[mandretta]

So Im new to this stuff (read I have no idea what i'm doing). I got a big tv, and now I really want my movies and games to sound better. I got a JVC rx-778v http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/95/LVT0171-001A.pdf and some polk monitor 30 speakers at a garage sale for $30. So can you guys give me some good suggestions to finish out my system. I am trying to keep it budget friendly as possible. I also plan on using monoprice for all the cables and plugs that I will need. Any newbie advice is also appreciated.

 

[mcnarus]

How many speakers do you have? A complete set would include 5, plus a subwoofer.

 

[commsysman]

I would suggest that you get two more Polk Monitor 30 speakers and a CS10 center speaker, plus a PSW505 subwoofer when you can afford it. Amazon has them.


Monoprice $2820 14 gauge speaker wire, which is only $23 for 100 feet, will work nicely.

 

[m_vanmeter]

+1 ^

14 gauge "sheathed" wire is nice looking, and for some reason, slightly less expensive on this site than the plain insulated wire.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023902&p_id=2820&seq=1&format=2


what is you budget to finish out your system ?

do you want a full 5.1 home theater set-up ?


your older JVC receiver can handle Dolby Digital 5.1 with Toslink optical fiber connections between a DVD player and/or a cable or satellite box.....or the optical out from your TV if you are using a TV antenna to receive programming "over-the-air" (using the internal tuner on the TV)

www.newegg.com is an excellent source of current new production Polk Monitor (Series II) speakers. They have a daily-weekly email sale and you can sign up for their "e-Blast" email delivery - this will let you know when the Monitors are on sale (usually with free shipping). You may have to wait a couple of weeks, but most of the Monitor series come up for sale (30's through the 70's) every month or so.


for a small room, a set of 4 Monitor 30 bookshelf speakers and a CS1 center channel will make a nice 5 speaker setup - add separate powered subwoofer when the budget allows. You can also consider using some of the larger Polk Monitor speakers for the "front 3" speakers, since they carry about 90% of the movie soundtrack audio information. The largest bookshelf speakers are the Monitor 40's, then you get into the tower speaker configurations - - - the Monitor 50, 60, and 70 towers.

 

[mandretta]

I have 2 of the monitor 30's, and yes I would like a complete 5.1 system. The room is smaller (prob 18X12), but opens up to other rooms so i'm not sure if that affects the sound much. I want to use the system mainly for watching movies and playing games through the xbox 360 which I have hooked up with HDMI to my tv. I have also considered "hiding" everything in the closet behind the room and using some sort of IR receiver so that the only thing in the room is the tv and the speakers. I haven't fully looked into the cost or complexity of this yet though. If I could do the whole thing for $250-$300 I would be happy (my wife wouldn't kill me). Up to $350 would probably be possible but I would have to have a really good reason for it; as in the sound quality is x amount better.

 

[m_vanmeter]

OK, you can easily add two more Monitor 30's and a CS1 center within your budget. Sign up for the Newegg e-Blast email sales notices and wait for the speakers to to be heavily discounted again....


The Monitor30 speakers are on a sorta-decent sale at $99 a pair plus free shipping July 9th is the end of the sale
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290200&Tpk=monitor30


The CS1 center channel is also on sale through July 9th also http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290210


short notice......but these deals will return within several weeks if you miss them