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December 13, 2011 - 7:57pm
#1
New one here - looking for advice
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right now at Needle Doctor and Music Direct for $250.
http://www.avguide.com/review/tas-196-epos-els8-loudspeaker
Ain't gonna happen.
Here is a receiver that is an older version yet still has a lot of life. http://www.dakmart.com/Audio-Home-Audio-Receivers/c4_9_15/p6516/SELD-DENON-AVR-3808CI-3808-7.1-RECEIVER-HDMA-1.3A-1080P/product_info.html
http://www.hometheater.com/receivers/708denon3808/?q=receivers/708denon3808
http://www.avguide.com/review/denon-avr-3808ci-av-receiver
http://www.techradar.com/news/home-cinema/home-theatre-audio/denon-avr-3808-small-price-big-sound-180409
The Alpha B1 is an amazing speaker for the money. In that price range there isn't anything nicer-sounding. I would certainly suggest that you get those speakers. GOOD revews on the Alpha B1 is the understatement of the year...lol; try mind-boggling off-the-scale reviews; from everyone!
In my opinion, the sound quality of the Onkyo HT receivers is superior to all of the others on the market. They seem to accomplish this by using a higher no-signal bias setting than the others, and better engineering generally. In any case, they sound very good. My second choice would be a Marantz receiver; they are very good also.
Any other HT receiver that you can get for under $600 is going to sound like crap, from my experience. There is a lot of crap in the lower price range so be very selective.
I suggest you go to the Onkyo Receiver page on their website and look for the receiver with the features you need at the best price. The Onkyo TX-SR309 has an MSRP of $299 and might meet your needs. Check the list of features and see if it floats your boat...lol.
Actually, the TX-NR509 has the Audessy room correction, and lists for $399, so that would be my recommendation; that is a very good feature to have in the long run. Whoaaa...I just looked on Amazon and searched for the 509 and they have it now for $230...that is some price; might want to pounce on that ASAP! That can't last long (Onkyo usually is not discounted more than 10%).
I can never tell anything at all by listening in a dealer's showroom. You should either get the dealer to loan the gear to you for 2 days or more and try it at home, or get it from Audio Advisor and try it out for 2 weeks free (they give you 30 days free return privelege; you do pay return shipping if you return it). For me, there is no substitute for trying it out in my system in my room; the acoustics in a showroom are totally different.
Do your audition at home; that is the only way to be sure of satisfaction!
You could order the Marantz NR-1402 receiver to try at home from Audio Advisor. That one also has Audessy, for $400. It has 50 watts/ch, as opposed to the 80W of the Onkyo, but with those efficient speakers (91db/watt) either is plenty; that is a non-issue (unless/until you buy some speakers with an efficiency of 87 db/watt or worse).
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After much reading and not wanting to spend lots-o money at first. I am looking at the PSB Alpha B1 bookshelf set or the Paradigm Atom v.5 bookshelf set.
As I have found a local craigslist deal for the Alpha B1 AND C1 for under 300. I will probably go pick those up since they seem to have good reviews and are one step closer to a 5.0/5.1 setup. But firstly, a good stereo setup for music is priority over getting 5.1 right away.
So, since I am new and have just done a lot of reading. I would like your thoughts on that speaker choice. From what I understand those are about the best bang-for-buck speakers around under $300.00.
Furthermore, I need some advice on receivers. This is where my knowledge and reading really shows it's weakness.
I need a receiver that will push those speakers. Offer 5.1 output and will still give me a good music listening experience. Clarity in reproduction is key. At a budget.
Beyond that. The things that will be plugged into it are - Xbox(hdmi) BluRay(hdmi) and maybe an Iphone and Digital out from a computer. Then I would like it to take HDMI out to my television - 1080p Samsung 42"..
Here is my ultimate goal in all of this - LOW BUDGET. I would love to spend no more than 250-300ish on the receiver if possible. My goal (if I can get those speakers) is to keep it well under a grand for the whole 5.1 eventually. At leats most the way. I also am all about buying used equipment!
The major thing I do NOT want - is to get something that will completely disappoint me. I do not want the receiver to be the weak link in the reproduction of all that great music and secondly movies. If you tell me I have to spend $500 on the receiver or I will be upgrading in a month or two. Then I will just wait the month or two and get the $500 one first.
I also understand that in a perfect world I could audition all of this before buying. I don't know of anyplace I could truly audition a receiver though. Considering I would nearly have to have them both plugged into the same type of speakers in the same enviroment. I don't know if that place exists near me. Maybe it does? (Dallas, TX).
Thanks for your replies and reccommendations.
I am in contact and plan to try and pick up the Alpha's this weekend. I like to buy used and the fact it comes with a Center, looks to be a good deal.
I know I am not going to get pure reproduction on a budget. Mostly looking for where to start. Whether or not there was a "threshhold" price or line/per a certain manufacturer to start looking at.
I will likely save for something like the NR509 or that Denon. Both look pretty stout.
Thanks again for the time to reply. I will let you guys know what I end up with!
I just searched for the 509 on Amazon and they have it for $230; that is a very unusual amount of discount for an Onkyo. Don't think that will last very long!
Sweet. Picked up speakers tonight...Was able to demo them in the guys living room to some Pandora-streamed music (not awesome quality) and he threw in a Blu Ray for me.
I will be borrowing a "pos" Sony receiver for a few weeks until I can get a decent one.
Can't wait to get it all together
I am very excited. Glad I finally made the leap into some Home Audio stuff.