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I am asking for a friend who needs a bit of direction as to what would be a good starting point and ideas for a surround system. I am no help to him whatsover, as I only have an upper end sound system and still lsiten to movies and Direct Tv through my large screen's internal spreakers.I am not asking for the "best system under 3k" , just experienced opinions on what brands and models to look for that will give him a leg up when confronted with all the stuff out there. He has already mentioned Klipsch and Denon. At least it's not Bose.
He needs the receiver or control uinit with amp and speakers. He's got the DVD.
Thanks in advance for all your input.
Cheers,
Bixby
Follow Ups:
Note: some of the following denote prices for used equipment (*). There are almost no good reasons I can think of for a careful, knowledgable shopper not to consider used equipment, especially amplifiers and speakers. I would probably stay with new or B stock on the digital front end.HSU Research VF-2 Subwoofer: $400 or less*
Parasound HCA 855A Amp: $475 or less*
Parasound AVC 1800 Tuner/Processor (DD and DTS decoding): $800
Marantz DV 6200 DVD: $400 or less*This leaves you with about $1000, plus or minus, for speakers. You can probably find the Klipsch Reference Series (RF-3 or RB-5' for front 2 channels) in the used marketplace. The reference series is a great sounding speaker, and an excellent value. It also is very effiecient, so it would be a decent match for the Parasound Amp. I've seen the RF-3's going on Ebay for under $550 for the pair, and the RB-5's under $450. There was even a recent ad on audioreview.com, where an individual was selling the RB-5's and the RC-3 (center channel) for $750 or best offer.
You can probably shop around and find the Parasound processor for a good buy. I owned this unit for a while, and it was wonderful on 2 channel and did a nice job with DVD movies as well.
I second the Klipsch/Denon setup...
Denon 3300 used $400
Panasonic RP56 DVD $200
Radio Shack Gold Interconnects/Speaker Cables $100
(presume he has a TV/Monitor ?)Now you've got $2300 for speakers ...I'd recommend 4 X B&W Matrix 805 speakers and a Matrix HTM center (you should find these used including shipping for this money).
To begin, this will be a great, ...but there's plenty of room to grow. A sub may seem the obvious first upgrade, but I'd go first for an amp upgrade ; get a good amp and take some of the load off the Denon. This could be a Stereo, 3 Channel or 5 Channel amp,...let the Denon drive the balance of the speakers if getting 2/3 channel amp.
Another option, if you get a good deal on the Matrix speakers would be to spend more on the Denon and upgrade to a used 3802. Dolby Pro Logic II processing would then be available and it *is* worthwhile. There's also more room to grow to 7 channel surround with this newer Denon.
Another option,...Yawa.com are selling small PSB speakers for about $100 a pair . Buy 3 pairs and a sub ($700 delivered + *X* amount for sub). Stay with the $400 3300 Denon and the Panasonic ..and you'll have a decent surround system for half the budget (but the B&W matrix speakers would be more than twice as good ...diminishing returns would kick in strongly after that).
Regards, M.
At that price point he might be best served by going to a Tweeter-type retailer (don't know where you are, but Tweeter is a mid-fi chain in the northeast) and getting a package deal. They've got Klipsch, Mirage, and Boston Acoustics speakers and and Denon, Pioneer, Sony, and Yamaha surround sound processors that will likely give him a lot of bang for his home theatre buck. (Don't forget cables in the budget.)On the other hand, if he's bold and daring, the Outlaw 1050 surround processor is very well-thought of, and can be had for less than the box retailer priced units (and with ostensibly better sound). You buy direct from Outlaw online.
the previous followup made good points, esp cables... i might add cambridge soundworks to that list... they have retail stores and an online store, hifi.com... they carry cambridge speakers only, but they are decent (designs by the late henry kloss)... along with several other consumer-to-mid-grade electronics, they carry marantz, a very good mid-fi product.
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