weibchen Posted March 19, 2007 Posted March 19, 2007 I'm looking into setting up a HT at home but due to budget constrains and after hours of surfing this forum, that 1.5k is not enough to setup a decent HT system. So I have rethought my plans and decided to go with a multichannel receiver with floorstanders first after which i will match it with the center and surround when i have more cash. However, it seems that newer receivers have HDMI but i do not need that as i have intentions to set up a HTPC for the video rendering alone. Can anyone give me a few names and point me at some direction to getting a nice pair of floorstanders and maybe a receiver for sound processing only? Also has anyone tried the omnisats? quite interested in that too.
dbchoong Posted March 19, 2007 Posted March 19, 2007 Hi! Welcome to XP. ;) "Decent HT" is truly subjective. Some are happy with a $400 HTIB while some are not contented with a $10k setup. It's entirely up to you. For best value for money, I would check the classifieds for 2nd hand units. ;) The Omnisats are very good. ;)
SiriuslyCold Posted March 19, 2007 Posted March 19, 2007 bit tricky to mix n match especially across the front soundstage - the main speakers and center should match tonally, or you will hear a difference when the sound pans (L->R or R-L movement) concur w dbchoong to dive into the used market there are some good deals to be had recently (someone selling Cambridge Audio 540V2 for example, or a Yamaha V1200) also if i am not mistaken there's someone on Yahoo selling Omnisats @ 200 a piece
MC_Hammer Posted March 19, 2007 Posted March 19, 2007 Receivers : 1) $300 2nd hand Marantz SR 5000 AVR... http://www.echoloft.com/cgi-bin/buysell/YaBB.cgi?board=ht&action=display&num=1174222367 2) Yamaha RX V-630 : $320 http://www.echoloft.com/cgi-bin/buysell/YaBB.cgi?board=ht&action=display&num=1174314528 Speakers : Front : Mission M73 floorstanders $250 Centre : Mission MC31 Centre $150 http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=44129.0 Surrounds : Mission 751 Bookshelfs $250 http://www.echoloft.com/cgi-bin/buysell/YaBB.cgi?board=hifi&action=display&num=1173409373 DVD player : Pioneer DV696 $299: http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=44131.0 Add $300 for a Decent subwoofer= Total $1550
petetherock Posted March 19, 2007 Posted March 19, 2007 The SR 5000 was a good reciever, but its really old and I think for 300 you can almost get a new one. I like new, Marantz and MA so bear with my bias: Marantz SR 4001 - 5xx$ MA B4 7XX or the BR4 for slightly more -- decent enough bass to last w/o a sub for a while MA Bronze centre - 2xx Buy the rears later. PSB Intro 5.1 set for $6xx PSB Alpha tower $5XX PSB Alpha centre 2XX - Merdeka Mission M33i - Alpha Audio Good luck http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=41975.0
dbchoong Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 $300 for a SR5000? :o I sold my SR5000 about 3 years ago for $300. Not worth it. Anyway, I didn't think it was a good AVR when compared to any of the other AVRs I bought later - Yamaha RX-V1200, Marantz SR7300 and Panasonic SA-XR25. :)
hifi_enthusiast Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 If you want to buy a 2nd hand SR6300, excellent condition, pls pm me and quote any reasonable price. I'm going for overseas posting so my equipment is just going to depreciate ;D
SiriuslyCold Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 Whatever you do at least make sure it has Dolby PLII (by inclusion it will have DTS as well)
MC_Hammer Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 $300 for a SR5000? :o I sold my SR5000 about 3 years ago for $300. Not worth it. Anyway, I didn't think it was a good AVR when compared to any of the other AVRs I bought later - Yamaha RX-V1200, Marantz SR7300 and Panasonic SA-XR25. :) Was trying to cater to his $1.5 K 8)
petetherock Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 BTW the SR 5000 was not top of the line either ;) If you are looking at 2nd hand, maybe 1 or 2 gen ago max would be ok, not too long. Ask Seng Heng at Adelphi though, they usually have some bargains on run out models P
1AngMoh Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 I'm looking into setting up a HT at home but due to budget constrains and after hours of surfing this forum, that 1.5k is not enough to setup a decent HT system. So I have rethought my plans and decided to go with a multichannel receiver with floorstanders first after which i will match it with the center and surround when i have more cash. Can anyone give me a few names and point me at some direction to getting a nice pair of floorstanders and maybe a receiver for sound processing only? Also has anyone tried the omnisats? quite interested in that too. You mention speakers and a multichannel receiver. What source are you using or do you need to acquire that to? The Mirage Omnisats are excellent speakers, though some of the cheaper variants are not full bandwidth - so you would require a sub.
weibchen Posted March 20, 2007 Author Posted March 20, 2007 Well my real intention is to setup a HTPC for the video rendering, and of course use it to stream the vids from another computer/or play FLAC files. I find that HDMI and Vid upscaling for AVRs are so fickle, in trend one min, the next generation its out, please it cost a bomb just to upgrade the whole receiver each time to keep up. A GFX card with HDMI output would be easier way to upgrade and a whole lot cheaper. Other than that, it'll be a DVD deck which supports SACD, i fell in love with SACDs when i was at my mates place and he popped in PF dark side of the moon. It was an experience i'll never forget. But anyhow, That being said, I'm very interested in Mirage speakers, because This set up will be in my bedroom, I like to watch movies/listening to music lazing on my bed and anywhere i feel comfortable, maybe on the floor even.. The omnipolar design of the speakers allow you to place the speakers anywhere in the room, however i was thinking that if i got the Omnisats, is it possible to mount them on the ceiling? Like using the perimeters of the room which is a square and putting the center speaker right smack in the center. I've been thinking about it because for normal monopoles you need a sweet spot, but i find that rather rigid it terms flexibility of experiencing the music. Advise?
weibchen Posted March 20, 2007 Author Posted March 20, 2007 Oh and i would like to thank the people who contributed, please keep the thread going. Any comments will be good for me.
Kelsteph2002 Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 Oh and i would like to thank the people who contributed, please keep the thread going. Any comments will be good for me. Hi Weibchen, I just bought 5 lightly used Omnisat Micro from the US and they will be arriving next week. If you are using the omnisat for bedroom, i suggest you get the micro or nanosat. The Omnisat V1 or V2 should be an overkill for a bedroom. I paid a total of SGD$570 inclusive of postage to Singapore. Now i'm looking for a used paradigm PDR-10 Subwoofer to complement with my omnisats. Tight budget heh... I think mirage are way over priced in Singapore. I did a check on the mirage's price in taiwan through my gf, woah.. boy they(taiwan distributor) are selling much higher than Sg. I reckon for the best price, get directly from USA but u void the warranty. My setup-to-be will be 1.3k for my bedroom with a Panasonic XR55 Digital Receiver I have now. For Mirage omnisats, the Omnisat V2 is currently the best. Omnisat - > Omnisat Micro (EOL) -> Nanosat. I read some reviews, if possible, replace the centre speaker with the Mirage Omnisat CC V2. It will be better for dialogue. Hopefully I can find a used PDR-10 soon.
weibchen Posted March 20, 2007 Author Posted March 20, 2007 woah, when you set it up, can i come over and audition it? would like to hear what these babes can produce musically. Btw where did you get your speakers from?
Kelsteph2002 Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 woah, when you set it up, can i come over and audition it? would like to hear what these babes can produce musically. Btw where did you get your speakers from? I got them from ebay. But have to take extreme caution when dealing on ebay. Make sure the seller has high reputable points before committing. Sure, you are welcome to come over, just drop me a PM next week. I stay in the west. Meanwhile, I suggest that you get a Panasonic XR55 or XR57 receiver from amazon first. U can do a search in xtremeplace for more info abt the XR55.
weibchen Posted March 20, 2007 Author Posted March 20, 2007 Thats nice. I will check that out, happen so that my friend is going over in may for 6 weeks. Okay, i have some visuals of my room placement, and the intended set up. Please tell me if its feasible and advise me if i must do some acoustic treatment to the room..
1AngMoh Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 Other than that, it'll be a DVD deck which supports SACD, i fell in love with SACDs when i was at my mates place and he popped in PF dark side of the moon. It was an experience i'll never forget. Yes, as audio formats go SACD is pretty special, particularly in its five channel guise. The omnipolar design of the speakers allow you to place the speakers anywhere in the room, however i was thinking that if i got the Omnisats, is it possible to mount them on the ceiling? Not quite, the omnipolar design is preferred by many for a multichannel systems because of their dispersive capabilities. That said, you can't mount speakers just anywhere in the room as whilst the sound does radiate omni-directionally, there is still a forward bias. This means traditional rules for placement still exist - but the results will frequently exceed small traditional box speakers. Yes, it is possible to mount OmniSat Micro's on the ceiling and the speakers should be supplied with bracket to support that mounting arrangement. Wall mounting is also supported. ...If you are using the omnisat for bedroom, i suggest you get the micro or nanosat. The Omnisat V1 or V2 should be an overkill for a bedroom. The micro would nicely do for the bedroom but if the budget could manage the V1 (end of line) would not be overkill. It is superior in everyway to the Micro, particularly in its bass and mid range capabilities. Now i'm looking for a used paradigm PDR-10 Subwoofer to complement with my omnisats. I read some reviews, if possible, replace the centre speaker with the Mirage Omnisat CC V2. It will be better for dialogue. Hopefully I can find a used PDR-10 soon. Integration with the subwoofer is most important with these speakers. The 3dB roll off for the micro's is above 100Hz. You may want to include a second hand Mirage SW (LF-100) in your evaluation. Yes, using the CC V2 for a centre speaker is a good move.
Genesis Posted March 20, 2007 Posted March 20, 2007 Integration with the subwoofer is most important with these speakers. Totally agreed. Weibchen, in view of your relatively square HT room and setup, you'll be prone to all kinds of nulls and peaks in the lower bass due to room and furniture effects. Even when you ultimately decide on what equipment you want, you'll need to properly tweak the lower frequency response and placement of your sub. A second sub isn't necessarily the answer, but I do think you'll need some room treatments to make it a proper go.
weibchen Posted March 20, 2007 Author Posted March 20, 2007 Acoustic treatment in my room is quite hard. My wall is lined with my guitar collections plus all the little stuff inbtwn like the table and bed. But please advise what kind of acoustic treatment i can do to improve if thats the case.
Kelsteph2002 Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 You can consider this ;D http://cgi.ebay.com/MIRAGE-SPEAKERS-OMNISAT-LIKE-NEW-Complete-Set-of-5_W0QQitemZ180098091774QQcategoryZ14991QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item180098091774
Genesis Posted March 21, 2007 Posted March 21, 2007 Acoustic treatment in my room is quite hard. My wall is lined with my guitar collections plus all the little stuff inbtwn like the table and bed. But please advise what kind of acoustic treatment i can do to improve if thats the case. Well the easy stuff to do first is to hang a heavy curtain over the large window on the right. If your floor is ceramic or hardwood then put down a heavy rug to cover. Essentially you don't want the room to be "live". An easy way to check is to simply stand at your listening area and clap your hands. If you hear reflections bouncing around then the room is still too live. Once you have your sub, you can find the best placement by first setting it up at your listening spot, throw on a CD with heavy bass and then move around the perimeter of the room (called crawling for bass ;) ) to find the spot where you hear best bass response. Once you've found it, this is where the sub should go.
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