man...you all have not been on a budget.
You can be more specific for this kinda person:
If you must go 2 channel
Hit Ebay or a trusted tech....and get the newest , used Luxman, NAD,
Yamaha , maybe Acurus or Bryston etc ....35-75w Integrated..with lots
of headroom or one that can dump amps..(Even a restored HarmonKardon
if you can find one) .maybe $200-400.and the speakers of your
choice....from $250 to $1200 and fill in your buget from there...
If you have the space, audition some old Magnepan MGIII or
equivalent...
and then for boxes...first the little Pinnacle AC650 box...then the
B&W, Spendor, Boston Acoustic, NHT boxes
I contend 3 channels across the front are best but most great sound
is engineered for 2 and I am lost for a good cheap
decoder....probably Lexicon is the only choice and they can be
pricey. But you then need some space unless you use three NHT Super
One's or equivalent (or Pinnacle AC650 if you do not play loud) in
front ...with a Velodyne Subwoofer or equivalent.
Good luck and good listening.....don't play it too loud 'cause when
you get to be about 50 you will lose too much of your hearing if you
have abused your young ears......
On 25 Jun 2003 23:24:48 GMT, Joseph Oberlander
wrote:
Koopas Ly wrote:
Hi everyone,
Hi. 
I am fairly dissatified with my music system right now. While in
college, I put an DVD home theater system together ad-hoc, over time,
and I've come to the realization that it just doesn't sound right when
I listen to music (can you say "living in denial"?). I guess that the
DVD sound of things blowing up and the overwhelming bass covered up
the musical flaws. Here's what the system consists of:
Okay - I actually do installs and consulting for computer and
home theatre systems, so I can offer a bit of advice.
There are a couple of audio groups on USENET that offer good
advice:
rec.audio.high-end(moderated - likely your best bet)
rec.audio.opinion(high traffic, flame-war country, but if you weed
all of that out, good advice overall)
Several other online sights as well, though stay away from anything
commercial as they will NOT tell you what really is good and what
more importantly stinks for fear of loosing advertizing money.
One of my favorite iis http://www.cheaphometheater.com/
Nice reviews and all built towards a good setup without a lot
of hasstle or money.
*note* - their reviews of speakers are well below the standard
you could get with your budget, so listen to models a line or
two up in most cases. 5.1 "system in a box" are definately out.
You want 5 speakers and a seperate subwoofer.
You also want to go to www.asus.com and look at their accessories.
They make a 5.1 digital(coax) out jack for their motherboards. This
turns your P.C. into true surround sound - just plug it in like
a DVD player. Well worth the $30-$40 they charge(IIRC - it may be
less) The 5.1 onboard sound has outs that you could hook into
a P.C. type setup, but um - WHY? All of the new ASUS boards have
a pinout for this connector.
Anyways - back to the audio system:
-Harman Kardon AVR-35 receiver
Replace with A low-end Denon, HK, NAD, or Outlaw Audio.
Outlaw Audio, IMO, makes a very good amplifier for about $200
less than a comparable major-brand name. Solid and good 5.1
sound. They sell direct, so most people haven't heard of them
yet. Cheap Home Theatre gives them a good review, BTW.
-Sony CDP-XE500
-Bose (ok, no laughs)
...and my playstation 2 as the dvd player.
Perhaps I should think about throwing all of the above (except for the
playstation) in the trash and start over. I am not looking to spend a
bundle, probably $2,000 to $2,500. I just want a decent system that
plays *music* that's nice to the ear. So I did some research
tonight...
Okay - quick budget:
$600 amplifier. Solid-state A/V amp. An Outlaw Audio 1050 or
Denon 2803 would be a great choice, IMO.
$300 DVD player(doubles as a CD player) Sony makes a nice
progressive scan model. Far superior the the PS2. MOst
will also do HDCD and SACD/DVD-Audio(one or both of these)
due to the 24/96 decoder chips built in.
Sell old system (+400-500 or so) Important as this basically
pays for most of the new amplifier.
So that leaves you with about $1600-2100 of your original budget.
Very do-able.
Common advice years ago was 50% amp - 50% speakers. That was for
2 channel, so for 5.1(6 speakers, really), you need to adjust that
to 75% speakers, 25% amp. With $600 for an amp, that means ~1800
for speakers.
$500 of that is the subwoofer, btw, so that really means ~1200
for speakers plus ~100 for wires and wall mounting brackets.
I was reading reviews on audioreview.com and found very positive
comments on the Jolida JD1701 amp. From what I've read, it's a hybrid
of tubes and solid state. The price is very competitive, only at
$650.
Pass. You should be able to get superb 5.1/6.1 sound for this
amount of money. As good as a theatre sound quality in fact.
For now, I think I can salvage my CD-player (??). I presume the next
thing I need to do is get rid of the Bose speakers and purchase some
real speakers. I'll be doing the listening in a standard size
bedroom, and since there isn't much in the room, how about some floor
standing speakers?
Sell both. The dedicated DVD player will make the CD player moot.
I know the Sony was a nice player in its day, but it's really all
about the chips inside. 24/96 decoders and dedicated circuitry makes
even a budget DVD player toast most CD players and computer soundcards.
Bose - yes - there are vastly better speakers out there. OTOH,
yuppies who don't know better are enamoured with it, so you can
often sell them for a lot of money used.
What speakers would you recommend? I understand that I need to go to
a store and listen to a bunch of them myself but I am just looking for
some historically good matched speakers to go with the amp. There are
so MANY speakers out there that it's overwhelming. Guess it'll come
down to personal preference?
More on this later...
Speaking of which, how do you go about listening to speakers in store?
Do you bring your own CD's? Do you start at low volume and work your
way up? What are the things you listen for?
Exactly. Okay - you want to go to an audio STORE - not a consumer
electronics store. Ie - high-end audio store. They will have several
low-end "budget" models as well. It should be quiet and properly
set up.
I play acapella and instrumental music, plus jazz. You are listening
to how accurate and defined the sound is - if it is squashed together
like a clock radio speaker(or Bose) or if you can listen to the
same piece of music several times and focus on one insturment or
hear all of them at the same time, yet all as discrete sounds.
Jazz, especially if a good recording(Buena Vista Social Club is
a good choice, IMO) and has good bass with several singers, is
a rough workout for speakers - vocals have to be clean, you
have to hear the insturments, and the bass is coming at you
pretty loudly. Muddled sound is the norm for most budget
speakers, though there are a few that shine and are in your
price range.
Last question: Will I need some sort of preamp? Or will I be able to
directly connect my speakers to the amp?
Thanks for helping a newbie.
Alex
Okay - nitty-gritty:
Amp:
Denon 2802 or Outlaw Audio 1050. $599
Sony Progressive Scan DVD player. $300
Subwoofer: HSU VTF-2 Best sub out there for the price. $499.
$1400. Sell old system. $1000-1100 spent.
$1200-1400 on speakers:
(rough order of quality - IMO)
- JBL Pro. They still make their old studio monitor line,
the same as, well, nearly forever. Their 4200 and 4400
series monitors are inexpensive and yet are very accurate
and have great bass. Big, though. These are 1980's type
bookshelf(heh) speakers and are built like it.
*I need no sub*
Re-read this again. 
5.0 setup is perfectly doable with these. I have a
4208 in the center channel spot, two 4408 rears, and
two 4410s in the front. Two 8 inchers and two 10 inchers
is way more bass than I need.
Ie: you save $500 on the HSU sub right off. That gives you
basically $2000 to spend on speakers - and the 4410s have
low enough bass to make front towers moot(same cabinet size
as a typical tower speaker, so same bass response).
www.musiciansfriend.com has them on sale. Free shipping on the
4408As, no tax outside of NY.
$299 and $469 each, respectively. The 4410As may also have
free shipping. That's like $150 right there over a local
store since there is no tax.
A 4408 setep is $1200 for four, plus a 4206/4208 center.
You could afford a sub with this, in fact. I went for
the $925 a pair 4410s plus the 4408s - ~1500 for all four.
Specify right or left when you order.
The 4208 (center since it is shielded) are roughly $250
each($500 a pair). I had to go to a local distributor
to get one only, though. I really didn't NEED a center
channel, but got it so my son could run his videos without
the entire system being on.
Call JBL and ask for a distributor in your area - then
go listen. Buy at musiciansfriend.com (heh)
These are what I currently own as they were the lowest priced
solution that sounded comparable to most $1000 a pair speakers.
(say a Tannoy Saturn or simmilar)
****
- Tannoy makes excellent speakers. Not a dud in the lot. Their
MXm line are shielded, and sound very good for the price - among
the best deals in home audio. Good bass in the MXm-2.
Their Revoltion line have the same components and better crossovers,
and real wood finishes. Very nice. More money, though. OTOH,
you could affford 4 R-1 speakers and a center, at about $1200
for the entire set. Small, gorgeous sounding, and beautiful
to look at. Huge WAF(Wife Acceptance Factor).
$500 a pair. Most places will drop at least $200 off a full
5 channel set, so figure $1200-$1300.
Another option would be to go with MX1/MX2 surrounds and
a pair of MX3 or MX4 towers in front. Towers, even small ones,
will do more justice to everything you listen to, and the MXm
series are pretty much the budget leader on good inexpensive towers.
Tannoy pricing(since it is not listed on their site or
online/easy to find)
MXm1 $250
MXm2 $350
MXm3 $500(tower)
MxM4 $700(tower)
MXCenter $250
MXr Surround $200(most everyone gets MX1s instead)
R1 $450 a pair(if you haggle some - lists for $500)
Haggle a bit on a full set - there is about 20% margin in them.
Most places will not flinch at 10% off a full 5/6 speaker setup.
****
- KEF makes great speakers as well. They are good sounding,
though a bit more money. OTOH, they have slightly deeper
cabinets, so better bass.
****
- Ascend Acoustics. Their speakers are very good. They are
well built, though simple to keep costs down. Nice drivers.
Not good for music, though, as they cut out too high and
require a subwoofer. OTOH, you are getting a subwoofer,
so... 2nd best bang for the buck after Tannoy's MX line.
****
- Mirage. They make a MX series clone, their FRx line.
I like Tannoy a bit more as they are retail priced, so
there is some room to haggle. Mirage is a fixed no haggle
price. Nice subs, btw - second place after HSU goes to
Mirage's FRx sub.
****
****
Hope this helps narrow down the choices some
P.S. if you like the JBLs, you can always get a larger amp.
A Denon 3802/3803 would be a fine match for these, though
it is a more expensive amp. I run mine off of three old
1980's era Yamaha CA-1000 amps and a budget Kenwood for the
processor/tuner/etc, btw.