Recommendations on Dolby 7.1 Systems

[michaelzhao]

Hey,

I'm going to be making a purchase on a 50'' + LCD system. Whats a good TV without a good stereo system I figure? So... can anyone give me recommendations on a good Dolby 7.1 system under a grand?

I'm an audiophyte, but even my virgin ears can tell apart good audio. I own 2 fairly high end headphones Sony MDR-Z700 and the Sony MDR-Z900 so I have been used to listening through pretty good heaphones.

Which brings me to, can anyone recommend a quality Dolby 7.1 system? Am i better off buying a entire system or buying individual speakers separately?

I will be using for DVD's at the moment, but will definitely invest in a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player in the future. Thanks for any help!

~Michael

PS: I have heard that a high end 5.1 system is actually better than a low end 7.1 system. Is it considered a low end 7.1 system if its under a grand? I probably won't be willing to spend anymore than a grand.

PPS: The room size will be fairly big if that matters at all.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!

[PeruvianSkies]

Hey,

I'm going to be making a purchase on a 50'' + LCD system. Whats a good TV without a good stereo system I figure? So... can anyone give me recommendations on a good Dolby 7.1 system under a grand?

I'm an audiophyte, but even my virgin ears can tell apart good audio. I own 2 fairly high end headphones Sony MDR-Z700 and the Sony MDR-Z900 so I have been used to listening through pretty good heaphones.

Which brings me to, can anyone recommend a quality Dolby 7.1 system? Am i better off buying a entire system or buying individual speakers separately?

I will be using for DVD's at the moment, but will definitely invest in a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player in the future. Thanks for any help!

~Michael

PS: I have heard that a high end 5.1 system is actually better than a low end 7.1 system. Is it considered a low end 7.1 system if its under a grand? I probably won't be willing to spend anymore than a grand.

PPS: The room size will be fairly big if that matters at all.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!


Welcome to the site. I'd like to point out a few things. First, a well calibrated and quality 5.1 system can deliver more than a below average 7.1 system. Don't just do a 7.1 system just for the heck of it. 7.1 can also be beneficial, especially in larger rooms where the listening space is lacking in the surround department due to size of the room. You might want to check out 6.1 first and see if that helps.

Also, with a large TV like you are looking to get it will also be vital to get a very decent center channel that can cover the front soundstage and can be flanked by equal quality left and right channels. I am guessing that you are going to go the route of a receiver and speakers for this project, which can be suitable for the time being. You might want to consider upgrading and adding some power amps in the future. However, with your 1K you won't be able to do that just yet. Given your budget you can pick up a decent Pioneer receiver for about $300, which leaves $700 for speakers. My first choice would be PSB speakers and you can actually get the whole speaker package from dmc-electronics, which includes left, right, center, surround, and sub. This is not the BEST from PSB, but you get all the necessary speakers. You may want to get started with this and then, if you feel the need, upgrade in the future.

[michaelzhao]

So a 7.1 system under a grand is considered low-end then? Gotcha. So the system you recommended is a 5.1 system then? Could you give me the model number of the both your recommended receiver and speakers?

Also, I just read online yesterday that the PS1 is actually an amazing sound system.

Link right here: http://www.destructoid.com/playstation-1-the-audiophile-s-dream--32269.phtml

Could this be used as an audio reciever hooked up to the TV instead of blowing 300 on the Pioneer reciever?

[SlumpBuster]

Forget about the PS1. That is a bunch of hacky tweaker garbage. It cannot be used as a reciever, only a cd/dvd player.

Also, forget about high end vs. low end. Those concepts are arbitrary. For example, PeruvianSkies has main speakers that retail for about $5,000 per pair (that's two, not seven speakers), which is where I think high end begins. However, many people think my $1400 main speakers would be high end. Conversely, there are some cats on this board that think high end begins at $50,000.00. So don't sweat that.

Frankly, $1000 is not alot to work with, but it is not impossible. Assuming that you are in a regular sized room and that you already have a DVD player, buy the following and you will be happy:

Since you say you want to do HD or Blue Ray you will need a reciever with HDMI video switching. That is alot to ask for sub $1000 without it being Sony crap. So get this:
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4125717
This is an amazing reciever at an unbeatable price at $350.

Buy the Infinity Primus Speaker pack for $280 here: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-lsuwF8Ee24j/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=12700&I=108PT5P

That leaves $380 for subwoofer. Get either one of these two subs. Don't let the fact that they are kits fool you or disuade you. They are both very highly respected.
The 10" Titanic for $350: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-760
Or, the 15" Dayton for $250.http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-770

If you end up getting something other than this recommended system (or Peru's recommended Pioneer/PSB combo), you may as well be pissing in the wind if you are looking for true bang for the buck that will impress people who know good sound. If you want to make it simple and impress your friends, get this:http://www.amazon.com/Denon-Acoustics-DHT-687BA-Complete-Theater/dp/B000MEYVEA Although, I wouln't.
If that sounded ****ty, I didn't mean it to be.

[PeruvianSkies]

Forget about the PS1. That is a bunch of hacky tweaker garbage. It cannot be used as a reciever, only a cd/dvd player.

Also, forget about high end vs. low end. Those concepts are arbitrary. For example, PeruvianSkies has main speakers that retail for about $5,000 per pair (that's two, not seven speakers), which is where I think high end begins. However, many people think my $1400 main speakers would be high end. Conversely, there are some cats on this board that think high end begins at $50,000.00. So don't sweat that.

Frankly, $1000 is not alot to work with, but it is not impossible. Assuming that you are in a regular sized room and that you already have a DVD player, buy the following and you will be happy:

Since you say you want to do HD or Blue Ray you will need a reciever with HDMI video switching. That is alot to ask for sub $1000 without it being Sony crap. So get this:
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4125717
This is an amazing reciever at an unbeatable price at $350.

Buy the Infinity Primus Speaker pack for $280 here: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-lsuwF8Ee24j/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=12700&I=108PT5P

That leaves $380 for subwoofer. Get either one of these two subs. Don't let the fact that they are kits fool you or disuade you. They are both very highly respected.
The 10" Titanic for $350: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-760
Or, the 15" Dayton for $250.http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-770

If you end up getting something other than this recommended system (or Peru's recommended Pioneer/PSB combo), you may as well be pissing in the wind if you are looking for true bang for the buck that will impress people who know good sound. If you want to make it simple and impress your friends, get this:http://www.amazon.com/Denon-Acoustics-DHT-687BA-Complete-Theater/dp/B000MEYVEA Although, I wouln't.
If that sounded ****ty, I didn't mean it to be.


Great advice! If I could just chime in a few more thoughts....


If there is anything that I have learned from this hobby over the past several years it is the stuggle between short term and long term results. Most people want short term, quick results with anything, especially audio/video. Rather than think through the whole process and try to achieve something long term, it's easy to get sucked into buying the 'whole package' up front, which typically means you are limited by a budget. Once I learned a little bit more about this I decided that I wasn't going to get 'burned' again when it comes to upgrades and that I would much rather invest in a few things at a time. I am slowly building my 'dream system', one piece at a time and over a course of months/years. I have the main speakers that I want and the DVD/CD player that I want. Now I need to invest in the rest, which means over time replacing what I currently am using. Had I known this a few years ago I would have made some different decisions, which is where I think this might help you out....

If I had to do things over again and I had your 1K to start with I would first ask myself what is my long-term goal? Maybe for you it is just to have a very simple 7.1 system without anything fancy or necessarily great quality, but something that just gets the job done. For you, that might be sufficient and there is a very short path to take to achieve that...just buy a all-in-one system and you're done. However, maybe you'd like to take that a step further and there is also a path for that, but it takes time, patience, and some more thought....

Buy a receiver and build from there, starting with 2 decent stereo speakers. You are a long way from 7.1 this route, but you might be surprised what 2 greally good stereo speakers can deliver. Then over time you can slowly add additional matching speakers to your setup and perhaps eventually get a pre-amp/amp combination as well, maybe even upgrade your sources as well. This all takes time and demo many things in the process to solidify your choices.

Please keep us posted with your process and also keep asking questions..it's the only way to learn about this hobby besides just trial and error.

[michaelzhao]

Thanks, because my family are really not audiophiles, I really actually do not think we will be upgrading anytime soon. I really see this as a long term system that will be fairly stagnant once its in. That said,

I really wanted the best value for 1000 dollars so thank you very much SlumpBuster for your suggestion for the 5.1 system.

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. They have helped a lot, however, I just really don't see my family upgrading for a very long time. We're all sort of tone-deaf... lol... so good audio is lost upon my family and they couldn't tell the difference between iPod headphones any my Sony headset.

The room where the TV will be fairly large and perfectly rectanglar (if that helps), so if I wanted 7.1 for 1000 dollars, how would you guys spend the money on speakers?

~Michael

[PeruvianSkies]

Thanks, because my family are really not audiophiles, I really actually do not think we will be upgrading anytime soon. I really see this as a long term system that will be fairly stagnant once its in. That said,

I really wanted the best value for 1000 dollars so thank you very much SlumpBuster for your suggestion for the 5.1 system.

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. They have helped a lot, however, I just really don't see my family upgrading for a very long time. We're all sort of tone-deaf... lol... so good audio is lost upon my family and they couldn't tell the difference between iPod headphones any my Sony headset.

The room where the TV will be fairly large and perfectly rectanglar (if that helps), so if I wanted 7.1 for 1000 dollars, how would you guys spend the money on speakers?

~Michael

Sounds like a trip to BestBuy is all you need, or maybe CircuitCity. If quality is not your goal than there really isn't much else to consider at this point aside from what all can you get for 1K, which in that case all you need is waiting for you at either of those two places. You can get a $300-$400 7.1 receiver and use the rest of the speakers that they carry like Klipsch, Yamaha, JBL, Polk, and even the Insignias.

[GMichael]

Don't forget speaker wire. You don't have to go crazy and buy $1000 worth of cable. But something like this is very nice for the price: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=100-021

[michaelzhao]

I'm beginning to see the merits of going with a decent 5.1 system rather than buying a cheap 7.1 system.

I have a friend who bought this system. How is it? http://www.accessories4less.com/cgi-bin/item/MORDPREMIERPACKMPL.

Thanks!