Best Home Sound System? Affordability & Sound Quality?

Question

Me and some friends are moving into a house next year and are looking to find a sound system that we can use. I've done research but am curious to see some other opinions.

Purposes:
1. Movies/gaming (surround sound capability - central receiver with multiple ports)
2. Music/Party (loud, high quality sound, subwoofer)
3. Affordability (Not interested in spending over $1000)

A friend of mine bought a yamaha sound system that was preassembled for around $400-500 and while it works well, the sound quality is not quite there. The speakers and sub fall off drastically at high volumes. (LINK BELOW) Is it worth it to buy a assembled home theater system like this one, or assemble my own by picking and choosing different components?

Looking forward to hearing back from some experts!

Yamaha YHT-497 5.1-Channel Home Theater System

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-497-5-1-Channel-Theater-System/dp/B007PU2Y4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406059751&sr=8-1&keywords=yamaha+sound+system

Answer 1

First if you want the best advice I would post your question on a Home Audio Speaker forum. You will get much better responses, with more information. http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/



For no more than $1,000 I like this set-up

-Pair of Pioneer SP-F52-LR towers, $127/each shipped (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008NCD2S4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER)

-Pioneer SP-C22 Center Channel, $97 shipped (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008NCD2EI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER)

-Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Book Shelf speakers, $127/pair shipped (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008NCD2LG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER)

-NXG Technology NX-BAS-500 12" 500-watt Powered Subwoofer, $270 shipped (http://www.amazon.com/NXG-Technology-NX-BAS-500-500-watt-Subwoofer/dp/B008FSTU4G/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A28SS3BS1DBQ92)

-Denon Factory Refurbished AVR-E400, $250 shipped (http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/denavre400/denon-avr-e400-7.1-4k-3d-networking-receiver-airplay/1.html)



Now I will not deny Mel H posted a great setup with the exception of the receiver he recommended. Yamaha receiver are very over priced and struggle to make the power they claim to put out when they are tested. HSU is a great subwoofer company but that is a whole chunck of your budget when this being your first subwoofer you may not notice the benefits of it. Plus the NXG is very well rated subwoofer by Sound&Vision Magazine (http://www.soundandvision.com/content/review-nxg-nx-bas-500-subwoofer ) with very surprising output numbers for its cost. I like the HSU products but I save them for people with $500+ alone to spend on a subwoofer. Same goes with SVS. Unfortunately neither HSU or SVS fit in your budget. Besides if you wanted to blow either of those out of the water the best subwoofer for $500 shipped right now is the Outlaw LFM-1 Plus. (Its has much more output than the HSU STF-2 and offers variable port tuning so you can configure it to hit the low deep bass, or offer maximum output which will give you louder bass just not as low. The Outlaw is meant to go head to head with the HSU VTF-2)



If you want just a stereo setup to start off with under $1000, here is what I like

-Polk RTi6's Bookshelfs, $200 shipped (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Polk-Audio-RTi6-BLACK-Bookshelf-Speakers-NEW-PAIR-/390813524204?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item5afe4d20ec)

-Outlaw LFM-1 Plus Subwoofer, $500 shipped, sale price (http://outlawaudio.com/products/lfm1plus.html)

-Denon Factory Refurbished AVR-e300, $190 shipped (http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/denavre300/denon-avr-e300-5.1-3d-networking-receiver-airplay/1.html)



There is NO need for towers if you are using a good subwoofer like comes from Outlaw, HSU, and SVS.



With a pair of speakers you miss out on surround sound. Stereo is great for music but once you go surrounds sound you rarely go back.



Check out the audio forum I linked I bet they will agree with my set-up if you want surround sound and Melv H's if stereo is enough for you.

Answer 2

My vote would be this starter system:



http://www.bestbuy.com/site/denon-dht-1513ba-home-theater-system/1305950052.p?id=mp1305950052&skuId=1305950052&st=denon%20home%20theater&cp=1&lp=3#tab=buyingOptions



AV Receiver by Denon, self powered subwoofer and the speakers are made by Boston Acoustics. About $600

Answer 3

Find a way to listen to what you buy first if at all possible. Make sure its a fit in the room you intend. Finally, make sure you have the proper furniture, speaker stands and so forth. When you go to listen toyour equipment it sits on said furniture and speaker stands, makes a difference with sound quality.

Answer 4

Just a 100 f%*#in watts? Bro---the ONKYO HT-S3500 has 660 watts wall-mountable POWER that has Dolby and DTS features---why settle for less?-------in bhphotovideo.com for more ( Home Theater in a Box section).

Answer 5

Total price $949,



Yamaha RX-V477 receiver, $360 free shipping,



http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1026867-REG/yamaha_rx_v477bl_5_1_channel_network.html



Infinity Primus P363 tower speakers, $214 free shipping (2 @ $107 each),



http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Primus-P363-Three-way-Floorstanding/dp/B0046A8R3M/



HSU Research STF-2 subwoofer, $329 ($46 shipping),



http://hsuresearch.com/products/stf-2.html



(That's an excellent sale price on those tower speakers --68% off. They usually sell for around $180 each.)



Edit,



I got a pair of NOS Primus P252s (slightly smaller towers) off Ebay for my sister a while back, and used them briefly to test them. They sounded excellent (nice midrange, very good imaging), considering the crazy cheap price I got them for. She still likes them.



Here's a couple reviews on the larger P363 size towers (and earlier version P360).



http://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/primus-p363



http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/605infinity/index.html

Answer 6

Take a look at Fluance speakers paired with an Onkyo or Pioneer receiver.....

Answer 7

complicated step. check out from a search engine. it may help!

Answer 8

that deal is fantastic! Thanks Melv H. Have you personally used any of these products?