HT Receiver and Speaker set advice

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hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#58366 10-Mar-2010 11:31

I am looking at getting a Home theatre receiver and 5.1 speaker set up and am open to advice.
Budget = $1500 (max $2000)

This will be to go with a Panasonic G10 50" Plasma TV in a medium sized room (see diagram attatched)

I have been down to jb hi fi and harvey norman to check out some options and prices.
Best amp in budget seems to be the Onkyo SR507 which is going for $543 at jb hi fi which seems to be a steal with all the features it has. The Yamaha RX-V465 seems to get better reviews with similar features but the cheapest i could find it was about $850 at HN.
As far as speakers go for a full set at around $1000-$1200 (fronts , centre, rears and sub) i have seen Wharfedale Vardus packs($900 -$1200) and the KEF 2005.3 set ($1288 at JB). Any advice would be much appreciated

Also where are the best locations to place the speakers (see room diagram) and what kind of cable will i need (cheapish but good quality).

Fairly new to Home theatre more of a computer person but have a basic understanding. Lounge Layout

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750 posts

Ultimate Geek

#305930 10-Mar-2010 12:53

We recently had a similar discussion - see the Home Thatre System Take 2 thread below and then pehaps come back with mre questions.

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#305933 10-Mar-2010 12:59

I read that before posting, as far as I can tell that was about half the buget therefore lower end amp and speakers, but I did note the advantages of the Sr507 over the 307. As far as speakers I would like to go higher end than in that post.

minimoke

750 posts

Ultimate Geek

#305941 10-Mar-2010 13:32

hazza87: I read that before posting, as far as I can tell that was about half the buget therefore lower end amp and speakers, but I did note the advantages of the Sr507 over the 307. As far as speakers I would like to go higher end than in that post.

How about going with the SR507 and see how much of your budget is left. Then check out the "Speakers to go with the Onkyo TX 507" thread.

So find retailers with the 507 and arm yourself with a favourite DVD (you'll need one with good 5.1 effects - liek thos ePixar ones) and head down there and ask to trial the different sets of speakers on your shortlist. I'd be initially inclined more towards the Wharfedale than the KEFS (especially those eggs - they just don't do a thing for me).

Perhaps look at a couple of in-cileing rears so you can place them optimally for your three seater and single seater. Alternatively get a couple of bookslelves (they may come in the 5.1 speaker pack) so they can be wall mounted on the left and right hand walls above and behind your seating.

Whats your budget after you buy the 507? What Blu ray / DVD / gaming player do you have / intend to get? Do you want speakers for music? You might get more pointers from there.

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#306187 11-Mar-2010 10:37

Budget after the 507 will be about $1000 - $1300
I have a panasonic BD60 blu ray player, my sky hdi and my sons PS3 which is occassionaly used on this tv for gaming. The Home theatre will be for mostly blu ray movies and the odd bit of music. The house is a rental so will be looking at bookshelf rears on stands probably as in ceiling will deinetly be out and wall mounting probably out too.

Handle9

11394 posts

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#306195 11-Mar-2010 10:59

You've got a few good options in that price range.

If you want a sub/satellite system the KEF 2005.3 can be had for from JB Hifi. They run a $1295 special every couple of months so you can probably work on them for that price. These are a nice sub satellite system and will eat your room.

Alternatively for floor standers / bookshelf speakers the Wharfedale Diamond 9 HT pack can be bought for $1200. You'll probably need to do some work to get it to that price (Harvey Norman vs JB) but you can get it. The Diamond 9 is the previous generation of Diamonds (they're on to Diamond 10s now) but is still available and damn good value.

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#306199 11-Mar-2010 11:10

Jb Hi Fi in westgate would not sell the diamond 9 ht pack on its own and said they could only sell it in the pack with a cheapo pioneer amp. I think Harvey Norman did have them though i think list price was $1999.

Handle9

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#306207 11-Mar-2010 11:22

Harvey Norman's list prices are a joke. They're there to sucker people into thinking that they're getting a good deal. The way you get a deal is that you tell them that JB Hifi will do the speakers and amp for $1750. Doesn't matter whether they will or not, most of the time they will price match on the spot.

If you want to buy from JB Hifi go in there and tell them you don't want the Pioneer amp and Harvey Norman will sell you the speakers and Onkyo amp for $1750 and it's up to them whether they want the sale or not. Once again the thought of the sale walking out the door usually gets them to come to the party.

If they don't get in your car and go to the next Harvey Norman/JB Hifi and try again. You will be amazed as to what you can buy stuff for by being a little creative with the truth. I know it's a bit unethical but it's a bit like buying a house or a car these days. You know what you want, and what you're prepared to pay, so if you appear confident to the sales person they'll normally cave.

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hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#307057 14-Mar-2010 12:04

Ok i am going down this afternoon to see what deals i can get, probably purchasing today.
What kind of cable will i need to connect up the speakers and sub? good quality but not the $20/m stuff. Any advice?

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#307198 14-Mar-2010 21:09

Handle9: Harvey Norman's list prices are a joke. They're there to sucker people into thinking that they're getting a good deal. The way you get a deal is that you tell them that JB Hifi will do the speakers and amp for $1750. Doesn't matter whether they will or not, most of the time they will price match on the spot.

If you want to buy from JB Hifi go in there and tell them you don't want the Pioneer amp and Harvey Norman will sell you the speakers and Onkyo amp for $1750 and it's up to them whether they want the sale or not. Once again the thought of the sale walking out the door usually gets them to come to the party.

If they don't get in your car and go to the next Harvey Norman/JB Hifi and try again. You will be amazed as to what you can buy stuff for by being a little creative with the truth. I know it's a bit unethical but it's a bit like buying a house or a car these days. You know what you want, and what you're prepared to pay, so if you appear confident to the sales person they'll normally cave.

I've been asked for a 'written quote' before.
Being vague about what the other stores will do only seems to work with certain sales people.
I did go into a store with a mate once who said 'But Harvey Norman will do it for 50 dollars less, what will you do?'
To which the sales person replied 'But Harvey Norman don't do Fisher and Paykel'...
My mate just said something unintelligable and we left.
I lol'd.

samwooff

219 posts

Master Geek

#307234 14-Mar-2010 23:33

I'm all for trying to get the best deal but retailers aren't that stupid, I work for one I should know :P
You can try your best to bluff your way into a price match but policy in my store now is it has to be advertised or written quote, by all means do try and be a little creative with the truth but don't expect every manager to buy it.
As for speaker cable, as long as it's of an appropriate gauge; 14-16 awg for runs around 5m or under, if you're going much longer than that I'd consider even thicker like 12ish. If you're unfamiliar with the american wiring grade scale a smaller number is a thicker cable. Anything from a reputable store is fine apart from that don't buy into super silver oxide coating or whatever for $1,000,000/m probably more like $5/m.
Subwoofer cable is essentially an RCA cable, you can get ones with a little bit more shielding to them which are marketed as purpose made "subwoofer cables"

Desktop: i7 920, GTX 275, asus P6T, antec 1200, 6gb ram, 1tb spinpoint f1, 1tb spinpoint f3, Logitech Z2300, Zero DAC, Shure SRH440
Laptop: Toshiba satellite, T5300, Go 7300
Home Theatre: 32" loewe CRT, Harmon kardon amp, dvd player, image 418 speakers, rega planar 25 turntable :)

Handle9

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#307256 15-Mar-2010 08:15

When you're bluffing the key is to make it a realistic price, not something crazy. You know what both components can be bought for, you know that both stores can do them for that price and you just need to convince someone to do it for that price.

If you were asking for some thing unrealistic, or trying a price match for a store that doesn't stock then you haven't done your homework and don't deserve a great price. It's just a big game.

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#307686 16-Mar-2010 09:43

Ok, on sunday i got the Onkyo 507 and Wharfedale Vardus Speaker pack for $1300, got the amp for $500 and the speakers for $800 all from JB Hi Fi. I got the speaker cable from there aswell to save hassle, Audioquest 14AWG dual insulated stuff which the guy gave me for $3/m (List was $7/m). Set it all up on sunday and tested it out with a blu ray and a couple of cds. Very impressed with the sound much better than old home theatre in a box.
Only question now is getting all the settings right, I have the my sky outputting Dolby over HDMI to the amp (Amp has dolby light on for TV1,2,3 Sky Sport 1,2 and PCM light for everything else) amp is set to direct audio mode which is supposed to just use whatever audio is sent to it. Any other settings i need to think about?

I did the Auddesey auto callibration thing with the mic at the start too.

Jaxson

8042 posts

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#307712 16-Mar-2010 10:39

hazza87: amp is set to direct audio mode

I did the Auddesey auto callibration thing with the mic at the start too.

Hey just check something there. It may be different on the newer amps, I have an earlier Onkyo.

The direct mode from memory skips any setup info configured by the audyssey process.
This may not be the best setup for you as you won't benefit from any compensation settings applied to level out your speakers.

clevedon

1059 posts

Uber Geek

#307769 16-Mar-2010 12:12

I think Jaxson is right, I use Multichannel setting.

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#308256 17-Mar-2010 13:03

I have now connected up the last piece of equipment into my setup, A HDMI splitter and cable from there to the 2nd TV (Sony 40" LCD).

This adds a new problem to the amp settings and my sky settings, in order to get the sound to pass to the other TV i have had to set the my sky hdi to pass MPEG/PCM over HDMI instead of Dolby, (on dolby sony had no sound and said unsupported audio format) This means that the amp is also now recieving MPEG/PCM in the main lounge.

What is the difference between these my sky settings and what setting should the onkyo amp be on for this? Is there a better way around this?

See The onkyo manual here (Page 59) for listening mode settings available on this amp, only some are available on this input.

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