If you had $800 to spend on speakers, sub, and receiver what would you get? - Page 5

Speaker stands are not an option, or I would have gone with floor standing speakers in the first place. I simply don't have the room on either side since my entertainment system fills the entire wall (between doors).

If putting them up-right, I will just have to either drill some new holes for the mounting holes (for the shelves) or simply remove one of the shelves (probably what I'll do, and didn't think of until right now).

Thanks for that info on the Dolby site. I've used it in the past, but I completely forgot about it. I'll break out the protractor and set the 30 degree's and see how far apart they are.

Ok, I'm getting confused by the Dolby setup guide. I think it's been too long since I had math.

Dolby specify 30 degree angles for the speakers, which if I understand this correctly, that would be 30 degree's from a line going from the speaker to the back wall. However, what I am trying to do, and I think I have it figured out, is figure these based on a triangle -- main listening position, and both speakers. And from the look of it, the triangle is actually an equilateral triangle (all side are the same length, and each corner is 60 degree's). I also read in my Pioneer 1120 manual (Pg 84, Chapter 12: Additional information) that the Pioneer multi-channel research group suggest pointing the front L&R 12-31" behind the actual listening position. So I need to take that into consideration.

So if my speakers are lined up horizontally with my TV (the fronts are all equally lined up) and I am exactly 9' from the front of my TV, and I want to add 12" more since I want to do what Pioneer suggests (for a total of 10') then I am going to have ~11 1/2' between each speaker and the listening position (well, 1' behind it).

Does that sound correct?

I found this tool to help me with the math: http://www.mathopenref.com/isosceles.html

I set all angles to 60 degree's and used 10 as the altitude.

Ok, thanks both of you. They will stand up-right.

Ha ha, after getting everything setup, I was way over thinking this. I used it as a guideline, but in the end room size/distances were all pretty much decided for me.

I am happy to report that this thing SOUNDS GREAT for music and videos. Not sure why some say the PL-200 isn't musical, because it sounds great to me -- but then again, I'm not an audiophile either. So for the normal Joe, this sub will work awesome. My boys all commented how they could feel the audio explosions in GI Joe. We are thrilled.

Only downer is my center channel is making some noise like something is loose or blown. We narrowed it down to the very right speaker (it has 5) in the box. It almost sounds like static. It's very annoying, so it's shut off for now and I've already got a new one coming from Crutchfield (Great customer service).

Should get my TV mount today after which I'll get some pictures since everything except my rear speaker wall mounts will be done.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I LOVE the system. Even my wife likes it.

LOL, I hear you on getting some posts. Not being able to post links (though I completely understand) is a pain.

No my total cost was NOT under $800

The total cost to my door was $1270.

In the end I couldn't get past the Pioneer Receiver. I just wanted everything it had to offer and it was expensive. Nearly half my budget ($500).

Speakers: $500 (Infinity)
AVR: $500
Sub: $270

Not sure how it would match polks since I didn't get polks. I did like the polks when I auditioned them, but the rear ports were a show stopper for me. I would say though that the polks and infinity sound similar, and if you don't care about where the speakers port is located, get the less expensive of the two.

Well from the sounds of it we both agree with everything you said.

the bookshelves really do put out a good amount of base. The nice part about this is they easily integrate/mesh with the sub. Cross-over is seamless.

I do love this system, and yes, it get uncomfortably loud without distortion...

Well, this AV stuff is really taking over my life. I wake up thinking about it

To that end, I picked up another sub for cheap ($30) from a friend that buys all sorts of stuff from Pawn shops etc.

I really wanted to get a 2nd sub for better coverage and I wanted to get something a bit more musical than the PL-200 (the PL-200 sounds good to my ears though).

I got a M&K V-3B sub. It's a sealed, 12' sub, and from everything I could find about it (which wasn't much since the company went under a few years back) the sub is probably 15-20 years old. It has a 100watt RMS amp, and in my testing so far it sounds REALLY good. The bass is very tight. For music I think it sounds better than the PL-200. I was very impressed. I do have to run the gain right about to 12 o'clock though to get the same sound I am getting from the PL-200 @ at 9 o'clock. I hope that won't be a problem for it over the long haul. The bass really is a bit more crisp in this sealed unit.

My hope is that they will both compliment each other, but since I can't listen to both at the same time yet, I don't know for sure... If they suck together, I'm not out much.

It does need a little TLC though, but for $30 I can't complain. The dust cap has fallen off and will just need to be re-glued back on since it's still in good shape. The pegs for the front cover are pretty much shot -- I may or may not try to fix it... Really it's in pretty rough looking shape, but still sounds great and appears to only be cosmetic.

I believe I just need to get an RCA splitter in order to run both subs. Is that correct, and if so, will this one work --> http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

This new sub also has L&R RCA Inputs, so should I also get another splitter just like the above to accommodate both channels? I have no way of knowing if one or the other is mono.

I have really been enjoying my system. I watch waaaay more TV and Movies than I ever did before. Not sure that's a good thing, but I am enjoying it.

I still plan on getting some pictures, I just have been too busy listening to my new system to get around to it

Again, thanks for your help.

Well, I got everything ordered for the 2nd sub and should have it tomorrow. I also finally ordered some wall mounts for my rear speakers.

I also took the time to get some pictures.

Thanks everyone for you help with this. I REALLY like how it turned out; it sounds AWESOME.

I need to do some cable management, but otherwise I'm done.

The PL-200 is where it's going to be. I don't have the long cable and splitters yet (should be here tomorrow), so I'm currently running the M&K in the exact location of the PL-200 (it's sitting on top of it for now). The plan is to put the sub on the opposite side of the room next to the couch on the back wall. However, when putting the PL-200 there it was not the optimal location -- so I'm open to suggestions. I do plan on doing the crawl. As you know though, optimal locations are kind of hard to come by since this in a family room and not a dedicated HT room; I have also been veto'd on a few locations from the commander and chief

Thanks for the suggestion on the center. I actually didn't think about that, and I've actually had to increase the gain on it since we couldn't hear it very well after MCACC calibration. I will move it forward -- I was trying to align it with the FL&R's, but that won't be possible since the stand it's on is thicker than the shelves.

Thanks, I actually had considered that that might be a problem and have moved them about as far forward as I can without moving the rubber feet on the speaker. I think I'll see if I can remove the feet and see if I can move them back a few inches.

I also plan on adding books to those shelves, so that should hopefully help.

As always, thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I really appreciate it.

I made some adjustments and got my new sub cables/splitters. I got a scare though, as my 2nd sub (the M&K) started humming and I couldn't hear any sound. After some troubleshooting I found that the RCA gender changer is a little picky and I had to mess with it to get it to stop humming. I have located a better one and will pick it up today. But for now it's not humming any more and works as it's supposed to. I did find a new foam surround kit for the M&K sub (specifically for the M&K V-3B) which I ordered since it's got a small hole in it that I want to repair.

I moved the center channel forward, which seemed to make voices a bit more audible -- so thanks.

I moved the FL&R's forward as far as I could (I don't want my kids to hit them. The outside edge does clear the edge now, but the inside... well, it will never clear the edge. I also let the boss know that we need to get some books on the shelves which she was more than happy to do this weekend when she has more time to move her collection. I also still need to re-run MCACC since I've moved stuff around.

I have read that 2 subs are better if they are matching -- however to my ears these sound great together. The bass is a bit much for now though, and I need to dial both of them down some. The sub near the couch (though it's not touching) really shakes the couch when you are sitting on it. Not sure if that will get annoying or not, but I sure love it for now. I need to also figure out how I should run MCACC with the 2 subs. I remember reading about it, but I wasn't paying much attention since I didn't think I'd have a 2nd sub so quickly.

I have uploaded a video to YouTube to show my sub location. I should get my speaker mounts next week (Tuesday). Sorry for the quality as it was shot with my iPhone (non-4 version).

Thanks sholling! We are really enjoying the fruits of 2 years of hard labor (finishing the basement) and our new sound/video system.

Thanks all of you for your expertise in getting this setup so well.