What should I do for my Home Theater sound? Speaker recommendations?

Question

I just started a new media room in my house and I can not decide what I should do for sound in there.
I was considering the Onkyo HT-S3300. at $300 it is very appealing.
Or maybe getting a receiver and 2 bookshelf speakers instead.

Any comments on this? So many choices it is driving me crazy.

the room is like 20ft wide by 14ft long, and I just got a 58" plasma in there also. Will mainly be using the room for casual TV/Movie watching

Trying to keep it around $500

Answer 1

I understand how difficult and confusing buying a audio system can be with so many choices and so much miss information how is one to make a good choice. Certainly the prepackaged systems make it easier to choose but honestly they do not offer a good value or good performance.



When it comes to putting together a good system it should be done by buying components and usually from different manufactures. In most cases all manufactures have strengths and weakness

s in what they design best. Many manufactures are good at electronics but not at speaker.



Onkyo, Denon, Marantz, Nad all make good sounding receivers, cd, or dvd players. As for speakers go with a brand that that's all the specialize in like Martin Logan, Energy etc.



Certainly $500 is going to be tough to find something in your price range for a full system, so you might want to consider doing it in steps, something you can build on, and getting yourself something that will give you much more enjoyment and better sound quality with alittle more investment.



Or like what the the other gentlemen said get yourself some power speakers they certainly are going to offer you much better sound then these prepackaged systems.



Kevin

40 years hi-end audio video specialist

Answer 2

Consider simplicity of use to you and others that may access your system. Plenty of remotes are a sure fire way of confusion and stuff not working. Are you a music lover? Are movies your thing? What sound do you expect with the picture in the long run? I would suggest that you get speakers from strictly a speaker company. It hard to go wrong when it is what they do for a living. Onkyo makes very good amps and receivers, speakers are not a strong suit for the money.



Energy makes the V Minibook shelf speaker $225 for a pair

http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/products/v-mini-overview/



ESW C8 Subwoofer is a better buy in my opinion compared to the 10 inch dow firing sub at the same price. If you are looking for sound with small but mighty speakers, forward firing subs will better compliment the sound in the room. Down firing subs push sound down to the ground and up, not out. Doesn't make much sense to me, someone knows more than I do on that one.

http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/products/esw-c8-overview/



If you purchase a nice set of speaker stands, or get a set for Christmas, you will have a nice complement to your plasma screen tv. If you do not have a receiver then that would be another set of choices.



To avoid the cost of a receiver I would encourage self powered speakers can plug and play. Audioengine and M-Audio are great options. In this case speaker stands. M-Audio speakers take care of the subwoofer component built into the speakers at a reasonable price.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioAV40.html



Audioengine A5 hold their own and then some.

http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-5

Nice little amp, though you already have an amp in the A5 but the music just gets better.

http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Audioengine-N22



High quality self powered units within your budget.



Happy Holidays.

Answer 3

You can not go wrong with getting the Onkyo system. It is a very nice system and is price nicely. This would be my recommendation for a home theater that you do not want to spend allot of money on. It is also flexible for upgrade down the road. Hope this will help you out.

Answer 4

If u want ease of use, go for soundbar. If you really want a quality soundbar system coupled with convenience of use, my personal experience is with JVC TH-BA1 soundbar. Its rare to find now but check if you can get at amazon or best buy. One of the best for all in one. Low price, wireless subwoofer with easiest set up possible and more importantly awesome sound quality either its movies or music. You can’t get better bang of your buck. For more details and plenty of positive reviews by professionals and users just type in google or yahoo search.