2. home-theater
  3. 1369956399

Need advice on building an A/V system

I am looking to build an A/V system to work with my Samsung UN55ES6150 TV set and DirecTV Genie box. I'm about to purchase an Oppo BLD-105, and am looking for exactly what else will be needed in addition to a good 5 or 7 channel power amp. I'll be using this system mainly for HDTV viewing, Blu-Rays, DVD's and the occasional CD or SACD - with an eye on digital and streaming music capability in the future when I get around to that. I will be keeping my music system separate and dedicated to music only. (ARC 100.2/Wadia 830/Maggie 3.6R's.)

Long story short: Will I need a DAC, a pre/pro, or both? Will a receiver suffice? Why or why not? I am looking to get the most bang for the buck while minimizing the duplication of features among components. My budget is going to be around $2000 to $3000, but value components that will do the job for less would always be welcome in my house. Any advice or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff
jeff_from_michigan
jeff_from_michigan OP
4 posts
 
Wow - Thanks so much to each of you for your input.
With your help, I decided to go with the following:

-Marantz AV7005 - $800 factory refurbished from an authorized Marantz dealer.

-Emotiva XPA5 - $809 brand new, direct from Emotiva.

I have an old ACI Titan sub that I'll utilize if it sounds right, and will most likely go with a cheaper blu-ray player. It looks like a lot of performance can be had for a pittance these days.

The Oppo will just have to wait, since the budget is shrinking and I still need to think about speakers. (Maybe a 105 or two will show up used here at AudiogoN in a year or two.)

Thanks so much again for the solid advice and suggestions.

Sincerely,

Jeff
soix
9,456 posts
 
Let's face it, at this price level you're not looking at SOTA components and since you've already got your 2-channel taken care of sounds like this system will mainly be for pure fun and entertainment. Since the speakers (especially the center channel) will be critical I'd look at something like the Paradigm Series 7 Center 1 flanked by a couple of their Mini Monitors and rears handled by a couple Atoms. This would be about half your budget, and since you're keeping your sub for now you could get something like a used Anthem pre/pro and maybe an Emotiva multichannel amp if sound quality is paramount. If audio is a priority for this system I'd get a separate DAC at some point -- lots of good ones for <$1000. Otherwise I'd do something like an SVS SB12 sub and a Pioneer or Onkyo AVR with the lastest features and be done with it -- or maybe Marantz or NAD if you're looking for something a little warmer/laid-back sounding. Best of luck.
jeff_from_michigan OP
4 posts
 
Soix, thanks for the input. The pre/pro and amp are covered, and I will be looking into the Paradigms along with the Gallos and a couple of others. I hear the Pioneer Andrew Jones-designed (yep, believe it or not) speakers are good performers for the price.

I may decide to go in a completely different direction, though. The possibility of incorporating my Maggie 3.6's into a "tri-center" configuration with a center and a pair of either the on-wall motorized panels or MMG's might be doable. The only challenge would be figuring out what to use for rears, and of course the additional expense of a Maggie bass panel or two.

Has anyone here tried the tri-center approach?

Thanks, folks.
vicdamone
850 posts
 
Regarding your speaker choice. After setting up a few HT systems for myself and seven others for friends and neighbors I've become adamant about HDMI 7.1 using matched speakers regardless of quality.

An exception would be for the center speaker only if its from the same brand and level as the other six. There is no doubt the fun factor is all about the subs.

I have mixed feelings regarding pre/pro vs receiver so I leave that up to the buyer.

The problem with most practically priced HT systems are finding speakers that are an easy load, good sounding, and reasonably priced. I've had great success with Gallo's. This post caught my eye and I thought I'd pass it along to you.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1370702994&&&/Harbeth-Compact-7s-vs-Pioneer-s-$129-spe
More to discover