Piecing together HT

A friend of mine asked me to piece together a HT setup for him and I am needing some assistance.

He is looking to purchase 2 bookshelf speakers, a sub, and a receiver for the time being and then add in center/rear channels later for surround. He is wanting some nice bookshelfs for music and is willing to skimp on the surround equipmnent. The total price he'd like to spend is $1,200. That should include the center/rears, shipping and cabling if possible.

I have been looking at Axiom bookshelfs, Onkyo receivers and Dayton subs. The problem I'm running into is finding a reasonably priced receiver that can power some hefty bookshelfs, yet do 5.1 as well.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I have the Onkoyo TXSR602 and it's a great receiver for your needs. Others might recommend HK, Yamaha, Denon, Pioneer etc just on preference. Also some might say receivers complement the speakers but honestly I can't tell the difference after auditioning them when I bought my HT stuff. You'll probably spend about $800 for the 2.1 setup you're considering and that leaves about $400. I would look at avsforum.com for more help.

Thanks for the reply. The TXSR602 is one of the ones that I've been looking at actually. Wouldn't the 85W/channel limit my bookshelf choices though?

you could look at the Denon AV-1705.. i believe it's running for around 200$ now. or you could take a look at the Panasonic XR-55.. here is a particularly enormous thread about it over at avsforum.

personally, i use the 1705 with Energy C-3's and a Dayton 10".. there are no problems with 75W/channel. the whole setup cost me around $600 (though i got the C-3's at almost 50% off!).

Receiver: Not the most important piece, but needs some attention. The H/K 235 and up is good, as is the Panasonic listed. guestimate price: $200-$250

Speakers: The most important, since stereo sound is important. I HIGHLY recommend the Ascend Acoustics CBM170's. In fact, for ~$800 you can get 4 of those and a matching center.

Sub: Dayton 12" @ $120+Free shipping at partsexpress.com.

That totals about $1150 plus the cost of cabling.

Thanks for the input. I've been doing alot of reading and I think I've narrowed it down to the Axiom M22ti bookshelfs, the Dayton 12", and the Panasonic XR55K.

Now where is a good place to get wire online?

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Originally Posted by jester22c

Thanks for the input. I've been doing alot of reading and I think I've narrowed it down to the Axiom M22ti bookshelfs, the Dayton 12", and the Panasonic XR55K.

Now where is a good place to get wire online?

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Partsexpress has good cables, wires etc from Dayton that's where I bought my stuff.

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Originally Posted by jester22c

Now where is a good place to get wire online?

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speaker wire?

drive down to Home Depot and buy a roll of speaker wire from there.. that's where i got mine :)

Thanks guys.

I have to admit I'm going to have some audio eq envy after I get all this setup for my friend. Oh well my stereo equipment suffices for the moment, and I'll always have my Sennheisers :)

every time i looked for wires through amazon marketplace, the best quality at the best price was always partsxpress. so i bought everything through them and have no complaints. i got a lot of nice 16guage copper in-wall wiring in 100ft spools for around $20 shipped

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Originally Posted by asmox

you could look at the Denon AV-1705.. i believe it's running for around 200$ now. or you could take a look at the Panasonic XR-55.. here is a particularly enormous thread about it over at avsforum.

personally, i use the 1705 with Energy C-3's and a Dayton 10".. there are no problems with 75W/channel. the whole setup cost me around $600 (though i got the C-3's at almost 50% off!).

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same receiver here, its great.

Id say the panasonic would be a great match for anyone using bookshelfs or anyone who needs to crossover the sub relatively high because it's lowest crossover setting is 80hz. It is yet another sleeper bargain. Im curious about how its sound quality compares to my Onkyo based on my "own" set of ears. :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by asmox

speaker wire?

drive down to Home Depot and buy a roll of speaker wire from there.. that's where i got mine :)

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Ouch, that made me want to stab myself in the ear.