help putting together a small home theater setup.

[scotym]

Hi,
I'm putting together a new home theater and would love some advice/feedback.
First of all I'm not an audiophile and probably don't have the same standards as a lot of people here. I was originally thinking of just getting a cheap htib but my thought process has evolved a little bit. I'm hoping for a couple hundred dollars extra, I can get someting a little better.
The setup will be in half of my living room, a small apt in NYC, where space is a premium. The portion where the speakers will be set up is about 11' x 10'. I did look at the onkyo 770, which had pretty good reviews and was under $500 for speakers and a reciever (I already have a dvd player), but it was too bulky and kinda clumsy looking. In a small space like this size and aesthetics/styling are definitely a priority here.
I'll be using the system for a home theater as well as music which will be wired mostly from my computer playing mp3's.
I'm considering the polk rm7200 speaker set which is marked down drastically at the moment to around $700. Any comments on those speakers are appreciated.
I'm also looking for recommendations on other speaker sets that are relatively unobtrusive and a great value as well as a reciever that will work well with the polk set.
thanks for your time.

[Worf101]

I'd go on ebay, get more bang for you buck. BIC America makes good, cheap speakers that I'm using my my second, bedroom HT. You really can't beat em for good, cheap speakers. But I will admit that the Polks are perhaps a bit superior. The Onkyo sounds fine and you've a plethora of choices for slim, esoteric looking DVD players. Go to Circuit City or Best Buy and find one you like the looks of.

Hope this helps.

Da Worfster

[Geoffcin]

Cambridge Soundworks. They sell returned gear on Ebay, and you can get it at quite a savings. I've never had a problem with that, and I have their top of the line system. A quick look on Ebay shows only one of these systems for sale;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...852975661&rd=1

This is just about perfect for a room of your size. The main speakers are pretty efficient @ 91db per watt, so they will play pretty darn loud for you with a 100 wpc receiver.

If your an apt. dweller then I would be very careful how you use the sub. The 12s subwoofer that I have in a second system can rattle the walls pretty good, I expect the 10s can do similar damage.

[Geoffcin]

Just a quick anecdote;

When I built my home theater/family room I had the rear wall wired for two rear speakers. The speaker I installed were the CSW Newton IW300, these speakers have basically the same layout that this system uses for a center. When I installed the speakers I hooked them up directly as the mains to get a sense of how they would sound. I can still remember standing in shocked silence while these two compact in-wall speakers rocked the whole place like nobody's business. To check for rattles I put on some RHCP and let flea do his thing on the bass. Not only did these speakers NOT rattle, but the bass response was tight and fast. I was standing there slack jawed when my wife turned to me and said; " This is great, now you can get of all these other speakers" Well that just ain't going to happen any time soon, but I can ABSOLUTELY say that these speakers are of high quality, and a great value to boot.

[scotym]

Cambridge Soundworks. They sell returned gear on Ebay, and you can get it at quite a savings. I've never had a problem with that, and I have their top of the line system. A quick look on Ebay shows only one of these systems for sale;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...852975661&rd=1

This is just about perfect for a room of your size. The main speakers are pretty efficient @ 91db per watt, so they will play pretty darn loud for you with a 100 wpc receiver.

If your an apt. dweller then I would be very careful how you use the sub. The 12s subwoofer that I have in a second system can rattle the walls pretty good, I expect the 10s can do similar damage.

thanks for your replies. The system on that ebay link looks a little big for me. I think I'm going to go without any floor standing speakers. I browsed that seller though, and saw this system for sale:
Cambridge SoundWorks MovieWorks 108 Slate

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3852132783

What do you think of these? I certainly wouldnt mind spending $350 less than the polk speaker set.
Any receiver words of wisdom? I see that pioneer also has an ebay store for reconditioned gear.

[scotym]

I did some further browsing.
they also have a 208 system on the Cambridge ebay store.
One note for people browsing that store. They overestimate the savings you get from buying them refurbished on ebay. If you look at their home website their prices are signifigantly lower then the "regular price" they quote on ebay.

[stuartlittle]

If you are in NYC, you should check out Orb Audio. They're an internet company, but they have an office in NYC and you can hear the speakers there.

[Geoffcin]

I did some further browsing.
they also have a 208 system on the Cambridge ebay store.
One note for people browsing that store. They overestimate the savings you get from buying them refurbished on ebay. If you look at their home website their prices are signifigantly lower then the "regular price" they quote on ebay.

On all the speakers, even though they are returns. I can see any of them being refurbs as the cost would be prohibitive for CSW. If you think the first system is too big then I would reccomend the 208. No matter what system I always reccomend the largest center possible, and the MC300 that the 208 system uses is one I know well. My sister has a system hooked up to her TV that uses the 8s and it's quite enough bass in an apartment.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...851700487&rd=1

[Lensman]

Another option for consideration is Paradigm's Cinema Series. They'll probably fit the small and stylish bill and are reasonably well regarded for their sound quality. More info. here:

http://www.paradigm.ca/Website/SiteP...ma_Series.html

The Cinema 70 setup is $549, and Paradigm only sells through authorized dealers. So it might be in your budget, though it may be on the high side as you won't find anyone selling it for cheap or on eBay. However, there are probably several dealers in your area and you should be able to actually audition one.

[scotym]

thanks for your input guys,
I am leaning towards the cambridge soundworks 208. It'll be nice to save the money and you can't beat the savings with the full warranty. Not too bulky, look pretty cool. It would be nice to hear them first, but compared to the crap I'm listening on right now I'm sure they'll be great. Also the 8" sub is probably perfect for my set up, about a cubic foot and won't kill the neighbors (although it is downfiring so I'm a little concerned about bass traveling through the floor).
On to the next dilemma, the receiver. I'm 5.1 and really have no plans to expand that so maybe thats a good way to get quality cheaper. Multi room cabability could be a possibility for the future, but might not be essential.
As I mentioned in a previous post, pioneer is selling their reconditioned gear at their own ebay store. Good prices, downside is warranty is only good for 90 days.
There are so many choices out there and it's an inordinate amount of research to find the subtle differeces between every make and model that I'd love some more suggestions.
I was looking at the pioneer VSX-D812 as a basic starting point and would like to stay around that price range or a little higher, if necessary.
Let me know what you think
thanks

[scotym]

Also, if these speakers are rated only to 100 watts, should I avoid any receiver that has more watts than that per channel?

[Geoffcin]

thanks for your input guys,
As I mentioned in a previous post, pioneer is selling their reconditioned gear at their own ebay store. Good prices, downside is warranty is only good for 90 days.
There are so many choices out there and it's an inordinate amount of research to find the subtle differeces between every make and model that I'd love some more suggestions.
I was looking at the pioneer VSX-D812 as a basic starting point and would like to stay around that price range or a little higher, if necessary.
Let me know what you think
thanks

Your welcome. Always glad to be of help.

I have a very similar receiver, the Pioneer VSX- 811s, and have a couple of years of good service from it. I'm pretty hard on components, and have fried my share of receivers, but the 811s takes a beating and keeps on ticking. I got it cheap, but now I see that Pioneer is selling them even cheaper on Ebay. At these savings it pays to get the VSX-D912, as it has a beefier amp section, and auto calibration with an included mic. This used to be a feature only on the Pioneer Elite models, but the've put in into the D912 so that's the one I would want.

[Geoffcin]

thanks for your input guys,
I am leaning towards the cambridge soundworks 208. It'll be nice to save the money and you can't beat the savings with the full warranty. Not too bulky, look pretty cool. It would be nice to hear them first, but compared to the crap I'm listening on right now I'm sure they'll be great. Also the 8" sub is probably perfect for my set up, about a cubic foot and won't kill the neighbors (although it is downfiring so I'm a little concerned about bass traveling through the floor).
Let me know what you think
thanks

Your going to be in shock when you hear these speakers compared to the TV speakers. Down firing subs don't shake the floor any more than forward firing ones, volume is much more important. Place the sub in a corner and you should have good luck with it. Also; Don't worry if your receiver is rated to 110 watts, and the speakers only to 100. Wattage ratings are pretty much usless for speakers, in your size room most of the time your going to be listening using LESS than one watt or so.

[scotym]

OK...
So I went and got a 208 set from Cambridge soundworks on ebay...great deal, but when I got the speakers home, I actually realized a white set would be better in my apartment with light colored walls. They let me return the ebay set, and I ordered a set of brand new white speakers. With the sale they're having right now, it was cheaper to order all the pieces individually rather than order the set as one, and with coupon codes online to save another 15%, the price was almost around that of the refurb set off ebay. Of course, I couldn't resist the opportunity to upgrade the surround speakers to the s300's which are better than the ones that come with the 208 set, but are in the same sized enclosure. I'm very happy with the results.
cheers

[Geoffcin]

OK...
So I went and got a 208 set from Cambridge soundworks on ebay...great deal, but when I got the speakers home, I actually realized a white set would be better in my apartment with light colored walls. They let me return the ebay set, and I ordered a set of brand new white speakers. With the sale they're having right now, it was cheaper to order all the pieces individually rather than order the set as one, and with coupon codes online to save another 15%, the price was almost around that of the refurb set off ebay. Of course, I couldn't resist the opportunity to upgrade the surround speakers to the s300's which are better than the ones that come with the 208 set, but are in the same sized enclosure. I'm very happy with the results.
cheers

I'm pretty loyal when I get good service, and CSW has always done the right thing for me, it's great they let you upgrade.

Yes, the sale that they are running is the best I've ever seen. It's cheaper to but new than off Ebay!

I've got the S300 and they are great. I use them mostly in BIPOLE configuration and they strech the soundfield so that you are able to get good surround effect even if not seated in my primary seating location.