Setting Up New AV System

[novis]

Hello, before going to far, novus is misspelled so that everyone will understand that from a AV perspective I can't even spell my own name. With that said, I'm setting up a new system and have no idea what I'm doing.
I just purchased a Samung PN58C8000 plasma TV and BDC6900 BlueRay player and haven't even received them yet. These are both 3D.
I currenly have a system that includes:
A Pioneer VSX-D509S AV receiver that I don't think will do the job.
A pair of Altec Lansing speakers each made up of N801-8A, 808-8A and 411-8A LF. I know nothing about them except that my uncle bought these around 1970 and said at the time they were the best you could buy. They are still in excellent condition.
RCA PRO-SW220P 200 watt powered subwoofer, RCA PRO-CS55 2-way center and pair of RCA PRO-LX55 seakers with dipole tweeter. These were sold by RadioShack.
Here are my questions:
I'm sure the Alteck Lansing speakers are much better than the RCAs will this be a problem? Currently I have to set the Altec Lansings at -10 and the RCA surrounds at +10 just to hear the RCAs.
I'm currently using the Altec Lansing speakers in front would they be better as surrounds?
In the $300 to $600 range what receiver would be recommended that can handle 3D? I won't be adding much more to the system and don't need a lot of bells and whistles. Oh, forgot the Wii for the grandkids.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[thekid]

Welcome to AR!

I am a big fan of Pioneer HT Recievers but you are correct that the 509 is a little long in the tooth. I would not look at this as a short term situation as I have upgraded my HT system over the years.

You may want to consider starting with your source. The link below is to a Pioneer unit that eats up most of your budget but I think would be the place to start. The auto calibration feature will at least balance your existing speakers until you upgrade them.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...ers/VSX-1020-K

[basite]

in the right cabinets, the altec's will be your best friends

keep on to them I'd say. They are very sensitive though, so they don't need much power to drive them, before they'll go loud, and the RCA's are probably less sensitive, which makes them demand more power for the same output as the altecs.

So, an update would be a more sensitive center. It'll be hard to find a center that uses the same, or similar drivers as the altecs, so that might be a small problem. The Altecs have a specific sound, and another brand has another sound, every brand has it's own sound, so voicing might be slightly off, wether this is such a big problem though... You could go for a Klipsch center, or if you don't mind some serious DIY'ing, building a center with altec drivers.

As for the receiver: the current line of pioneer seems to be good, you could check in to that. the 1020-K is a good option. Another idea is Yamaha, I'm a fan of them myself with their latest series, look at the Yamaha RX-V667, or even 767

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[novis]

Thanks, that is one of the receivers I've been reading about on-line. I've seen them advertised for under $400 so it's definetly in the ball park.

[pixelthis]

Thanks, that is one of the receivers I've been reading about on-line. I've seen them advertised for under $400 so it's definetly in the ball park.

The Onkyo 508 is good and cheap, ONKYO has given me good service under their "high end"
Integra line. A friend has had two and I have had two, no problems.
Get HDMI switching and the ability to decode the new sound codecs...DTS MASTER
and DOLBY TRUE HD, and an auto calibrate system like Auddessy not only will simplify
setup but also improve sound greatly.
Good luck

[Nasir]

The specs for the Samsung BDC6900 indicate a 7.1 audio output.
In my opinion, you have to first decide on whether you will use 7.1 or 5.1 for your audio.
If you decide on the 7.1 then you are better off buying the receiver or amplifier first and then slowly phase out the speakers.
For 5.1 I presume your present receiver will handle that, if not, the amplifier is the first in line for upgrade, The speakers come next, and my suggestion is NOT to go crazy on them, keep them small or maybe not the front ones if space and spouse permit. With so many speakers ( 8 in total, including subwoofer ) there will be so much sound coming from as many places that it may become overwhelming if the room is not big enough.

[FIPS133]

Hello all, to start with let me say I am a true amateur when it comes to home audio and AV, but enthusiastic!

Over the past year we completed building our new home. I prewired the home during construction for a primary 5.1 viewing/listening area and three separate rooms for alternate zone listening.

The good news is all areas seem to be working, it is the around the edges issues that I would request your help with.

The system I have is as follows:

Pioneer VSX-1020

Primary 5.1 area:

Polk RC85I (front)
Polk RC80i (rear)
Polk cs20 (center)
Polk PSW10 (sub)

Room 1

Polk RC85i
Niles 100R

Room 2

Polk RC80i
Niles 100R

Room 3

Polk RC80i
Niles 100R

There are two issues I am experiencing both related when I am using Zone 2 for Rooms 1-3:

1) I am only getting audio out of one of the speakers in Rooms 1-3. I am using a Niles SS4 speaker selector, of note, when I directly hook up one of the room speakers to Speaker B outside the selector both speakers work.

2) I am getting bleed from Zone 2 (speaker B) in my 5.1 room when it is in use.

I'm sure there is probably a simple fix/explanation for these two issues, but I can't seem to figure it out.

Any help and questions would be appreciated.

Thanks.