Ideas on a simple Speaker setup

[RyanWakileh]

I’m helping out a family member right now. They are renovating their house and we’re considering a cheap in home speaker setup for inside of their living room. Preferably under $500. Front and rear audio channels would be nice, as well as in ceiling speakers but we don’t want to have to buy a receiver unless it is totally necessary. Im wondering is their any way to connect speakers directly to a tv. We don’t want a sound bar bc we want rear audio channels. And the tv doesn’t have Bluetooth capabilities. Does anybody have any ideas on what can be done. And if so can you send me a yt video with general instruction on how to setup that kind of speaker setup. Thanks!

[Blue4130]

5 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

I’m helping out a family member right now. They are renovating their house and we’re considering a cheap in home speaker setup for inside of their living room. Preferably under $500. Front and rear audio channels would be nice, as well as in ceiling speakers but we don’t want to have to buy a receiver unless it is totally necessary. Im wondering is their any way to connect speakers directly to a tv. We don’t want a sound bar bc we want rear audio channels. And the tv doesn’t have Bluetooth capabilities. Does anybody have any ideas on what can be done. And if so can you send me a yt video with general instruction on how to setup that kind of speaker setup. Thanks!

I don't think any TV has a surround decoder built in. You pretty much need a receiver to get surround. 

[RyanWakileh]

3 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

I don't think any TV has a surround decoder built in. You pretty much need a receiver to get surround. 

Is their a speaker system where the center channel is wired into the tv and the rest of the speakers are connected over Bluetooth to the center channel while they all still work together simultaneously? Preferably an in ceiling speaker system.

[venomtail]

I bought a soundbar and was very impressed by it. How would bouncing soundbar be worse than rear speakers?

[tikker]

15 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

Preferably under $500. Front and rear audio channels would be nice, as well as in ceiling speakers but we don’t want to have to buy a receiver unless it is totally necessary.

You'll be hard-pressed to get front rear and in-ceiling all for $500.

16 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

We don’t want a sound bar bc we want rear audio channels. And the tv doesn’t have Bluetooth capabilities.

There are soundbars with satellites and that take HDMI (using ARC/eARC). LTT has had some on their channel over time. From what I remember the good ones with satellites do are more in the $500-1000 range though.

8 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

Preferably an in ceiling speaker system.

Why the focus/preference for in-ceiling? Those are typically for Atmos channels. High(er)-end soundbars have gotten pretty good the last years from what I read, but it's still true that a good surround setup will cost some money.

[IPD]

In-ceiling = 3D sound (aka non-planar).  Soundbars with atmos like this are already pushing $500.  I think this is a tall order to achieve.

[RyanWakileh]

1 minute ago, tikker said:

You'll be hard-pressed to get front rear and in-ceiling all for $500.

There are soundbars with satellites and that take HDMI (using ARC/eARC). LTT has had some on their channel over time. From what I remember the good ones with satellites do are more in the $500-1000 range though.

Why the focus/preference for in-ceiling? Those are typically for Atmos channels. High(er)-end soundbars have gotten pretty good the last years from what I read, but it's still true that a good surround setup will cost some money.

Because we have a large living room and to hear from the back of the room where the couches are the tv volume has to be turned up very high. $750 MAX. Any solutions other then a sound-bar. That would be one of the last options.

[IPD]

29 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

we don’t want to have to buy a receiver unless it is totally necessary.

 

It is totally necessary, based on the criteria you have listed.  And since a quality one that will do 3D speaker placement is going to cost you in the ballpark of $400-500 minimum, you should make peace with that idea.

 

 

[RyanWakileh]

4 minutes ago, IPD said:

 

It is totally necessary, based on the criteria you have listed.  And since a quality one that will do 3D speaker placement is going to cost you in the ballpark of $400-500 minimum, you should make peace with that idea.

 

 

Ok, but does anybody have an idea on best way to setup speaker with receiver. And if so could they please send a yet video with general instructions on how to set it up. Also do you think a subwoofer is worth it.

[tikker]

13 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

Because we have a large living room and to hear from the back of the room where the couches are the tv volume has to be turned up very high. $750 MAX. Any solutions other then a sound-bar. That would be one of the last options.

That has little to do with in-ceiling. In-ceiling fires down, so they do little for reaching horizontal distance and would be more for "filling the gap" so to speak e.g. in covering a large room. I'm assuming "back of the room where the couches are" means the couches are up against a wall? If so then it's lesser still, as the in-ceilings, when used for Atmos doing surround-sound duty, should be above the listener, and surrounds should be to the side of and slightly behind the listening position.

 

What is the room layout? Could you sketch out where the TV and couch are and where the speakers would go (like will the front speakers be on a TV stand next to the TV)? That would help determine if surround even makes sense. Surround setups aren't just for "extending" the reach of sound, they (aim to) create an actual 3D soundscape.

7 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

Ok, but does anybody have an idea on best way to setup speaker with receiver. And if so could they please send a yet video with general instructions on how to set it up.

It's rather straightforward. Assuming passive speakers it's running speaker wire from the speaker to the respective output on the receiver and then stick HDMI or optical into the receiver. You can just search on how to connect speakers to receivers/amplifiers.

[RyanWakileh]

10 minutes ago, tikker said:

That has little to do with in-ceiling. In-ceiling fires down, so they do little for reaching horizontal distance and would be more for "filling the gap" so to speak e.g. in covering a large room. I'm assuming "back of the room where the couches are" means the couches are up against a wall? If so then it's lesser still, as the in-ceilings, when used for Atmos doing surround-sound duty, should be above the listener, and surrounds should be to the side of and slightly behind the listening position.

 

What is the room layout? Could you sketch out where the TV and couch are and where the speakers would go (like will the front speakers be on a TV stand next to the TV)? That would help determine if surround even makes sense. Surround setups aren't just for "extending" the reach of sound, they (aim to) create an actual 3D soundscape.

It's rather straightforward. Assuming passive speakers it's running speaker wire from the speaker to the respective output on the receiver and then stick HDMI or optical into the receiver. You can just search on how to connect speakers to receivers/amplifiers.

Sorry, I can’t draw.  That should be a pretty good idea on what the living room/kitchen areas looks like

[IPD]

25 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

Ok, but does anybody have an idea on best way to setup speaker with receiver. And if so could they please send a yet video with general instructions on how to set it up. Also do you think a subwoofer is worth it.

It's fairly clear from these types of questions that you are a novice to surround sound setups.

 

My recommendation--based on this--is to go with an all-in-one 5.1 surround sound setup.  Floor level.  Get some cheap speaker stands for the fronts and rears, and just put the center somewhere on your entertainment stand/console.

 

https://www.amazon.com/PERLESMITH-Adjustable-Stands-Extends-Satellite-8lbs-Heavy/dp/B07925B8PD/

https://www.amazon.com/Sanus-Adjustable-Height-Speaker-Stand/dp/B002HZHUCW/

 

Something like a logitech Z606 will work. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Surround-Sound-Speaker-System-Bluetooth/dp/B07MVYH9VJ/

 

You'll need some wire nuts and a spool of speaker wire to extend the stock leads.  Something like this:

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-100-ft-14-2-Clear-Stranded-CU-Speaker-Wire-56650805/304780149

 

A floor cable track isn't a perfect solution, but fairly unobtrusive, will keep wires from being exposed and a trip hazard, and will allow the system to function as-is until you devise a more permanent solution that suits you better.

 

https://www.amazon.com/D-Line-FC83B-Linkable-Protector-Protect/dp/B07BKSNZ7C/

 

This can be done for <$500 total.  And it will allow you to adjust the fronts/center/rears/sub independently for volume.  Then...later on...when you have a better idea of what you want--you can try upgrading to something else.

[tikker]

14 minutes ago, RyanWakileh said:

Sorry, I can’t draw.  That should be a pretty good idea on what the living room/kitchen areas looks like

Hmm, honestly that is not a great space for a proper surround setup. The couch on the left will never get proper speaker positioning for that. Basically only that chair and a bit of the bottom couch are in a favourable position. You can look at what @IPD suggests. Personally with this room in combination with the budget constraints, I would stick with a nice stereo setup. Simply two speakers left and right of the TV and a subwoofer if it's in your budget will most likely allow you to get two better quality speakers instad of 5 or more mediocre to crappy ones.

[RyanWakileh]

Ok, Thanks

[IPD]

43 minutes ago, tikker said:

Hmm, honestly that is not a great space for a proper surround setup. The couch on the left will never get proper speaker positioning for that. Basically only that chair and a bit of the bottom couch are in a favourable position. You can look at what @IPD suggests. Personally with this room in combination with the budget constraints, I would stick with a nice stereo setup. Simply two speakers left and right of the TV and a subwoofer if it's in your budget will most likely allow you to get two better quality speakers instad of 5 or more mediocre to crappy ones.

Agreed, but the OP asked for rear fills.

 

This doesn't look like that big of a room to me.  And I do agree a 2.1 would be easier.

 

P.S.

Low-end 5.1 may be "Crappy" to audiophiles, but compared to the built-in speakers on virtually every TV--they are amazeballs.

[tikker]

10 minutes ago, IPD said:

P.S.

Low-end 5.1 may be "Crappy" to audiophiles, but compared to the built-in speakers on virtually every TV--they are amazeballs.

Oh yeah agreed.

  

10 minutes ago, IPD said:

Agreed, but the OP asked for rear fills.

I think a soundbar with rears on some stands could still work nicely here as long as one is aware they won't reproduce the same sound as the fronts send out for more coverage, but rather do ambience.