Thought I would start a poll on the systems habits of AVS memebers in this forum and see who just goes with the stanadard TV for sound or have complete systems. Feel free to list your equipment or just a brief description of a 2 channel, 5.1, 7.1 etc.

In factoring your sound system cost just include the cost of processor (seperates or AVR), amps, speakers, source and cables and wiring.

I use the 5.1 stereo at all times on the main display. The TV speakers are still sealed in the box they came in.

I use the 5.1 stereo at all times on the main display. The TV speakers are still sealed in the box they came in.

Dang Tbird, you're quick. :D

My system would fall into the $2500 to $5k range and is a 7.1 system used at all times

Pioneer Elite VSX 92TXH
Snell THX fronts and center
Polk dipole/bipole surrounds
Paradigm dipole back surrounds
M&K MX-100 sub
PS3
Denon progressive scan DVD player

IMO the sound is much more important than picture for immersion. Watching an HD NFL broadcast is great but without the sound I don't feel "there". Cheap HTiB systems are far better than TV speakers, but the more you invest in speakers the greater everything becomes.

I am in the middle of upgrading my speakers. When it is all done I will have over $6,000 in speakers. Amps will end up around $1200-$1500.

The only time I use my TV speakers is when I watch the news at 5:30 in the morning. For everything else it's 5.1 all the way.

My setup would fall into the 7.2 system used at all times;)

I use a system from the last millennium. It's 5.1 and the TV sound is never used.

IMO the sound is much more important than picture for immersion. Watching an HD NFL broadcast is great but without the sound I don't feel "there". Cheap HTiB systems are far better than TV speakers, but the more you invest in speakers the greater everything becomes.

I am in the middle of upgrading my speakers. When it is all done I will have over $6,000 in speakers. Amps will end up around $1200-$1500.

The only time I use my TV speakers is when I watch the news at 5:30 in the morning. For everything else it's 5.1 all the way.

I agree that sound is a very important factor in not only movie viewing but also any other programming as it brings the whole experience to life. I've been running external amps and speakers ever since I got my first stereo TV and VHS hi fi deck.

I voted and my sound system cost more than my TV by about 3 times.

But we need a poll what determines a "home theater experience".

Now we have folks with a Home theater experience with a audio poll, now we need what a home theater experience TV size should be.

Has to be at least a 50" plasma or 52" LCD. But I don't I think 52" is big enough for an experience.

I spent way more for sound than video but the TV is the heart of the system. Saying that I'm waiting for TV worthy to buy for a "home theater experience" It was designed this way for me, I just believe there isn't a TV yet.

I'm probably just over 5k on sound on my 5.1 system (took me 7 years of upgrading, but it is right where I like it). That is my cost, not considering retail, as almost all of it was bought used off of Audiogon, Ebay, or Craigslist. Found some great deals directly from SVS and Outlaw on a couple of items.

Audio has been much more important to me than my display (although I am in the process of a display upgrade). Still don't know if my tv speakers work, never tested them out. The "Monitor" I am anticipating on arriving tomorrow doesn't even have speakers....

I voted and my sound system cost more than my TV by about 3 times.

But we need a poll what determines a "home theater experience".

Now we have folks with a Home theater experience with a audio poll, now we need what a home theater experience TV size should be.

Has to be at least a 50" plasma or 52" LCD. But I don't I think 52" is big enough for an experience.

I spent way more for sound than video but the TV is the heart of the system. Saying that I'm waiting for TV worthy to buy for a "home theater experience" It was designed this way for me, I just believe there isn't a TV yet.

Feel free to start a poll about anything you want but I've seen and heard some nice "home theater systems" in the under 50" panel size as sometimes that's all the room someone has or the budget they can afford. I remember when I first started out, the biggest TV you could get was 32" and it was still a nice experience and I have my son set up with a 40" with an Onkyo DD receiver and a set of NHT speakers with an M&K sub and it's quite impressive in his room.

I'm sorry your TV doesn't fulfill your needs and you're constantly looking at the flaws rather than the picture but I sit back and enjoy mine every night as the one I have now is better than the one I had a few years ago which was better than the one I had before that. It seems there is a small faction in this forum that can never find satisfaction for whatever reason in their TV. :confused:

Care to share your setup with the rest of us as it sounds like it's pretty nice. :)

I'm probably just over 5k on sound on my 5.1 system (took me 7 years of upgrading, but it is right where I like it). That is my cost, not considering retail, as almost all of it was bought used off of Audiogon, Ebay, or Craigslist. Found some great deals directly from SVS and Outlaw on a couple of items.

Audio has been much more important to me than my display (although I am in the process of a display upgrade). Still don't know if my tv speakers work, never tested them out. The "Monitor" I am anticipating on arriving tomorrow doesn't even have speakers....

Craigslist and ebay are great sources when coming to upgrading and putting together a system as I'm on my 5th AVR. I started out with a basic Pioneer VSX 5000 (one of the first surround sound receivers), then upgraded to a Pioneer VSX 9300 (one of the first pro logic AVR's), then a Denon AVC 3030 and Denon tuner, then Denon AVR 4800 (an upgrade to DD and DTS) to now a Pioneer VSX 92TXH (with DD True HD and DTS MA). It drives my wife crazy. The Pioneer VSX 92 was the only one I purchased used as I got a hell of a deal off craigslist.

Wasn't sure how to vote.

I have a 7.1 system in the HT (with projector) that is, of course, used exclusively and the total cost for the sound equipment was about $400.
I have a 5.1 system in the living room with 65" display that is used exclusively (never use the TV sound) and the total cost was about $2000.
I have a 2 channel system in the Game room with a 46" display that is usually used, but occasionally the TV speakers are used and the total cost was about $1000.
I just use the sound from the TV in 4 other rooms.


Has to be at least a 50" plasma or 52" LCD. But I don't I think 52" is big enough for an experience.


The experience in my living room with a 65" display and 5.1 sound is not even close to the experience in the home theater with a 126" screen and 7.1 sound. IMO, you can't have a theater experience without a front projector. You could sit 5' away from a 60" display and perhaps get the same effect visually, but the odds of getting the same enveloping sound with that setup would be next to impossible.

Wasn't sure how to vote.

You could sit 5' away from a 60" display and perhaps get the same effect visually, but the odds of getting the same enveloping sound with that setup would be next to impossible.

It's entirely your choice as to how to vote but I chose the one I use the most as that's where I have the most investment at.

Not sure how the sound is affected by the size of the picture. If you close your eyes the sound is the same whether it's a 32" or 100" :confused:

I would agree the experience would be different but it's the visual experience not the audio experience that would be different with a bigger screen. :)

Audio brings it to life.

Dynaudio Confidence C1 Fronts
Dynaudio Confidence Center
Dynaudio Focus 110 Surrounds
Dynaudio Stands
REL Britannia B2 Sub
$20K (Piano Black Lacquer was a 15% surcharge)

SimAudio Titan 5 Channel Amp
NAD Masters M15 PRE/PRO
$12.5K

Rega Saturn CD Player
$2.5k

Musical Fidelity XCAN V3 Headphone Amp & XCAN V3 Power Supply
Sennheiser HD650 phones for quiet listening
$2k

Shunyata Research Power Conditioner
Synergistic Research Power Cords
Nordost Blue Heaven Cables/IC's
$4k

55 XBR8
Denon 3800 Blu-Ray
$7.5k

My Audio was much much more than Video. Expensive hobby and glad I am almost done with gear for now...

Fun...:D Priceless

Rick

Dang Tbird, you're quick. :D

My system would fall into the $2500 to $5k range and is a 7.1 system used at all times

Pioneer Elite VSX 92TXH
Snell THX fronts and center
Polk dipole/bipole surrounds
Paradigm dipole back surrounds
M&K MX-100 sub
PS3
Denon progressive scan DVD player

You have a nice system, but why the mix matched speakers? Also, why are you using dipole/bipoles for discrete formats like DTS and Dolby Digital?

Btw, I have the Pio Elite VSX 94TXH, awesome receivers.

CETA1

You said you had a fan!

You're right I am! Your a true enthusiast. So if you say the 55" XBR is the best I'd never argue with you.

But stew4msu says you need a front projector for the "experience" and maybe I'll look into it.

Audio brings it to life.

Dynaudio Confidence C1 Fronts
Dynaudio Confidence Center
Dynaudio Focus 110 Surrounds
Dynaudio Stands
REL Britannia B2 Sub
$20K (Piano Black Lacquer was a 15% surcharge)

SimAudio Titan 5 Channel Amp
NAD Masters M15 PRE/PRO
$12.5K

Rega Saturn CD Player
$2.5k

Musical Fidelity XCAN V3 Headphone Amp & XCAN V3 Power Supply
Sennheiser HD650 phones for quiet listening
$2k

Shunyata Research Power Conditioner
Synergistic Research Power Cords
Nordost Blue Heaven Cables/IC's
$4k

55 XBR8
Denon 3800 Blu-Ray
$7.5k

My Audio was much much more than Video. Expensive hobby and glad I am almost done with gear for now...

Fun...:D Priceless

Rick

Why are you spending that kind of money on amps and cables?:mad:

Why are you spending that kind of money on amps and cables?:mad:
I'm sure it takes an Amp to drive those fronts. And one of those speakers cost more than I spent on everything.

As far as those cables why would you go cheap?

I'm sure it takes an Amp to drive those fronts. And one of those speakers cost more than I spent on everything.

As far as those cables why would you go cheap?

Its a proven fact that amps and cable wires have absolutely no effect on sound quality, so why spend an exorbitant amount of money on them.

As far as those cables why would you go cheap?

Why would you not?

I don't know how much his power conditioner cost, but if was less than $3800, saying he overspent on cables would be an understatement. Sheesh.

Also, $7500 for a Blu-Ray player and an XBR8? I hope he's simply quoting MSRP and not what he actually paid.

You have a nice system, but why the mix matched speakers? Also, why are you using dipole/bipoles for discrete formats like DTS and Dolby Digital?

Btw, I have the Pio Elite VSX 94TXH, awesome receivers.

Thanks for the compliments. It does a very nice job but moderate compared to some on here but it's been able to meet the WAF. :D The rear side and rear surrounds were purchased at different times and were originally used in different systems and the Snell surrounds are extremely expensive and hard to find so I decided to use these and they actually match pretty well and blend in well with the Snells.

I decided to go with dipole's as my surround speakers rather than direct radiating speakers because it seemed to give it a more spacious sound for the effects which I liked better and reading through some articles it appears it's been preferred in some blind tests. I had tried some direct radiating speakers in the back and it was okay but just not as good as the dipoles. I was really surprised how much better it sounded when I put them in my system.

I've really been pleased with the VSX 92 as it replaced a Denon AVR 4800 which was an excellent DD receiver for it's time but I wanted to get into the newer codecs with Blu Ray and also have HDMI switching for ease of operation and I'm glad I did as it does an excellent job for movies.

Thanks for the compliments. It does a very nice job but moderate compared to some on here but it's been able to meet the WAF. :D The rear side and rear surrounds were purchased at different times and were originally used in different systems and the Snell surrounds are extremely expensive and hard to find so I decided to use these and they actually match pretty well and blend in well with the Snells.

I decided to go with dipole's as my surround speakers rather than direct radiating speakers because it seemed to give it a more spacious sound for the effects which I liked better and reading through some articles it appears it's been preferred in some blind tests. I had tried some direct radiating speakers in the back and it was okay but just not as good as the dipoles. I was really surprised how much better it sounded when I put them in my system.

I've really been pleased with the VSX 92 as it replaced a Denon AVR 4800 which was an excellent DD receiver for it's time but I wanted to get into the newer codecs with Blu Ray and also have HDMI switching for ease of operation and I'm glad I did as it does an excellent job for movies.

We must have similiar taste in receivers, I used to have a Denon AVR 4800 as well.

I use Polk switchable dipole/bipoles and like how they perform in my room, which isn't at all suited to a home theater stereo system.

At just over 5K for my TV and stand, there is little reason to list the rest. I'll just leave it at that:)

Audio brings it to life.

Dynaudio Confidence C1 Fronts
Dynaudio Confidence Center
Dynaudio Focus 110 Surrounds
Dynaudio Stands
REL Britannia B2 Sub
$20K (Piano Black Lacquer was a 15% surcharge)

SimAudio Titan 5 Channel Amp
NAD Masters M15 PRE/PRO
$12.5K

Rega Saturn CD Player
$2.5k

Musical Fidelity XCAN V3 Headphone Amp & XCAN V3 Power Supply
Sennheiser HD650 phones for quiet listening
$2k

Shunyata Research Power Conditioner
Synergistic Research Power Cords
Nordost Blue Heaven Cables/IC's
$4k

55 XBR8
Denon 3800 Blu-Ray
$7.5k

My Audio was much much more than Video. Expensive hobby and glad I am almost done with gear for now...

Fun...:D Priceless

Rick

Heck of a system you have there. What night is movie night and I'll bring the popcorn and beer. :D

I use Polk switchable dipole/bipoles and like how they perform in my room, which isn't at all suited to a home theater stereo system.

Which one's are you using? Mine are the 500ix and have mine set to bipole which sounded better to me for my side surrounds.

FXi A4s.

Its a proven fact that amps and cable wires have absolutely no effect on sound quality, so why spend an exorbitant amount of money on them.
Just like some here try to say a certain TV is the best and I don't believe it, then why would I buy into buying cheap cables?

If your putting out 10K for a pair of front speakers why would you buy cheap speaker wires?

Or buy a 6.00 dollar HDMI cable? Effect or no effect just the thought would make me not go cheap. Some folks have more money then sense. Make sense to me not to go cheap?

Or buy a 6.00 dollar HDMI cable? Effect or no effect just the thought would make me not go cheap.

The retail on my display was $5000 a few months ago and it's got a lone $6 HDMI cable plugged into it. The "thought" of that phases me not at all. In fact, I'm quite comfortable with the arrangement.

[QUOTE=maxdog03;16149436
Not sure how the sound is affected by the size of the picture. If you close your eyes the sound is the same whether it's a 32" or 100" :confused:

I would agree the experience would be different but it's the visual experience not the audio experience that would be different with a bigger screen. :)[/QUOTE]

OK, lets say you want a theater experience from a 50" TV. So, you sit 5' or so away to have it fill your field of vision. Now, where do you place your speakers? Are the mains also 5' apart? Is it 5.1? Are the sides about 5' apart (meaning you have a really small couch) and you're in the middle? Probably not. Even if you move the seating up to accomplish the video aspect, the sound will still probably be set up for the room (i.e. fronts 10' apart, side speakers 8' back and on opposite walls (12' or so apart). This will make the "sweet spot" for the audio several feet further back than you're sitting. And setting up 7.1 for that visual experience would be even harder.

That's why I said that while you can get a theater experience with a 50" display (by moving your seating way up), it's very hard to get the correct sound with such a setup (whether your eyes are closed or not).

OK, lets say you want a theater experience from a 50" TV. So, you sit 5' or so away to have it fill your field of vision. Now, where do you place your speakers? Are the mains also 5' apart? Is it 5.1? Are the sides about 5' apart (meaning you have a really small couch) and you're in the middle? Probably not. Even if you move the seating up to accomplish the video aspect, the sound will still probably be set up for the room (i.e. fronts 10' apart, side speakers 8' back and on opposite walls (12' or so apart). This will make the "sweet spot" for the audio several feet further back than you're sitting. And setting up 7.1 for that visual experience would be even harder.

That's why I said that while you can get a theater experience with a 50" display (by moving your seating way up), it's very hard to get the correct sound with such a setup (whether your eyes are closed or not).

Okay, that's makes more sense then. I was just thinking in terms of having the sound set up appropriately and a normal seating distance for the sound and picture.

Very nice system you have by the way and I imagine your setup definitely gives you a true home theater experience. :)

I have been using HT equipment for the last 10 or so years and can never go back to listening to TV speakers.

Currently I have two 5.1 "theatres". One in my Theatre room and one in my bedroom. I recently bought two HD LCD panels and it did not even occur to me to check out the sound quality of these units.

Main system:
Marantz AV8003 and MM8003
Bowers & Wilkins (703 front, HTM7 centre, DS7 rears and ASW610XP Subwoofer)
46" Sony HD LCD
Samsung BluRay player (I need to get a new player and move this one upstairs).
Phillips Pronto
Tributaries Cables - Series 7

Bedroom:
Yamaha RX-V2600,
Bowers & Wilkins (683 fronts, 685 Rears, HTM61 Centre)
Yamaha YST-SW315 subwoofer),
Sony 40" HD LCD
Yamaha S559MK2 DVD Player
Accoustic Research cables - Pro II series



I am egggstatic with both these systems

Wow, the over $5000.00 investment is running away with it. Pretty impresive systems out there. :)

As a side not, I hope everyone is just factoring in the cost of the sound system and not the TV included.

My system isn't done.

Pro-151
Denon 3808- this going soon, as I ran into a great deal on the AVP A1, or I may just do the Integra 9.9
Outlaw M2200's- also going, looking at quite a few options. Wyred 4 Sound, B&K, Bel Canto, Parasound
Pioneer BDP-05
Mozart Grands
Maestro Grand
Hayden Grands
Sound Anchors custom speaker stands
Shopping for subs atm, but whatever they end up being, I will have duals, and ultimately quads.

The budget was 10k w/o the TV, but who knows at this point...

Also, $7500 for a Blu-Ray player and an XBR8? I hope he's simply quoting MSRP and not what he actually paid.

Bragging rights ;)

I am currently using secondhand audio equipment costing well under $1000. but probably worth between $1000. and $2500. when new. I will probably not go over $2500. in actual expenditures for a long time.

My theater: http://www.cockam.com/theater.htm

Sanyo PLV-Z3 projector
Homemade framed 100' screen with unpainted blackout cloth surface
Lumagen HDP video processor
Accurian ATSC HDTV broadcast tuner
Nondescript DVD player, laser disk player, VCR.

Room has in-wall 12 gauge Romex type speaker wiring with banana jack and binding post wall plates for 7.1 system and low level in wall cable for powered subs.
Nondescript amplifier (Lumagen unit above and not amp used for video switching)
Nondescript speakers
No sub yet

Just a TV and two speakers. I'll go surround when the images go surround.

Just a TV and two speakers. I'll go surround when the images go surround.

Seriously, you're missing out on half the experience and it doesn't need to cost that much as you can put together a budget surround sound system that can do the job by picking up used gear from EBAY, craigslist etc.. I was able to put together a pretty nice system for my son for slightly over $300.00 not inlcuding his PS3 or XBOX360.

It consists of an Onkyo TXDS 747 receiver, NHT Super One front speakers, Cambridge Audio surround speakers and an M&K MX-80 subwoofer. All bought second hand for $304.00. Couple that with his Samsung LNT 4065, PS3 and xbox 360 and he has a damn nice little home theater.

Just like some here try to say a certain TV is the best and I don't believe it, then why would I buy into buying cheap cables?

If your putting out 10K for a pair of front speakers why would you buy cheap speaker wires?

Or buy a 6.00 dollar HDMI cable? Effect or no effect just the thought would make me not go cheap. Some folks have more money then sense. Make sense to me not to go cheap?

I wish I could buy a 6 dollar hdmi cable. Anyway, speaker wires have absolutely no effect on sound quality. Monster got too much of my money before I learned the truth.

If you have a pair of 10k speakers and choose to spend big money of wires, you're throwing money away because there no difference between cheap wires/cables and expensive ones, they both will carry the signal equally to your speakers.

My system isn't done.

Pro-151
Denon 3808- this going soon, as I ran into a great deal on the AVP A1, or I may just do the Integra 9.9
Outlaw M2200's- also going, looking at quite a few options. Wyred 4 Sound, B&K, Bel Canto, Parasound
Pioneer BDP-05
Mozart Grands
Maestro Grand
Hayden Grands
Sound Anchors custom speaker stands
Shopping for subs atm, but whatever they end up being, I will have duals, and ultimately quads.

The budget was 10k w/o the TV, but who knows at this point...

Its your choice, but I think you can spend a lot less for what you are trying to achieve sonically.

I wish I could buy a 6 dollar hdmi cable. Anyway, speaker wires have absolutely no effect on sound quality. Monster got too much of my money before I learned the truth.

If you have a pair of 10k speakers and choose to spend big money of wires, you're throwing money away because there no difference between cheap wires/cables and expensive ones, they both will carry the signal equally to your speakers.
I agree with you about spending money you don't need too, but I bought two 500' rolls of Monster (the big thick guage) cable at 90 percent off retail when a big box going out of business a few years ago so I'm bias towards Monster.;) Some day I'll rewire the whole house.

But like I said if I had more money than sense I'd pay for the better stuff.

But Sam's have Pure A/V Hdmi's, I couldn't go down the really cheap HDMI road.:p

Wow, some of the money thrown around here is mind boggling. I don't know how I could justify spending $10-20k on speakers and such when a $300 htib sounds great to me. Heck, even a $99 pair of Logitech 2.1 speakers is enough in most cases. To each his own I guess.

As far as the whole picture vs. sound quality argument.. I know if I was running a $10k sound system and watching on a Vizio lcd I would be absolutely miserable. :D

Seriously, you're missing out on half the experience and it doesn't need to cost that much as you can put together a budget surround sound system that can do the job by picking up used gear from EBAY, craigslist etc.. I was able to put together a pretty nice system for my son for slightly over $300.00 not inlcuding his PS3 or XBOX360.

It consists of an Onkyo TXDS 747 receiver, NHT Super One front speakers, Cambridge Audio surround speakers and an M&K MX-80 subwoofer. All bought second hand for $304.00. Couple that with his Samsung LNT 4065, PS3 and xbox 360 and he has a damn nice little home theater.

Yeah, I know. But there is more to it than that for me, anyway. I live INSIDE a recording studio and have enough wires for a small country. Plus, since I record and mix sound, I guess surround doesn't really thrill me anymore.... it detracts from what is going on, on the flat screen in front of me... it doesn't fool me into thinking something is going behind me from the film in front of me - instead, it confuses my focus. Sometimes I don't understand the disinterest myself. :) I'm just a weirdo and I know it.

I bought two 500' rolls of Monster (the big thick guage) cable at 90 percent off retail when a big box going out of business a few years ago so I'm bias towards Monster. Some day I'll rewire the whole house.
Cheap Monster cable (say, bought at a liquidation sale) performs just as well as expensive Romex cable (say, bought at normal price).

Cheap Monster cable (say, bought at a liquidation sale) performs just as well as expensive Romex cable (say, bought at normal price).
The Monster will be for speakers only. Its 12 guage but its not going to be for any lighting.:D

I did get a chuckle out of this.

Its your choice, but I think you can spend a lot less for what you are trying to achieve sonically.

According to whos standards, yours or mine?

I agree with you about spending money you don't need too, but I bought two 500' rolls of Monster (the big thick guage) cable at 90 percent off retail when a big box going out of business a few years ago so I'm bias towards Monster.;) Some day I'll rewire the whole house.

But like I said if I had more money than sense I'd pay for the better stuff.

But Sam's have Pure A/V Hdmi's, I couldn't go down the really cheap HDMI road.:p

Which BB store was that? I can't remember which one went out of buisness "a few years ago".

I wish I could buy a 6 dollar hdmi cable. Anyway, speaker wires have absolutely no effect on sound quality. Monster got too much of my money before I learned the truth.

If you have a pair of 10k speakers and choose to spend big money of wires, you're throwing money away because there no difference between cheap wires/cables and expensive ones, they both will carry the signal equally to your speakers.

Agree 100%, people who spend money on speaker wire or digital connections are mislead and I feel bad for them. Some people make their business on selling to the ignorant (monster) and then you have high end companies making their money off of the rich ignorant.

The ONLY things that need or benefit from high end cable are 2 channel audio analog interconnects and analog video. An HDMI cable will perform the same whether it costs $10 or $1000 same with coax or optical.

Cheap Monster cable (say, bought at a liquidation sale) performs just as well as expensive Romex cable (say, bought at normal price).

So does monoprice cable :rolleyes: I'll put my $5 dollar HDMI cable against your "Romex" any day. Digital is DIGITAL, as long as it gets where it needs to go there will be NO differences.

Speaker cable, as long as the gauge is enough for your needs, will be identical as well.