(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best home theater systems

Damn, This got a bit long and didn't really scratch the surface. Sorry.

Here's my setup:

Router: Linksys E3000 running dd-wrt firmware

Media Server/Nas: Re-purposed Dell Vostro 200, Celeron 420 1.6Ghz, 4Gb Ram, Win7 Pro, 6TB Storage (2TB+4TB), Shares are served with Windows SMB & haneWIN NFS Server.

House Has 3 TVs: Living Room, Bedroom, and Basement Office

Living Room: XBMC Running on a Foxconn nt-A3700, Win7, 4gb RAM, 500gb HDD. Connected via Wireless N. Bose Cinemate II Sound System (1080p HDMI, S/PDIF Coaxial)

Bedroom: Raspberry Pi running RASPBMC, Connected with Edimax EW-7811un Wireless Adapter. using NFS shares. (1080p HDMI, TV Speakers)

Basement/Home Office: An old self assembled gaming rig re-purposed as a dedicated HTPC. GeForce 9800GTx+, Sony STR-DH520 7.1 Audio System. (1080p HDMI, S/PDIF-TOSLINK)

Other Devices: WDTV Media Player non-XBMC. Would not reliably see windows SMB shares, but NFS worked well. Not in use.

Thoughts: If you're serious. At some point get a dedicated server PC of some sort. It doesn't need to be much in terms of hardware if all you intend to do is serve media files on your LAN. If you plan on converting the files as you serve them (Plex? not necessary with XBMC), then you'll need some processing power behind your server setup. Mine sits in a locked room with our surveillance DVR. No monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Ethernet plugged directly into the router for the full 1000 mbp/s.

The Foxconn nt-A3700 connected in the living room is a great little box. We bought it back in 2012, and I haven't regretted it yet. I guess a contemporary alternative would be the Intel NUC. We use a MCE IR remote to control XBMC. IR reciever connected with a usb dongle.

The best of them is the basement office HTPC. I have a PS3 Remote control connected via bluetooth for XBMC. It works seamlessly between the Sony TV and Sony Reciever. I play video games on it (Steam Big Picture with an Xbox 360 controller), surf the web, browse Reddit. ect I use a Lenovo N5902 when I need it to act like a PC.

The Raspberry Pi: It's not perfect, but I like it. It runs RASPBMC. The interface (Confluence Skin) can be a little laggy at times, but I kind of expected that from a 700mhz processor (I'm currently overclocked to 900 with heatsinks). You'll have to buy the MPEG-2 license for your board if you plan on playing files using that codec. Ours uses a MCE Remote similar to the Living room htpc but the IR reciever is connected to the GPIO Pins. It was a bit of a pain to find a good wireless adapter. I went through 3 different models before I found the Edimax. That seems to be the theme of the Pi. Yeah it works but only with certain peripherals. Mine still struggles with 3gb+ 1080p movies over wireless (Stuttering/Buffering), but it handles 2gb 720p movies with ease. This feels like more of a wifi/usb power limitation of the Pi. Hard-wired it will play those same 1080p files just fine. If you like to tinker then get it. If you don't want to fuss with it then get a bookshelf htpc like the NUC (or Foxconn nt-A3700) But you're looking at apples and oranges between a 35$ media player(100~ with accessories) and a 300$ PC

The media library is housed on two internal hard drives. 2TB and 4TB. I have windows set to email if there are any issues with the disks as I have had to replace the 4TB once in the last 4 years and nearly lost a metric fuck-ton of data. I use four folders as my shares. 'Television' on the root of that 4TB drive because it needs nearly all of it. Movies and Music on the root of the 2TB system drive. They are shared via windows built-in SMB and hanewin NFS Server. The reason I use hanewinNFS over windows SMB is that the Pi seems to perform better using NFS shares over wireless. Could be lower the overhead or just voodoo. Who Knows?
I use theRenamer to rename all media before I add it to the XBMC library. Then I scrape it using Media Companion and have it store the info on the server with the media. The reasoning behind this is that when I need to repair, rebuild, or add another XBMC client (It happens from time to time) It doesn't have to scrape 1000's of episodes and movies from the web. It's all there next to the file for XBMC to find quickly. You're welcome imdb/theTVDB.com

Hope that gives you a general idea.

From my experiences the Denon receivers are easier to set up and get running. The Denon does push less wattage but they're well known for having a cleaner power; better efficiency. I do like the Advantage series, they are a great receiver but I do see people leaning towards, and being happier with the Denon products. However i also do a lot with Marantz too. Tend to be a higher end product across the board. Great sound quality, nice drivers and a solid amp. May be worth looking in to.

http://www.amazon.com/Marantz-SR6009-Receiver-Features-Bluetooth/dp/B00MMNZDSW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416073483&sr=8-1&keywords=marantz+sr6009

I'll be happy to give you my thoughts on them. I have not heard the PC400 setup (look on ebay for a much lower price on them BTW) but I have a set of PM800 and PM1000. The PM1000's are being used as I write this.

The PC400 is DefTech's entry level sat/sub setup. They use a more basic driver and radiator setup vs the PC600 and up. I'm sure they get the job done but I'm very weary of the cost at full price. At a reduced cost they are way more attractive (ebay). The large selling point of these is the small footprint and the fact everything comes in one box.

The overall performance of the system is going to be ok. The sub is on the small side and will be nice for a small room could be under powered for a larger room or if you like it loud. The fact that the sats are small and use radiators makes for a very flexible speaker to position. However, they will require a higher cross over point and this will make the sub more noticeable.

The other shortcomings of a sat/sub system is the music playback. The high cross means that you can get some vocals out of the sub that really should be coming out of the main speakers. This can alter the way music sounds. It's not as noticeable in movies so if that is your main use then go for it.

Another good point of these is that you get everything for a 5.1 right away. You can also add and upgrade with this while maintaining your 5.1 system.

So in short for the reduced cost I would say go for it if you want a 5.1 for movie usage. At full price or if you're a music person I would pass in favor of something else. If you're liking the all in one speaker set I would look at the ones I linked or something like these.

• Focal Sib 5.1 $600
  
  
• DefTech PC600 refurb $500 (check ebay too) - the better version of the PC400 with better drivers and radiators
  
  
• Boston A 2310 5.1 set $450

I have this Onkyo HT-S3400 package connected to the motherboard on my computer via optical cable. I have Doly Home Theatre installed and enabled. What is the best possible way to listen to music with this setup? In particular, I want the best possible way to listen to Pink Floyd. I've been using Kodi for a while to playback my FLAC files, and I typically disable passthrough mode. Which is better for playback, and are there any other settings I should change to increase the audio quality?

​

1. Is it worth upgrading my sound card or looking into an external DAC?
   
   
2. am I better off upgrading my speakers and/or receiver?
   
   ​
   
   
3. Or am I limited by the CD quality 44.1KHz rips I have and would only have true lossless audio from a vinyl? I am very interested in getting into vinyl. I've done a little research into what makes vinyl better than CDs, but does it really sound significantly better?
   
   
4. If so, are the modern re-releases of vinyls for bands like Pink Floyd made from a digital master?
   
   
5. If I want the best possible experience listening to Pink Floyd, should I buy/upgrade my:
   
   a) speakers
   
   b) receiver
   
   c) sound card
   
   d) vinyl record player
   
   ​
   
   Thanks

For DJing your going to need a DJ table. Most normal tables don't really have the optimal torque, or the emphasis on build quality, needed for constant transportation and so forth. Plus you kind of have to go direct drive, unless you want to be going through belts left and right.

https://www.amazon.com/Stanton-STR8-80-Turntable-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B00006FXFU/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1538455267&sr=1-4&keywords=stanton+direct+drive+turntable

For speakers your best bet is honestly studio monitors. How much you want to spend is almost directly proportional to how big an area you are looking to DJ. What might be good for your small apartment probably isn't going to cut it for a larger area.

These aren't the most nuanced, but will get the job done well and actually sound pretty good. Keep in mind, you'll be paying 3X or more if you want quality monitors. Plus these look decent, sport a fairly beefy 8" driver, have a remote, optical and USB in, and support stuff like BT if needed.

https://www.amazon.com/Rockville-HTS8W-Theater-Speakers-Bluetooth/dp/B0725287PG/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1538455750&sr=1-3&keywords=studio+monitor&refinements=p_89%3ARockville

Or these, which aren't as flexible with inputs, but are more oriented towards a studio or live environment. Plus these are easy to add a matching sub to;

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GV0OP5S/ref=twister_B07BK8QTBH?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GV0OJIG/ref=twister_B07BK8QTBH?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

Keep in mind, anything less than top of the line JBL and QSC stuff is going to be sneered at by "professional" DJs. But if you aren't depending on your gear to eat, you can cut a lot of corners and still get quality sound.

Looks like it's a Home Theater in a Box setup (HTiaB). From the manual, it looks like you don't have any HDMI inputs at all (the 370/770 higher models do have two HDMI inputs), which means you're pretty much out of luck. If you have a free HDMI input on your TV and a way to get TOSLink (optical) audio out of your PC, you could plug HDMI into the TV and audio into the receiver. If you have coax S/PDIF audio output from your PC, you can get cheap S/PDIF -> TOSLink converters from MonoPrice. If you only have stereo analog out (or 6-channel analog out, of which you're only going to be able to use two channels), you can get a mini-jack to RCA dongle or cable cheaply and use that but you'll only get stereo output (Dolby Digital, DTS, 6-channel AAC, etc will all get mixed down to stereo by your PC).

The best long-term solution would be to invest in separate components for your home theater. A separate receiver with multiple HDMI inputs, separate speakers (your current speakers won't work with a standard receiver unless you cut off the current connection ends and wire them up differently), separate blu-ray player, etc. Yes, that will be more expensive, but for less than $1000 (or even less than $600, if you shop around) you'll end up with a much better, more expandable home theater that will play nicely with anything you throw at it (PC, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Blu-Ray, DVD, cable/satellite box, Boxee/WDTV/Popcorn Hour, etc).

It's been a little while since I've purchased any audio equipment.

At work all of our computers came with logitech audio equipment which I used to crank up after hours some nights. I was never really impressed with it and started looking into why; I found the aforementioned answers to those questions.

As far as which Klipsch system to purchase, one of my friends has this system and I thought it sounded absolutely fantastic.

Another one of my friends has this system which also sounded good, but is more expensive, but they look better... in case you have to account for the wife factor ;)

If I had to choose between those two I would definitely go with the ProMedia 5.1 setup. Great sound, great price, and, if you take care of it, it will last you a long, long time. It's really hard to beat that.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I don't think Klipsch makes a 7.1 system... I'm not sure though.

So I've been thinking about my situation some more, and being cognizant of the fact that the sound quality will be inferior in a prepackaged system, I think getting one makes the most sense for me due to budgetary constraints and overall convenience. I like the idea of building a system over time, but I don't think I'll be able to commit resources to building it up like that. I probably won't ever get around to upgrading anything. Also, as a bit of perspective for me, I've been using a basic stereo system (5 CD changer kind of deal) for the last 13 or 14 years... so I think a prepackaged system would still present a pretty significant upgrade for me...

With all this in mind, and resigning myself to the disadvantages of a prepackaged system, which of these seems like the best option?

The aforementioned Sony system?

This Onkyo system?

Or this other Sony system?

Thanks so much for your help!

You've made a fine choice for your receiver. Good. However, Pioneer makes nice electronics - Speaker company they are not. How's about budgeting another $75 and trying the Polk Audio TL1600 system...or something similar. Yeah, it's a few more bucks BUT you'll have a full set of speakers for your 5.1 system AND they'll all be perfectly matched with one another. For Speaker Wire, the thicker the better. 12 gauge is pretty thick shit but honestly IMO, 16 gauge is just fine for performance/cost. Best of luck on finishing your system and don't forget the popcorn.

Mine is a little cluttered and far from perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it =]

EDIT: Incase anyone was interested, here's a list of all the stuff I used in my setup:

Entertainment Centre
(Also comes in white!)

Surround Sound (not quite the same model but very similar since mine isn't available anymore)

Controller Stand

LED Lights

Blu Ray Stack

I haven't listed the 4 circular speakers on the bottom shelf since they are really old and I only use them as bluetooth speakers!

This one seems to have thhe 4K hdr features and gets decent reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-3920UBL-5-1-Channel-Theater-Bluetooth/dp/B00V9Z2WZG/

Obviously you can spend thousands on speakers, but for your budget you are looking at a package like this or something similar.

If you wanted to step up a bit on the speakers you could go with something like this...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008CMVY7Q

You would need to add an AVR, though, which woul put you a little over budget. Something like this...

https://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-S510BT-Channel-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B00YAO43YG

That would likely be a pretty nice setup for not too much over your budget.

I just did a test.

I played two drastically different songs at about 80% volume on the 598 while sitting 2 feet away from my Acoustech PL89 5.1 system at about -3.5 dB.

With the song "The Legend of Zelda" by Zedd, I would watch the characters and couldn't discern any noise.

With "Fragile" by God is an Astronaut I could hear some and almost tell what people were saying, but still a fair amount of isolation.

As for leakage, I'm afraid you're gonna get it. I played the first song with my hands over the earpieces and could easily hear the music over my 5.1 system.

Hope that helps.

>No way its $1000.

How do you figure? Just looking at deals from the last week you could have gotten:

1. $380 RefurbishedVIZIO 42" LCD 1080p Smart TV with WiFi & SRS StudioSound HD Audio
   
2. $250 Yamaha YHT-397 5.1-Channel Home Theater System
   
3. $40 Toshiba Blu-ray Player w/ Wi-Fi
   
   Figure $750 once you add all the cables and other stuff you need. Maybe another $100 if you're not comfortable with a refurbished TV. You could probably save even more if you're patient; I just looked at popular deals from the last week on Slickdeals for the TV and HTIB.
   
   

So, we are building a home theater and need surround sound. My brother was leaning towards an all in one box kit. But I told him our dad had some nice Cerwin Vega speakers and a Polk Audio subwoofer he wasn't using.

Here's the box kit we were going to get:
Samsung HT-H7730 7.1 Channel 1330-Watt 3D Blu-Ray Home Theater
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ICDE6PW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But since we have these speakers, I think we should build off this.
We want to go 7.1 so we'll need a receiver and four Satellite Speakers as well. Any recommendations are appreciated.

Room Dimensions: 12.5 Feet wide, 18 feet long Budget -$450 -$650 ish

We'll need HDMI inputs for blu ray player, PCs, video game systems, etc

you HAVE to get a sub.

Look for a deal on something like this, which is great for an apartment.

These will give you pretty good bang for your buck.

If you need a receiver:

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-4920UBL-5-1-Channel-Theater-Bluetooth/dp/B00V9Z2X6O/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1469461789&sr=8-6&keywords=htib

If you don't:

https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-HDT-600-Home-Theater-System/dp/B008CMVY7Q/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1469461789&sr=8-14&keywords=htib

Hey guys. I am new to all this but want to get a decent sound system for my TV/PS4. I was looking at

https://www.amazon.com/Orb-Audio-Mini-5-1-Theater/dp/B00PL02J80/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1478893288&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=orb+5.1

with http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-725w-5-2-ch-full-hd-and-3d-pass-through-a-v-home-theater-receiver-black/4418007.p?skuId=4418007

which I would pricematch with Amazon. Will this work/ is it a good setup?

Sweet, thanks. I also found these, what do you think?

They aren't $900 they are just not made anymore you can get them off eBay or other 2nd places for $300 or less.

You could get the newer version of these called the z906's. They are on sale directly from Logitech now.

Overall the quality vs size is what makes them really nice.

This also seems to be a good deal right now for price.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004O0TRDI

Thanks for your reply, I'll definitely look into those. What are your thoughts on these speakers with this receiver

Bought new 4 months ago, need something with a few more HDMI inputs. In perfect working and cosmetic condition, sells for $800 new on Amazon, asking $500.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-HT-H7730-Channel-1330-Watt-Blu-Ray/dp/B00ICDE6PW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422161354&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+ht-7730wm

For that price, I think I'd be better off getting a Pioneer surround receiver. Something like this 5.1 ch kit.

this year's model is only $250

Reliability with Pioneer is still several cuts above Onkyo, but this far into entry level territory I would consider any AVR to be made as cheaply as possible and to last about as long as their warranty period.

This is my receiver. I saved $400 by getting a refurb. This is about as entry-level as you want to go for a finished basement HT. Enough power to give you 60-70 watts per channel all driven and around a hundred in stereo. Just to give you an idea of what to consider in the future.

So i went shopping. What i found that seemed in the same range was the following.
Mirage Nano 5.1 (think its this one) http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001IX5IZA?cache=0560dee31b7e8ba57d332bb61fc75d49&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1414346285&sr=8-1#immersive-view_1414346293321

For 799$(can).

Also saw Paradigm ct 100 for 699$.

Energy are nice. But a bit on the big side(girlfriend finds them ugly)

Mirage MX 5.1-Channel Miniature Home Theater Speaker System

Those are insanely good. Worth every penny and they are about the size of a baseball.

Oh I'm talking about something like this:

Yamaha YHT-3920UBL 5.1-Channel Home Theater in a Box System with Bluetooth https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V9Z2WZG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_nB1gAbPV48AR6

I bought something like this and if I wanted to I can just replace all the speakers that came with it. It's not one of those home theatre in a box setup where you're stuck with the speakers. I actually used front tower speakers instead of the two little speaker that came with it.

Onkyo DTS HD capable decoder and a matching set of BIC America home theater system

Option 1 sounds solid.

I'll post two things I just found. The only thing that troubles me about the Yamaha is that the surround is speaker wire, and the front are RCA. I would want it the other way.

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-397-5-1-Channel-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B007PU2X76/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1413539813&sr=1-9&keywords=5.1+receiver+speaker+wire#Ask

Then there's this, which would solve all my problems and allow me to just expand over time (at least until RCA takes over entirely). I'm just afraid of becoming outdated too fast with the speaker wire. But I can't find any good floor speakers that use RCA.

Thanks thrownaqzzz and anyone else reading.

This soundsystem will be 10 times better than the pioneer one you selected. Other than that, check out epson for projectors. All in all though, youll have a hard time spending that little if you want to get furniture and everything.

If you just want to play games in surround sound on your PS4, look for a HTIB (Home Theater In a Box) that fit's in your price range.

Yamaha has some decent looking ones on Amazon in the mid/low $400s - that's probably the point where it's not just super proprietary and completely terrible but you can definitely pay a lot less - but you'll get what you pay for.

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-Bluetooth-Component-Receiver-YHT-4930UBL/dp/B071JY862G/
https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-3920UBL-5-1-Channel-Theater-Bluetooth/dp/B00V9Z2WZG/

Those should work and if you want to upgrade, you can start by replacing the speakers.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004O0TRDI/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

How does this one look?

Definitive Technology ProCinema 600 5.1 Home Theater Speaker System - Black (Certified Refurbished) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MPY5WY3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_HtenzbB7DX965

Just under 500, refurb i received looks brand new

Only mod I made a bit after was added a procenter 1000