2. home-theater
  3. 150212-134698

Home theater help from scratch 5.2 25k budget

  1. Currently I have a 77” A9G as my TV (BAMF) love her. This system will be 90%movies/gaming 10%music
  2. My issue and constant are I can not run towers for my fronts ( there are two bookshelves on the side of the TV I CAN NOT MOVE) (wife)... under the TV is a custom cabinet I had built 82”L x 24” H x 26. TV is wall mounted 50” off floor 70” to center of TV the tv can not be dropped due to us using the top as a display for numerous comic book collection statues . The speakers will be pulled the the lip of the cabinet. About 10’ from where we sit
  3. My room is 25’x20’x20’ yea no atmos for this guy
  4. Sold on the svs ported ultra 16 will be running two ( 5k out of 20k)
  5. Love the B&W 805 D3 for the fronts and the B&W HTM2 D3 to match them as the center (12k out of 20k right there)
  6. Rears am open still
  7. Here my issue I listened and have been reading for months now before posting this. With me mainly using this system as a HT is it worth Running separates or spending the money on a high dollar receiver. I have heard the 805 amped and off a AVR yes there is a huge difference but the system I was listening to amped was only music not movie. Can I go with a 3 channel amp and run the rears off the AVR? yes I need 4K pass yes I need at least 6 hdmi ports in
  8. I listened to the rotel separates and I’ll tell you what the arcam 390 sounded just as good unless the guy at bestbuy didn’t have it tuned right.
  9. So am between the arcam 390 denon 6500 or the rotel 1580 or buying separates
  10. I know you can’t future proof a AVR but I would like to think if i dump the money into a solid amp I would only have to upgrade the preamp down the line and keep the speakers and amp for the next 25 years
  11. So I have about 7k left for rears and the drivers. I know I haven’t mentioned install or tax got that covered. let me know what y’all think. If I missed something please point it out. Thanks and God Bless
wojo79
soix
9,810 posts
 
I have to agree with audiotroy. If I’ve got that budget and building a home theater I’m going with ATC speakers and probably the Anthem AVM 60 too. I’d start with this nice used active C3C center...
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9f6b5-atc-c3ca-speakers?refsource=hifishark
and add a couple active SCM 20 monitors. This way you’ll have superior (and matching) speakers and amps taken care of for about what you’d pay for the B&W front three alone without amplification. Add a decent pair of neutral powered monitors for the rear channels and you’re done. Sorry, but the ATCs will absolutely blow away the B&Ws in terms of a dynamic HT experience. Jump on that C3C before someone grabs it!
caphill
678 posts
 
@wojo79

Since the setup is strictly for surround sound movies or HT I will have to agree with soix about getting good quality active powered speakers system and a very decent or great preamp surround processor. ATC & Meridian makes pretty awesome active powered speakers. All Meridian speakers system are all active powered anyways.

The Anthem AVM60 is a great choice and at $3k brand new retail price you can’t beat that in terms of surround audio performance, plus equipped with a spectacular ARC (Anthem Room Correction) which will make big difference when used for surrounds. Other 4K capable processors worth highly considering are : Marantz AV8805 (current) & AV8802 (discontinued); latest Krell Foundation 4K; NAD M17 v2 (4K capable); Classe Sigma SSP Mkii (the Mkii version supports 4K) but this model has been discontinued and from time to time can be found in used markets at massive discounts; Arcam AV860; Audio Control Maestro. The Arcam, Audio Control Maestro & NAD M17 v2 use a phenomenal Dirac Live room correction calibration. McIntosh MX122 processor might be worth looking at and it supports 4K.

As far as ATC active powered speakers system vs B&W 800 series D3 speaker system for surround (HT) applications I’m not sure which is better as I had never listened to the active powered ATC surround speakers system before so can’t comment. I have listened to some passive ATC driven by some Naim stereo separate gears for two-channel music before and was pretty impressed. They were very musical and I liked them better than any B&W but have no idea when used for surround sound movies (HT) using those active powered ATC.

mahler123
3,427 posts
 
You have a nice budget to play with and whatever gear you get will probably satisfy, especially since the emphasis is movies and gaming.  Music is more demanding to reproduce.  So my two cents...
1) Center channel is critical for dialogue 
2) I agree that given the constant changing In standards, seperates make sense, and you can afford it
3) Room correction can cure a lot of ills, and Anthem is the industry standard.
4) consider in walls for rears.  My marital bliss doubled when I went this route.  It would then be important to match the rears with the fronts so I would consider the same manufacturer for all speakers.  I use Paradigm, which mates nicely with my Anthem AVR
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