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Home theater setup recommendations?

My daughter, married, middle aged, has asked me to help them set up a decent home theater/listening room in their new home. I've been an audiophile since the 70's......before I even heard the term, so I'm a pretty competent 2 channel guy and I understand room acoustics............That said, I never really ventured into HT. I simply went with my 2 channel rig and was perfectly happy with things that way.....still am.

I guess my questions are..........How  important is multi-channel for movies vs audio.............dumb question, I'm sure, but it's not my area, so I'm asking...............and any recommendations for a decent, not UBER, sound system primarily for movies. They're willing to spend some money to get a nice setup, but not the kind of coin that many here likely would. I'm thinking used gear, speakers, subs, receiver or amps. Something that will sound good, but not require a second mortgage..................These folks think that hanging 4 inch Bose speakers in the corners of the room with a micro, wanna-be sub is good sound..............I want to "enlighten" them..........thanks
shadowcat2016

Showing 3 responses by david_ten

david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Is it smart to go from 0 to 100 in one step?

I’d keep it as simple as possible and lean strongly towards lifestyle factors. [Given your repeated mention of Bose satellites as being a reference for them]

Nothing at all wrong going with a well reviewed higher end soundbar (that is amplified and accepts ARC and has sub outs). If you want to be picky, then ignore the included sub and add a smallish (10 - 12 inch) audiophile approved sub.

Seriously, keep it simple. They will appreciate it and can move to the next step later, should this one take off. All the best.
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
@caphill  Agreed, and a good option as well.... but as you point out, it lacks multi-channel (minimally three or 'virtual' efforts beyond).

I have a Muso and it works well for stereo playback from the TV, but offers so much more for music listening.

An even simpler option would be to choose a TV with an integrated soundbar like LG's OLED series or, better yet, one of the OLED acoustic panels from Sony. The Sony's sound more than terrific (I have the LG with integrated bar) actually fantastic for TV / Movie sound. AND it's coming from the screen so placement has greater reality.
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Daughter is not an audiophile. Dad is not a Home Theatre guy.

Daughter and family are starting here:

"These folks think that hanging 4 inch Bose speakers in the corners of the room with a micro, wanna-be sub is good sound"  

We don't know the room size. We don't know the TV / Monitor / Screen setup. We don't know the seating distance. We don't know the typical family size and seating arrangement when watching movies. We don't know if the room is dedicated to HT or will be a multipurpose room. We don't know speaker placement challenges. We don't know if in-wall, on-wall, on-stand or floor-standers are preferred. We don't know what speaker size is acceptable or desired. We don't know if a center-channel can be properly placed and matched for time and phase coherence with the L/R speakers.

Should I go on? Oh yes... we don't know the budget, and  we don't know if movies sound better in multichannel vs 2 channel.

We don't know how much aesthetics factor in? We don't know what level of complexity vis a vis the interface is acceptable. We don't know what platform (OS) the family uses or prefers to use. We don't know how needs for sound beyond the main room factor in.

These are all relevant and just a few of the questions that need to be answered and addressed before anyone giving you multichannel system advice is actually helping you.

And yes, there are many more issues that need to be thought through for proper implementation and end user satisfaction and contentment.

😊  Tread wisely and all the best with your decisions.
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