Home Stereo Systems?

Kudo · Post by **Kudo** » September 17, 2003, 10:05 pm

I have been doing some lookin around on different sites trying to find a really, really good stereo system, havent found any yet

anyone have any suggestions ? post with link please~

Post by **Xouqoa** » September 17, 2003, 10:24 pm

Define 'really, really good'. IE: How much money are you looking to spend?

Kudo · Post by **Kudo** » September 17, 2003, 10:35 pm

less then 1 grand

Raistin · Post by **Raistin** » September 17, 2003, 11:00 pm

Go on EBAY and make your own. You will get a great home system doing it that way, and a lot less for 1k. I was looking there myself before you made this thread. Speakers and everything in great condition and people need to pawn them off cause they are stolen or in need of cash haha.

Bose makes great speakers for home systems. Start there.

Kudo · Post by **Kudo** » September 17, 2003, 11:02 pm

Not looking for speakers actually, i have some good speakers, just need the system~ i dont trust ebay anyways

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » September 17, 2003, 11:03 pm

Have surround speakers? All you really need is a receiver then. Can find decent quality for 1k.

Kudo · Post by **Kudo** » September 17, 2003, 11:11 pm

Ok

i need a good amp, good reciever, and what not, list whats good that i should get, my old stereo is like...suk

Truant · Post by **Truant** » September 17, 2003, 11:32 pm

Kudo wrote:Ok

i need a good amp, good reciever, and what not, list whats good that i should get, my old stereo is like...suk

you need all that for under 1k?

Kudo · Post by **Kudo** » September 17, 2003, 11:51 pm

Stuff isnt that expensive dude

Post by **Xouqoa** » September 17, 2003, 11:52 pm

http://www.supremevideo.com/audio/sony/ ... rde945.htm

That's what I got a couple years ago. I bought it on eBay for $400 or so. It's not super duper hi-fi or anything, but it's a very nice receiver for the price and it's worked wonderfully.

I'd definitely look on ebay though. You can find some great deals there. Put it on a credit card and you can report it as fraud if anything bad happens.

Kudo · Post by **Kudo** » September 17, 2003, 11:57 pm

How much is it now? i didnt see a price on that page, really busy looking through the net for stuff and pharming here...i mean posting~ yea

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » September 18, 2003, 1:00 am

You don't need an amp. Do a little research. Denon makes some good high end receivers for less than 1000. I like Pioneer Elite, myself but that was a few years ago when I got mine. I haven't compared lately. Can always add an amp later if you feel you need it.

Bose makes great speakers for home systems. Start there.

Missed that quote the first time... Personally I avoid Bose. As the saying goes, "No highs, no lows; must be Bose" (YMMV). I recommend Paradigm. Made by those crazy Canadians but good quality and not overly expensive. Even cheaper if you life near/in Canada.

Kudo · Post by **Kudo** » September 18, 2003, 1:03 am

I live next door to some freaks who love to play their music so god damn loud, i wana have enough so i can fuckin drown their ass' in music, maybe they will stop when they cant hear their own~

Kguku · Post by **Kguku** » September 18, 2003, 1:41 am

Best site on the net bar none for audio/video information is this:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

What are you looking for in your amp? If you're looking to spend up to 1k you would want to look at the Pioneer Elite or Denon lines. My suggestions would be the Denon 2803 or 3803 and the Pioneer Elite 45TX. The Sony ES line is popular as well. I would avoid the Sony DE line and go with the ES line if at all possible.

What kind of speakers will you be driving? What kind of sound setup - 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1? How many devices are you going to be using on the amp? Do you want video switching, and if so do you want video upconversion with that (taking a composite or svideo signal and upscaling it to a component connection). How many digital audio connections do you need? What are your future upgrade plans?

Kguku · Post by **Kguku** » September 18, 2003, 3:56 am

Raistin wrote: Bose makes great speakers for home systems. Start there.

Bose make shite. They have great marketing though. You can spend half the cash that you would on Bose and get a far better setup. Yes, people like Bose, but honestly they're some of the worst speakers out there, and are quite mocked by the home theatre community.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » September 18, 2003, 8:02 am

Avoid Bose. Denon is good.

Wish I knew more about what systems you can actually buy here in the US, mine is decent but not top end. If you were in Europe I could be of more help

*mourns the system he had to sell before moving to the US*

Fameen · Post by **Fameen** » September 18, 2003, 10:12 am

You can get a Denon 3803 in the $800 range on ebay or around a $1000 retail. It is the only receiver that I know of that has Video Conversion of Composite to S-Video and/or to Component in that price range. This is a nice feature if you have a dvd player and other video sources connected to the system.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » September 18, 2003, 11:12 am

I recommend Denon as well. I have a nice receiver that was $600 (2 yrs ago).

if i had gone closer to the $800-1k price point there was another Denon and a Yamaha that i was considering.

i'm very very satisfied with what i got.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 18, 2003, 2:00 pm

No highs no lows...must be Bose!

It was already said, go browse the AVS forums there's none better for home theater entertainment.

Just be sure your receiver has all of these connections and doodads:

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » September 18, 2003, 2:06 pm

no sub?

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » September 18, 2003, 2:42 pm

http://www.audioreview.com is a good place for research

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 18, 2003, 2:50 pm

Voronwë wrote:no sub?

Um, that thing has 3 subwoofer outputs : ) look on bottom row to the right side. Sub1 Sub2 and Sub3 outputs : ) I love how you can flash memory upgrade via playing a CD. That rocks.

BTW, I don't own this receiver. Kinda spendy

Here's the full specs:

Feature and Specs
Seven channels of power amplification
200 WATTS rms PER CHANNEL into eight ohms from 20Hz to 20kHz with no more than 0.5% THD
Won't cook your expensive gear! Incredibly efficient tracking downconverter power amplifier design generates shockingly little heat – like all of our Sunfire amplifiers, the Ultimate Receiver runs warm to the touch even while generating truly thunderous output levels. Less heat = longer life for everything in your equipment rack
Two of the seven power amp channels can be configured (via on-screen-display setup) to amplify the surround back, side-axis, or second zone channels
Preamp outputs for all channels
Auto signal sensing input switching – Automatically turns the unit on, selects your source and surround mode
Bob Carver's awesome Holographic Imaging now in noise-free DSP for the ultimate soundstage enhancement of two-channel sources
7.1 Channel Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital EX, DTS, DTS-ES, DTS Neo:6, and Dolby Pro-Logic II decoding, plus Sunfire's exclusive Side-Axis outputs for 9.1 channels total playback! (An additional stereo power amplifier is required for all 9.1 channels)
Second zone can play sources independent of the main zone
Full-time digital downmix provides accurate two-channel output for tape recording, digital outputs, and second zone from multichannel digital sources
User configurable nine channel 'PARTY' mode engages all speakers from any two channel source
Direct two-channel analog bypass mode
Incredible new preprogrammed and learning remote control with LCD
FM/AM tuner with 40 presets and Bob Carver's awesome Dynamic FM Noise Reduction circuit which dramatically improves clarity of weak FM stations
Three 100MHz+ HDTV compatible wide-bandwidth component video inputs and two outputs
Six audio/video inputs, each with audio, S-video and composite video
Three audio-only inputs, including Moving Magnet Phono input for LPs
Eight channel analog audio input using RCA connectors for DVD-A, SACD, or other external multichannel source
Digital audio (S/PDIF) inputs for six sources: four coax or optical, plus two coax only
Coaxial and optical digital (S/PDIF) outputs provide two-channel digital downmix from 5.1 sources or analog inputs like phono (record your vinyl to CD-R or DAT!)
Three subwoofer outputs
Side-axis side speaker outputs for completely enveloping soundstage (total of 9.1 channels!) Comprehensive all-digital bass manager with crossover frequencies of 40 to 160Hz DSP tone controls
24-bit A-to-D converter and 24-bit/192kHz Multibit D-to-A converters for the ultimate in sound quality
Separate trigger outputs and infrared inputs for both zones
High-current (500mA total) trigger outputs easily handle the most power hungry accessories
Sunfire exclusive: FLASH memory upgradable by playing a CD!
IEEE-1394 (Firewire™) port for future expansion
Dimensions: 17" wide, 5.75" high (includes feet), 16.5" deep
Two-year parts and labor warranty

Drolgin Steingrinder · September 18, 2003, 6:24 pm

Sony is overpriced, in general. If you were in Europe, I'd recommend Marantz or NAD (yes, that's the company name, you get quality hi-fi AND a ton of funny jokes!). Not sure if they're available in the US. In their place, I'd definately look into Denon receivers.

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » September 18, 2003, 7:03 pm

In all reality Winnow... the Sunfire Ultimate Reciever is a hunk of shit.... The quality control at Sunfire sucks.. and you can expect one of thier products to break within the first few years....

Are you looking for 2ch stereo? or multichannel surround? If your looking for stereo you can get a pretty high end stereo reciever for your 1k pricerange... if your not interested in a tuner and want to spend a bit more... Look at the Meridian Audio 551 Integrated Amplifier, its about $1650 retail and a true audiophile grade amplifier.

http://www.meridian-audio.com

As for Home Theater... Component Video Upconversion is an awesome feature to have, you will see it in Denon, Rotel and all of Yamaha's new RX-V series receivers.

Audio is a very subjective purchase... find your local hi end stereo shop and go listen to some stuff... best buy and circuit city generally dont carry gear of any quality if your looking to buy a nice system. Another thing to do is feel the weight of any equipment your looking to purchase... good stereo gear will be heavy.. its an easy way to tell the build quality of a component you might be buying.. Higher quality PC boards and copper with a larger power supply will really improve audio quality.

And yea, stay away from bose.. their only claim to fame is the fact that they have the largest advertising budget of any audio related company in the world.

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » September 18, 2003, 7:07 pm

Kudo wrote:Stuff isnt that expensive dude

When you look at that Meridian Audio site... take a look at their system 800 components... that entire 7 channel surround system with a DVD player is about $120,000.00....

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 18, 2003, 8:32 pm

Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:Sony is overpriced, in general.

Sony electronics tend to run very hot as well.
-----------------------

Ransure,

The back panel still gives a good idea of the connections you want for a receiver. I honestly didn't mean to single out Sunfire. It's the first decent receiver I found a back panel image for and posted the specs after Voronwe's question about the subs.

I'm not a fan of Bob Carver or anything. In the 400-800.00 range, Denon seems to be the favored receiver. If I was serious about the receiver, I'd hop on AVS forums and I'm sure I would have run into people bitching about Sunfires.

Mezzmor · Post by **Mezzmor** » September 21, 2003, 11:11 am

I Really like my Onkyo TX-NR9000. It has plenty of fiber optic ports and component video ports. The firmware is upgradeable. Plus of course it has an ethernet port with a DHCP client built in so I can play my mp3's from my computer with the onkyo software and it will play through the stereo system.

It set me back 1400 bucks when I bought it last year, and I think they are a little cheaper now but I don't regret buying it. The sound is just incredible (I use the top of the line polk audio speakers) and it has really made listening to music and watching movies enjoyable.

My advice is this. The first home theater system I bought, I went into buying with a budget, and what I got was shitty stuff. For my new system I shopped, shopped and shopped until I was actually sure of what i wanted then although it took 7 months to pay for it all, it was well worth it.

The receiver and speakers are what makes the system sound incredible or sound mediocre. Don't buy half ass stuff.

Adelrune Argenti · September 23, 2003, 10:36 pm

I just put together a new system. Ended up with a Yamaha receiver. Decided to go with Athena speakers and I couldn't be happier. I really wasn't looking to spend as much as I did but it made sense once I put it all together. Having 4 optical inputs really sets me up for some expansion since I am only currently using 2.

And as others said, Bose speakers are crap. They are still using paper cones and not the polymer like Klipsch and Athena and others are doing.