[Chmeeee]

I feel like we could use a Home Theater thread in here based on the recent discussions in the purchase thread.

What's your setup? How do you want to improve it?

 

[Chmeeee]

I'll start. I had a sound bar setup with my TV, but it was a giant POS with a built in Alexa interface that in theory made it better, in reality made it worse. So about 6 months ago I started looking into what was the best sound bar on the market. But all knowledgeable home theater snob resources told me not to buy a sound bar, so I fell into the home theater rabbit hole. So far I have the following sound setup for a 3.1 system:

Receiver: Marantz Slim Line 7.2.2 receiver
Speakers: Q Acoustics bookshelf and center channel
Subwoofer: BIC PL-200 II

I was running the speakers without a sub for the first few months and was impressed with the detail. But adding in the subwoofer has dramatically changed the quality of the sound. I always kind of thought of a sub as adding the big bang in a way that couldn't be done if anybody was sleeping in a 50' radius, but the low frequency addition even at low volumes is game changing.

What I'm trying to plan for is where to go next. Rear channels in this living room are going to be tough to place. My chair sits in the corner, so adding rears on speaker stands would end up with one about 6" from my head. Wall mount would be right over my head. I feel like I'm almost better off without, but interested in hearing other's experiences if you have similar problems. My thought was maybe expand up instead of back - add front height speakers. I can't ceiling mount, but I could put some Atmos speakers on top of those bookshelves...

 

[kbmdean4011]

Oh boy! I'll contribute fully in the morning. Too busy watching The Wire with wifey. i just managed to get her into it after years of trying.

 

[BoostedHatchback]

Marantz 7.1 reciever and Klipsch speakers.

It is a mix-matched setup. Reference II subwoofer and center channel, Icon series 8in towers and 6 1/2in surrounds. In the pic above I had a 300w Paradigm 10in subwoofer. The pic below is when the Klipsch 15in was delivered, it is the size of a small dog house.

 

[GeoffD]

I have 50” Panasonic plasma panels from 2010 at both my places. I ditched the AV receiver, legacy speakers, and sub at the Vermont place and swapped in a Sonos Playbase and wireless sub. I’m waiting for the price to drop on 65” LG OLED panels. If I see a 65” CX on close out later this year, I may pull the trigger.

 

[Cooper]

I also ditched my AV receiver and large speakers to clean up the room. If anybody knows anyone looking for a receiver and speakers ...

I have a 60" Panasonic Viera TV.

Had a Pioneer receiver (previously Rotel and Arcam) with Energy Connesiosseur C-9 floor-standing speakers, Energy center speaker, Energy rear bookshelf speakers, and a Paradigm subwoofer. These were from before Energy was bought out.

Want to clean up the room a lot since we are getting rid of the carpet that is long overdue for replacement and put down flooring.

Recently, this month actually, bought a Polk Audio MagniFi MAX SR surround sound bar with subwoofer. Like it a lot.

MagniFi MAX SR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE TRUE 5.1 SOUND BAR WITH WIRELESS REAR SURROUNDS Sound Bars | Polk Audio

Nan still wanted a headphone jack. Just bought the following to plug into the rear of the cable box. Came this week.

Amazon.com: PROZOR 192KHz Digital to Analog Audio Converter - Upgrade Volume Adjustable Optical to RCA Converter with Optical & USB Power Cable, Digital DAC Converter SPDIF TOSLINK to Stereo L/R & 3.5mm Jack: Electronics

 

[Lwize]

My place already had built-ins designed for a 36" CRT TV, which limits me for an LCD application.
I managed to find a thin bezel Toshiba 40" LCD that fits with barely a pinky's width on either side.
Stereo speakers are home-built kit form using Focal Kevlar drivers (no surround, and no sub due to neighbors).
Amp and DSP are Rotel. LG Blu-Ray, NAD DVD and Yamaha CD.
Spectrum DVR (gag).

There's also a JVC VCR that hasn't been used in years...

 

[vwbrvr6]

I was given this Sony DA555ES. It keeps going into protector mode. Is it worth fixing it? Apparently this thing was $1,000 when new.

Sony STR-DA555ES - AV receiver - 5.1 channel Specs

Sony STR-DA555ES - AV receiver - 5.1 channel overview and full product specs on CNET.

www.cnet.com

 

[LT1M21Stingray]

Anyone using external amps?

I'm using a Sony AV receiver that is then feeding external amplifiers. With the subs, there is around 3000 watts RMS available. This setup can be very loud, but also very clear.

 

[funnee84bunny]

Ooooohhhh, I'll play. Sorry for the potato phone pic, but I think we all know what black speakers look like. Funny how a bunch of people here have paradigm setups. Being kinda almost canadian, I thought I was the only one .....Got these in 2002. Running a setup of two Titans, a CC-170 center channel, and an SR-8 sub that's off to the side in the corner of the room. On the outside of those are individually powered 90's Infiniti RS-8a's. Receiver is a run of the mill RCA 7.1 and maybe get upgraded at some point, but I can't tell a whole lot of difference between the various receivers I've had over the years. TV is just a meh 32 inch vizio. One can probably tell which parts I spend more time with, ha. The speakers are way overkill. I rarely light them up fully but it is a beautiful thing when that happens.

 

[davewg]

I haven't had a system since the late 90s.

I got rid of the system because my wife wasn't really into just listening to music, and didn't/doesn't care enough if the TV audio comes from the TV or something better. It was just gathering dust.

It was and NAD 2200 amp, NAD 1300 pre-amp, NAD 6300 (I think) CD player, Nakamichi tape deck, and paired with Boston Acoustics T930 speakers. Now that I'm thinking about diving back in I'm kicking myself for giving it up.

Not really sure what I want to do, or what's next. Problem is we watch TV in a couple different places, and the one room is three walls of glass, vaulted ceiling, and the TV is in a corner. Wife wants to put the TV on a cart so we can roll it to the center of the room across from the couch when watching. Complicates things for a setup a bit.

 

[davewg]

I was given this Sony DA555ES. It keeps going into protector mode. Is it worth fixing it? Apparently this thing was $1,000 when new.

Sony STR-DA555ES - AV receiver - 5.1 channel Specs

Sony STR-DA555ES - AV receiver - 5.1 channel overview and full product specs on CNET.

www.cnet.com

It's probably worth fixing.

 

[Chmeeee]

The pic below is when the Klipsch 15in was delivered, it is the size of a small dog house.
View attachment 70632

She's got the same look on her face that my wife had when the 12" sub showed up.

I have 50” Panasonic plasma panels from 2010 at both my places. I ditched the AV receiver, legacy speakers, and sub at the Vermont place and swapped in a Sonos Playbase and wireless sub. I’m waiting for the price to drop on 65” LG OLED panels. If I see a 65” CX on close out later this year, I may pull the trigger.

I've got my eye on the 65" OLED as well. I have a 55" 1080p Samsung right now that is perfectly fine to my eye, can't decide if the 4k and OLED upgrade would be worth dropping a grand.

 

[kbmdean4011]

Please don't make fun of my plywood desk too hard. The glass top broke and I'm in the middle of building a new desk. 12 year old 50" LG plasma. Denon AVRx-2600h receiver connected to 5.1 speakers. All speakers are Polk except a Klipsch 12" 300 watt woofer that is under the desk. Center channel is over the TV but the brackets are bent down so the speaker cones are aimed right at ear level. Rears are in ceiling just behind the sitting position. A key feature I need in a receiver is a powered Zone 2. That goes out to a speaker selector with pairs of speakers on my front porch, back porch, garage, bedroom, and for my PC. The PC is a key component as well, it's connected to the receiver via HDMI. There are almost 10TB of movies and TV shows on the PC, and I also like playing video games on the TV with the 5.1 as well.

Building the desk is my current project, but I'll probably start TV shopping after that. Biggest 4k OLED that will fit along with a slim upgraded center channel.

 

[HI SPEED]

Mine is in 1000 pieces right now since I am changing the stand today.

I am running the Yamaha TSR-700 in 5.2.2 with all Klipsch besides one sub.

Edit:Got the new stand setup. Hard to find something that will fit a TV and center as big as these.

Also have a full Phillips hue sync setup running that syncs the bias lighting with the screen

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

Not bad for a entry level setup


Hoping to upgrade to a bigger space that will allow me to go all out with the projector, and separate amps etc.

 

[Numbersix]

LG 65” OLED, Onkyo 9.2 channel THX/Atmos AVR, 9 Monoprice Amber in-wall/ceiling speakers, Apple TV 4K, Paradigm subwoofer.

The first piece I will upgrade is the sub, probably followed by the AVR. For the very small space we have (10’x16’), this is more than sufficient though.

 

[XiaoNio]

I've got my eye on the 65" OLED as well. I have a 55" 1080p Samsung right now that is perfectly fine to my eye, can't decide if the 4k and OLED upgrade would be worth dropping a grand.

I gave away my Panny plasma this year. I still think the color and motion handling was basically the best. Found a 55” LG CX for $1400 and decided it was time to make the jump. I was once told at a high end AV shop that you buy more cars than TVs. After realizing that I got 12 years out of my plasma, the LG seemed like a pretty great deal. Black levels and contrast are pretty spectacular. Motion and color are close enough to peak plasma, that I don’t see a reason to look back.

Regarding audio, I’m a 2 channel guy. My TV rig is an Emotiva XDA-2 dac going to monoblock A500 amps with Thiel CS 3.5 cabinets with restomod drivers. My room rig is an Emotiva DC-1 going to either a handmade First Watt F5T or a no name SET tube amp driving a pair of MTM speakers my friend built for me. Nerd level is high.

 

[Numbersix]

I’d love to see a pic of the modded Thiels.

I want to build a two channel setup again, but 1) I don’t have a good room for it in this house, 2) tinnitus/hearing loss in one ear makes me think it’s a waste of money. Doesn’t stop me looking for the perfect pair of used KEF LS50’s and the right preamp/amp setup, though...

 

[Egz]

Samsung 65 QLED
Pioneer VSX-LX103 5.2 Receiver
Harman Kardon HKTS 9 Speakers
Polk Audio PSW10 Subwoofer
Roku Ultra 4k
Sony Blu-ray

The HKs had their own sub, but it ended up frying something on the power board, and it was beyond my expertise to find the bad component. And the Pioneer ended up having to get service once in the 2 years I owned it because of a noisy power supply. And while QLED isn't as good as OLED, it still packs a nice punch that met my objectives of high quality at lower price.

 

[davewg]

LG 65” OLED, Onkyo 9.2 channel THX/Atmos AVR, 9 Monoprice Amber in-wall/ceiling speakers, Apple TV 4K, Paradigm subwoofer.

The first piece I will upgrade is the sub, probably followed by the AVR. For the very small space we have (10’x16’), this is more than sufficient though.

Looks like a great space

I gave away my Panny plasma this year. I still think the color and motion handling was basically the best. Found a 55” LG CX for $1400 and decided it was time to make the jump. I was once told at a high end AV shop that you buy more cars than TVs. After realizing that I got 12 years out of my plasma, the LG seemed like a pretty great deal. Black levels and contrast are pretty spectacular. Motion and color are close enough to peak plasma, that I don’t see a reason to look back.

Regarding audio, I’m a 2 channel guy. My TV rig is an Emotiva XDA-2 dac going to monoblock A500 amps with Thiel CS 3.5 cabinets with restomod drivers. My room rig is an Emotiva DC-1 going to either a handmade First Watt F5T or a no name SET tube amp driving a pair of MTM speakers my friend built for me. Nerd level is high.

Assume you like the Emotiva stuff? I see some of their products seem to be reasonably priced, but other stuff is whoa $$$$$

I want to build a two channel setup again, but 1) I don’t have a good room for it in this house, 2) tinnitus/hearing loss in one ear makes me think it’s a waste of money. Doesn’t stop me looking for the perfect pair of used KEF LS50’s and the right preamp/amp setup, though...

I'm torn on trying to figure out a 2.1 system for where we do a decent amount of TV watching v just doing a 2-channel system just for music.

I've been hunting down equipment that I had back 30 years ago. Surprisingly the electronics aren't hard to find, but the speakers are either **** condition or just all found their way to the trash heap.