Paralyzed with choices (Want to build new home theater 10k max budget)

[Bloodzat]

Been digging into this site past 6 or so months and first time poster and greatly appreciate guidance (10k max budget with receiver, but love to keep it under 7k)

Finally able to redo my concrete basement with a 12 x 17 space (one side is open, basically upside down reverse L shape room) and wanting to upgrade my current system.

Right now I have a 5.1.2 with JBL arena, ELAC upfire and a SVS PB-12 (12 inch) sub that I have promised to friends.

My ideal state is either a 5.2.4 or 7.2.4 setup, in which I plan to have seating 9 feet back (total 17 feet in the long space). Main purpose will be more epic action/adventure movies and video games (limited music or traditional TV watching). TV will be a 65 inch OLED I currently have for the time being.

Current thought is to have four 6 inch speakers in the ceiling (need to have the builder cut them in), knowing it is overkill but might as well wire it in. Type I am thinking sonace, but open to suggestions.

Everything else is a bit of a blur for me. For my fronts I have looked at many reviews on Revel, JBL, B&W, Klipsch etc.. From what I have read I am leaning towards Revel F206 and JBL 3600, but see conflicting info if my space is too small and If I should go bookshelf (unclear if I can get away without subs if I invest more in towers)

For my rears it will boil down too if i can do in-walls (which I am not sure) and unless I can do some ceiling magic not sure if I can fit sides in as one side of the space will be exposed.

Any guidance, even on one particular area would be appreciated as the more I research the more I realize I know so little about this world. Thx

 

[Bloodzat]

circling back, if this is the wrong forum or I need to be more specific please let me know

 

[AdamG]

Since you received no replies might I suggest you go over to:
Audio Video Science Forum

They are primarily focused on Audio/Video for home theater set ups. Not something we discuss a lot here. Just a suggestion if you can’t get any traction here.

 

[LTig]

circling back, if this is the wrong forum or I need to be more specific please let me know

What about this forum:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?forums/home-theater-avr-and-processor-review.35/

 

[Astrozombie]

Hah! I was going to say HDI...................though if i could put together a theater for someone that didn't care to have any input; going all Monoprice Monolith might be interesting.

Might want to draw up a diagram of your space TC.

 

[sweetchaos]

Who doesn't love a good theater build?

Your room size is medium (assuming 9ft ceiling), so you’ll need a medium-rated sub in order to hit reference level of playback.
See my ‘subwoofer comparison’ spreadsheet to choose a subwoofer for your needs. For your room, you’ll need two subwoofers (not one) to guarantee a good frequency response from seat to seat, and more importantly to get rid of room modes.

Even if you get towers, you’ll still need subs…there’s just no way around getting rid of room modes…even with towers.

For AVR recommendation, see my previous post:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...o-idea-what-im-doing.23638/page-2#post-792178

For more power, I would get either Hypex Ncore or Purifi stereo power amp. Buckeye is my go-to-recommendation for Hypex amps.
Just set the denon with pre-amp mode, and hook up the stereo amp for LR speakers.

 

[AdamG]

I would love to be proven wrong here!

 

[Helicopter]

I think you want subs for HT. For most music, big towers can do it, but for explosions, you want subs. If you don't have the budget to do towers too, then I would recommend subs and bookshelves.

Personally I might check out the Focal Chora HT combos. I love Focal speakers.

Most people will recommend Revel here, maybe JBL for HT. You won't go wrong there either.

 

[MZKM]

Go 8in for ceiling speakers, you want for sure enough bass that you can keep the crossover at a reasonable level (too high and you will hear the disconnect).

Those JBL & Revel options are good, I would lean towards the Revel as their center is a 3-way.

SVS PB-2000 Pro subs at least, their app for integration & EQ make them hard to not recommend (and of course it performs well, similar to Rythmik FXV12).

Denon X3700H (9ch amps, can do 11ch with a 2ch external amp), $20 for the Audyssey app is a good investment (disable MRC and tweak target curve to like ing).

Codials (e.g., KEF) are a good choice for surrounds.

 

[GD Fan]

For a room that size floorstanders are probably the best option for front L&R. I, personally, wouldn't consider bookshelf speakers.

And at 17' in depth, why mount the rears on the wall? Free-standing bookshelf rears would give them more room to breathe.

As for the subs I'd vote for SVS.

Enjoy the build!

 

[Helicopter]

I would look at Rythmik subs too.

 

[Bloodzat]

Awesome stuff in this thread, appreciate the guidance (Small mistake in diagram it is 83 inch ceiling)

I put together a picture (in which a pre schooler could do better). Red = seating, blue = ceiling, orange = sub, green = LRC and the grey triangles are the rears. I am debating sides as well, but it gets messy with the side storage area and might trip things up.

From all the posts going to look to grab

1) At least one SVS PB2000 pro (two if I can afford it)
2) Denon 3700h receiver (know I will need two more channels if I got 7.1)
3) Tower speakers (still leaning towards JBL or Revel, looking around my area to find any store that has them (Just B&W so far)
4) Ceiling, height is only 83 inch ceiling, so wonder if only 6' is enough, or if I should go 8'. If so any suggestions for solid directional ceiling speakers that would match up to just about any system
5) I like the thoughts of floor standing for rears, will need to research if simple bookshelf or if I do something else.

 

[Cahudson42]

I like the thoughts of floor standing for rears, will need to research if simple bookshelf or if I do something else.

Why not a pair of the Infinity R263 now on sale at their lowest -$199 each. Heck, I use them for fronts...
https://www.harmanaudio.com/infinity/REFERENCE+263.html

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Something completely different.

1) Smyth Realiser A16 for $4000
2) Sennheiser HD 800 for $1000
3) 1 Pr Kef LS 50 Metas for $1500 + $1000 for an SVS SB 3000
4) VTV Purfi Eigentact Stereo Amplifier for $800
5) minDSP SHD for $1200
6) 1 Pair VTI BLE height adjustable speaker stands for $160
7) Around $400-500 for various interconnects (speaker cable, balanced interconnects, etc)

if you have a very high quality full range stereo system, you can use the capabilities of the Smyth Realiser to capture it as a virtual surround system for headphones and thereby listen to up to 24 channels on the Realiser which renders full Dolby Atmos 9and will add DTS-x and Auro 3D in the not too distant future). The Realiser does this by capturing the transfer function of the speakers and room through a measurement process called taking a PRIR. Fully 24 channels can be captured for the various surround speakers (L,R,C, Ls, Rs, Lb, Rb, sub, LW. RW, Ltf, Rtf, etc) by reiterating the measurements for a pair of speakers and moving them around the room, until all the various surround speakers are captured.

The proposed stereo system has the miniDSP SHD which is a state of the art 4 channel dac for satellites and subs, with complete digital processing including full parametric eq, electronic crossover, and Dirac Live 3 room and speaker correction.

The LS 50 Metas are about as good as it gets for a two way stand mounted speaker and the SB 3000 will insure they reach into the teens in bass extension.

The Purifi is the revolutionary amp Amir reviewed, now being sold fully assembled and quality tested for less than the sum of the parts would cost if assembled Diy.

The VTI stands are sturdy enough to support 35 lbs and are adjustable for heights ranging from 33" to 59', just the thing for capturing the virtual height channels for the realiser.

I know this sounds unorthodox, but if you went this route you would not only have an extremely nice stereo system which you could use on a stand alone basis, but also a 24 channel surround system that would sound exactly like that stereo system, only in multichannel, playing over your headphones. And to duplicate its quality with a real speaker system you would easily have to pay 10x as much, and give over an entire room to all that equipment. Unfortunatly the Realiser can only accommodate two listeners b/c it only has two headphone amplifiers in its box.

And yes, it would fit your budget and give you a truly extraordinary system.

 

[King_Pin]

Since it's home theater have you thought about using the JTR 210ht's for the front end?
https://www.jtrspeakers.com/jtr-noesis-210ht

 

[abdo123]

I would spend all my budget right now on Speakers (Revel F208 or better) and use whatever amplification I have right now.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

These days $10 K for the audio portion of a Home Theater can provide superb results if one takes the time and is willing to put forth some elbow/brain grease. I don't mean DIY, although i could b
If you are willing to research, learn and apply then you are guaranteed of superior results with this budget.

Here are my suggested anchors:
REW $0.00 I suggest to contribute: What you get for free, would have cost hundreds of thousands of USD 30 years ago.
miniDSP Umik-1 $100.00
miniDSP 2 x4 HD $200
Denon AVR-3700 $1300 ? maybe a bit less
3 Subs $2000 ( if SVS then 2 x PB200 and 1 PB1000) or Rythmik or HSU equivalent*.

From there ...

The choice of speakers can be bewildering. To simplify, I would suggest to stay within the Harman family. JBL or Revel
I lean more toward JBL for your applications and would suggest the HDI-3500 for LCR, HDI-1600 for surround.

I wouldn't mind that much about ceiling speakers ... If you can get some Sonance .. or some decent JBL Contractor Series or equivalent on eBay...I have an Atmos set-up and used a pair of Bose 161 for a while, I changed to JBL-stage speakers and the differences are not obvious to me .. And in my Atmos setup, ceilings are crossed at 120 Hz by Audyssey ...

You learn how to measure. You learn how to integrate 3 (or more ) subwoofers in a subwoofer system that will be seen as ONE by Audyssey. You measure the overall system's Audyssey results with REW. You tweak it. You learn. You persist. It will take time. You will be very pleased ..

Parting shots...
65 inches in this big a room is too small .. Shoot for at leats a 85"
2 larger subs in front and the smaller in the back corner can provide you (when well set up) with a smooth and even bass response in the listening area an added extension. Subs do not have to be the same everywhere. You will quickly notice while setting them up that the one in the rear does little .. very little but it does add to smoothness and extension... Personal observation BTW, YMMV.

Peace