Home Theater Recommendations (for a noob)

• 

  oscargamer on 04/06/2017 - 13:58

  Speakers are a notoriously personal thing.

  I am NOT an audiophile, but i know that some people like 'bright' sounding speakers, while others like 'fuller' sounding ones.

  You REALLY need to listen to them yourself. Is there a JB HiFi near you?

  For your budget, i would suggest 1/2 for the amp and 1/2 for the speakers.

  In that budget, personally, I like Yamaha amps and Jensen speakers. Nothing wrong at all with buying 2nd hand BUT YOU MUST INSPECT AND LISTEN before buying.

  Like this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/JENSEN-SPX-SERIES-5-1-CHERRY-FINI… but I wouldn't pay any more than $650 for that set (assuming works perfectly)

  Good luck

• 

  GreatWhiteHunter on 04/06/2017 - 14:40

  +1

  I just bought the Yamaha V681 receiver.

  It's 7.2 for $699

  Has 6 HDMI inputs, plus all sorts of bells and whistles like Spotify and Airplay for $699

  You can control the receiver with your IPAD.

  I am super happy with the purchase.

  • 

    HoleInMyWallet on 17/06/2017 - 10:25

    Awesome receiver!

• 

  RiseAndRuin on 04/06/2017 - 14:58

  +1

  +1 for buying the speakers second hand, just not from businesses/shops. there are plenty of reviews online to help you decide, before you even go and listen to them.

  look for one of the many shops the carry a wider range of brands and models than jb hifi, they seem to have very little in their online catalogue. you can usually bring your own music/media and see what it sounds like.

  check that AV and speakers are a match, both in sound signature and in specs. also make sure you buy decent cables, I usually just buy say 50m of what I need and cut it to the required length. without being too specific, you generally want to buy the biggest size that can fit the receiver and speakers posts.

  N.B. please remember to be respectful to your neighbors, especially if you live in an apartment or a unit with people living 1 meter from your walls.

  • 

    toristo on 04/06/2017 - 18:42

    ^This. You don't need a 10" sub if you live in an apartment. My neighbour was too polite to tell me how bad the vibrations were until one day I was in her apartment and my flatmate was watching a movie. I apologised on the spot and sold the sub that weekend.

    (I also have beautiful Dali speakers that I don't regret spending the extra $$ on and do fine without a sub anyway - check second hand but make sure you test them out properly if buying second hand with a range of music to check all the speakers are good from high to low)

• 

  Randxyz123 on 04/06/2017 - 15:14

  I agree with the above poster.

  Have you factored in wiring? What is the layout of your room? Are you able to run wires through the roof or under the floor or a rug? I would personally be ringing up someone like Tivoli Hi-Fi and sending them a email with a drawing of your room (ideally a architecture style drawing) and ask them for a recommendation on how they would set it up for your style of room.

• 

  Hoolio on 04/06/2017 - 15:21

  Thanks for all the advice guys, my room is pretty big but can run wires underneath a rug, probably don't need wireless rear sound.

• 

  Nugs on 04/06/2017 - 17:24

  -1

  for ease of use and your budget, the Muteki range from Sony provide 'decent' sound (if they still do them).
  I think we paid around $1000 for a 7.2 "Home Theatre in a Box".
  I then bought upgraded wire, only issue with fat wire is it can be fiddly to get it into back of speakers (in this dollar range).

• 

  Fergy1987 on 04/06/2017 - 18:42

  Bowers & Wilkins 685's with NAD amp.

• 

  Kangal on 04/06/2017 - 20:23

  -1

  Its about getting an evenly balanced system.
  No point in getting $5,000 speakers connected to a $90 Amp.
  Nor is it good to get a $1,000 Amp connected to $50 speakers.

  However, if there's one thing you should focus on its the Amp.
  There's plenty of good ones out there, but I strongly recommend you get the best Yamaha unit you can afford ($400 sweet spot).
  Then, get a decent subwoofer (>$200).
  After that, you can fill in the the rest of your budget with the speakers. You can buy secondhand, just as long as you know the risks going in.

  But overall, you could get a decent Yamaha 5.1 system for $800.
  After that price, you get in the law of diminishing returns… where you can get better Amp, Sub, Speaker, etc etc… but it won't be drastically better and you'll be paying much much more for not much increase in Volume or Clarity.

• 

  g1 on 29/06/2017 - 14:06

  Do you need surround or would a good quality Stereo be better?
  Most surround AV receivers do not sound near as good as the Stereo ones at the same price. But if you want surround receiver then do you need to buy the whole setup at once?

  The best option is to go to a hifi store and listen to options. Next best is to go to somewhere like HN (it is loud generally so you will hear less difference in quality). Lastly you could risk it and buy speakers online and buy receiver online but do some research on reviews.

  Here is the deal with subwoofers… with your budget it is best to get better speakers that have a wider frequency range. If you buy a subwoofer you are looking around $1000+ for something that gives a good extension into bass and has power there. You can get speakers that give you some of that bass but without the same power and they cost sub $1000 (if you find a good deal) and they will be more pleasurable to listen to than some 5.1 system that is poor in every aspect (speaker and subwoofer).

  I recently chose to go 2.1 setup. The two front speakers are awesome for their price and the subwoofer gives a really good feel to the bass. I figured if I want to upgrade to surround I can do it over time. But right now after listening to the receiver and the speakers and comparing it to similar price surround setup I would rather hear the Stereo any day. It's like eating lots of average food or enough good food. it will be more enjoyable to have good food.

  So if you want surround receiver you could start with a decent receiver and buy front speakers, then slowly upgrade. But to tell if that is worthy of a path you really need to listen to the speakers and receiver.