adrenaline78

Any suggestions?

Mine has pretty much gone kaput.. which is probably good because it's only a dolby surround 5.1 that's well over 10 years old!


I am looking for a 7.1 setup(preferred) but would settle for a 5.1. I don't need an integrated blu ray player. Would also like it to be under or around $400. Any suggestions based on what you guys own or have tried out?

Thanks for your help.

Numanoid

I'm not sure what you're asking? You want an amp AND speakers for under $400? Is this for a PC, or a TV? If the latter, you should ask a mod to move this to the Home Theater Gear forum.

adrenaline78

Oops. Didn't even consider putting it in the home theater section! Thanks.

Deftones

No way you are going to find anything remotely good for $400. A decent mid-range receiver will be about $300. Maybe stretch that to about $600 total and there are things that most could recommend.

emoxley

Amazon has this one right now for $479.98 w/free shipping: http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S5400...3000703&sr=1-1
It may not be that price for long. It could be a lot more tomorrow. Not going to get better than Onkyo, in that price range especially.
Good luck!

Deftones

Problem is, while the electronics in that package are good, those speakers are shitty.

K&AJones

For a total of around $400?.....best bet is is used, demo stuff, electronic outlets, discontinued, last year model or simply start piece-by-piece and build one up. The all-in-ones like HTB are also cqn be considered. They've got better over the years but if you're expecting $2000+ booming quality sound forget it. If your space is medium to small maybe. But as the saying goes...you get what you paid for.

adrenaline78

Ha.. the funny thing is this is what I was looking at before I posted the thread!





Deftones, If I had more $ to spend I would easily buy something of more quality. I'm lucky my wife is even considering letting me spend this amount.

Raul3

You have to look at close outs.

For the receiver look at models from last year, you should find really great deals. I'd say you can find a good entry model, from Onkyo, Denon, etc. for less than $200. Of course an entry level is 100+ better than what you have right now.

For the speakers, forget about 7.1! You can try to find 3 really good speakers, for your 2 fronts and center, and use the ones you have right now at those positions for your rears. Forget about the bass too. Or use the one you have right now just for kicks.

Or you can try to find a sale on something like the Mirage Nanos. Sometime they are for around $50 each, but basically you have to search for closeouts or even used. For speakers used is not bad if you do your research.

I think that's the only way to stay under $400.

Sdallnct

Skip lossless
Skip 7.1
Look for a used receiver. Many, MANY people have sold and are selling perfectly good receivers in order to get HDMI and/or lossless. Nothing wrong with good 'Ol "lossy" 5.1. In fact it is still pretty damn good.

JZ1276

http://www.6ave.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=PANSCBT230

K&AJones

I stilll have a 11yr old Denon 1801 I use. It might not have 7-HDMI connections or 20 sound fields but the 5.1 DD and especially DTS going thru my Boston 9000 Micro-Acioustic setup still rocks

Sdallnct

After that awesome advise, I just ordered a refurbished Onkyo SR508 for like $165 shipped...lmao...

For that price I'm going to try it in my theater room. If I don't like the sound quality I move to the living room.

adrenaline78

So I ended up getting the Onkyo HT-S3400 5.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver/Speaker Package for about 320$. I set it up this morning and have been testing it out with the BIG 4 Concert. So far it pounds pretty good and the low level sound such as the crowd and whatnot are easily heard in the background.

I am really digging this system right now.