Advice on surround sound receiver/speakers?

[Justin_]

Hey guys. So I am getting kinda tired of my 10 year old surround sound receiver that I got for free a few years back that is becoming compatible with fewer and fewer codecs and I want to get something new.

 

So far after looking a bit I have picked out (but have yet to buy) this Sony 7.1 receiver. I don't know if there is a better choice for not much more money, but what I really need help with is speakers. I have no idea how to pick speakers as this is the first time I have needed too. I know there is diffrent ohm ratings, but I don't really know what they mean or what ones are 'compatible' (if any). What I am saying is that I have no idea where to start, let alone end when looking for speakers. Is it better to buy a kit, or get separate speakers? What brands are 'good' and what brands are 'bad'.

 

I really don't have a price point, if I can get good speakers for ~$250 or less that would be good, but if you really need to spend $100 per speaker that is not totally out of the question. As far as what type I would like to get floor standing speakers with a good frequency range for the front, where smaller bookshelf like speakers would be better in the back, I think that is a typical config anyway.

 

Thanks for any help you might be able to give.

 

Justin_

[Psittac]

I find it's best to do a system one piece at a time, that way overall you get better components and the cost is spread out over years.  I would suggest first getting an AVR then a pair of floor standing.  Followed by center and rears, maybe throw in a subwoofer somewhere.  I have been working on my HT setup for 6+ years and I was in the same position that you are now.  Remember that surround isn't going to sound correct without a center channel.  You can use the speakers you have to fill in the setup, IE: a pair of them as a center and a pair as rears and such.  I would pick one series of speakers and in the long run shoot for matching them all.

 

check out accessories4less.com but double check other places, they can have the best deals but sometimes they aren't.

 

edit: you can save a lot by getting last years model of AVR so long as it can do what you want it to.

[Qi_Forever]

I had similar dilemma when I recently decided to upgraded some 15 year old Eltox floor standing speakers and also craving another sub-woofer like my old creative Cambridge Audio 5.1 PC set-up had, back in the day.

 

Great reviews kept cropping up about Q Acoustic 3000 range of speakers, so I took a gamble and bought:

 

A pair of Q Acoustics 3020 bookshelf speakers and the 3070s subwoofer from same range.

 

Can say I am extremely happy with this 2.1 setup for time being (may go 4.1 soon not a fan of centre speakers for some reason)

 

Speakers are now wall mounted out the way.  Sounds perfect to my non-audiophile ears.  They look so much more modern.  Depending on you tastes you can save 25% if you do not buy high-gloss versions (they come in several colours).

 

Small negatives is the subwoofer takes lots of tuning to get right.   To be honest the bass sounds better in the next room.  Fine in your in a larger room I guess.

 

I also share your mixed experiences with various codecs.  It must be a PC related thing, too many programs do things slightly different from one another.  You will no get issues with surround sound direct from a blue ray player or the like.

 

Speakers, are similar to TV's and monitors, just never know what your gonna get.  Only one way to find out....

[Blasteque]

Audio is very subjective, so take any advice with caution as it may not apply to your particular tastes.  What are you going to be doing with this sound system?  Just movies and TV, or will you be listening to a lot of music as well?  Can you play it loud (neighbors)?  Do you want to play it loud?

 

If there's a decent amount of music playing or you're looking for good volume, then I echo Psittac's advice above.  Get a good receiver (your link doesn't work for me, but make sure it supports the most recent codecs like Dolby Atmos) and then get some good floor standing speakers.  I'm using a pair of Zaph Audio 2.5-way towers I DIY'd, but there are many, many options out there.  And then build from there as your budget allows; cheap is cheap, you usually get what you pay for, etc.

 

I will give some quick advice on receivers; I know that's not really what you're asking for, but I have some hard-learned lessons:

1. Receivers will go obsolete more quickly than anything else in your system due to new audio formats or HDMI standards.  As such, don't go crazy on price.

2. Only buy a receiver that includes the features you need. Netflix, network media playback, amazon prime, etc. may also be included in your bluray player or TV.

3. Don't pay extra for a more powerful amp.  Receiver pricing is based primarily on feature set, a higher rated amplifier is often included to help justify a higher price.  If you want more power, buy a dedicated power amp.  They're not that expensive new ($200 - $500) and vintage power amps can found in the used market for good prices.  Using a power amp does require that the receiver have pre-amp outputs.

 

Example: I'm using a ~$600 Marantz that is hooked to my front 2.5-way towers through a Nikko Alpha 2 amp that I got used for $100 (this is the third system I've had that amp in).  To get that much power from a receiver alone would have cost over twice that.

 

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.  Best of luck to you!

[JZStudios]

On 1/3/2018 at 12:53 PM, Blasteque said:

Audio is very subjective, so take any advice with caution as it may not apply to your particular tastes.  What are you going to be doing with this sound system?  Just movies and TV, or will you be listening to a lot of music as well?  Can you play it loud (neighbors)?  Do you want to play it loud?

 

If there's a decent amount of music playing or you're looking for good volume, then I echo Psittac's advice above.  Get a good receiver (your link doesn't work for me, but make sure it supports the most recent codecs like Dolby Atmos) and then get some good floor standing speakers.  I'm using a pair of Zaph Audio 2.5-way towers I DIY'd, but there are many, many options out there.  And then build from there as your budget allows; cheap is cheap, you usually get what you pay for, etc.

 

I will give some quick advice on receivers; I know that's not really what you're asking for, but I have some hard-learned lessons:

1. Receivers will go obsolete more quickly than anything else in your system due to new audio formats or HDMI standards.  As such, don't go crazy on price.

2. Only buy a receiver that includes the features you need. Netflix, network media playback, amazon prime, etc. may also be included in your bluray player or TV.

3. Don't pay extra for a more powerful amp.  Receiver pricing is based primarily on feature set, a higher rated amplifier is often included to help justify a higher price.  If you want more power, buy a dedicated power amp.  They're not that expensive new ($200 - $500) and vintage power amps can found in the used market for good prices.  Using a power amp does require that the receiver have pre-amp outputs.

 

Example: I'm using a ~$600 Marantz that is hooked to my front 2.5-way towers through a Nikko Alpha 2 amp that I got used for $100 (this is the third system I've had that amp in).  To get that much power from a receiver alone would have cost over twice that.

 

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.  Best of luck to you!

I've found it absolutely impossible to find any decent receiver (most specifically the 7.1s) without all that additional fluff. I was on a budget of no money, so I got the Yamaha.... *coughHTIBcough* RX-V379 with NS-B something or other speakers for about $340. I'll say I'm actually pretty damn impressed. The receiver has the same software (so a full feature set) as the higher end model in the range. My brother picked up a similarly priced Pioneer because it had 10 extra watts of power that has almost none of the actual useful features for audio setup, e.g. independent eq's per speaker n' such.

Maybe I'm just cynical, or I don't understand (I don't) but I can't for the life of me figure out why I can't get just a simple 7.1 without all the useless fluff.

 

... to get back on point, that link doesn't work, but you might actually want to look at what audio setup features that Sony has, especially if you plan on mix/matching speakers.

Speaker advice also depends on usage and size limitations. My dad used to have some really nice, but very large Klipsch floorstands that he had to stow in the garage until my mom sold them for $300.

To this day the twinkles never returned to his eye...