[SabreOfSD]

Hello all!

Presently, I am thinking of seeting up my first HT and was looking to spend around $500 for a receiver and about the same on speakers. I think I have narrowed it down to the following:

Denon AVR-1803

Energy Take 5.2 system


I havn't thought about the brand of wire yet, Any suggestions on that?

Opinions and suggestions more than welcome for the whole thing of course

 

[Joe_M]

The Energy 5.2 system is well liked as a budget system. I have a Denon 1802 which I am very happy with. For audio video cables, Acoustic Research makes good quality at a reasonable price. For speaker wire any good quality 12ga-14ga is just fine.

 

[David_Larkins]

Sabre:


Welcome to the forum!


Both of the choices that you have made are very highly regarded on this forum. I think that you'll be happy with them. As for wires/cables, you should be fine with 14 or 12 ga like Joe said - depending on how far the runs are. I also agree that acoustic research as well as monster cable make some good quality cables at reasonable prices.


Good Luck and Happy Holidays!!


David

 

[SabreOfSD]

Hello Joe and David!

Thanks for the advice on the system! I will take a look at the Accustic Research cables when I start buying this setup (hopefully within the next week!). I will more than likely try to go with 12ga speaker wire since I want to do this right

Anyway, thanks again for the advise and the greetings I'll probably be back with more questions while setting this all up!

 

[amillians]

Both choices are well regarded, but I would offer up another option for consideration--putting more of your budget into the speakers (and thus less into the receiver). I'm a big believer that speakers have the biggest impact on the overall sound (outside of the room, of course).


The AVR-1803 is about $360 online and the Take 5.2 with the S8.2 sub is about $600 online.


What about "moving down" to something like the Denon AVR-1403 (about $230 online) and "moving up" to an entry level Paradigm setup? I fully agree that at $600, the Take 5.2 is all but impossible to beat in terms of value, but moving $130 to the speaker budget would allow you to get pretty close to the price of a significant step up in the food chain (4 Paradigm Atoms, a CC-170 and a PDR-10, probably around $840 from a dealer willing to haggle...dropping down to the smaller PDR-8 would probably get you to just under $800 for the speakers).


The Take 5.2 is good, but the Atoms + CC-170 + PDR-8/10 is a big improvement, for not much more than you were looking at spending overall, assuming you agree with sliding more of the budget towards the speakers. Just food for throught...

 

[shadowpuppet]

I agree with amillians assessment. If you're looking into growing your theater long-term (as most of us do ), investing more funds into the speakers may be a better option. Most people will tend to keep their speakers for a decade or two as opposed to the 18-24 months for an average "usable lifetime" receiver. It's a simple matter of technological developemnt - speakers are really fundamentally as good as they can get. Buy a really great set that you love and stick with them for years. Receivers on the other hand are always improving...

 

[Jeff Hovis]

You didn't say how large your space is. I have a set of Energy 5.1s and the 8" sub. They are in a 12x11 space in my basement. They are powered by an older Denon AVR 600 and are great in that small space. However, I am now getting a lot more space in the basement and I'm upgrading everthing. If you have a small space, then the 5.2s are going to be very nice and they are so small and unobtrusive. But like others said, you can go with a less powerful receiver. I bought them about 5-yrs ago and at that time, they were more expensive than now. For the same money and even a few hundred more, there was nothing like them. I think it comes down to your space.