I've spent the last two weeks pouring over these forums, seeking information for my home theater upgrade. After all the research, a flurry of on-line ordering, and the torturous waiting for deliveries, I've completed my upgrade and just felt the need to post the results.

I'm just a family guy looking for a good value in my home theater, so my search was for the best price/performance/value in the components, as well as maintaining a high Wife Acceptance Factor :D Plus I was upgrading from an old 50W receiver, crappy Bose Acoustimass cube arrays and a 55" RPTV, so my baseline HT experience was, uh not so great, and pretty much anything would be an improvement hehe.

Anyway, I had a pretty firm budget of around $2500 give or take (which made me laugh seeing some people spend that much on a pair of Hi-End speakers!). So here are the results:

Samsung LN 52A550 LCD 1080P TV (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1005722) $1550 delivered to door via Big River
Onkyo SR606 7.1 receiver (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1026622) $320 delivered to door via Big River
Sony BDP s350 Blu Ray Player (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1046952) $249 delivered to door via Big River
PA-120 Subwoofer (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1088734) $200 delivered to door via eBay
And three Athena WS 60 Speakers (http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATWS60) $340 delivered to door via eBay.
And a Logitech Harmony 670 remote (what a JOY this thing is to use!) to work it all...

Got everything HDMI'ed, speakers calibrated via Audyssey, LCD calibrated, and WOW oh WOW what have we been missing?!?! My wife and I just sat on the couch watching some BR and continually picking our mouths off of the floor :D :D

So THANK YOU ALL here for participating in the discussions and for providing such a wealth of information and support!

John

Before:

http://imagesbyjda.ipower.com//Web_Photos/HT%20Before.jpg

After:

http://imagesbyjda.ipower.com//Web_Photos/HT%20After.jpg

WOW! Nice transformation! The new gear/furniture fits the space much better!

You don't, by chance, dabble in photography? I noticed the pictures hanging. Looks like some birds against the sunset in the hallway and a heron/egret silhouette on the rocks. Both look stunning!

WOW! Nice transformation! The new gear/furniture fits the space much better!

You don't, by chance, dabble in photography? I noticed the pictures hanging. Looks like some birds against the sunset in the hallway and a heron/egret silhouette on the rocks. Both look stunning!

Thanks Mike :D

Uh, yeah you could say that hehe...If you don't mind some shameless self-promotion, please feel free to visit my photography website: Images by JDA (http://www.imagesbyjda.com)

Thanks Mike :D

Uh, yeah you could say that hehe...If you don't mind some shameless self-promotion, please feel free to visit my photography website: Images by JDA (http://www.imagesbyjda.com)

Nice images! I would love to be around all that beautiful water. ;)

I dabble a bit myself. I got started about 9 months after my daughter was born (3 1/2 now). I shoot mostly for fun, but I do some sports stuff for money (youth team and individual portraits and action shots). Here is my shameless plug! Personal site (http://www.pbase.com/madawson), Sports site (http://www.mdsportsphoto.com).

Very nice and attractive improvement - looks great!

We have a very nice 56in HD TV - does television great.

Please consider with all that perfect wall space behind the television to consider stepping up from TV to Theater in the Home with a Cinema sized screen and a projector.

When you turn off the television, dim the lights and your true Cinema sized screen illuminates you will never be sorry you made the upgrade to your viewing experience. No television on the market today can bring a Commercial Theater WOW experience into the home.

Just something for you to think about.
goodluck!

Ooohh. Very sleek! Nice work!

Thanks Mike :D

Uh, yeah you could say that hehe...If you don't mind some shameless self-promotion, please feel free to visit my photography website: Images by JDA (http://www.imagesbyjda.com)

Your new setup is a great improvement.

It's very clear from the before/after photos that you know about balancing lighting and must be a very competent photographer. I took a look at your portfolio. My favorite is the shot of Mt. Rundle. Very unique perspective on a muched photographed subject.

Thanks folks, and appreciate the kind words 'bout my photography :)

how do you like those speakers? How did you pick them?

Hey bud, I really like your setup. I appreciate the uncluttered, clean, almost modern lines you've created. And I also like your tiles. They look a lot like the tiles my grandmother has in her condos in Bradenton/Sarasota. That's not a knock. My grandmother has good taste, what can I say? :)

BTW what part of Florida do you reside in?

Okay, let me first start by saying, as I perhaps should have on my original post, that this was not so much a "home theater" rennovation as it was a "upgrade to a good looking system that sounds okay but more importantly looks elegant in our living room" :D

Also, to answer a few posts, even tho you can't see in the picture there's a large area rug in front of the TV, and 13' from the TV are two large 8' fabric couches in an "L" (so the sound reflections are not what you might think from the pics).

Because this was my living room and not a dedicated home theater, I was on the search for something that really accented our decor, but also sounded and looked better than what we had.

So, I had to search for good looking wall-mount speakers. Unfortunately, most of the one's I heard sucked. So after reading posts here, I found the Athena's which certainly met the Wife Acceptance Factor in terms of looks, fit my rather limited budget, and also sounded (allegedly) pretty decent for a wall mount. I did buy the Athena's (and the PA sub) sight unheard based on recommendations here. Fortunately, they look great and sound just fine for our needs, and LIGHT YEARS better than our Bose Acoustimass 5.1 system they replaced.

Oh, and I'm in an area called Palmetto Bay, 'bout 16 miles south of downtown Miami along the coast ;)

Merry Christmas to all!

John

That's what I'm talking about! awesome improvement! ENJOY.:)

very nice setup...and a big difference!