astroglide's home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

BretWeir · #1 11-13-2007, 12:22 PM

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I really want to get some sort of wall mounted speakers for our tv, and have heard great things about the yamaha line.

only issue is it's a little more than I want to spend for speakers that won't get used that often (~3 times/month or so). mainly I want to get rid of the damn receiver and wires surrounding my tv, especially since we got a new puppy that likes to chew on them [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

any recommendations for similar products that are a bit less? I would google but there doesn't seem to be a standard name for these types of things.

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I have the Polk SurroundBar, which sounds great and looks great mounted under my TV. Wire clutter is pretty minimal -- just one cable running from the speaker to the AV receiver (no separate power cable).

The grey version is currently on sale at Amazon for $485, about half of list price. (The black version is a couple hundred more.)

One word of caution, which I imagine applies to the Yamaha setups as well as the Polk: if you get one of these, you'll also need to spring for an AV receiver and a stand-alone subwoofer, so factor a few hundred bucks more into your bottom line.

turnipmonster · #2 11-13-2007, 09:13 PM

will it sound decent without a subwoofer? I really want a minimum amount of wires and stuff running around the room. I don't need super amazing sound, as we only use the speakers for movies ~3 times a month or so.

BretWeir · #3 11-13-2007, 11:10 PM

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will it sound decent without a subwoofer? I really want a minimum amount of wires and stuff running around the room. I don't need super amazing sound, as we only use the speakers for movies ~3 times a month or so.

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It'll still have good sound, but it doesn't put out much bass by itself -- probably not as much as larger stand-alone speakers.

I'm not at all an audiophile, but I heard a noticeable improvement in both music and movie sound effects with the subwoofer. Like, I was watching a movie with a thunderstorm last night, and my dog ran under the couch because he thought it was real.

It'll still be a vast improvement over the TV's built-in speakers even without the sub, but I think you'd do yourself a service by adding even a smaller 6 or 6.5" subwoofer. We have our sub right next to the TV cabinet, so there's really no extra exposed wiring.

turnipmonster · #4 11-13-2007, 11:27 PM

good to know, it's definitely an option. what's the deal with the receiver? do I have to buy it special with the polk surroundbar or will another receiver work or do I need one at all?

fwiw, our current setup is a panasonic 30something plasma with a old school jvc receiver powering some old bose stereo speakers. it doesn't really sound that great.

UMTerp · #5 11-14-2007, 01:35 PM

This is probably way general for this thread, but I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff. I need a sound system type thing (I guess surround sound?) for my TV room. I want to spend ~$1K. A bit more isn't the end of the world. Can I get something decent for that price?

The previous owners of my townhouse had this room wired for surround sound, and left the wires for us, so I assume they'll suffice? What type of system do I need? I assume I'll want the four speakers for the walls, a receiver (I don't even know what a receiver does), and a subwoofer? Do these all come in some sort of package anywhere? Should I buy them individually? Will these speakers be able to be used for music as well, or just the TV? (Will I be able to hook up my iPod for parties/poker night?)

The room is about 15' from front to back if that matters for anything. Here's a picture. Will I need to do any other wiring other than what's already there?

Second question, has either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD emerged as superior? I'd like one or the other, and I don't want to buy something and have it be obsolete in two years.

Thanks for any help.

gusmahler · #6 11-14-2007, 02:13 PM

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Second question, has either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD emerged as superior? I'd like one or the other, and I don't want to buy something and have it be obsolete in two years.

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They're identical (Blu-Ray has more capacity, but that hasn't made any difference in actual quality of the movies). The only question is which format has the movies you want.

Here are two good threads where you can see what movies are available and which have the best quality.

Blu-Ray

HD DVD

Also see the release schedule, color coded by format.

If you have kids, it's a no brainer: Blu Ray has exclusives for Disney and several kids movies (e.g., Ice Age, Open Season). (OTOH, Shrek is HD DVD exclusive, so I guess it's closer than I thought).

Also see the 4th quarter exclusives thread. In the 4th quarter, BR will have 79 exclusives compared to 44 HD DVD exclusives.

UMTerp · #7 11-14-2007, 03:05 PM

[ QUOTE ]
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Second question, has either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD emerged as superior? I'd like one or the other, and I don't want to buy something and have it be obsolete in two years.

[/ QUOTE ]

They're identical (Blu-Ray has more capacity, but that hasn't made any difference in actual quality of the movies). The only question is which format has the movies you want.

Here are two good threads where you can see what movies are available and which have the best quality.

Blu-Ray

HD DVD

Also see the release schedule, color coded by format.

If you have kids, it's a no brainer: Blu Ray has exclusives for Disney and several kids movies (e.g., Ice Age, Open Season). (OTOH, Shrek is HD DVD exclusive, so I guess it's closer than I thought).

Also see the 4th quarter exclusives thread. In the 4th quarter, BR will have 79 exclusives compared to 44 HD DVD exclusives.

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So this isn't going to be another VHS-Betamax thing? They'll both still be around in 3 years?

gusmahler · #8 11-14-2007, 02:43 PM

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I assume I'll want the four speakers for the walls, a receiver (I don't even know what a receiver does), and a subwoofer?

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You may also want a center channel speaker. (or not, some people don't like them.)

What a receiver does is switch between sources (e.g., between your cable box and your DVD player) and sends the signals to the speakers. E.g., your DVD player has a digital output that the receiver will separate into signals for each of your speakers.

Search this thread for recommendations on home theater in a box (which has the receiver and all the speakers).

BretWeir · #9 11-14-2007, 02:25 PM

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good to know, it's definitely an option. what's the deal with the receiver? do I have to buy it special with the polk surroundbar or will another receiver work or do I need one at all?

fwiw, our current setup is a panasonic 30something plasma with a old school jvc receiver powering some old bose stereo speakers. it doesn't really sound that great.

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Any receiver that can handle 5-channel output should work. Although the Polk has only one cable, there are 5 different wire endings that need to be hooked up, since the the SoundBar has 5 separate speakers to simulate surround sound.

The quality and power of the receiver may have some effect on the ultimate sound, though.