You have a very nice pile of money to play with. I would check out any of the Cedia member installers in your area who could be a great help with a very nice custom intall marrying audio and video.

If you are handy you could try it yourself, but you may end up with half a loaf and much money spent. Your experience should dictate how you proceed.

Considerations:
1.) Are you interested in a great 2-channel system which you could also insert a great video source, or is 5,6, or 7.1 audio a must for your movie watching experience?

2.) Do you want a projector for your video source which will require a darker room for viewing? Large LCD and Plasma TVs have gotten very good and more affordable in the larger sizes. These you can watch in a normally lit room.

3.) You could do two systems, one killer system for 2-channel audio in one area, and do a less expensive audio system for your High Def video experience in another. This would allow some to enjoy audio while others watch movies and TV.

You should also check out Philes sister publications that cater to the video side of the business. You have an amount of money that you could do two systems very nicely with the right information and assistsnce.

Good luck.

I think many like the Martin Logan sound. I think that the Magnolia/Best Buy stores carry them so check you local outlet. Sometimes the Magnolia store is inside the Best Buy location, dealing with more high end gear. You should audition many loudspeakers, the most critical component of your systems. There are surely many fine Audio stores in your area. You should have some fun Saturdays doing your homework/auditioning.

You might consider breaking out you budgets and allocate, say, $6K for the video/multichannel systems, and $9K for the 2 channel system. You can balance this out anyway you like.

I would only do a "receiver" for the home theater set up. You will get more bang for your buck. If you are doing HD thru HDMI you may want to make sure your HD receiver has multiple HDMI inputs so as to allow you video and audio switching with one touch of the remote. It will also allow you to run one cable for audio and video from your sources.

For your audio system I would spend nearly 60% on speakers. If you might listen to FM you might consider the Magnum Dynalab MD208 reciever ($2800) review in Phile by John Marks a few years ago. Check out the Phile archives under writer, John Marks. http://stereophile.com/integratedamps/329/
http://www.stereophile.com/thefifthelement/1005fifth/

Also, check the Phile recomended components listing for their speaker recommendations in the $4K to $6K range and audition all that you can.

There are 2 Moon components that intrigue me right now, the $1500 each integrated amp and Cd player. That married to your speaker choice would sound very nice...I would think. If you find speakers closer to $5K I would then look to add the Rega P3-24 turntable and a decent phono stage and you could be part of the vinyl resurgence. There are also a number of good TT options from Music Hall and Project within this budget...if vinyl interests you.

Agonize over your speaker choices more than the rest. This is where the rubber meets the road.

Welcome to Stereophile Forums.

$15,000 is a nice budget, but it's surprisingly easy to blow through it and have only an average system. To get specific at all with you we need to know more about your preferences. Are you big into music, already having a decent CDs, LPs or digital music files? Do you attend live concerts and what kind of music do you listen?

Is video more important to you. Do you really want surround and think it's very important, or do you think of it as kind of gimicky?

If you really lean toward music, then you might seriously consider a two-channel set up for both video and music. The option is to get a killer two-channel set up and then use pretty basic speakers and surround processor for you AV system. I prefer quality, dual-purpose two-channel. It works amazingly well for video, but it's WAY better for sterio listening, IMHO.

Do you already own any components? If so, what are they? Are you into computer audio yet?

You've got a nice room size, but if you start putting two systems in there you'll run into conflicts.

Take a look at Soundings web site Do you have a dealer like that in your area? If you do, then I suggest visiting them with a favorite CD or two and some favorite DVDs. Lots of high-end dealers are snooty and try to embarrass you into something ill suited, but there are some good guys out there. If you tell us your geographical area some specific recommendation might come forth.

Dave

Make sure your HDTV does 1080P if you are looking at that large a screen. Although I own a Philips 720P 42" lcd, I am not much of a video phile, this was more to quiet down my family members who wanted a "big TV". If I was more into video I would have looked harder at the Sony Brevia models whose picture quality impressed me more...for much more money...of course. There are BlueRay HD video players now on the market at the $400 pricepoint for true HD movie watching.

the Philips Outlet site also has some great buys on occasion. http://www.outlet.philips.com/b2c_redesign/b2c/catalogForward.do?catalogEntry=true&shop=OUTLET

Sounds like you are on the right track. You did not mention the HT receiver in your last post that went with the Denon DVD player.

Last month Kal Rubinson gave a big thumbs up to the Pioneer Elite DV 58 DVD player as a great value. You might look at the Pioneer elite receivers if you like that possible combo. I would view their website at your convenience. Check and make sure the video chip in the DVD player is at least 12 bit, 108 mhz.

For the record all Martin Logan electrostats suck if they are powered by receivers. Great speakers but they do require a high quality, serious amp to get up and go. Bottom line don't buy the speakers unless you can step up and get the electronics or you will spend a lot of money and be underwhelmed.

Quote:
thanks for the tips...what amp would you recommend to run the martin logans? what is the best amp in the $1,000 to $3,000 range? any comments on the vienna acustics?

Musical Fidelity A5.5 (not necessarily the best, but one of the best).