[ldw]



Hi - I am a newbie to HT and am looking for some help deciding on speakers. I got a Kenwood VR-309 last week and hooked it up with some speakers I had around the house. 2 of them are from a Pioneer mini-system and the other 2 are KLH - I don't know anything about them.


Anyway, it sounds pretty good to me but I want to get set up with a center channel and subwoofer. Here are the options I've been thinking about, I'm trying to keep this under maybe $800 or so.


1. Get the Energy Take5 set. I've read that these may be a little lacking for music so I would also hook up a couple of the speakers I have already to try and offset that. (I need to go back and have another listen to check this for myself)


2. Just get a center and subwoofer. Though I heard the center and fronts should be matched to get even sound? So that may leave me getting center, fronts, and sub.


Sorry for the lengthy post but any suggestions would be very helpful. I want to keep this setup open to upgrades in the future - seems like option 2 would be the best bet for that but I don't know.


thanks, larry

 

[avdoc]

Larry,


Welcome to the home theater group. Once you get the bug, upgrades are nearly unavoidable. In fact, I don't think you really get a good handle on home theater or audio until you've put together a couple systems. About your questions, the center channel handles about 70% of the dialogue and music in a home theater and if you listen to music in Dolby 3, it's also 70%. This makes the center channel the most important speaker. So, if you are happy with your current speakers, I don't see anything wrong with just getting a new center channel speaker and subwoofer. The problem is that when sound pans across the soundstage, you may notice the mismatch in speakers. This doesn't happen too often, so it shouldn't be a huge problem.


However, many people, myself included, do not use a center but prefer the phantom center setting for DD or Prologic. As long as you normally only have two people in the sweet spot the phantom center can often sound much better than a true center channel. Thus you may want to either keep the speakers you have now or get a new pair for mains and forget the center channel.


As far as subwoofers go, they really do make the home theater experience. If you are planning upgrades fairly soon, it may be best to invest your $800 in a good quality subwoofer that will last you a few years now and get new speakers later. My wife wasn't very interested in my home theater stuff until I got a good subwoofer. Once I did she now loves to watch movies. So if you're married this may be a good way to ensure future upgrades. Check out the TN1225 with the 250W amp from www.hsuresearch.com, I think it's around $800. I have the ACI Titan sub from www.audioc.com. It has a much better appearance than the TN1225 and is much more sturdy. It does not generate the high SPLs that the TN1225 does, but even in my rather largish room the Titan is more than loud enough for me. The Titan also is about $800. Both subs allow for a 30 day in-home trial. Get a good demo/setup disc (I use the Delos International disc) and a SPL meter from Radio Shack before you start auditioning subwoofers.

 

[Rachael Bellomy]

The speakers are the most important

and unfortunatly often the most

expensive part of the set-up.I'd

look also at ATLANTIC TECHNOLOGY and

PARADIGM.I think dialog is often

times a little muddy without a center

speaker. Without a center,the left

and right must do music and effects

and dialog,all at once.ENERGY and

PARADIGM are made in Canada and you

get alot of value for your dollars!

I don't know where ATLANTIC TECH. are

made but every system I've seen from

them rocks on movies!I own speakers

from all three of these brands! But,

I'm a real audio-vidiot! If you do

not buy your whole speaker system all,

at once,make sure you're not buying

models that will be discontinued before you go back for the rest!


------------------


Ms. Bitchlist