First HT help required!

[toaster09]

Hi Guys,

This is my first post here, I need your help
Ive always wanted to setup a home theatre and never went about it, (at the moment Ive got a 22 Samsung LCD, while my pc monitor is a benq 24 lol), I have reading up a lot and just overwhelmed at the info esp with the audio,
I will list down my requirements first,

50% regular TV (HD), 30% movies & hopefully the rest is some gaming if my missus allows it every now and then

The room size is around 19 feet in length and around 12 feet in width, the seating position is sort of half way with two couches with their back to each other

3 sides are just walls and one side is just glass/wood screens from the top to the bottom overlooking the hallway
Been saving up and will have a good budget around 2.5 to 3L by May 2014 and probably increase it more further if its worth it.
Looking for a big screen prob 50 or more

I did browse around for a much bigger TV, Ive looked and liked the 55 screen from Sony 850A around 1.5L i guess its good?, I was led by the guy in croma to sit in the bose booth and honestly my expectation and what I heard was absolutely shit, all that I heard was loud nothing more...

Like I said before I have been reading up, Im pretty sure I have misunderstood almost if not all concepts, I desperately need your assistance to help me understand and guide me,

Speaker -> 2.1, 5.1, 7.1 (.1 sub woofer), 7.1 does not usually make sense since most codecs (?) dont actually have content in 7.1, 5.1 is best/more than enough for home theatre
Sub woofers -> Low frequency, gives best output for all those actions scenes and explosions
Floor standing -> 4,3,2 way etc. Four way give output for low mid low, mid high and high frequencies, Three way allows for frequencies low mid high, and henceforth two way is lesser, For best home theatre floor standing is the way to go
Floor standing > book shelf speakers in general I guess when rooms are smaller book shelf is best way to go
Centre channel speaker takes care 50% almost all of the dialogue
Bipole speakers are best for surround sound?
The concept of speakers is the listener shouldnt know on which speaker he is actually hearing from?
A good speaker shouldnt be hollow as you knock on the wood?
No AVR can drive speakers to their Max potential, an amp is required?
AVRs process audio but does pre-amplification?
A pre-out is required on the AVR if one wants to use a separate amplifier?
THX certified, does that certification guarantee a good experience when it goes to identifying products?
Speaker last a life time, AVR is like a computer with more frequent changing technology, worth more investing in speakers than an AVR
Speaker wires -> lesser the gauge better the thickness and quality, balloon connections are actually worse than using the wire?
Bi amp -> connect two speakers on the AVR to a single speaker?
AVR setup > HTiB
3D technology although active 3D is better it causes more headaches, passive is cheaper and more easy on the eyes
Different ways of investing -> buy an AVR and start off with a 2.1 and then expand, buy a HtiB?
Auditioning has its pros and cons, con being most guys use shit AVR

I have been looking around, keep in mind Ive not auditioned anything yet which i will do

Sony 850A -> good, bad or better? Any other choice
Polk audio -> RTI A7, polk gr8 for Home theatre?
Subwoofer -> Please suggest?
AVR please suggest? Ive also heard that Polk speaker (A7) needs an amp to hear it best, what would be a AVR with pre out?

HELP!!!!

 

[Santy]

Welcome to HFV. That's lot of questions (if they are).

Speaker -> 2.1, 5.1, 7.1 (.1 sub woofer), 7.1 does not usually make sense since most codecs (?) dont actually have content in 7.1, 5.1 is best/more than enough for home theatre
True. 5.1 is adequate for most of the time.

Sub woofers -> Low frequency, gives best output for all those actions scenes and explosions
Yes. It is very important to have a good sub in a HT.

Floor standing -> 4,3,2 way etc. Four way give output for low mid low, mid high and high frequencies, Three way allows for frequencies low mid high, and henceforth two way is lesser, For best home theatre floor standing is the way to go

Not completely true. It depends on the size, quality of drivers, its power handling / sensitivity, impedance, crossover design etc. More drivers usually means they are designed to go louder but that does not necessarily result in better SQ. Also, there are 3- way speakers that go as low as 25 Hz. For HT, FS are normally preferred but then there are many good standmounts used in HT that can give FS of similar budget a run for their money.

Floor standing > book shelf speakers in general I guess when rooms are smaller book shelf is best way to go
True. For smaller rooms, bookshelves are adequate.

Centre channel speaker takes care 50% almost all of the dialogue
True. Its the most important speaker in HT acc. to me.

Bipole speakers are best for surround sound?
Not necessarily. It depends on your layout. If gives a wider dispersion of sound, but at the same time, if the room is not large enough, it can cause smear of imaging with the main speakers. It is normally used in large HT when there is a need for optimal listening experience at multiple positions

The concept of speakers is the listener shouldnt know on which speaker he is actually hearing from?
Yes. The speakers should disappear.

A good speaker shouldnt be hollow as you knock on the wood?
???

No AVR can drive speakers to their Max potential, an amp is required?
It depends on the power rating of AVR and the speakers. AVR is an amplifier as well. You are either referring to integrated amp or stereo power amp or multichannel power amp.

AVRs process audio but does pre-amplification?
Yes AVR decodes multi channel audio and also does preamplification

A pre-out is required on the AVR if one wants to use a separate amplifier?
Yes. But then there are components. ie preprocessors which only does decoding and preamplifcation and allows the multi channel power amp to do the duty of driving the speakers.

THX certified, does that certification guarantee a good experience when it goes to identifying products?
Yes it does. But it does not necessarily mean that products which are not THX certified cannot perform well/ better. THX is also a brand and it comes at a cost. So when you buy a THX certified product, you are also paying royalty for it. Non THX certified products can conform or exceed THX standards. Also, THX makes more sense for speaker systems than AVRs in my opinion.

Speaker last a life time, AVR is like a computer with more frequent changing technology, worth more investing in speakers than an AVR
Not only because speakers are long lasting. They are the most important part of a HT when other components are good enough to justify the speakers' potential. The technology is changing mostly on the features, comforts, room correction etc but not so drastically with the basics of decoding and amplifying, so you can still live with a not so new AVR. Having said that, IMO the AVR must support DTS-MA and Dolby TruHD processing for the best experience.

Speaker wires -> lesser the gauge better the thickness and quality, balloon connections are actually worse than using the wire?
Yes, lesser the gauge = fatter the cable but quality wise it is not necessarily true that thicker cables sound better. For instance, the Chord Rumor 2 cable I have was way better than Chord Silverscreen which is quite heavy. It depends on the materials used for the core and insulation and their design.

Bi amp -> connect two speakers on the AVR to a single speaker?
Yes, two different speaker terminals are connected to a single speaker wherein each channel drives the LF/HF drivers individually.


AVR setup > HTiB
3D technology although active 3D is better it causes more headaches, passive is cheaper and more easy on the eyes
Not very sure on this.

Different ways of investing -> buy an AVR and start off with a 2.1 and then expand, buy a HtiB?
Depends on budget and upgrade path chosen.

Auditioning has its pros and cons, con being most guys use shit AVR
?? No cons in auditioning if the dealer has the product you wish to demo.

I have been looking around, keep in mind Ive not auditioned anything yet which i will do

Sony 850A -> good, bad or better? Any other choice
No idea about TVs

Polk audio -> RTI A7, polk gr8 for Home theatre?
Yes they are quite good for HT

Subwoofer -> Please suggest?
Do you have a separate budget for sub? Otherwise look for 5.1 speaker packages

AVR please suggest? Ive also heard that Polk speaker (A7) needs an amp to hear it best, what would be a AVR with pre out?
Components (prepro+ power amp) is the way to go if budget permits. I suppose you have 1.5 lakh budget to spare for the whole HT. So you can start with a good AVR like Yamaha 673 to begin with.

HELP!!!!

 

[toaster09]

How do you guys generally rate below 5.1 setup?

Polk rti a7/csi a6/fxia6 /pro 660w vs diamond 159, 10.DFS Diamond 102C Centre/SW-150

 

[toaster09]

how do you guys generally rate the below ?

SW-150/102cc, 10 dfs, diamond 159 vs polk rti a7, pro 660w, csia6, fxia6

 

[Santy]

It is amazing to see how some people lack basic courtesy of acknowledging a response to their queries. As if we are paid for responding. hyeah:

 

[Raghav_K]

It is amazing to see how some people lack basic courtesy of acknowledging a response to their queries. As if we are paid for responding. hyeah:

Lol... Exactly!

Btw I saw this thread when it was created, and i'm like woah so many questions, lets see who's patient enough to answer them

I can answer the one about 3d:

Active 3D is supposed to be better, each eye gets the full resolution of 1920*1080, brighter than passive 3d, Expensive glasses, and it causes headaches.

Passive 3D - No headaches, Cheaper glasses as they dont have shutters, Supposed to be dimmer than Active 3d (more prominent in plasma/pj?) , each eye gets the resolution of 1920*540, can see horizontal lines on a big screen or when sitting close, and expensive initially compared to active 3d?

Personally never tried passive 3d.. Have tried active 3d and it gave me a nice headache the first time, (maybe something to do with your eyes getting adjusted to the shutter movement) but haven't got any after that!

 

[toaster09]

Forums are for discussions, and i am grateful if you guys wanna help, its amazing to see that people who have knowledge sit on a pedestal actually waiting for someone else to answer, wonder if I treat you the same way if you wanted knowledge on something that is completely new to you like a cpu overclock or networking...

anyway santy i've added a thank you.:clapping:

 

[toaster09]

It is amazing to see how some people lack basic courtesy of acknowledging a response to their queries. As if we are paid for responding. hyeah:

I've added a Thank you sir, no one who is on a forum gets paid, they help if they want to help.

 

[Santy]

Hi.. Yup... Its all about knowledge sharing... and there is pleasure in it. Not that I knew much, but it just appeared that my post was either invisible or off-topic or pointless. So you got me wondering which one was true.. Sorry about that.. Good luck on your hunt for HT... Sometimes you'll find no advice but when people chip in, it pours... So keep exploring and do audition whenever possible.