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
You might get better responses posing these questions in a forum focused on home theater, like AVSforum.

I'll share some of my thoughts on home theater.

Get separates - separate amp(s) and pre-pro.  Sound quality should be better and a good amp(s) will last a long time.  The features and video and audio formats change or get upgraded so often that pre-pros become obsolete quickly and lose their resale value even faster.  

SVS is a good choice for home theater subs.  So are Rythmik and PSA.  You can often find good deals on used subs, around 50% from buying new.  In my experience, subs have been pretty reliable.  All but two of the 8 that I currently own were purchased second hand and all are still going strong.  The ported subs you chose will have more output than their sealed equivalents and are a good choice.

Your mains and center channel are more important than the surround speakers, allocate your budget accordingly.  If you are putting together a surround system, the center channel is where almost all the dialog comes from.  

I'm not familiar with the speakers you mentioned.  I'm using Harbeth Super HL5 Plus speakers as my mains.  Not sure if they'd fit in your space, but they aren't very big and can play loud.  My system is focused more on music, but the Harbeths do great with movies.

Don't go to Best Buy to audition equipment or get advice.  If you mention where you live, other posters might be able to offer advice on reputable dealers you can visit.
Fwiw, for that amount of $$$ you can build one heck of a great HT. I'm in the seperates camp. I suggest you look into "demo" gear from authorized dealers.
Full warranty comes with this type of purchase. I highly recommend tonality matched speakers, a upscale processor, upscale amplifier and a decent source component.
For comparison my HT is 23x15x8 5.1 no atmos wanted
Processor Acurus Act4 @4800 "demo" SRP 7900
Speakers B&W 803d2 front @6000 SRP 12000 "demo", B&W center @350 SRP 800, Polk rear 500 vintage SRP 450 JL F112 v2 Sub @2700 SRP 3700"demo"
Amp Emotiva Gen3 5Ch @1900 new (the Krell died unexpectedly )
Oppo 103 @459, Hitachi 65" 4k flat screen @ 579
Assorted cabling approx 4500 to 5000 all purchased used
Total HT cost 22238 approximately on the high side, does not include room treatment or aesthetics. 

It totally is the cats meow which I enjoy daily for both movies and music.
Shop wisely and never ever pay SRP.
Its just TV, I think your going way overboard. 

   My receiver based HT was last upgraded when Pioneer was still selling Elite Kuro plasmas. I wouldn't go back to 5.x despite the disparity in 7.x content I find the surround from 7.x matrixing can be more discrete than dipoles and generally more enveloping. Give any thought to powered speakers?
   My analog based tube stereo is in a dedicated room and its delicate soundstage is totally compromised with a giant display behind the speakers.  
    Video and some multichannel music content through the HTs "whiz bang effects" are simply outstandingly fun. I use seven identical speakers at ear level as close to a perfect circle as possible needs a minimal amount of room correction and provides a fabulous surround effect. If the bottom of your display is 50" from the floor you've got room to spare and no need for a center channel unless you use all vertically mounted centers.
   I prefer modern manual option DSP in subwoofers, auto EQ is merely a starting point. I think SVS offers some method of a manual Q adjustment, frequency and level? In any case I'd go with sealed versions in mono, one DSP and slave a non DSP from a non LF sub output in crawl tested room locations. Have fun with it.
Please contact us we actually build theaters.

There is a lot more to this then you think.


Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ