***Official HTIB Alternatives Thread*** - Page 112

Hi everyone,

Has anyone ever heard the Mirage Nano Sat 5.1 system?

thanks.

I'm also very interested in this system, the thread doesn't really talk about it to determine if is a great system or not, I'm about to get speakers for my media room (18'x12') and I wanting to know if these will be good enough.
anyone?

thanks in advance.

All, just thought I would throw this out into the list.

I like the look/size of HTIB, so went looking for a receiver that was a little smaller foot print.

I haven't tested/reviewed, but think these fit the bill
Marantz NR1602


Marantz NR1402

Wow, the 1602 is really nice. Too bad it's twice as much as the Pioneer 1021k I just bought.

Unfortunately it seems like many of the great deals people suggest are not available in Canada (and the small town where I live doesn't help).

I mainly want to play from a "patriot box office" HDMI (with audio over HDMI) to a Tosh
40 inch TV. Eventually I want to replace the the PBO with a real HTPC.

Looking at what is available online in Canada, I am thinking about a

- Pioneer VSX 521
- Onkyo 309

for a receiver.

I see I can save a bit and get a
- Sony STDH520
- Sherwood RD6506

Those two brands don't seem to be as well liked here, but maybe at the bottom end it doesn't matter.

I have a pair of Polk monitor II 30's, and Visions.ca has what looks like a good deal on the Polk TSi C10.

Does that sound a reasonable sound match?

That would get me "3.0" for about $400 incremental.

Another speaker option (but about $140 more expensive up front) is the jamo A102 5.1 set. Which sounds like a pretty decent deal considering it includes a powered sub and rear speakers.



The "room" is about 11 wide by 14 deep (where the TV is on the "front" wall)
The back wall is actually a bookshelf coming to about 2 feet below the ceiling;
most of the left wall opens up into a 10x10 room.

I can put speaker on various shelves on the walls; there isn't really any floorspace.

Behind the bookshelves is my office (another 13 ft or so). I was wondering about (eventually) putting another set of bookshelf speakers in my office and having them do double duty as speakers for my office.

I (obviously) don't know much about surround audio; is it plausible just to output stereo to the rear speakers?

Is there a good primer anywhere on what and how current audio components work and what is available? I am massively upgrading from an old crappy Sony HTiB, and I don't know any of this stuff.

For instance, why do I need a receiver w/ HDMI inputs?

My use will be almost exclusively video, minimal music playing.

Thanks.

What determines the power of a system? Is it solely based on the watts? If so, what range of watts can be possible with a system consisting of the listed components on the first post?

Is there any sort of consensus now? The original post is from 2007 so I'm guessing I shouldn't buy those. I was originally thinking of going with a soundbar but now I'm thinking maybe I should buy things separately although I'm trying to only spend around $500 at first. I have a small room and my couch is against the wall but I think I could get a speaker to the left and right of the couch as well as maybe a soundbar or something in my entertainment center.

BB had the Polk blackstone set up for $299.00 comes w/four satelite speakers and sound bar, I had to purchase the sub woofer seperately Polk PSW 10 for$199.00 my viewing room also small and tight. Awesome sound for the price and size. The additional speaker stand were $30.00 per pair.

The very first thing you want to find out is will your HTIB receiver work with your TV?

Believe it or not due to some manufacturers poor implimentation of the spec and just general problems you may find that HDMI may not work for you

now with that out of the way

different types of audio connections available on current consuemer receivers (new to old)

Inputs

1. HDMI. Typically 2-4
2. SPDIF. (coax 75ohm RCA plug) typically 1 or 2.
2. OPTICAL. (tosslink) typically 1 or 2
3. RCA Multiple L+R on average plus 1 set of multi channel like 5.1 or 7.1, etc)
4. Phonograph. RCA jack for turntable input.
5. Tape Not so common RCA input
6. VCR Not so common RCA input
7. DTV or CABLE starting to fade away

* inputs 5-7 are typically called AV inputs nowadays

Typical outputs

HDMI. Typically used for audio return channel and to pass video (processed or unprocessed) usually 1 output but some receivers have 2 or more (read more expensive)
Pre-out. (RCA) typically 1 set matching the receiver ie 7.1 receiver should have 7.1 preouts. Commonly found on mid level receivers and up.
Speaker. (binding post) anywhere from 2 to 11 typically, common is 5 or 7
Subwoofer out. Goes to a powered sub of your choice
Monitor out (RCA line level outputs)

I know you did not ask about video but here goes

HDMI Newest standard
Component Analog video inputs that are artificially limited to 1080i on the blu-ray players but can handle 1080p and beyond. (VGA is an example of component video)
S-video Older standard for analog video that offered upwards of 500 lines of resolution
Composite slightly better than RF
RF Modulation typically not found on receivers but is common on VCRs and older game consoles

Hi everyone,

Has anyone ever heard the Mirage Nano Sat 5.1 system?

thanks.

******************************************************8

I have them and they're great for a small room.

4 Years Ago, I reminisce...

I was brand new to the home theater thing. I had just bought my first big screen Panasonic 58 inch plasma. I was fretting over the speakers in the TV because they rattled at times and it was driving me nuts. Someone in the plasma thread planted a seed in my mind saying "you really should look into getting a HT surround speaker setup instead of just using your TV speakers. It would be a worthwhile investment if you can afford it". So after that was planted, I was looking into a simple HTIB system to get me started. But then I looked at THIS THREAD. It changed my home theater destiny as I decided to piece together my own speaker surround system. I think the subwoofer was especially important (I chose SVS). AVR too.

So I credit this thread with planting the seed in my mind to put it together piece by piece. I ended up choosing Polk Audio towers for my right, left, center, and back surrounds.

Here's what I wrote in my first post on this thread on 2/8/08 :

You guys are KILLING me with this in a good way.

I was almost committed to buying the Onkyo 908 HTIB, but then I started reading through this thread. There is a lot of lovin' for Polk speakers in this thread. I just may do an about face here, get the Onkyo receiver (either 605 or 705- I like the extra HDMI with this one), then make separate purchases of somekind of Polk. Certainly not top of the line, they are too damn expensive. But some of their stuff looks affordable and comes highly recommended.

Looking to help my Father In Law. He's looking at the Denon DHT-1312BA system for his "man-cave" project. His room a fully enclosed 15ft x 12ft room. Is there something he can piece together for less at better quality? ...or what can he put together for the same price that will outperform that Denon HTIB set-up? Hoping that the component are readily available from BestBuy or Amazon.
Thanks.

Hi Everyone

I posted a question in the speaker section but thought this would also be a good place to ask.

I live in a condo and setting up a home theater in living room. Currently i have:

LG 47LH90 (the calibration recommendations from this site have made this display absolutely spectacular )

panasonic BD60 blu ray player

I have just ordered a denon 1612 receiver from ac4l at a great price (its refurbished but has warranty)

I have been given 2 Yamaha NS 5290 speakers that I intend to use as my front L and R bookshelf (not enough space for tower fronts).

so wondering how to proceed for next steps? im really struggling with what to do for center speaker - does anyone know of a center speaker that matches the Yamaha 5290?

for surrounds, the polk OWM3 look pretty good.

but the polk subwoofer PSW10, of which I found a discount for $89, have fairly negative reviews. is there another sub around $100? i underestimated how much these can cost.

Thanks in advance

any suggestions?

If its difficult to find a matching center, what if I moved the yamaha 5290 to the L R surrounds and got polk monitor 30 bookshelfs and a polk CS1?


thanks

your yamaha speakers will be fine as surrounds if that's the way you choose to go.

I doubt youll find the matching center for those speakers. They did make one with dual 4" woofers but good luck finding one.
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/speaker-systems/home-speaker-systems/ns-c3290/?mode=model

It'd be easier to find another used pair of those bookshelf speakers and then use one as a center by laying it on the side.

Hey i remember this thread!!! The Pioneer lineup should definitely be mentioned here........oh how far we've come

thanks afrogt for your feedback. using a bookshelf as a center speaker is an interesting idea that i would not have thought of.


I got my denon and set everything up. the Audessey really helped a lot, as did the on-screen GUI. 10 years ago, i would have struggled with this.

so for right now, have the Yamaha as the front L and R and I went ahead and got the PSW10. This subwoofer has a lot of detractors, but so far it sounds pretty good to me (then again, Apocalypse Now can probably make any system sound good ) so even as a 2.1 system, it sounds good overall.

I mentioned the monitor 30s, but im really tempted by the monitor 40 speakers and the CS1. Looks like reviews have been pretty good - anyone else have experience with these as Fronts?

Looking forward to finally having a 5.1 sound system in place after just relying on tv speakers - i guess for about a year I was too blown away by the picture quality of the LED 47LH90 and was content with what I had . But the other part of it was I did not want to settle for HTIB. Had a cousin that got one and it was a bad experience. The dvd function stopped working and he was pretty much out of luck cuz the system was all in one. Looks like the onkyos are not like that, but with 2 free yamaha speakers, I was confident I could get a good receiver at a great price and then just continue to build.

one annoying thing -
RE: my panny BD 60- i guess it'll default to regular dolby digital or DTS unless you change the secondary audio to OFF and make sure that TrueHD is selected? hopefully things have changed for panny blu-ray players since then.
Edited by huskie2000 - 7/14/12 at 9:50pm

Hey Guys.. this had been THE thread I looked up when I purchased my first Home theater. I am back again to look for my second. I remember seeing the same setup in the first posting back then. Hasn't there been any updates to what I can buy today? If there is one in this big thread can anyone point me there. Again thanks all for continuing this amazing thread.
TIA
Sudip

P.S: the entire look and feel of this site has changed since I last visited.

It would probably help if you provided a budget. HTIB alternatives were easier back then before all this HDMI and networking.

I am looking at around $1000 for a 5.1 setup with a 7.2 receiver (just in case I decide to add two more). I don't need 3D ready receivers. My gameroom is decent size not Huge. I already got a 60" LED so need something to accompany that. My now retired previous setup was a Onkyo HTIB (purchased 2008) with a Velodyn Sub and I was extremely happy with that.

So if you're happy with the subwoofer do you only need the 5 other speakers? What size? Towers, bookshelf, satellites?

Any new receiver will be 3D capable. Doesn't mean you have to use that feature though.

Does your receiver need networking or internet features?

i have just blocked Denon 1613 receiver costing me 300 dollars.
i have only 500 dollars budget.
can i ask you guys to suggest best available choice for 5.1 speakers costing within 200 dollars.

Polk RM 6750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290066&Tpk=polk%20rm6750

Would you go with the Polks or this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001202C44?ie=UTF8&tag=thewire06-20

Thinking about buying the Onkyo TX-NR4141 and pairing with either of those speakers.....thoughts?

quote name="Shagz" url="/t/1399319/official-samsung-unxxes8000-owners-thread/7250_50#post_22658778"]http://www.whalenstyle.com/category/Entertainment/group/Consoles/000284
Just grabbed this today, Wife loves it..Center channel speaker placement will be tricky with a 5.1. where to put it? Here is what i am looking at don't mind the mess





800.00 or a tad higher is my spending budget.

what do you reccomend?

thanks for your time

Marty
Edited by Shagz - 12/5/12 at 8:50pm

I just wanted to say that this thread helped me out immensely a few years back when I was looking to purchase my first audio system for the beginnings of what would eventually turn into my dedicated home theater room.

At the time, I was dead set on a HTIB solution because for whatever reason, I felt that I didn't need to spend much money on a decent audio system. After reading several comments on the forums about how people were not satisfied with HTIB systems for very long, and then spending more time researching the alternatives, I made the decision to wait and buy something that would hopefully keep me happy for years instead of months.

Here's the system I originally purchased (the Polks were on sale at Frys):

Fronts: Polk RTi8
Center: Polk CSi5
Surrounds: Polk RTi4
Subwoofer: Bic H100
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR505

Upgrades since that time (in order):

Power amp: Emotiva XPA-5 (the Onkyo didn't have pre-outs, so I switched to using my HTPC as the primary source. Lesson learned: always buy a receiver with pre-outs!)
Projector: Epson 8700UB (along with a 106" screen from Monoprice)
Subwoofer: Power Sound Audio XV-15

As you can see, I'm still rocking the original Polk speakers that I bought those years ago, and I'm still quite pleased with their performance when it comes to HT usage. Of course, the rest of my system is beginning to outclass them now, but thanks to my original decision not to throw money at speakers that would of left me wanting for more, I've been able to get a lot more value out of them in the long run as I save each year to upgrade another part of the system.

So my advice to anyone who's on the fence about what to do next, I'd strongly recommend that you take the time to really think about what you want to get out of your system, and then research and keep an eye out for deals to help you slowly piece together something that you're more likely to be satisfied with. Believe me, the upgrade bug hits you sooner than you'd think, so get off to a good start and save yourself some money in the long run!

I have finalized on below configuration:
1. Denon 1613
2. Energy take 5.1 classic

now i need your suggestions / clarifications here if i need these things necessarily:
1. Monoprice 100ft 16AWG Enhanced Loud Oxygen-Free Copper Speaker Wire Cable
2. Sewell Deadbolt Banana Plugs with Fast-Lock Technology, how many i need for this above setup?
3. do i need separate cable for sub-woofer? 1 out from receiver and 2 input to sub ? really confused.

my longest run of cable will be 40 feet.

need your suggestions please.

all purchases will be from amazon. so a definite link to the site would be highly appreciated.

If I wanted to spend 300 would I be better off buying a HTIB or everything separately?