2. home-theater
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Where should I go next?

Hi all, I am relatively new to high end, and am building from the bottom up. Literally. I currently have an old Sony STRDE875, DD & DTS, 5-ch. I am playing through an all - Infinity speaker system, Entra One floorstanders L/R, Entra Center, Entra Two surrounds, and an Entra Sub.
I have started building by purchasing a Monster HTPS-7000ss, which although did extend my soundstage and enhanced imaging, detail, and bass response, has not had all that huge of an effect considering my front end.
I also recently purchased a Pioneer ElitE DV-47ai player, and am very very happy with the video performance (through a Philips 4:3 flatscreen, non-HD) as well as the multichannel performance. The stereo performance i really cannot gauge until i have upgraded my front end, but what i can hear in my system now is nothing short of spectacular (even the girlfriend could hear the diff) after my Sony DVD/CD player. I am running some hgiher-quality front cables that i recieved from a friend in the high-end industry, and am not sure what they are. I have Monster XP for surrounds, and a Transparent MusicWave for the center.

Where do I go next? How should i attack this system? I have been thinking a B&K Ref.50 / Ref 200.7 setup might be great, but am really open to suggestions from more experienced 'philes. I do want to build a system that is flat-out phenomenal for both music and movies, from power and speaker cables and interconnects on up to the speakers, which will probably come last - the Entras were cheap, and apart from an overly strong midbass response, are damn good for the cash - $1600 for the whole set F/Surr/sub.

I will purchase most of my equip off of Audiogon, used, and although i'd like to, cant afford the huge prices of Theta Digital or Levinson etc.

HELP! Where Do I go From Here? Any sugestions are welcome either here or on my email. breitlingdj@yahoo.com

THanks, JonBrown
breitlingdj
f1stserve
25 posts
 
One "first" step is to decide what kind of sound you like. Electrostatic/Ribbon speakers (Maggies, Quads, Martin Logan, etc.)sound quite different than horns (Klipsch, etc), which are quite different than cone speakers (which themself can be warm, laidback, bright, etc.) Deciding which camp you are in can help you decide on your mains, and then it all falls into place from there.

In this price range, I wouldn't buy anything that I hadn't heard in my room first. It can sound quite different than at the dealer's showroom. The process should be fun!

John
breitlingdj OP
23 posts
 
I know this much: I do not like bright speakers, or any that sound too analytical or cool. I like warmth and smoothness above all, and of course a wide, deep soundstage, but i guess we can't have it all. Or can we?

PS - Anybody have any ideas either positive or negative on Aragon separates? Plinius Odeon? anything else that you feel is important to a good setup, either 2-ch or multi-ch let me know.

Thanks, guys. Help is appreciated.
jonb
Ag insider logo xs@2x
atagi
98 posts
 
put together a home theater set up last fall using polk lsi15 lsic and lsifx i think i got them for around $2250 total new on closeout. also have a bk avr 507 which i purchased before mfg dropped the prices. after the price drop i think there is no question that the ref 50/200.7 is the best bang for the buck in ht. i think you should be able to get them both for less than 4k new. as for subs, svs and hsu are very popular, i have an earthquake mk1v 15 that i am very happy with. i think that this is a great set up for ht.
that being said, i'm not so happy with the system for music. a large part of my problem is because of limitations on front speaker placement due to the size of the rear projection tv and entertainment center and sidewall sofa. i think that with proper placement the polks can be great for music too.
i'm currently putting together my first 2 channel music system in another room, and finding that is much more difficult than ht. the synergy between components is alot more important vs. ht. i would demo whatever lines interest you with music as the #1 priority. also, figure out if you prefer dipole/bipole or mono surrounds as alot of manufacturers do not make dipole/bipoles. some manufacturers that i consider to make music 1st speakers are aerial, vandersteen, vienna acoustics, thiel , and tyler. aerial in particular seems to have alot of choices.
i don't know if it is economically feasable to use tubes for home theater although i love them, and if music is first priority you may want to consider subs more musical subs than the ones i mentioned above. many manufaturers make subs that blend very well with their own speakers.
hope this helps i'm rambling.

aloha keith
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