the receiver for me?

T

todlerix

2[H]4U
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Apr 25, 2003
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i ' m thinking about getting myself an audio setup for christmas (late christmas :X)

a receiver and speakers + sub

i have a PS3 and PC.

PS3 has optical out/hdmi
my pc has optical out

i haven't decided between 5.1 and 7.1 (i'd like your help on that)

i haven't the slightest for which speakers and subs to get, anyone have a good surround sound audio file i can use to test out speakers?

and also the receiver, what codecs are a must?
 
well it would be good if you can tell us a budget you have to work with. Without it we would recommend you stuff that would cost you some 10 grand :p

As for codecs if you plan on watching Bluray stuff with ur PS3 get something with Dolby TrueHD/DTS Master HD
 
I'd go for an upgradeable system.
Relatively inexpensive identical fronts and rears that have acceptable sound quality and can be replaced with larger speakers when you get more $$$. Reasonable subwoofer that won't need to be upgraded.

The best bang for your buck receiver right now is the Onkyo TX-SR605 ($360 if you shop wisely http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=701233 ) it does all the HDMI 1.3 audio decoding of the advanced formats and has a lot of inputs. HOWEVER, you have to note that it just has an HDMI switch and doesn't do HDMI transcoding, (I'm not aware of any AV receivers that actually transcode between HDMI 1.3 and 1.2) so if you have non HDMI1.3 display (all computer monitors with DVI and I'm not aware of any HDMI 1.3 computer monitors) it'll bump down your PS3 to HDMI 1.2 and you won't get the advanced audio. :-<

I'd suggest a speaker package from HSU Research, the performance 2 for $550 which includes their innovative Ventriloquist 6 speaker surround set and solid STF-2 10" Subwoofer. http://hsuresearch.com/products/performance2.html
The subwoofer will be enough for a bedroom sized room and should be good enough to match upgraded bookshelf sized speakers when you want to upgrade.

I have the ventriloquist speakers in my bedroom and use them mainly for gaming attached to an old 5.1 Denon receiver and two Hsu Research designed 8" subwoofers. They're really good for gaming... I don't use them for listening to music much other than streaming internet radio stations.

Anyways, a $60 pair of Grado SR-60's headphones will blow away any sub 2 grand surround sound speaker systems for listening to music.

If you up your budget up to $1500, that'll open up a *much* wider choice of bookshelf speakers that are the next step up in quality.
 
To start out with, I'd be surprised if you want anything more than the Onkyo 790 or whatever model replaced it. Relatively cheap and comes with everything you need to start your HT set.

Under $400-500 for the most part.
 
how much better would a 500 or 1000 or 1500 dollar setup be compared to the 80 dollar 5.1 logitech pc speakers i've had for like 2 years?
 
todlerix said:
how much better would a 500 or 1000 or 1500 dollar setup be compared to the 80 dollar 5.1 logitech pc speakers i've had for like 2 years?
Click to expand...

OMG... dude.. the Onkyo I just mentioned would take your Logitech and poop it out of its ports.

No joke.

You're in for a treat, regardless if you're not an audiophile.

Know this, if someone took away my ENTIRE audio setup (look at sig) and told me that I had to live with the Onkyo (above)... it would suck hard, but the Onkyo would be OK with me if I had no choice.
 
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