Suggestion for Budget(college) System

MC, welcome to the forums! If you are serious about investing in a good system that you can build upon over time, you may want to consider restructuring your budget. Since receiver technology changes/updates so quickly, most people initially put more of their funds into speakers. I did some checking and for your budget here's what I would reccommend.

Go to www.shoponkyo and look at the 506. Right now you can get a refurbished unit for $199! I believe this is a great deal for a starter receiver!

I also checked out the Ascend Acoustic website. You can get a pair of 170SE's, a 170SE center, and a pair of their 200's for $774 shipped! That brings your total to $973 for a great 5.0 system! Then add a sub as your funds permit! Or get the 170SE's & center, a sub, and add the 200's as your budget permits!

Just my 2 cents!

I agree on spending less on the receiver and more on the speakers. The question is, over how long a period of time do you plan on building this system up? Do you have a timeline in mind with more money you can funnel into completing the setup? Because if it's going to take a few years and you're already out of college by then and have a job, then you may end up wanting to get totally different (better) stuff by the time you complete this planned system.

How much $ total/over how long a period of time do you want to spend/plan to take building this system up? That can help determine what pieces you should buy now, and in what order.

To get the most for your $1K, buy a refurb receiver and spend the majority on the speakers. You can even buy refurb speakers direct from the manufacturers.
The first place I would suggest to look is the harman audio ebay store. You can find both refurbed receivers and refurb/new JBL and Infinity speakers. And in this case, the refurb speakers are really overstock, not refurbs.

http://stores.ebay.com/Harman-Audio

Are you in a house, apartment or dorm room? If you're in a dorm you probably have no room for 5.1 right now.

The 606 will enable you to do that for less than $350.

I'd say adjusting your budget is a good idea, but maybe not to an extreme degree... especially if finishing out the system is in the near term future. I would stick with 2.1 in the short-term, add a center next, then perhaps move your fronts to the back and get floor-standing mains. My recommendation would be something like the following:

Onkyo SR805 - $412.50 (ebay, refurb, live.com cashback)
Swans 2.1 BC - $329 (Oz Home Theater, new)
BIC H-100 Subwoofer - $209.25 (ebay, new, live.com cashback)

This will give you most of the features of the SR806 with a beefier power supply and more focus on audio features (with less on video features). It will also give you a solid set of main speakers that can also serve as great surrounds later on when you finish out your system, either with all 2.1s front/back or 5.1s/6.1s up front, and a C3 center either way. Also, the BIC H-100 (designed by HSU) will perform solidly and could be augmented down-the-road with a second H-100 if necessary. Also, this would fall into your $1k budget.

Get a pair of av123 ELT525M, or if you have the cash ELT525T. they are offering a deal where you can get a complete 5.0 ELT525 package for $799 plus really, really cheap shipping or the speakers with a Marantz receiver, but that will put you past your budget.

there's also a 10% friends & family coupon if you know who to ask

If I were putting together this 3.1 system, it would be:

Receiver: Onkyo SR606 - $340-ish from BigRiver
SubWoofer: Acculine ASub - $239 - http://www.theaudioinsider.com/produ...products_id/68
or BIC H100 as mentioned by an earlier poster.

Speakers:
Infinity
1 pair Primus P162 (or the P152 to save $)
1 Primus PC350 (or the PC250 to save $)
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/it...ty-primus-p162
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/it...y-primus-pc350
http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1007inf/

or

PSB (a little over budget but highly regarded speakers)
1 pair PSB Alpha B1
1 CC PSB Alpha C1
http://www.soundseller.com/index.php...sort/5a/page/2
http://stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/507psb/
http://www.stereophile.com/features/...ty/index8.html

or

Acculines
1 pair A1R (or the A1 to save $)
1 A2R (or the A2 to save $)
http://www.theaudioinsider.com/manuf...s.php/mPath/13
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=900045&page=3 (note post #69)
http://stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/1006bg/ (the closely related BG Z1)

I just put this 5.1 together for around $800, sounds awesome..

Refirb, Onkyo 606 w/ms cash back $205.. http://stores.ebay.com/Accessories4less

Refirb Polk M50 & CS2 for $237...http://stores.ebay.com/Polk-Audio-Direct
Polk M30 from the Big River for $130

BIC VK-12, w/ms cash back for $230...http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories

You can get the BIC H-100 now for $209/ebay/ms cash back.

Good budget pricing!

Agreed. The ELT525 5.0 system for $800 is a steal. Especially when the floorstanding speakers alone are already at $700.

The $100ish that you'll save getting the Sony vs the Onkyo isn't worth it. The Sony hasn't gotten very good reviews here, which means more to me than any magazine or biased reviewer online. Spend the extra money and get the Onkyo 606 over the Sony 820.

A sale was posted this morning:
http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...9826#post29826

Onkyo 606 definitely does HDMI audio/video switching. That's why its so popular. That and the fact it comes with 4 HDMI inputs for under $350!

There's lots of 606 threads here where you could find that info.

I'm pretty much in the same shopping boat as OP

one thing I'm looking for in a receiver is 1080p upconversion... doesn't the 606 only upconvert to 1080i? I've been looking heavily at the 706 ($499 refurb at accessories4less with free shipping)... am I mistaken, or does the 606 also upconvert to 1080p?

Yep... That seems like a great buy! And later you could add a pair of 340SE and move 170SE to rears, or buy HTM200s...

Also, not sure if it would work, but if you find someone who wants a good pair of speakers for cheap, you could add: package of 4 speakers (100$ off) , 4 x 200HTM + free shipping, would come to 428$, or 214$ per pair, or 107$ per 200, which is pretty awesome considering it would cost you 278$ x 2 + 40$ shipping normally. (596$, 33% off!)

For the sub, 300$ is certainly not a lot... Dayton makes some cheap subs, which might do ok: http://www.parts-express.com/webpage...yton+subwoofer You could get one of the cheaper ones as a temporary solution (depending on your room size, 8 inch for 90$ or 150$ one), and also free shipping.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=300-635

For 300$ you get rather small subs, and I think even the HSUs or alike probably wouldn't end up being a whole lot better than the Dayton,

The HSU STF-1 for example is an 8 inch, 150 watts, 299+20$ ship...
Dayton above, 12 inch, 150 watts, 139$ shipped...

If you got the Dayton, that would save you like 180$, which would almost pay for HTM200s rears from Ascend... And as I was saying the HSU STF-1 definitely isn't the best sub around... But you'll need to pay more than 300$ to get the really good stuff, so might as well get the Dayton and save some money, and save for a better sub, when you buy it, could probably easily sell the Dayton for 1/2 new price, and so you're out 75$ for a sub you might have used for a couple months/years. Which is ridiculously low considering the amount of money people usually 'waste' when they upgrade their equipment! But either way, even if you buy a 300$ sub, I doubt it would be your last sub, as 300$ still gets you a smallish sub...

Why does that matter? If your TV is 1080p it'll convert 1080i to 1080p anyway.

I would consider the Hsu10 on that page.

Ha! Interesting, I didn't even notice that Dayton had HSU designed subs... Interesting interesting... Dayton HSU 230$ shipped, 10 inch, 150 watts. HSU STF2, 10 inch, 200 watts (really not a big difference here), 350$+33$ shipping.

Still, I don't know about Dayton vs Dayton HSU, 12 inch vs 10 inch, 140$ vs 230$... Are they using the same amps? I'd be curious to see how the two compare together, the HSU reviews don't seem that positive...

The av123 ELT525 5.0 package seems like a much better deal to me IMHO. real wood veneers, great reviews and towers for mains meaning one less pair of stands to buy and more dynamic output.
http://netlowdown.com/av123forum/index.php?topic=38.0
You also get a free headphone amp.
And you can get 10% off on top of that already stupid good deal (pm or email me)

I currently have the sharp lc42d64u and while it does upconvert everything to 1080p... it's SD upconversion leaves something to be desired. which is why I was looking into an AVR that can do the conversion and use the tv as a monitor in 'dot-by-dot' mode.

this, of course, assumes that the upconversion in the 706 is better than my sharp tv.

the difference in cost as far as I can tell between the 606 and the 706 is roughly $100-$150 with a little bargain shopping. do you know if the 706's upconversion is decent?

The way I see it, you have more than enough money for a very decent 6.1 system. Yes, I wrote 6.1, now space? That is another story. I would definitely buy Onkyo SKS-HT240 (http://reviews.cnet.com/surround-spe...in;contentBody). This will cost you under $300. I would also pair it with Denon 1909. I am recommending against Onkyo to extreme heat and video processing issues. If I am not mistaken, you can buy Denon under $600. There you go. Sound will be amazing, assuming you can fit 5 or 6 speakers in your dorm.

The Ascend 340's are rated at 90dB sensitivity so the 606 will have no problem pushing them.

As far as your thought process here... you are going for high quality/nice speakers over college party speakers right? I ask because I think back to my college days and I had Cerwin Vega and considering hindsight being 20/20, I wouldn't have picked a different speaker. My speakers were used and abused in college, we had several parties (when I moved into a house), had beer spilt on them dozens of times, they were knocked over, dented/scratched up, played at ear bleeding levels for hours and hours, etc.... and they were the perfect choice for it!

After you get out of college and get a nice job you'll easily be able to replace your college speakers with something nicer. That's just my thought process. If you're a little more reserved than I was, the 340's will be great choices and if you take good care of them they should last you for a decade or more.

As far as your sub question, IMO either get a Bic H-100 for $250 shipped or save all the way up for $500 and get into a HSU/SVS or eD. The H-100 will rock a dorm or living plenty, it's only musical bass quality that you'll be sacrificing. If your critical of music, then save up for the HSU/SVS/eD. If you just want to fill in the low end of music with bass and want to be able to shake the house for home theater, the Bic H-100 will serve just fine.