New Home Theater Suggestions

[AbsoluteFreezo]

Howdy,

I am very new to home theater so I am not sure which products to go with or what I even need. We have a new home in which the prewire is all done for a 11.1 setup. We got the quote from the contractor for the equipment and I saw a 150$ 6 foot HDMI cable and knew it was bullshit. So I am opting to do it myself. I have the server rack, for the amp and what not and all of the prewire for everything is good to go. I just need to know what to buy. This will be a projector theater that we will have an AppleTV, XBOX, Switch, Chromecast, and a gaming PC hooked up. I want the best for buck solution for me and my husband. We are not audiophiles so I don't want to go above and beyond for audio quality we won't notice the only feature he has asked for was 4k and dolby atmos. 

I don't know the ins and outs of a theater system so I'm not sure what parts I need. The only thing I am looking at is the EPSON LS12000 for the projector for the low latency. Please help

[jaslion]

Budget?

 

I mean you could just go to one of the usual audio forums and ask for a budget kit recommendation

[AbsoluteFreezo]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

Budget?

~30k is my absolute top (that is what the contractor gave) but aiming for ~15 (+/-7).

 

 

8 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I mean you could just go to one of the usual audio forums and ask for a budget kit recommendation

(not sarcasm)....wait is this not the right place for something like this? I don't want audiophile level equipment which is what I think my contractor quoted.

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, AbsoluteFreezo said:

~30k is my absolute top (that is what the contractor gave) but aiming for ~15 (+/-7).

 

 

(not sarcasm)....wait is this not the right place for something like this? I don't want audiophile level equipment which is what I think my contractor quoted.

Its a good starting place but the audiophile forums (I use the one dankpods recommended forgot the name) are the ones that have some real penny pinchers and can find some goooood stuff.

 

Got me some good recommendations on a good used amp and some cheap used speakers where I could replace the drivers for 50€ each from some other speakers that are landfill due to losing software support. 250€ later and 2 hours of work I have stuff that rivals my housemates 1500€ setup

[BobVonBob]

35 minutes ago, AbsoluteFreezo said:

(not sarcasm)....wait is this not the right place for something like this? I don't want audiophile level equipment which is what I think my contractor quoted.

AVS Forum is a big forum dedicated to home theater, and tends to not skew too far into audiophool territory.

 

Audio Science Review is another good one. There's a decent amount of speaker advice, but where it really shines is electronics. If you want an amplifier or AVR that is as close to dead on accurate as you can get, this is the place to look for it.

[circeseye]

what you asking for recommendations exactly?

avr? denon x6700h 3300.00 or x8500ha 4600.00....marantz sr8015 5200.00.....yamaha RX-A8A AVENTAGE 3550.00

these are basically the best 4 you can get for 11.1 without going preamp avr with a bunch of amps

(there even a couple higher end brands but i have no clue about them)

 

if you want to go preamp avr with amps then thats another beast and costly

 

 

then there are 9.1 avrs that support 11.1 with one stereo amp running 2 speakers that denon and marantz have (not sure about yamaha)

 

and hdmi (if going for 2.1 hdmi speeds) i would make sure its certified and i would go optical hdmi (over 6ft can be hit or miss on copper with hdmi 2.1)

 

[AbsoluteFreezo]

On 1/24/2023 at 2:29 PM, circeseye said:

what you asking for recommendations exactly?

avr? denon x6700h 3300.00 or x8500ha 4600.00....marantz sr8015 5200.00.....yamaha RX-A8A AVENTAGE 3550.00

these are basically the best 4 you can get for 11.1 without going preamp avr with a bunch of amps

(there even a couple higher end brands but i have no clue about them)

 

if you want to go preamp avr with amps then thats another beast and costly

 

 

then there are 9.1 avrs that support 11.1 with one stereo amp running 2 speakers that denon and marantz have (not sure about yamaha)

 

and hdmi (if going for 2.1 hdmi speeds) i would make sure its certified and i would go optical hdmi (over 6ft can be hit or miss on copper with hdmi 2.1)

 

Yes! This is the info I wanted. 

The contractor selected the Yamaha but I don't see any benefits between that and the Denon x6700. Is it just a brand difference? If it is then I think the Denon is just fine. 
Any brand suggestion for speakers? Is klipsch like the apple of speakers?  



 

[circeseye]

1 hour ago, AbsoluteFreezo said:

Yes! This is the info I wanted. 

The contractor selected the Yamaha but I don't see any benefits between that and the Denon x6700. Is it just a brand difference? If it is then I think the Denon is just fine. 
Any brand suggestion for speakers? Is klipsch like the apple of speakers?  



 

meh brand preference mostly (l love my denon x3700h in 7.1.4 with a stereo amp)

 

speakers hmmmm .....yes i cant complain about some of the klipsch speakers

your most important speakers are the center and left/right

dont cheap out on the center, it plays the most audio (i added a JBL Stage 135 to my set up and i dont regret it one bit)

left/right is your next considering they are your primary stereo speakers. bookshelf size or bigger (i went with yamaha ns-6490 3-way speakers)

as for your surround and rears. i highly recommend bipolar speakers from fluance. (they give a more ummm even surround sound flow, hard to word it....)

sub id go with a 12in (i use a 12in klipsch) bigger subs to me produce better deep bass (ive used 8in and 10in, the 12in just sounds and "feels" better.)

 

 

oh forgot your atmos. how are these set up for you? actual in ceiling mounted? if in ceiling i went this route Yamaha NS-IW280CWH 6.5 3-way. they are closed back, can be spun to direct sound and mid/tweet can be adjusted to point more toward sitting position.

 

as you can see my speakers are mixed matched. but they work together really well (i just made sure they were all black enclosures lol). so you DONT HAVE to go all the same brand style

it does help to be able to "hear" the speakers (i miss the old sound stages in stores where you can go and listen to the different set ups)

 

also remember surround, rears and atmos are secondary audio. more like ambiance.....they dont need to be big powerful speakers