Steven wrote:
Back to my question. Since I am on a budget (which I suspect most of
us are), are their any resources online to find quality reviews of
pairings of 5.1 speaker systems and receivers? Most of the articles I
come across seem to be reviewing either the receiver or the speaker
system, almost never both. I don't have the time to listen to all the
different combinations of speakers and receivers and was wondering
where I could find this information. My budget will be about $1,200
for receiver and $2-3,000 for complete 5.1 speaker system.
Thanks in advance.
Steven
PS. For this money, I am looking for a system that will truly blow me
away. Clean, crisp sound, Dolby TrueHD compatible, mostly for watching
movies but also for listening to CD's. My current setup is an
inexpensive 10 year old Yamaha receiver with 2 B&W bookshelf speakers,
so I am not used to very high quality audio.
1st, let replies come in!
do NOT buy anything for at least 2 weeks!
i've seen too many people do posts like
yours and then buy something 3 days later!
don't do that!!
my one thought on your budget is that you may
be able to only spend only ~$800 for the AVR,
and use the extra $400 for the speakers
i'll do a 2nd post in 1 or 2 days and give
some additional/specific suggestions
re cables (you're going to need more than a few),
buy them from
www.monoprice.com
re speakers, i've been very very happy with
my inexpensive (~$300) PSB Alpha B1 speakers;
(Atkinson/Stereophile gave them very high
marks, as do i) as well as my PSB center
(~$350) C40
to me they are likely a good starting point
buying on-line will likely provide savings
given that 5.1 movie surround appears(?) to
require a subwoofer (preferably 2, see:
www.harman.com/wp/pdf/multsubs.pdf)
i'm running my two Martin Logan Dynamo
subs ($1200) in a front back arrangement
but there are less expensive subs out there
more important is the front L/R. given that
you get 2 subs, you'll only need fronts that
are fair sized, and 2 way (meaning tweeter
and one/two fair sized mid range driver(s))
the competition for that type of front L/R
is intense and there are many many choices
above are some specific ideas to get you started
bill