[wrangle187]

Hi All-
I am moving houses and leaving behind all current equipment as part of the home sale. I currently have an "open" theater with Infinity Primus 363 up front with matching Infinity Center and 4 surrounds. I have a Panasonic 4000 projector, Denon 3311 amp and 117" Stewart Firehawk screen. I am already leaning towards Fusion Tribute or Escapes for the seats. This is my chance to update! From the sticky above, here is the info on the new theater:


1) Your budget.
No set dollar amount...10k for speakers, screen, receiver. I am willing to pay for great sound, but I know you can spend 1,000's extra on fractional improvements...I'd like to stop short of this!

2) Your listening interests: movies/gaming/music--and whether or not any of those are your primary concern.
Movies, TV and some gaming. Mostly interested in creating surround for Movies though.

3) Your existing audio equipment (make/models) if any. Include comments about what you hope to improve upon.
Infinity Primus 363 towers (2), matching Infinity Center (1), 10" Infinity sub, Infinity bookshelves(4) (much older- Betas?). I would like to keep the 7.1 and possibly consider Atmos/DTSx when it comes out ( I don't know much about this, but I think I need it!)

4) The size of your room. Please also mention if there are adjacent open areas and how big they are (important for subwoofer choice).
17' wide x 20' long. 6 chairs on a back riser (riser is 7' deep), 4 chairs in front of that

5) Any placement restrictions.
Pre-wired for 7.1, but should be able to adjust. This is a closed theater, so no restrictions.


6) Any aesthetic or size concerns.
No


7) Any equipment you are already considering (or would not consider).
Bose! Just kidding. Still unclear what type of "surrounds" to consider- monpole or bipole?


8) Any particular audio sonic signatures you know you prefer (e.g., you are a basshead, you have a preference for bright treble, etc.)
No


Thanks in advance for all the input...I've spent hours reading threads and have made no progress! Any thoughts on screen an receiver appreciated as well.
Josh

 

[shadyJ]

For some speakers and subs, I would give Jeremy at Reaction Audio a call and see what he could do for you. It looks like for affordable high performance home theater systems, Reaction is a top value at the moment. There are also some very good looking options from JBL pro as well. Are you doing an AT screen? How high is your ceiling- that will be a factor with what Atmos speakers you can use.

 

[drunkpenguin]

I can only recomend what I know...

I have a 120" CIH Carada Screen, you could go bigger and stay within $1000

Complete 7.1 Power Sound Audio speakers, $4,549.00

Receiver, a million options but I would go Marantz SR7008, $1600

SVS PC13 Ultra Sub, $1700

Grand total $8859, under budget even! And you would not be disappointed

 

[darthray]

I can only recomend what I know...

I have a 120" CIH Carada Screen, you could go bigger and stay within $1000

Complete 7.1 Power Sound Audio speakers, $4,549.00

Receiver, a million options but I would go Marantz SR7008, $1600

SVS PC13 Ultra Sub, $1700

Grand total $8859, under budget even! And you would not be disappointed

Good suggestions to the OP


The OP might also want to look at speaker from
http://www.aperionaudio.com/speakers/speakers-by-series/verus since they make great speakers but their sub is there weakness.
They could be match with a sub from SVS, PSA or HSU.
http://www.svsound.com/subwoofers
http://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/subwoofers
http://www.hsuresearch.com/subwoofers.html


The last 3 links also offer speakers with good following as good speakers.


I also second carada for the screen
http://www.carada.com/
Good quality screen for a descent price.


All of these companies are know to offer good product with good customer services


So good luck to the OP in his/her search.


Ray

 

[dsrussell]

As surprising as this sounds, it's much easier to give recommendations to people with tight budgets than with generous budgets. That's because there may be only a handful of options to choose on a tight budget, where the world is your oyster (or so they say) when you have a generous budget (the list of speakers and subwoofers can be daunting).

Let's start with subwoofers. Since your room is considered on the top end of a medium size room (1,500 to 3,000 cu. ft.), you may feel your subwoofer needs aren't demanding. Normally, they wouldn't be, but since you have such a large seating area (and 10 seats), one is looking at multiple subs in order to cover that large of an area. Normally, I tell people to try out one subwoofer first, to see how well it performs. But in your case, I'd suggest buying two, with thoughts of a third down the road if needed. The usual suspects are Seaton Sound, JTR Speakers, Funk Audio (the high end) and Rythmik Audio, Reaction Audio, Hsu Research, SVS and Power Sound Audio (PSA) for great bang-for-the-buck subs (but hardly inexpensive).

As far as speakers, I consider dedicated theaters to be quite different from speakers in the living room or family room. One is usually looking for sensitive speakers with compression drivers. The reason is to attain reference levels without prodigious power requirements. Here you have several I.D. vendors to choose from (that I'm immediately familiar with): Seaton Sound, JTR Speakers, Reaction Audio and PSA. You may also want to check with Funk Audio (the custom house for speakers and subwoofers).

Because of the need for multiple subwoofers, your budget may be skewed more than others toward the subwoofer end. But take a look at these companies and see what they have to offer. Talk with them on the phone and/or email them (some companies have "chat" capability on their websites).

 

[drunkpenguin]

Good point but adding a 2nd sub later would be very easy to do.

 

[drunkpenguin]

Also his room is slightly smaller than mine plus I have 10' ceilings and the svs fills it effortlessly.

 

[dsrussell]

^ drunkpenguin: But does it fill 2 rows and 10 seats? Normally, one is lucky to have great bass at just the couch position.

 

[jbrown15]

Some have already mentioned Reaction Audio and having owned them for myself I'd have to agree. They offer great value and a crap load of awesome performance. For example you could get three of their new CX-12t speakers for LCR's, four CX-8's for surrounds and two of their new ported 18" subs. All of that would come too $7620 shipped and they are offering a 15% discount to anyone buying complete systems so after the discount that full 7.2 setup would cost you $6500 shipped. That's a hell of a deal.

 

[drunkpenguin]

^ drunkpenguin: But does it fill 2 rows and 10 seats? Normally, one is lucky to have great bass at just the couch position.

I have 2 rows, 4 up front and 3 in back. Honestly the back row has been used maybe twice. The base is better back there but I'm not popular enough to fill it very often.

 

[dsrussell]

^ Okay, you got me laughing hard!

 

[wrangle187]

Thank you for all the suggestions so far...I love having the help/direction! Any additional suggestions welcome!

 

[jbrown15]

If you are considering a acoustically transparent screen I highly recommend Falcon screens, I've personally had two of them. First I started up with a 120" 16:9 screen and recently switched to their new Horizon material and went with a 125" 2.35:1 scope screen. I use to also have a 112" 16:9 Grandview screen, which was a great screen for the money.

 

[darthray]

I have 2 rows, 4 up front and 3 in back. Honestly the back row has been used maybe twice. The base is better back there but I'm not popular enough to fill it very often.

Same boat, two front seat and 3 in the back
My back seat as been use 2 or 3 times in the last 10 years.


And I do give-up the sweet spot for those few time, just to give my guest a better experience
This is why, I calibrate for the sweet spot only.


Ray