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  1. #1
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    Home theater on a budget

    Here is my situation: I am building a home theater system for my new home. As it is with a new homeowner, money is kind of tight so I am looking to spend a total of about $1,000.00 or so. I already have the TV and DVD player, but I need a speaker system and theater receiver. The room is about 14x9 with a tile floor. Can someone please advise me as to the best choices for this amount of money? What would you do with this situation? Thanks so much for the advice.

  2. #2
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    James:
    Your budget presents some severe restrictions on just what you can accomplish. Is there any way that you can increase it? If it's at all possible to do so, I'd strongly urge you to do it. If there's simply no way it can be increased, then here's what I'd recommend for you:

    The tile floor is a problem - it needs to be covered with carpet. This will severely limit how good the sound in your theater can be until the floor gets covered. Therefore, I don't think it wise to try and get the whole surround sound system in place right away, but start with just the front mains and a good receiver to drive them and build the system from there. For a good receiver, I highly recommend the Yamaha RX-V1400 which carries an MSRP of $799, but can be had for less if you "shop" carefully. Add a pair of bookshelf speakers which can serve as the front mains until you have the funds to "upgrade" - then, they can be moved to serve as the rear surround speakers.

    If you buy used speakers (such as on eBay), you might even be able to get the mains AND a subwoofer within your budget constraints. This will give you the major part of the home theater experience until you have the means to finish the system with some new mains and a center.

    Hope this helps you
    woodman

    I plan to live forever ..... so far, so good!
    Steven Wright

  3. #3
    PmR
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    Woodman's suggestions are pretty good. If you want a bit more balanced performance for movie purposes, I think you should include a center speaker as this is the channel through which most of the dialogue comes through. Not having this speaker will mean that the ambient background sound may overwhelm the dialogue which was a significant problem for me in the past.

    As a beginner system including a center channel, try the following:

    Axiom M22i bookshelfs (can become surrounds when you have funds to upgrade) from www.axiomaudio.com ($400)

    Axiom VP100 center channel: $290

    Panasonic SAEH200 $199 refurb from www.jandr.com

    By the time shipping and handling and taxes are in, it should come in at a little over $1000. As Woodman suggested, when you have the funds to add to your system, you can retire the M22i's to become your rear surrounds and add on better mains.

    The downside of the above scenario is that Axiom is an internet-only company so you will not abe able to audition these speakers prior to purchasing them.

    I would also keep the box for the VP100 so that you can sell it later when you decide to upgrade to better mains. You can choose non-Axiom mains later if this is the direction you decide to go, but you should always buy the 3 fronts (center + mains) from the same manufacturer and from the same line so they are timbre-matched. This is less of an issue with the surrounds so the M22i's should serve you well in the future.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for the tips, guys. The budget is by no means set in stone and I have no objections to spending more. I figure I can get a decent receiver for around $500 to $700 hundred and good sub/sat system for the same price. Right now I am considering the Denon AVR 2803 and the suggested Yamaha RX-V1400 as well as the NAD T743. I am leaning toward the NAD or the Yamaha based upon recommendations. For my speakers I am considering the Athena Micra 6 or the Hsu VT-12 with a Hsu STF-2 subwoofer. Any thoughts?

  5. #5
    Forum Regular TinHere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by James
    Thanks for the tips, guys. The budget is by no means set in stone and I have no objections to spending more. I figure I can get a decent receiver for around $500 to $700 hundred and good sub/sat system for the same price. Right now I am considering the Denon AVR 2803 and the suggested Yamaha RX-V1400 as well as the NAD T743. I am leaning toward the NAD or the Yamaha based upon recommendations. For my speakers I am considering the Athena Micra 6 or the Hsu VT-12 with a Hsu STF-2 subwoofer. Any thoughts?
    As long as the budget can grow some check out the ELT bundle package w/ Denon receiver. These speakers have been very well received and offer real "bang for the buck" from an internet only company with a great reputation.

    Here's a link to the bundle deal posted on the AV123.com forum:

    http://forum.av123.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1097

    Here's a link to ELT speaker info:

    http://www.av123.com/products_catego...akers&brand=13

    Happy hunting.
    TinHere

    Enjoying a virtual life.

  6. #6
    PmR
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    I don't think you can go wrong with either the Denon 2803 or the Yamaha RX-V1400 as both are solid performers. Both will also function as good pre-amps should you decide to go the way of a separate amp later. The Yamaha includes an automated speaker equilibration function which can save a lot of time when it comes to doing the set-up. A word of caution though is that you should buy these from authorized dealers. Most internet companies that sell these products are not licensed to do so online and the parent companies will not recognize the warranties. I think www.crutchfield.com is an authorized dealer for Denon. I'm not sure if there is one for Yamaha. The downside of doing this is that it will usually cost more to buy the product. One option to save some money would be to try some of the refurb dealers on ebay. I think dakmart is one that is recognized by Denon.

    In terms of speakers, the ELT package that has been mentioned is very good. The Axiom epic series is also quite good. If you are going to buy speakers individually, the HSU-STF2 would represent a good bargain. Adire Rava is another good option. The SVS 20-39PS would be another.

    Lastly, if you're willing to do a bit of extra leg work many of the above products can be found online at great discounts from fellow HTers who are upgrading their systems. Audiogon is a good place to check out if you're not afraid to try the second-hand market. If you do this, try to buy from people who have some feedback and pay by PayPal rather than cheque or money order.

    Others may disagree, but I think one area that is fair game to try and go the budget route is cables. There are quite a few guys on the ebay that sell quality cables at steep discounts compared to the top brands (Monster, Kimble, etc.) Most of the fancy connections you hear of are little more than 75-ohm coax connections with RCA jacks. I think most would agree that if there is anyone who would benefit from top of the line cables it is those with high-end systems who are trying to squeeze out an extra 0.5% or so out of their systems. To save on speaker wire, Home Depot sells spools of 12-guage at very reasonable prices.

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