need help with big room - small budget

[shamar275]

Hi, I was hoping someone could tell me what would be a good beginning to a home theater system that would also sound great when playing cds. We have done a remodel/addition on our house and the electrician prewired for speakers. The living room is approx. 19 feet wide and 32 feet long with a 30 foot ceiling. It is like a big open lodge with a loft. There are two speaker wires on 3 walls (6) and the t.v. would be on the fourth wall. The back "wall" is really an archway into the kitchen/dining area that is also very open with the high ceiling. He put 6 wires in the master bedroom (off the living room) and 6 wires outside on the covered porch. We aren't going to do the bedroom or deck now but is there a system that would be able to run all of them eventually or should we be thinking different systems?. We have decided on a plasma t.v. but have no idea what to look for in a sound system. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Our budget is about 1,000. to 1,500. for now.
Thanks for your help,
Shamar275

[Mr Peabody]

That is a good size room. With the size and budget, you will need some very sensitive speakers like Klipsch. The higher the sensitivity, SPL rating, the louder they will play, very simply stated. I don't know any prices or models but Best Buy carry them and they probably have the most entry level models. Some receivers have multi-room capability but usually just for one other zone. You'll probably have to go with your first system and them add some multi-zone equipment as your budget recoops. I haven't done multi-room, so I can't help you there. I personally like Onkyo for receivers but I'm not sure what price they start. Denon and Marantz are also good choices and usually have receivers starting as low as anyone. Try to buy as much power as you can afford. If you can swing it, since your room is so large, go for a 6.1 or 7.1 set up.

Welcome to AR.

[drseid]

Hi, I was hoping someone could tell me what would be a good beginning to a home theater system that would also sound great when playing cds. We have done a remodel/addition on our house and the electrician prewired for speakers. The living room is approx. 19 feet wide and 32 feet long with a 30 foot ceiling. It is like a big open lodge with a loft. There are two speaker wires on 3 walls (6) and the t.v. would be on the fourth wall. The back "wall" is really an archway into the kitchen/dining area that is also very open with the high ceiling. He put 6 wires in the master bedroom (off the living room) and 6 wires outside on the covered porch. We aren't going to do the bedroom or deck now but is there a system that would be able to run all of them eventually or should we be thinking different systems?. We have decided on a plasma t.v. but have no idea what to look for in a sound system. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Our budget is about 1,000. to 1,500. for now.
Thanks for your help,
Shamar275

Wow, that is a very large area to cover indeed. I hate to be negative, but for a complete speaker and electronics system that will work well in that type of environment you may have to consider nearly doubling your budget. For *near* the top end of your budget you might be able to do something like this:

6 X-Series x-cs speakers from AV123.com at $139 each http://www.av123.com/products_produc...s&product=91.1

2 X-Series 8 inch subs at $199 each (I definitely recommend much larger subs for your room, but your budget is very tight, so I can't go there...) http://www.av123.com/products_produc...s&product=12.1

Used mid-line receiver on Videogon.com like a used Marantz SR-7400 that can be had for about $350 after negotiation (this link is to a sold one -- I have no relation to the seller) http://cgi.videogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...1ch&1160524085

Finally you will need a DVD/CD Player -- Maybe an Oppo for about $200 new.

As you can see, this would already put you at $1800 (and I would say it is bare minimum for your room if that). You could save $139 by skipping the sixth x-ls speaker (just using 5.1 surround instead of 6.1 as it won't make a huge difference -- bringing you closer to $1650. Also you could look for the DVD player and subs used, as that may get you right about at your $1500 price point.

Good luck,

---Dave

[basite]

or you could start with buying a ht receiver, and a pair of speakers (only the front L&R, and maybe a sub) and later on you could buy the rest of the speakers. In that way, you could go for better equipment, and you'll enjoy it more later on.

you could buy a pair of monitor audio RS6 speakers, or a B&W dm603 S3 (the S4's are coming, so names will differ) or a pair of focals, or paradigm, or others, and then you'd have some more money left for the ht receiver, stretch the budget a little, and you could buy a better ht receiver, so you won't have to upgrade it anymore later on.

Good luck,
Bert.

[tahitijack]

shamar
I hope you budget is just for audio. At that price point you won't get outstanding listening experience. I would allocate $100 each to in wall speakers ($600) or small (not bose) sats plus mounts. $300 for a powered sub. $500 for a 6.1 surround sound reciever. In the future you can link an additional amp/reciever and speaker switch box to the bedroom and deck speakers. To increase value and save money you could look for a matching set of used speakers and/or subwoofer. Rule #34 in audio you usually get what you pay for.
Good luck.

[Tarheel_]

for my neighbor (although he had 9' ceiling).

Anyway, he bought 5 matching bookshelf Infinity Primus 150 speakers and based on advise from this forum, a Parts Express 15" sub. All speakers powered by a HK A/V receiver. The receiver pushes alot of clean watts and honestly, the entire room is full of fantastic, realistic sound.
As a bonus, there are two channels remaining that power a set of outdoor speakers on his patio.

The Infinity's were replaced, but that remains a solid brand.

I feel a set of strong sounding bookshelf speaker WITH a huge sub, being pushed by a good AVR receiver can fill your room to your satisfation.

For the remaining rooms, search for a speaker selector box (can't remember the correct name). Monster makes one (not the best, but works). Basically, if you run a 5.1 setup in the main room, then use the other two remaining channels to power the speaker switch. Then, run multipe speakers from this box to your other rooms. The selector box can swtich between 4,6 or 8 additional speakers. You just have to have the AVR on and then select which speakers you wish to listen to. I think the Monster is called something like 'SS 8'. They are inexpensive, but have overload protection built in.

...just fire question to this board and help is on the way.