Looking for a new home theater

Getting a decent set of speakers and receiver for $400 is going to be really difficult. How much could you stretch it to?

Personally, I would wait and save up a little while longer until I at least had around $800 to spend. You can pickup a decent set of 5.1 speakers for $500 on the used market and then buy a $300 receiver... but at $400, you're limited to pretty crappy HTIB options.

I agree, good sound doesn't come cheap when it comes to multichannel audio.

nothing wrong with that.... the great majority of us out here have 5.1 and are MORE than happy with it...

Good speakers should be your priority number one... not "HD sound" - since speakers will improve the sound quality a great deal more than a higher audio bitrate.

If you can spend up to $1000, you are going to have some pretty good options. I would start looking on craigslist, eBay, or Audiogon to see if you can score a sweet deal on a used 5.1 speaker setup. Brands to look out for would be Atlantic Technology, NHT, Definitive Technology, Paradigm, Energy, PSB, and many more... just don't buy Bose.

If you want to buy new speakers, check out the HTIB Alternatives thread here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=809777

Best Buy sells these Polk T15 speakers. These look a lot like the Polk R15's shown on Polk's web site (they don't have a listing for the T15s)

These seem to be only $100/pair. Worth taking a look at IMHO. You can always omit a center channel for now; the receiver should split the center channel equally to the L/R speakers.

There are a lot of good looking subs in the $400 range. But if you can't afford that, you may have to go cheaper.

You can pick up an RX-V661 for under $300 according to amazon. I think that could work well for you.

Potentially cheaper yet, and a very good receiver is the RX-V659, if you could find one. It does not have HDMI. It's a few years old. (I checked ebay, and a 97% seller said they had one new, with a low starting bid.)

Yamaha, Denon, Pioneer, HK, Marantz, Onkyo, etc. will all offer similiar sound quality.

They are all very good quality products.

Alot of it comes down to personal preference and brand loyalty. Some offer better features.

Personally, I would look at refurb for the receiver and used for the speakers.

That's a nice price on the 661. It matches well with the PS3. IMO, it's not worth it going up to the 663 as the PS3 doesn't bitstream the new audio codecs. (disclosure: I've got a 661 paired with a PS3)


As I said in your other thread, though, I'd pay more attention to speakers than the receiver if your budget is limited.

Speakers are very subjective. I would definitely go used if you're on a budget, because instead of getting a new system that retails for $700... you can get a system that originally retailed for much, much more. Speakers, unlike receivers, don't go bad with age.

As I've said before, look on the used market for speakers from Atlantic Technology, NHT, Definitive Technology, Paradigm, and PSB (plus I'm sure others can recommend other good brands). Some great sub/sat systems you might be able to get on eBay are Definitive Technology ProCinema, Atlantic Technology System 920, or the Energy Take series.

Ain't that the truth. My 5.1 is abused so badly that I blew my phase tech rears, blew one of the channels in my Marantz AVR and overdrove my Velodyne UDL-12 enough to trash the accelerometer................Life is good! Well, not so much now that I have a lot of gear to replace..... Don't belive me.........try Pink Floyd's "Dark side of the moon" on a good system.....you'll see.............

Taking your budget and bedroom into account, have you considered headphones?

IMO, $400 on a headphone setup, particularly for gaming and movies with Dolby Headphone, blows away the performance from a 5.1 setup at or near the same cost.. But then again, few love headphones.

At times, I prefer headphone sessions to a $5k+ 5.1 setup.

Anyways, I'd recommend the Denon D2000 and a Zero Dac/Amp if you have any interest in headphones.

+1 on the cans, especially since you have NO place to put your right side speakers...

...and if you go cans instead of speakers, look into tactile transducers for the recliner you're putting in. An Aura Bass Pro + a plate amp will run you 50-60 bucks at Parts Express.

You can't fit a "home theater" in a space like that.

I don't think there is any possible way you are going to be able to fit any kind of speakers in that space... period. I don't even think the bose cube speakers would work in that space.

I recommend just saving your money and go with headphones or just stick with the TV speakers for now until you have some real space to work with.

I've done it before.

He could go for a sound bar type deal .