Thanks everyone for your replies. To answer hernanu's specific questions:
1) Maximum budget:
- I'd asked for budget suggestions because I thought there may be a consenus speaker cost % of the overall system cost, which I could use as a guideline
- I have no doubt that there would be some ultra high-end gear that would be wildly beyond my budget, but I'm willing to spend enough for speakers that would do the rest of my system justice
- short answer: $10 k (I like the fact the system is modular and that I don't have to necessarily get everything at once so I can spread the cost out over time)
2) Room Dimensions: roughly 18 ft L x 12 ft W x 10 ft H
3) Available Speaker Types (what do you mean by "monitors"?):
- floor standing for fronts
- potentiall SMALL floorstanding for rear surrounds but, ideally, bookshelves
- I'd prefer a lower profile (smaller) center for WAF
4) Number of Subs: 1
5) System Use:
- primarily movies (and some limited gaming) for now: 80%
- some music for now: 20%
- music % will likely increase over time (I wouldn't mind building in the capability now for future use)
6) Use of High Quality Audio Source Material:
- a long time ago I was a pretty serious audiophile with a $20 k + system: Maggie 3's, VPI turntable, Classe pre and power amp, etc.
- I'll likely include some higher-quality audio source material to my system (hence the Oppo 95 over the 93) over time and even include a turntable at some point
Quote:
Originally Posted by
hernanu 
Hey JD - I'm an Oppo owner too, but with a fairly powerful HDMI based AVR like the SC 57, I'd suggest returning the 95 and getting a 93, add the 500 to your speaker budget, if that's an issue.
The HDMI sound processing from both is (to me) the equivalent of the 95. Unless you're using some great older gear, I think you're not getting the best bang for your buck.
You can get better advice if you can tell us a few things:
- What is your maximum budget
- Your room size in length, width, height
- Are floor standers possible, bookshelves or monitors
- How many subs can you have
- Your use: % use of the system for - music, movies, games
- The Oppo has very high end disc capabilities, are you using or will use SACD/DVD-A/FLAC/high quality CDs
As an example:
I have a pretty good Energy system right now (7.2), with the Pioneer Elite vsx-33 for an apartment setup. It is by no means the most expensive thing around (the Energys are a bargain right now) for a living room that is about 14 X 17 X 8. It is very good for my purposes.
My listening preferences are 50% music, 50% movies, so good resolution of sounds at the speakers and subs is important. I live in an apartment, so can't drive a 15" sub the way I would want to, so I have twin 8" subs. I have towers and a good sized center for the fronts, good sized bookshelves for surrounds, and small speakers (rc-minis) for back surround duty.
I use FLAC/SACD/DVD-A's/ bluray concerts very often, so music duty for the system is important. If I did more movies or mostly movies, my choices in speakers may have been different.
