[wyldelee]

I am a 46 year old mom that is a newbie to all this and I am trying to set-up audio/home theater in 2 different houses. One is the living room in a condo and the other is a Great room in the house. I sure could use some help.


I have compiled a list of the components we have and room descriptions.

I was hoping you could offer suggestions or alternatives on what to use where, and how you would set these up?

Components not being used yet:

KEF 2005.2 (4 speakers + center with KEF PSW2150 sub)

Rotel RB-985 MkII amp

Sony TA-E9000ES control amplifier

Velodyne F1200 sub

JBL Studio Series S38BE (pair) with S-Center speaker + pair of JBL Northridge N24's on stands

Room descriptions with TV's, etc.

Condo (14x 12 room, open on one side to the dining/kitchen)

Samsung 4671 HD TV

Brighthouse HD DVR box

Sony PS3 Blue Ray player

House (25x17 Great Room, open on both sides with almost no walls-

-lots of french doors +glass)

7-8 year old Sony 36XBR crt TV that still has a great picture!

SD Satellite DVR box

7-8 year old Yamaha HTR-5440 AV Receiver and some cheap Yamaha home theater speakers that I will probably put in my sons bedroom.


Any help will be most appreciated!

thanks,

mom

 

[wyldelee]

Please Help?


I was thinking that the Kef 2005.2 setup should go in the condo although I am not sure if I should try to power it with the Rotel amp and Sony processor? I only have HD 2 sources; the HD DVR and the PS3 and the TV has 2 HDMI inputs.


Or do you think I should just get one of the new HDMI receivers like a Denon or Onkyo for the condo and use the Rotel and Sony at the house with the JBL speakers and Velodyne F-1200 since I don't have any Hi Def at the house?


Thoughts? opinions? Help?

 

[cavalier240]

You have a lot of options.


I think the key to your setups is going to be to consider how you use the rooms. Your condo set-up looks to me like it is geared more to movies/gaming/etc. As such, I would put the KEF surround system in there since all of the speakers are matched (plus they are smaller and probably fit the room better.)


I don't know much about your current components, but the key to your placements should be in how you intend to use them.


After a bit of quick research, it looks like neither of your receivers has component or hdmi. Since your condo TV has two HD inputs, you could just run the video to the TV (via component) from each source and digital audio to the receiver. This would involve having to change the source on both the TV and the receiver when switching from PS3 to Cable, but if that doesn't bother you, then you can use what you have. If that does bother you, then I would get a new receiver that can do both the audio and HD video switching.


For the house, I would definitely go with the larger speakers for the larger room. Since none of the sources are HD, you don't have to worry about HD video switching.


Now, as to which receiver/pre to put in each place, that is going to depend on how power hungry each set up speakers is (which I do not know).


If it were me, I would get a new receiver with hdmi switching for the condo. This will allow for easy video switching and I assume would provide enough power for those sats. I would then match the sony and the rotel to the bookshelves in the larger space.


Keep the yamaha with the speakers it came with for your son.

 

[wyldelee]

Thank you very much. Exactly the kind of help I was hoping for.


I set up the JBL's and the Velo F-1200 sub at the house and will hook the Sony and Rotel up to them tomorrow.


I found an Onkyo 605 receiver used, but in mint condition, for $175. Do you think that is a good choice for the KEF system at the condo? I only have the PS3 and HD cable/DVR.


thanks again.


p.s. my 12 year old son is psyched he is getting the yamaha surround system for his room.

 

[cavalier240]

I think that would be a good match for the satellite set. That receiver has 2in/1out hdmi, so it should work great for you.