My Apartment Setup

Hello AVS'ers! I've been a member here for a while and this is my first post, so please bear with me. My venture into home theater started when my wifes uncle gave me a set of speakers a while ago. Not knowing anything about it I began googling and wound up here. Reading, reading, more reading, even still more reading, and I think I finally have my setup decent enough to post a pic.

My gear:
Vizio 42" LCD (I bought this tv well before I ventured into HT so I'm looking to replace it next year, I'm eyeing the Mitsu DLP's)

120gb PS3 slim for gaming and movies

Wii For the kiddos

Comcast cable and internet

Pioneer VSX-1020 (I'm pretty proud of this purchase, it was a shelf model that had never been plugged in before, had a slight dent on the top where the vents are, and I walked outta BB with it for $320 bucks with a 2 year extended warranty!)

The front three channels and sub were given to me by my wifes uncle since he had upgraded. I know they are old and not too flashy, but everything sounds so much better compared to what I used to have.

Center Channel is an Infinity CC-2

Front L/R are Infinity RS3's

Sub is a Definitive Technology (not sure on the model)

I needed side surrounds, so scouring craigslist and ebay I scored another set of RS3's for $50 bucks and made up some cheapy shelves to hold them.

Currently I'm looking for a set of Infinity RS1's for the back surrounds. For now I have some small Pioneer speakers I got at a yard sale for $10 bucks.

The stand was from Ikea, I can't remeber the model though. If I remember right it was only $60. I still need to get some wire loom to hide the wires, but I can live with them the way they are for now.

Overall I think I've spent less than $1400 so far. Still have a couple more things I would like to get but for right now it's been pretty cool watching movies and gaming!

Pics:






And my DVD/BluRay collection on the shelf I built, that I still need to paint.

Edited by er dan gill - 2/9/13 at 1:11pm

Thanks Spurrier. Your setup is pretty wicked btw. I'm hoping to go dedicated and alot bigger when we buy a house next year. For now though I had to stick to a pretty tight budget while we save for said house.

Big update for me. The finance authority approved funds for a new TV. Went to Paul's this last weekend and got me a new 73 incher Mitsu. Unfortunately we have a large patio window in our apartment in the living room, which was causing a nasty glare on the screen when the blinds are open, which they are all day long. So I had to reverse the living room, which stopped the glare, but took all weekend to do. I'm still not finished %100, still have to move around some pictures, organize some wires and build a center channel stand. But we have been having too much fun playing games and watching movies. I guess its what you guys with projectors go thru when you hand it and turn it on before you're finished.

Please don't flame me for them, but I scored a free set of Bose speakers to try out the front height my receiver offers, so far I'm really liking it. Also, I demoed a set of Klipsch reference series Friday night. While I really liked the RF-7 II's, they are WAAAYYY too far out of my budget. So as soon as I can earn some more WAF credits, I'll be getting some RF-62 II's with a matching center and surrounds.

And since










Sorry about the cell pics, my daughter is out of town at the inlaws with my half way decent camera.

Thanks for looking everybody!

Thanks. I did look at the Sharp 70" LED's, but at $2200 vs $1100 for the Mitsu, your absolutely right on bang for the buck. The Vizio was the largest tv I've ever had prior to this. The only thing I can say is holy crap front row theater goodness:eek: since we sit maybe 10 feet from the screen currently. I ordered Disney's WOW Blu-Ray last night hoping it will give me a decent calibration for the time being.

As for the Klipsch speakers, it's not a matter of if but when;). I thought my hand me down Infinity's were the best I had ever heard. I was wrong. Now If I could get somebody to buy my 944, I expect my being able to get them sooner than letting the WAF credits rebuild. I'm digging through the forums looking for info on using an RS-41 or RS-42 as a height speaker, I was wondering if the dispersion of the speaker would help the effect. Watching Band of Brothers right now and it adds a whole new aspect to the show. And then I start wondering If I should look into say an Onkyo receiver with the 9.2 capabilities for when I do a dedicated build. Oy, I need to buy a house soon!

So very true!

Time for another update. I GOT MY KLIPSCH'S!!!! Well at least the front three. And quite a few other items as well.

As much as I wanted the new RF-82II's they are just too much for my budget right now. So I started watching craigslist and ebay for a used set and stumbled on these.

The L/R are RF-35's in black, the cabinets are in good shape save for the top front corners. It looks like the laminate is wrinkled a touch. Other than that they are fine and sound AMAZING. I've never been much of a two channel listener, but these speakers make everything sound so much better than I have ever heard. The first week I owned them I probably spent a couple hours a night listening to my ipod.

I tried and tried to find a deal on a matching center but couldn't come up with one for cheap. A couple weeks before Christmas I found a single RB-35 on ebay, granted it was missing the grill. But I picked it up for less than $100. And not having the grills on I actually prefer, I love the look of the copper woofers.



Shot with all the blinds closed of TDKR


The wrinkles in the RF-35's


Made a set of cables for the front three, didn't seem right simply using the old walmart cable.




I also got a set of bass shakers for the couch. These right here have been the coolest upgrade EVER! I can't have my sub up too loud, but these have more than made up for it.
No pics of them in my ugly couch. I picked up an old Kenwood receiver to drive them. Wired them so the receiver see's an 8ohm load.


Sold the WII since it had been turned on once since we moved in here. However Santa was kind enough to deliver us one of these in the Kinect variety.


So that brings me up to date. What's next? Currently I'm looking for that perfect deal on a set of RS-42's maybe RS-52's. Maybe some type of power conditioner in the Panamax variety. Really what else could I do in an apartment?

Thanks for the info on the tweeters, I'll look into that asap. The previous owner had misplaced the feet. I have the info from Klipsch to replace them, just hasn't been a high priority yet. The RB-35 only got here on Thursday. The Xbox was just a impulse buy from Walmart on black Friday. I don't think there was anything special about it. But I've been wrong before.

@ wkingincharge, the bass shakers are the most popular new feature. Movies, gaming, and even music has been given that extra touch. I highly recommend them! For such an inexpensive upgrade, they have been worth every penny.

This forum has been instrumental in getting me this far, much to the chagrin of my wife.

Craigslist and Ebay have been, and will continue to be my best friend in this journey. I don't foresee any more major purchases for a while though. My wife and I set a very specific time frame and dollar amount to have saved for our first home, and it is crunch time now.

"It really never ends though. You say "what else could I add to an apartment setup"? You are in the wrong community to be asking that question."
I laughed out loud when I read this. Definitely open to tweaks I could do (within reason guys ) to better my current setup. I tried reading the acoustical treatment thread, and I my head was only recently put back together after exploding.

Very true Youthman, all the build threads and info here has "enabled" me to get the big screen, upgrade this and that. I think I'm totally screwed when I get my house.

The problem I have is to the left of my listening position is the dining area and kitchen. And to my right, the first reflection point is directly on the patio door. Placing a big panel right there is absolutely a no go. I was thinking about doing a few small panels behind the towers, but honestly I'm wondering if acoustics should wait until I have my dedicated room.

When you say channel leveling via a program on the receiver, are you referring to MCACC since mine is a Pioneer? If so I did run it, and each time I've made a change, pretty neat hearing the before and after differences in the room.

I was considering doing something like this thread http://www.avsforum.com/t/1316623/diy-custom-printed-movie-poster-acoustic-panels-cheap but haven't decided. I do have a bit of a slap echo in the room, maybe a couple small ones on the front wall and wall directly behind me could help. And my wife is pro movie posters in the living room, so that would make it much easier.