I am looking at a home theatre system with the following receiver/amp
Sony STRDA5300ES
link here: www.sony.com.au/homecinema/catalog/product.jsp?categoryId=23688

and a set of Klipsch F2 speakers
http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/f-2-home-theater-system.aspx

Does anyone have any thoughts or comments .... good or bad!

The room is 6m x 4m.

not concerned about the budget (yet) just interested in comments on those components.

Sony Bravia 52" LCD High def, 100mhz refresh.

Its windy tomorrow Grumps.. Fug it!

ok here we go.

Whenever I get asked these sorta Qs the recipients don't get what they want for an answer (the desired response is usually "Hell yeh - throw buckets of money around and take the salesman to lunch cause he's really lookin after ya!").

1. Most of the gear out there is really decent quality (especialy compared to some 'pro' audio). If you are routing your vision through the gear then check those specs though.

2. Don't get as hung up on brands/features etc as ROOM QUALITY AND PLACEMENT

3. Did I mention PLACEMENT? That is the most critical factor of all and to be honest you may well get better results from average gear placed carefully (and time-aligned with the amp etc) than sh!t hot gear placed lopsidedly (usually to keep the missus happy) or incorrectly. Do your homework here and even check the webbys for the brands you do buy to check their recomendations.

4. Klipsch gear I haven't actually heard, but I have noticed that they tend to use loaded horn designs (the deep squarish funnels on the tweeters) which i personally equate to PA sound and find not very flat in response.

5. Don't be tempted to go for a massive sub if your room is not huge. I have a single 8" Velodyne sub that is lovely sounding ($900). Tighter and more 'music friendly' is where my bias is, and it suits my average sized lounge room perfectly. Just so you know it is only 120 watts (real RMS though) and I run it on about 40% power. It kicks @rse on music and rattles the windows on movies cause it is super efficiant and controlled, not super fat/flabby and wobbly. More apparent bass does not mean better. A flatter (less noticeable hump) and more contrlled sub wins every time.

6. Don't get sucked into being impressed by razor sharp highs and bloated bottoms in the showroom. Most salesmen will try to impress you with that. Take your OWN music with you so you can hear the elements that you like (or dislike) in the gear.

7. More exxy does not mean better (usually it means better marketed). Example I used to have a pair of $3500 KRK studio monitors at work that I HATED. They were bloody brittle and really fatigueing and frankly overated as cr@pola. At very least they didn't suit me or the stuff I was listeneing to. TRUST YOUR EARS.

Yep, Frank Prowse is a good place - bit more pricey but good stuff and a bit more knowledgable staff. Check out a few places and shop around a bit and good luck grasshopper...

Oh a really well priced speaker brand to check out is Krix. Made in Sth Oz I think. I helped a mate buy a pair of tower 3-way speakers (not usually my 1st choice) and they were outstanding for the $1100 or so he paid for a pair.

The funky guy hits the mark.
Esp. these two points.....

6. Don't get sucked into being impressed by razor sharp highs and bloated bottoms in the showroom. Most salesmen will try to impress you with that. Take your OWN music with you so you can hear the elements that you like (or dislike) in the gear.

7. More exxy does not mean better (usually it means better marketed). Example I used to have a pair of $3500 KRK studio monitors at work that I HATED. They were bloody brittle and really fatigueing and frankly overated as cr@pola. At very least they didn't suit me or the stuff I was listeneing to. TRUST YOUR EARS.

Umm 2c more...

Yeh i am not a fan of Bose really. They actually don't sound that bad, but they are waaaaayyyyy overpriced for what you get. And yes intergrating them with other gear is not a go-er. Their system heavily processes the sound to get a decent response from a single 3-4 " driver. Not good. Especially if you dig untainted acoustic music.

Good full range speakers don't need any trickery they just deal with an honest signal being fed to them. No-one has really re-invented the wheel and speakers are a bit like that too. the best material is still solid Birch (25mm MDF is a pretty decent cheap alternative though) and 6-7' woofer 2-way designs (with a sub to supliment them) are winners in my book.

Erm.. I think Cal is on it too. You get far more variation and 'colour' from you speakers than your amp (generally).

Shock horror!! I only paid $700 for my amp (Denon) a few years ago and while i don't claim it is the duck's knackers it is very good for the $$$. I spent more on the speakers (not huge amounts - $1100 for my 5 Tannoys) to get more of the flavour I was after. Again not the be-all but good quality and results to suit my meagre budget. If I was going to fork out more I would be getting very serious about changing the rooms acoustics and 'standing waves' 1st.

Oh my sub I did get a bit carried away with but a good sub 'ties' the whole package together far more than i expected it too.

I think so Rellie, I bought my Velodyne sub from them (check em out they are amazing and tight as a fish's nether regions) but I actually got my Tannoys from one of the joints on Murray St (sorry mental blank at the mo).

Check out Krix though - a bit sweeter top end on the ones I have heard. My Tannoys (Mx series) are very flat almost a bit dull. I had super bright KRKs at work (kevlar tweeter and woofer - Buuurrrkkkk!!!) and wanted to get away from an in-ya-face top end.

My personal preferance is for a soft dome (silk) tweeter as opposed to titanium (unless dampened really well which means $$$)

Horses for courses - same for kites

greenleader said...

bose in my den.

all my visitors say "wats yo sound sistem nigga"

i say "bose whitey!"

dey say "dats mellow stuff, chill bro"

Waddupwidathomey??

It's not alway size it's more about placement... say I think that sounds familiar???


Rellie I remembered it was Douglas Hi Fi Murray St.

The Tannoys have a good rep for value. There are better spkrs out there but you go up in $$$ big-time to get a little bit better.

Have a look at VAF research - In Sth Aus. Get onto them and see if you can find out if they have someone nearby. I was looking around and my brother had a pair. Absolutely awesome (in my opinion) for both music and movie. I bought fronts then ended up buying the full monty. Cant speak highly enough. Brother worked in industry with tech heads and took the specs to them - they rated their specs superb (that means little to me - I just know what my ears tell me)

With your amp - depending on use - look at things like HDMI inputs etc as everything had gone that way. I've got an Onkyo and its really good too. Doesnt take long for technology to supersede thought.

Get an amp that handles HDMI. It will make connections easier. I bought a Sony amp a while ago which handles HDMI but only doesn't upscale composite, s-video or component to HDMI, which is a bit of a bugger. Its an ES1200. I should have bought an ES3200.

You want your amp to be able to handle switching from different inputs easily. As high def sources now require HDCP you need HDMI to show them at their correct resolution. So instead of plugging your DVD player into your TV, you plug it into your amp.

In regards to speakers, the only real way to judge them is to listen to them. Reading reviews or getting opinions like here is also good.

[quote
Don't ever buy spkr cables/connectors from Hi Fi stores.

Yep, you got that right. I saved 350 bucks just on a HDMI cable for the projector by going to WOW and getting their best cable.

I've got a set of klipsch wall mounted surround speakers but can't give you a rating yet thou a rellie of mine sells hifi gear and recommended them to us as high quality and reasonable price. The front speakers we are looking at are from Definitive technology and each one has a small sub woofer in the base, if anyone has a word good or bad on them I'd like to hear before commiting. Cheers

My 2cents for what it is worth.

Amp - as much power as you can afford - power gives detail at low volume and improves the listening experience through your audio. Power is not there just to blow your speakers up. Listen to a number of amps with the same componentry - some are deifinately be more musical, and in my opinion is an amp reproduces music very well then it will run your theatre without any issues. I would never test drive a home theatre amp with a movie - use music. Persoanlly, bang for your buck I like Nad at the moment. Beware that some amps need a good warm-up and burn in time. My Nad amps take hours to warm up - som you may have to ignore the enviornment for while and just leave them on.

Better quality amps will also have better quality sound processing. Thus if you are using a cheap cd player, you could connect it via co-axial digital into your amp and use the AMP's DA converter to decode your sound, and get a better result than the cd's on board dac would give.

Speakers - everyone is different and we all enjoy different sounds - I currently list to my 2 channel through mirage FRX3's about 10yrs old, just fantastic for what they are. My home theatre has been equipped with Aaron speakers (from ballina, nsw) for the last 15years - they were great value, at the time and came with 10 year warranties - worth a listen to. I think currently that B&W 805's are definately one of the best value for money speakers on the market (about 5k a pair), I've heard them outperform speakers 4-5 times their price point. They are on my wish list for both home theatre and 2 channel.

Interconnects - good quality quad shielded cable with a solid and uninterrupted termination. About $10 - we make our own. They perfrom identical to $300 transparents and monster. There is a guy on the gold coast experimenting with cryogenically cooled copper cables (apparently reduces the impurities and allows for cleaner sound), he also makes some kick ass speakers as well - i have yet to listen to, but he gets to serious credits from my mates in the industry.

Speaker cable - buy the best you can afford. that you like the sound from. This makes a huge difference. a number of different companies make cable, and they all target different markets - you want good size copper strands - not too thick as it may act as a capacitor and screw with your sound. Cheap cable uses cheap copper - more impurities. I may be incorrect, but I thought OFC stood for oxygen free copper. It makes little difference because what get funky said about oxidation is right - i do disagree with the more is better theory though.

Regarding vision - I don't run my switching through the amp - just straight into the plasma. Less connections means less chance for signal degredation. regarding HDMI - there actually is quite a difference between the cheapies and the expensive ones. HDMI is not like normal cable and you will notice a difference in picture quality with the better cables. You will only need to use HDMI if you are watching blu ray or HD DVD (1080p). For 720p and 1080i component cable is just as good if not better value.

I do not rate myself as an expert in any way - I'm just lucky enough to enjoy these toys, and have good friends that work in the industry, so we are always trying out new things - especially with cable.

hope this helps.

Handi - if you blew your speakers it is quite possible that you shorted them out some how. Did your connecters touch at the iputs? I am assuming that you were using 4 ohm speakers. Regarding mirage - they make a solid product and i have never had any trouble with mine, and they are driven by 2*150 watt per channel Nad amps bridged (300w into each speaker). As long as the impedence is matched you should not blow them as i understand it. But i would never drive speakers at full power.

Very simple the home theatre ones (most) at least attempt to represent quality low freqs not just quantity...

The car ones make me laff n laff.

One of the most important aspects to a sub (and all spkrs) is getting the time alignment coorect. In HT this means physically placing it in line (where possible with the front (usually left n right) spkrs so there is not time arrival/delay smearing and PHASING goin on. Good phase is your friend bad phase (timing) is the pr!ck bully from high school you wished you had smashed in the mush!! LOL!

No way can you time (without electronics) a sub in the boot with speakers in the front seat, so most car setups are absolute folley and all about "look at me and the sub i got for chrissy".. Heaps of mushy, flabby out of time bass durg..

BTW for my 2c most downfiring subs lack a bit of tightness so look for a front firing sub. Preferably slot loaded or mega powerful sealed (infinite baffle) box. Mmmm tight aligned subs don't need to be huge (as my mere 8" Velodyne running on 30% power proves). Tight alligned bass makes all 5 (or 6) speakers magically come together in a Nirvanic experience. Flabby/phasy subs will never compliment at all...

Godd luck big bottomed grasshopper...

That will be handy when I go past the glass factory on the way home..

BTW - depending on the size of your L/C/R etc boxes you shouldn't really hear a sub - but more feel it. Most LCR boxes with a 6" woofer or bigger will happily make it down to 80-90Hz so the sub should only be doing say... 70Hz and below.

Even with good subs most folks make the mistake of wanting to crank the sub until it dominates and overwhelmes the low-mids and creates a feeling of lack of top end (which they then wind up) ... Now where did my tail go... oh there it is... wait.. where is it???

Less is always more pebble collector

The upside to my system (which features the most commonly used bass-reflex LCR spkrs) was that due to a slight overlap in the lows I used the supplied foam bass port plugs to DECREASE bass from my LCR boxes... Whala!! 2 fordapriceofone!! I got a better crossover of freqs and even better - tighter mids and high/mids from my LCRs because they are not 'breathing/chuffing' so much air out of the ports!! Yipppeeee for me!!!

au_rick said...

grumplestiltskin said...

I know this probably an insanely dumb question (and shows my ignorance) BUT...

whats the difference between a home theatre style sub woofer and one of the sub woofer systems you see filling the back of WRX's and Lancers i.e. a car stereo SUB, apart from one being 12volt and the other 240v???

HAHAHHA, they are all owned by people with little penises ??

You said it Burt!!

Explains (he says in a deep baritone) why I only need an 8" sub at home and have none in the car.

Frankly if you can't do the job with 8 inches - you are in the wrong job!!

fer those over 50 here ya go, doesn't reproduce anything over 6khz or under 500hz - perfect