Home audio system advice

verpakeyes

In a 12*13 foot room I am going to have my TV , at least one computer, and xbox. I am looking for a home theater system for 500 dollars or less that will allow me to get good quality audio out of both dvd watching and playing audio from my computer, both music and video game stuff..

My problem is I have no idea what is "good" in the home theater department. Volume is important to me, and I have a nice polk subwoofer (at least I think it is nice) so I need an audio setup that will allow me to plug in that subwoofer, but I have no other speakers.

So what the hell am I looking for? I have no idea what brands are good, or what features matter ( besides the ones I listed) Does anyone have some good recommendations?

TK-42-1

any home theater in a box will probably be fine for you. just make sure that you have enough hdmi inputs/outputs to handle what you have and any expansion you might make in the next couple years. you more than likely can swap out whatever sub comes in the box with your polk. i got this: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665361527

has 3 inputs for the dvd/cablebox/console and one out for the tv. i'd pair it with a harmony 550 remote for the best setup you can get for cheap

Dark Shroud

You can't go wrong with Onkyo.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882120141

Just a note, the receiver in this kit is pass through only. So you better run everything off HDMI unless you want a wiring mess.

RuddurBall

Second for the Onkyo HTIB. I got a similar system to the one posted and love it. However, since you have an Xbox I would recommend this remote. It is a great remote, and having native xbox controls is really useful if you use your xbox for a lot of different media (Netflix etc.).

ElJeffe

The Onkyo system is a good one, and it'll allow you to gradually swap out the speakers with good ones as the money presents itself.

While Harmony remotes are great, they're certainly not a good bang-for-the-buck when they cost a good 20% of your audio budget. Priorities, people. Use whatever remote comes with the system. It'll be able to handle your TV and 360 pretty easily, and probably your cable box (if you have one). Is your 360 HDMI-equipped? If so, the only button you even need for your TV is the power.

Also, while that system would be 7.1, you may or may not want to bother with the rear-surround speakers, depending on your room layout. Most soundtracks aren't 7.1, so most of the time you'd be getting matrixed sound (or just aping the surround channels), and it wouldn't even provide a difference from 5.1. I mean, if you have the room and you have the cable, you may as well, but you'll rarely get anything out of it.

And definitely use your Polk sub, unless it's a complete piece of shit.

Scrublet

On the 7.1 subject, http://www.blu-raystats.com/Stats/Stats.php. Filter by 7.1. Short story is most Lionsgate films are 7.1, as well as a handful of Disney films, and 2 or 3 Warner films. That's about it.

Robman

I like how vacuum tube amps sound. You can get a decent vacuum tube amp for a couple of hundred bucks at the right kind of store.

TK-42-1

since I can't make threads and this is someone relevant:

I have a project I'm working on to be able to pipe music from my computer in my home office to the home theater system I linked earlier in the living room and from that receiver outside to the pool area. I'm having a hard time trying to visualize the setup I need to do this. I know I need some sort of wireless relay from the office to the receiver, but it's hard to gauge which ones do what. It looks like the Airport Express does what I want it to, but I don't see how if it only has a 1/8 port.

ElJeffe

Robman wrote: »

I like how vacuum tube amps sound. You can get a decent vacuum tube amp for a couple of hundred bucks at the right kind of store.

Pitching mono-block amps to a guy with a $500 budget for his entire audio system is... interesting.

ElJeffe

TK-42-1 wrote: »

since I can't make threads and this is someone relevant:

I have a project I'm working on to be able to pipe music from my computer in my home office to the home theater system I linked earlier in the living room and from that receiver outside to the pool area. I'm having a hard time trying to visualize the setup I need to do this. I know I need some sort of wireless relay from the office to the receiver, but it's hard to gauge which ones do what. It looks like the Airport Express does what I want it to, but I don't see how if it only has a 1/8 port.

Do you have a wireless router and either a 360 or a PS3?

Robman

ElJeffe wrote: »

Robman wrote: »

I like how vacuum tube amps sound. You can get a decent vacuum tube amp for a couple of hundred bucks at the right kind of store.

Pitching mono-block amps to a guy with a $500 budget for his entire audio system is... interesting.

There are hundreds of those things in perfect working condition, just collecting dust, surrounded by people who have no idea to their value.

TK-42-1

wireless router yes. console? no. just a wii.

ElJeffe

Robman wrote: »

ElJeffe wrote: »

Robman wrote: »

I like how vacuum tube amps sound. You can get a decent vacuum tube amp for a couple of hundred bucks at the right kind of store.

Pitching mono-block amps to a guy with a $500 budget for his entire audio system is... interesting.

There are hundreds of those things in perfect working condition, just collecting dust, surrounded by people who have no idea to their value.

Except he would need five of them, unless you're saying he can get a five-channel tube amp for that price. And even if so, he would need a pre/pro or a receiver with pre-amp-outs, which even used will run you a few hundred bucks minimum, and now you've burned your entire budget and still have no speakers.

I'm not saying vacuum tube amps are a bad thing. I am saying they are a silly suggestion for someone on a shoe-string budget, akin to someone saying "Hey I want to find a good computer for under $500" and you recommending starting with a GeForce GTX-295 video card.

TK-42-1

http://www.sondigo.com/sirocco/overview

this seems more like what i need. anyone have any experience with something like this?

ElJeffe

TK-42-1 wrote: »

http://www.sondigo.com/sirocco/overview

this seems more like what i need. anyone have any experience with something like this?

No, but it looks sweet.

fshavlak

I found an old Sony receiver in my parents attic and repaired it - it now handles the audio from my HTPC (and turntable when I've got a record playing).

It was the best Sony had to offer around 1970, the mighty STR-7065A.
example from gis:

Also, in this picture you can see how awesome it is. The tuning knob is connected to the indicator needle and the antenna by a piece of string and some pulleys. It's hilarious. What you can't see is that those multiple position selector knobs turn giant plastic rack and pinion assemblies. Mine just needed a good cleaning of the contacts, a de dusting, and some cleaning stuff into the volume/balance pots and it was good to go. The thing gets LOUD!

Robman

Good sir, I am quite jealous.

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Robman

Old electronics are seriously the best. I much prefer the fiddly fun of tracking down a signal on an old oscilliscope. Sure the modern computer-based ones are more convenient, accurate, and reliable, but the art of getting the settings just right with knobs and dials is rapidly fading away.

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ElJeffe

mcdermott wrote: »

ElJeffe wrote: »

TK-42-1 wrote: »

http://www.sondigo.com/sirocco/overview

this seems more like what i need. anyone have any experience with something like this?

No, but it looks sweet.

Really? I'm underwhelmed. It's basically a wireless sound card for your PC, which means it actually ties up your PC while in use (and must be controlled through the PC). For like $100.

For the same or not much more I imagine you could find/build something that would actually just stream the data and play the music, pipe it straight into the receiver. For instance, I use a modded Xbox (original) for this (and it plays video too). A little dremel work and a cheap LCD (like a 2x16) and you can even control it absent a TV. Or you could build a cheap media PC (if you're focusing on audio rather than video, though it could probably still do some video, you're probably looking at $150-$200 depending on whether you have any parts to scavenge). And again you could add an LCD (depending on skill and time, or money) for control without turning on the TV.

EDIT: Oh, and I am also jealous of that old Sony amp. I have a soft spot for old electronics like that.

Oh. Actually, I didn't look at that card too closely. Having to control it from your PC would be lame, yes.

Though I think for $200 you could pick up a used 360 and stream everything through that, while also having a 360.

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ElJeffe

You could also do it with a PS3, but good luck finding those even used under about $350. My experience streaming with the PS3 has been great, except for occasionally not being able to find the media server I have set up (which just makes me have to search for it again, then it pops up). The 360 seemed a bit clunkier and had more limited options for streaming music, but this was over a year ago. May be better now. At any rate, it's not hundreds of dollars worse.

That said, if the computer is in the same room, having to use it to control music may be less of an impediment. You might be able to buy a wireless game controller, run your music through WinAmp, map the controller buttons to the keyboard shortcuts necessary to play/skip/rewind/etc., and there you go.

If you're going to have to use the PC for controls anyway, unless a wired option is really unpalatable, you may just want to run audio cables out from your soundcard and into your receiver. A lot of this probably depends on the setup in your room.

TK-42-1

Well, the computers are in a room about 50 feet from the entertainment center. The primary usage would be to pipe from the PC through the receiver to the outdoor speakers. I can control itunes from my phone over the wifi so remote control isnt an issue. also thats why i dont really want to do it through an xbox or something because i can actually control it perfectly from outside away from the entertainment center.

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Scrublet

AmnaShaina wrote: »

I bought a Panasonic Up-converting dvd player and surround sound all in one. Personally I don't like this and I would like to set up a customized home audio system. What receiver, speakers, subwoofer, dvd player, should I invest in?

Come on man you've got to do better than that. Let's start with price and whether you're interested in blu-ray.

TehSloth

Hey, I'd love to tack on my project for any suggestions. Nothing high-end of course, but I'm thinking about getting a little something in the home audio department for my mom for the holidays. She complains from time to time about how it's really hard to hear anything from the TV in the room it's in, and that the sound magically reverberates to become annoyingly loud several rooms away when it is barely audible in that room. I do tend to have a hard time hearing what people are saying when I'm visiting her and watching TV there. I've been thinking about picking this up, as I actually have that it home since it was pretty reasonably priced and now I can play rock band without getting horrendous noise from the TV speakers.

So anyway, here's some criteria I guess
- She's not going to want wires running anywhere, so surround isn't a big deal, but if it were affordable wirelessly that'd be cool
- Can play music either from a CD or from her iPod, she likes to put ambient music on when she has company for holidays and stuff, but my little sister tends to cart off the main stereo system into her room, so if she could just keep that there and we could use this to maybe play some music for the room with the TV and the main dining area that'd be perfect.
- Doesn't suck, let's face it, it doesn't need to even be really good, she's certainly not an audiophile, but I'd like it to be easy to hear when watching a movie or something without it needing to be booming through the house.
- Playing DVDs would be nice so she wouldn't have to deal with as many devices, but she's got a DVD player, so it wouldn't really matter that much.
-Inputs: If it can play DVDs, than just a straight Coax in would be phenomenal, there isn't even a cable box, just the basic cable package coming in from the wall, but if she'll need to keep a separate DVD player, than I can just run RCA cables to it or whatever.
-Preferably in the $100-$200 dollar range

Thanks a ton!

Scrublet

I was following your post until that last option. The part about $100-200. One of your criteria was "doesn't suck", and that is mutually exclusive of the "$100-200" range. WalMart has a couple setups from RCA and Philips that fit this criteria, I'd go with that.

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