reviewing the forums its persuaded me to rethink purchasing a HTIB. Our situation is as follows. Have an average size LR (24x21) with a basic TV and DVD player. Room is pre-wired for surround sound so we'd like to install a system (receiver, speakers, and multi-disc CD player) for about $600. It will get equal use for music and video. I can work on upgrading the TV, DVD, and cables as money allows but for now I'm trying to focus on something with decent speakers and upgradeability (don't want to worry about running out of inputs etc.) I'm trying to look ahead to when I have TV, DVD, CD, and Sat radio/MP3 player at the same time. I'm also interested in placing a wireless speaker (or set) in an adjacent room (Kitchen) in the future.

Am I asking for too much for my limited budget?

Thanks.

[L.J.]

Am I asking for too much for my limited budget?

Thanks.

Depends on what type of quality sound your looking for. If you really want a nice sounding system, than you should start with a AVR(Pioneer, Onkyo, Yamaha) for about 300 and use the remaining money for some nice bookshelves(Energy, Paradigm, Mirage, Boston, too many to list). Later on move the bookshelves to the back to use as rears when you have enough to upgrade to some decent fronts and a center. Add a sub and your good to go. Piecing a system together slowly will pay off big time in the long run.

If you want HT for 600 than thats what your gonna get. You might want to upgrade later and that's when the money starts to get thrown into the garbage.

[zepman1]

If it is upgradability you are looking for, you need to make sure you allow for it with your receiver selection. You can get a lot of receiver for $300, but make sure you get one that will accomodate all your planned speaker locations, and has all the listening modes etc. that you think you will need. Then you can move on to auditioning speakers and building your system 1 component (or two) at a time as money allows.