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s1ck psycho
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Little Bruin
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s1ck psycho
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acruxksa
Doh!
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 Posted: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:46:44 Post Subject: |
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Don't go Bose! I'm not kidding, there are much better options out there.
Spend a bit of time cruising AVS Forum's audio section. The HTIB (home theater in a box) options are easy, but you can get much better for about the same price or just slightly more $$ You've got a pretty good receiver and I'm guessing you spent some time researching it, spend at least as much time on the speakers. If you do decide to go with an HTIB, there are better options for less than the Bose.
I started out with an HTIB system many years ago and it was ok, but I really didn't know what I was missing. Over the years as I read more on the AVS forum I've replaced every single piece of that system a couple times over. My current 7.1 speaker setup cost about $1100 and consists of Polk Tsi 200 fronts, Tsi 100 sides and rears, CS10 center and a home made 10" sub with an SDX-10 Driver and Bash 340w digital amp. This system isn't anything special and if I lived in the lower 48 where shipping prices were better I would have Polk RTi's for nearly the same price.
The point is that My setup will blow the Bose system away and you could get a setup even better than mine for the same or less because of shipping. I'm not trying to promote polk, in fact I've recently purchased a set of Klipsch RB-61's for music in my bedroom and they're probably way better than the polks. What I'm trying to say is that you should look into other options before dropping $1000 on a Bose HTIB system. You won't regret it.
It takes a bit of work to properly setup your own home theater, your biggest concern is "timber" matching your fronts and center. Timber matching the rears isn't nearly as important. For a subwoofer, there are a couple very good internet direct options out there, Bic being one of them. I chose to build my own because i've never done it before and once I looked into it I became intrigued. You will learn that a subwoofer for watching movies needs to have a much lower frequency range than a music only sub. Movies frequently drop to 20Hz and below (audible frequency) while music rarely drops below 35Hz. A good home theater subwoofer should be able to go down to at least 25Hz and have a cut off below that to prevent driver damage (only an issue if you build your own). Timber matching isn't really hard, you just need to find front and center speakers from the same speaker line, in my case all my polks use the same drivers so even though the cabinets, number of drivers and driver configuration are slightly different the drivers are the same, meaning they're timber matched.
If you still want to go with an HTIB setup for simplicity and size, AVS forum has a dedicated HTIB section that will give you the information you need to make a good choice.
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s1ck psycho
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acruxksa
Doh!
Joined: 17 Oct 2003
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Location: The Cradle of Storms
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| Posted: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:12:06 Post Subject: |
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Have a look at this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=809777
There is a section on speakers and any of the options listed would be better than the $1000 bose system. If Space requirements force you to go with an HTIB system then at the very least get the 4 speaker packages near the bottom of the post. All are better than the Bose and half the price.
I just checked and most of the links on the first page are bad, but some of them still work. It's a long thread, but there are several other speaker options listed throughout it.
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Last edited by acruxksa on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:08:12; edited 1 time in total |
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acruxksa
Doh!
Joined: 17 Oct 2003
Posts: 1051
Location: The Cradle of Storms
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| Posted: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:36:33 Post Subject: |
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Just for reference here's a pretty respectable setup:
HSU HB-1mk2 bookshelf speakers $150/ea or 4 for $600
HSU HC-1 mk2 center channel $240
HSU STF-1 Subwoofer $300
This system totals $1200 shipped, but is miles ahead of the Bose system.
You could also go with the Klipsch Quintet III 5.0 setup for $500 and then spend about $300 on a BIC or HSU subwoofer and have a really nice system for $800.
Heck even the Best Buy brand Insignia NS-B2111's get decent reviews and are popular with the speaker modding community because of their price. They are $88 a pair. Get 6 of those for $270 (use one as a center channel, and keep one as a spare) and a $300 subwoofer and you've still got a system that will rival the Bose for half the price. You can often find these speakers on sale for $60 or $70 a pair. That's not to say the other Insignia speakers and products are decent, just that with the NS-B2111's the stars were aligned and everything about them seems to work well together.
Many people also seem to like the Definitive Technologies ProMonitor 1000's and 800's. You could go with 3 of the 1000's for fronts and center and 2 800's for the rear. Again getting a BIC, HSU or Velodyne subwoofer.
The Polk Monitor 30's 40's and 50's are also pretty good bargains paired with a Polk CS1 center and one of the subwoofers mentioned you could probably step into this system for $700 or $800.
Bose at one time used to make very good speakers, but that was before they chose to enter the Home Theater market. Most of the stuff they sell now isn't that great and if you take the time to look around you will find that Bose speakers are frequently setup in their own displays which makes it impossible to compare them alongside their competition.
The best thing you could do is actually go spend some time listening to speakers and find some that you like. I say this because people have different preferences in how they want their speakers to sound. What sounds good to you won't necessarily sound good to someone else.
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s1ck psycho
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Little Bruin
Boo Boo
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acruxksa
Doh!
Joined: 17 Oct 2003
Posts: 1051
Location: The Cradle of Storms
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| Posted: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:46:47 Post Subject: |
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| s1ck psycho wrote: | what do you think about Aperion?I really like those floorspeakers a lot, also if its possible to buy my floorspeaker from Aperion but buy this-http://reviews.cnet.com/surround-speaker-systems/energy-take-classic/4505-7868_7-33310963.html and set them up together, will it work out great.
p.s. do any speaker wiring work? and i have the Pioneer elite 01. the lowest elite model, and want to make sure the stuff i want will work fine with it. thanks. also i need to know if bookshelves on the take classic are surround sound like reg. book shelves in the 1500 aperion system.
one more thing, are banana plugs worth it? |
I've never heard of Aperion, but that doesn't mean they aren't good speakers. I will mention that their 4T towers don't appear to be very efficient with only 86dB of sensitivity and they appear to be limited in the lower frequencies. It's common to see floor standing speakers range extend down into the 40Hz area and these don't get below 50Hz at -3dB. What this means is that you will need more power to drive them than other speakers. It by no means means that they are bad. The could be very good, but unless you listen to them you really can't know for sure. If you get these floorstanding speakers, You definitely need to get a matching center channel speaker, you won't be able to use the center channel speaker from the energy-take system you linked to. You could use it, but things won't sound right. As I've said multiple times in the previous post, you need to make sure the front left, front right and center channel speakers are matched. This means you shouldn't buy two floorstanding Aperion's and then try to use a center channel speaker from the energy-take system. Matching the surround speakers isn't nearly as important because the sounds from them are more transient and glaring differences won't be noticed nearly as much as differences in the front and center channels. surround speakers can really be any type of speaker you want, but generally they are the same or smaller than the front and center speakers. Even if your surround speakers were larger and more efficient (putting out higher SPL (sound) at a given amplification) most modern receivers have a calibration test that can adjust for it. I've given you the links to AVS Forum and all the information you need to make an informed decision is on that site. I can't pick your speakers for you, all I can really tell you is that the $1000 Bose system is probably comparable audibly to other systems that cost about $350. If you want the prestige of having the "Bose" name go ahead and buy them. If however you don't care what the name says and want a good sounding well matched system that in many cases costs hundreds of $ less than the Bose system, spend a couple hours reading the HTIB threads on AVS Forum.
You don't need Monster cables, but you will need cables that are heavy enough gauge to carry the signal without excessive loss. I have banana plugs, but only because they are easier to work with on the back of the receiver.
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acruxksa
Doh!
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| Posted: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:14:36 Post Subject: |
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s1ck psycho
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