Home theatre recommendations

I got an older Yamaha receiver. Can't remember the model number. I can post it later. It does 5.1 and probably 50 watts RMS per channel. It's nothing too great, and not too much power.

Right now I have two B1.2 Athena speakers for the front and an old iawa sub. The athena's sound pretty dang good, but i think the Yamaha struggles to power them at higher volumes.

What do you think of this for the sub? Seems like the best i can get for the price...
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...343461#reviews

My basement is rather large, but I won't live here forever. So I don't want it to be for this room specifically. I'd rather spend under 100 to get the best sub for the money i can find. I have bought a lot of furniture and plan to spend more so i don't think i need to spend too much on a home theatre system...should i just wait? buy a good sub and do a 2.1 system with the athenas and like a klipsch sub?

I was thinking about getting these for the rear:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...596862#reviews

Then Dayton makes a center channel that might sound good:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/psho...0-674&scqty=1a

The reviews look awesome so I was thinking about getting all this. However, IDK how to run the wire to rear without it looking like shit. The basement is so big i can't mount the speakers on a back wall. I suppose i need speaker stands and cut small slits in the carpet and run the wire underneath or what? Also, where can I can some cheap speaker stands?

Please recommend anything you think would go better with my setup or if i should hold off on the home theatre system..

talk to Ed....he's a techno-nerd when it comes to home theatre stuff.

Eds system 2005

http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/t...man/fronts.jpg

Whats your budget? Also, that sub is decent. I had it until I upgraded. What's your room size? For a small room, that sub will prolly be fine, for a large room, u need to 'up' your $100 budget on a sub.

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Originally Posted by doberman 152

Eds system 2005

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My system's>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ed's

Athena Tech. makes some real nice speakers. For a large room, I'd get some floor standers, like the AS-F2. I have these and they sound great. I've got an Onkyo receiver pushing 75 w/ch. Try to stick with the same company for all your speakers as they are designed to work with one another. If you stay with the Audition Series, you can't go wrong. I'd try to run the wire up the wall and through the ceiling if you can. That is the cleanest install.

If you want to get real crazy, you can build your own sub for around 3-400 that will outperform many $1000 subs you can buy. I built a Tempest sub using Adire Audio designs. I'll try to get some pictures up.

look for a guy in a white van parked outside of best buy.

2 words.... DEFENITIVE TECHNOLOGY.

KEF, Paradigm, PSB, Swan, Aperion, Axiom, Ascend. All great speakers.
For subs, look at HSU, SVS or Elemental Desing. AV123 also, they make a great sub called the MFW-15.

Stay away from Bose.

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Originally Posted by tide

stay away from bose.

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+100000000

As with our cars, the more power the better. John http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/w...s355/htpic.jpg

first i suggest you check out this place for home theater
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

you should stay with the same speakers throught the system to keep everything matched. I have athena's as well. Everything is going to come down to 1. Do you live on your own or with PARENTS. 2. Do you live in a house or a condo/apartment type place. 3How much space do you have. 4. How much are you willing to spend.

As for the first thing if your with parents or in an attached building next to others then having it loud might be an issue and certain speakers would be overkill. If you have the space then i could suggest certain speakers in the athena line vs others. If you have the cash to spend then certain speakers in the athena line would be better..

Let me break it down for you
for fronts you could use
asf-1 or asf-2 cons to these are-cost more,takes up more space-needs more power
ab-2 cons to these are-smaller speakers lack low end bass(sub would take care of that)
asb-1 cons to these are-even smaller speaker lacks low to mid bass

for the center you really only have once choice and that is
as-c1 only con to that are the 5 1/4 drivers in which some people complain that they dont keep up too well to the as-f1 or as-f2 but this is only some opinions

for the rears you could run
as-b1 there really are not too many cons with the rear speakers other than the
r1 b1 and the r1 use a 5 1/4 inch driver vs the b2 which use a 6 1/2 inch
as-b2 driver. No real need to go bigger than the b2 for the rear

check out this thread for fellow athena users...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...ghlight=athean
There are better speakers out there than the athena's for sure but how much do you want to spend. Athena's are a good bang for your buck and seeing that your picking some cheap ass rears and sub from parts express i take it that you dont want to break the bank. Stay with the athenas all around and dont mix them up with the parts express surrounds

Now for the parts express sub they do carry some good sub drivers there to build your own sub. They have the plate amps and even already built boxes to install everything. check this area of avs out for do it yourself subs

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=155

i cant seem to find the parts express subwoofer discussions but there are lots of threads there talking about the subs they carry if you plan to build one.

I have 3 different set ups. My first one is a Kenwood (1080) reciever and a pair of cerwin vega (seris RE 38) this was my first one. I now have a Onkyo (TX-D777) and a pair of Polk tower, and center, with the Bose cubes, this is the 2nd one I bought and I use it in the basement. Now my new one is the Onkyo (800B), with the Klipsch (RM5) with a Klipsch 12" Sub. and a Samsung 56 in. TV.
I love the Onkyo, and the Klipsch line and I will never buy anything else now.

I recommend Klipsch as well. I have had a Klipsch 10" sub for 8 years now ($400 then) and it still rocks. I bought some Klipsch bookshelf speakers for my front surround and they're great. Made in USA also. I'm converting all my speakers to Klipsch, it is best to use a matched line of speakers no matter what brand you end up with.
For any good sub, it always is the more $$$ you spend the better. Like others said, maybe building your own would be the best bang for the buck. Definitely need to spend more than $200 for the sub.

avsforum.com and audioholics.com
Two great sites. I live on them more than this site :)

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Originally Posted by Too Fast

I recommend Klipsch as well. I have had a Klipsch 10" sub for 8 years now ($400 then) and it still rocks. I bought some Klipsch bookshelf speakers for my front surround and they're great. Made in USA also. I'm converting all my speakers to Klipsch, it is best to use a matched line of speakers no matter what brand you end up with.
For any good sub, it always is the more $$$ you spend the better. Like others said, maybe building your own would be the best bang for the buck. Definitely need to spend more than $200 for the sub.

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Just a little info--klipsch owns athena. But yea klipsch is also a good brand and not too expensive..

Ok I am back. I canceled my internet cuz I am moving. First off, I have absolutely nothing to compare my speakers to. No one I know has a home theatre set up or cares about sound quality. I live in Nebraska..go figure. My athena b1.2's are the best i've heard lol

I will post pics sometime this week of my setup (home). I have no parents and my roommates will let me do whatever I want. So no restriction on how big I would want to go. Only restricition is my wallet, cuz I don't want to spend thousands on a home theatre system...thats it.

My room is quite large. If I had to guess it's like 15Wx25Lx8H. I use a 46" samsung so the video is covered.

I use the tv mostly for gaming, music, movies....quite evenly, not one more than the other.

Someone recommended me the athenas (b1.2) on the avs forums a year ago or so. So I am already a member there, just don't read too much. And for their size and price they are impressive to me...remember i haven't heard many speakers.

Like I said, i think my yamaha struggles with those at half volume but they sound quite nice for listening to shitty mp3s...played cod 5 zombies yesterday...they sound amazing with some good input like the xbox puts out. Very crisp and enough volume.

So yes I think the Athena's quality wise are sufficient for me and those bookshelves were only 100 bucks. I know klipsch makes great speakers so I am not ruling any speakers out.

I know on the athena site, they say their line of speakers go very well together.


Ok, so what do you guys think of this? I see some people do a 4.1 setup. I'd like to upgrade the sub first. I see athena has some and most people like them. Also, I see some of you recommend trying the DIY subs. Haven't tried that ever, so i might look into that to save some money as well. Buying used is no big deal either, I guess I can try ebay for a nice klipsch sub since athenas are kinda hard to find. Then I could move the b1.2s to the back and pick up some nice floorstanding speakers like iq5's or something? That might be pushing it price wise, but it's an idea. I know when people buy athena's though they love them..same goes with klipsch...

Rear speakers aren't that important right? Just fillers basically?

Maybe upgrade the receiver and move the yamaha to the garage or bedroom? I've heard people say the receiver is the least important part of the system...speakers>everything else

Speakers really make the system.

I run a nice Integra Receiver (125wx7) and for the longest time I used some crappy 5.1 speakers.

I couldn't believe how much I was missing especially from the center channel once I got my Polks.

I run Dipoles for my sides
http://www.ls1.com/forums/picture.ph...&pictureid=151

And theses for my rears.
http://www.ls1.com/forums/picture.ph...&pictureid=152