[ProSpud]

Hey all. I have a roommate moving out soon, and with him goes his speakers in the living room. We never really had a good speaker setup, so looks like I'm able to start clean. I have a 55" TV mounted on the wall, and a Denon 1911 receiver that I just recently purchased. So I have two questions - what would you recommend for speakers on a $1500 - $2000 budget (5.1 setup preferred), and how would you recommend placing them in the layout below (sorry for the crudeness, not up to scale)? There are 21ft. from the support beam to the opposite wall as shown, and 14ft between the TV and the back wall. Beyond the support beam is the dining room. The couch sits against the wall, so I am unsure where the rear speakers should go.


I plan on listening to many speakers later on while I search, but wanted to get some ideas where I should look, and what to look for. Does anyone know of any good places to go in the Austin, TX area? Thanks again.

 

[ProSpud]

I should probably add, the ceiling is 9 ft. tall.

 

[ProSpud]

I also have another concern now that I'm researching. I want to hide my speaker wires, but am unsure as to how I should go about it for the rear speakers. I'm obviously going to do any work myself. The TV mount wires are hidden via a PowerBridge solution which worked quite well for me. My house is two stories - the living room is on the first floor, and I don't have a basement, so am wondering if running the speaker wires across the inside of the walls is near impossible since the attic would be too far away to assist in running the wire.


I am getting wooden floors installed soon. Should I perhaps run the wiring below the wooden floors? However, this solution would mean that the wire run would be permanent and could never change...


Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[m_vanmeter]

in a 5.1 setup, the two surround speakers are really "sides"
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/setup/...ide/index.html


one option is to get "flat wire", 18 gauge (or the more expensive 14 gauge), and run 4 conductors under the flooring (make sure installers do not drive nails into the wiring) to the area behind the couch, come out from under the flooring there and up the wall to above the baseboard and put the connection box for the L and R side surround. http://www.flatwireready.com/products/audio.html this is one supplier.


The other option is to run conventional 4 conductor speaker wire along, and behind the baseboard, under the threshold in the "entry way" and around the wall to a position behind the couch.


Are you going to continue with a new room mate ? If so, then I would dial back the speaker budget a bit.


Two great "bang for the buck" speaker options available via the internet are Polk Monitor series speakers from www.newegg.com and Infinity Primus speakers from www.crutchfield.com

 

[ProSpud]

Well...I'm getting married, so yeah, I'll def have a new roommate.

So would you suggest wall mounting the two surrounds, or just having them on stands?

 

[jmoline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProSpud I am getting wooden floors installed soon. Should I perhaps run the wiring below the wooden floors? However, this solution would mean that the wire run would be permanent and could never change... Anyone have any suggestions?

The new floors may well require baseboard trim to be installed. You could hide the wires behind the baseboards and run the wires around the room just above the floor. If you want the wires hidden all the way to the speaker, you'll have to settle on exactly where the speakers are mounted before the baseboards are installed. You could probably cut a hole in the wallboard behind the speaker, drop the wire to floor level and then run the wire around the base of the wall prior to the installation of the hardwood floors. The wire could then be hidden when the baseboards are installed.


As for speakers, I've built a complete surround system using speakers obtained from EBAY. Prices run from 25 to 50 per cent of retail. But be warned ... buy at the top of your budget, otherwise you'll be in a constant desire for upgrade as you find great deals on better sets of speakers.

 

[m_vanmeter]

I would put the two surrounds on stands, based on the open nature of the floor plan....or get towers, like the Polk Monitor 50 (which would be equivelent to Monitor 40's on stands) or the Infinity Primus P252. The main L&R could be Polk Monitor 60 or 70 towers or Infinity Primus P362 towers.


good luck with the new "roommate"

 

[ProSpud]

I have been looking at the B&W 600 series, and actually have listened to the 685s before and was really impressed. How do they compare to the Infinity speakers you are suggesting?


Also, if I do decide to put the speaker wire under the floor and make an outlet for each speaker on the rear wall (where the couch is), do I need to get in-wall rated wiring? I would assume so since some of the wire would go in the wall to make the outlet anyway. Would there be any other concerns if I did it this way?

 

[Type A]

The 685 is a bookshelf, the 252 is a tower. A better comparison is a 685 and Infinity P162, both rated good speakers and about the same...the BW might have the edge in high freq performance. I have 6 162's (wall mounted with am40 brackets) and a pc350 center that all cross over at 80 hz to twin hsu vtf2 mark 3 subs, for this the 162 is excellent. Also see the Infinity primus thread for the mods Ive made to all my infinity primus speakers. I wouldnt bother with towers in your budget, buy a sub and cross everything over at 80 hz, which either the bw or infinity will do well. I would go with whichever you can get a better deal on and get a good sub (or better yet two when money permits)

 

[ProSpud]

I'll have to give the Infinity P162s a listen. They are much cheaper than the B&Ws, so seems hard to believe that the two would be comparible. But if I like them, I'll go for the cheaper any day.


Is it not possible to run the speaker cable in a two story house from the attic to the 1st floor? Just wondering if I would still have that option...

 

[Type A]

The B&W could well be a vastly superior speaker compared to the infinity, and that much higher price might well be justified. I just know they are both high rated in their class. I know taking lots of time (but little money) to add a 1/4" of anti-vibration and a 1/2" of anti reflection material to the insides of the $85 162's cabinet was a lot of work but it did make the 162 a much better speaker than it was stock (especially for the money), the B&W could have a better interior cabinet construction from the start without you having to do time consuming mods...


The length of your speaker cable runs changes the recommended thickness for your cables. So, its a little more expensive to run cable longer lengths, but its possible. You can google recommend speaker cable gauge for more specific info...

 

[m_vanmeter]

have you priced B&W speakers ? 5 regular B&W speakers (not the mini-bundle) within your budget will be difficult when the subwoofer is included, that is why the Polk Monitors and Infinity Primus speakers were mentioned. Also, google Infinity Classia speakers currently on sale with various on-line dealers.

 

[ProSpud]

What about PSB speakers. I listened to the Image B6s and really liked them. I can't really make up my mind between the B&W 685s and these. I can get them for around the same price...

 

[ProSpud]



Quote:
Originally Posted by m_vanmeter /forum/post/19529015


have you priced B&W speakers ? 5 regular B&W speakers (not the mini-bundle) within your budget will be difficult when the subwoofer is included, that is why the Polk Monitors and Infinity Primus speakers were mentioned. Also, google Infinity Classia speakers currently on sale with various on-line dealers.

Well, I think I'll plan on building up the system slowly over time. I'm considering PSB images or B&W with something like a HSU sub (something like a STF-2 or maybe even a VTF-2 MK3). However, I'm not sure how well the sub will match with the speakers, so am trying to figure out a way to listen to them with the sub.

 

[ProSpud]

Another question on rear speaker placement...what about putting them on the floor facing up behind furniture, like the couch?