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 Post subject: surround sound
PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 12:05 pm 
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Rihannsu Commander

Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:31 am
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Location: Cincinnati OH
I'm looking to get a surround sound system for my entertainment center, but this is one thing I know very little about. Any recomendations?


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 Post subject: Re: surround sound
PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 2:48 pm 
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Cheesehead

Joined: Thu Sep 03, 2009 1:15 am
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I don't know much about it either, but you may want to enumerate the items you plan to run through it, i.e.

PS3, 360, Blu-ray, cable box (and how they are currently connected to your television).

In general, I'd suggest counting the items you have now, looking for that + 1 HDMI on a relatively inexpensive but well reviewed receiver on Amazon.com and NewEgg, and worrying more about wiring and positioning the speakers, as the initial surround sound investment is both time and money.

Once you have the speakers positioned and wires run, in a few years, if the receiver is dying or you need to upgrade, you can focus more on the receiver, assuming you haven't moved and aren't likely to move soon.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 3:30 pm 
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Rihannsu Commander

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Location: Cincinnati OH
360, Blu-Ray and Cable-- using HDMI cables for all three.


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 4:57 pm 
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Eatin yur toes.
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When I got mine onkyo were the surprisingly good new kids in town and thus cheap fir what you got

I listened to a lot of satellite speakers and they all sucked, even well reviewed expensive ones. Suggest listening before you buy


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 Post subject: Re: surround sound
PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 8:18 pm 
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I bought these, and they are an amazing deal for the money.

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/enthusiast1.html

Keep in mind, you are probably going to keep your speakers through several receivers (I believe mine have been through 3 now?) Receivers get upgraded with new technology regularly, speakers, not so much.

I have this receiver currently for the HDMI switching - http://usa.denon.com/us/Product/Pages/Product-Detail.aspx?Catid=3d9614d1-8000-4106-ab91-8192242cab83&SubId=40b5820d-83c2-4e93-9909-60aae60e0bdd&ProductId=75e77041-c488-4707-a874-c045157bed9b

I have the 1910 model, I would assume this is the next step up. I've had no problems with it. Denon's remotes kind of suck, but I would recommend a good universal anyway, no matter what you get.


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 11:25 pm 
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Web Ninja
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Location: The Tunt Mansion
Keep in mind some 360 titles wont put out true 5.1 over HDMI. You'll need a separate optical cable.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:40 am 
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The Scaled Claw
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http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S3300-5- ... 414&sr=8-8

I've actually been looking at buying myself these for Christmas. The receiver is a Repeater so it'll pass sound through any HDMI you hook up to it just fine. I do live in a pretty small space though and the speaker pack is only built for a small to medium sized room. You do need to take into account room size, ect.

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S5300-7- ... 478&sr=1-1 is the 7.1 model and it also puts out a good bit more power, better for bigger rooms.


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 Post subject: Re: surround sound
PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:06 pm 
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Yeah, if you're working in a really small space, I've heard great things about these too.

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/performance1.html

I like the HSU stuff because they sell direct so you save money, and from the reviews I've read their subs and enthusiast speakers will compete with stuff 2-4x the price.

So tell us how much space you're working with, and how much change you want to spend. :)


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:22 pm 
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Web Ninja
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I have the last generation model of that 5.1 Onkyo system and it's a pretty fantastic deal.


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PostPosted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:41 pm 
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So first a couple questions.

How important is audio quality to you?
What price range are you looking to stay within?
Do you need both the Tuner/Amp and speakers?
What is the layout of the room that the system is going to be put into?
House or apt?


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 Post subject: Re:
PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 10:03 am 
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Sean wrote:
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S5300-7-1-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B003BEDQRG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1290854478&sr=1-1 is the 7.1 model and it also puts out a good bit more power, better for bigger rooms.


I started another thread (it's buried off the page now) about this same thing. It was a while back but I was recommended the above. I did some shopping and some research and I kept coming back to it.

It was delivered yesterday. I set it up last night. I don't have it connected to my tele yet but I popped my ipod in the ipod deck.

Sound was fantastic, and I haven't played with the settings yet. VERY easy to set up as well. Everything was color coded and, well, painfully easy.

HIGHLY recommend. And, for what you get - it's cheap.

Thanks all for your help in my previous thread.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:42 am 
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The Scaled Claw
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Ended up going with the HT-S5300 7.1 set too. Got it in today and only have the 5.1 partially set up. Need to wall mount the surrounds in proper position tomorrow and mount the 6-7 speakers as Front Highs as well, but so far it is like ear-sex and totally awesome, especially when something is properly encoded in real surround. The speaker bar I had before was just ear-cancer in comparison.


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 Post subject: Re:
PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:08 pm 
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Sean wrote:
it is like ear-sex and totally awesome,


I think we have different definitions of "totallyl awesome". :shock:


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:09 pm 
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Noli me calcare
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Hahahah, thanks for that imagery you two.

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