Newbie needing help selecting 5.1 system for media room

[gerry2ray3]

Please see attached image for the layout of my room. I'm removing the window, and moving the heather flu chase into the corner. Otherwise the room is just a rectangle. I plan on stacking the back 8" for elevated seating. I am building a house, and am only wiring for 5.1, as I believe 7.1 would be overkill in that room. I am running 2 lines to the fronts though in case I want to do bi-amping.

I have 0 equipment for this room, so I'll need 2 towers, center, sub, 2 rears, and a receiver.

This room will be 100% for movies. I would like to spend total, less than $7k. I don't know much about audio from a technical standpoint, so any suggestions would be much appreciated.

I have looked at a Paradigm system with the Monitor 11's, Center 3, and Surround 3, with a 10" sub. This system was only about $3,500, minus a receiver.

I have also looked at the B&W CM9's series, although this is a little over my budget. I did find 2 used CM9's, with the matching center and sub for $2,750, but I am hesitant to buy used. Thoughts on that?

 

[efernand1]

Hi

B&W speakers are one of the best as they perform across all the sound frequencies one would want to hear. You need to hook up the CM series with a Marantz receiver as they both work well together. As you may already know, Marantz has been in existence over 60 years and has been innovating with time. From all the receivers I used over the past 11 years (Bose / Yamaha / Denon / Pioneer / Harmon Kardon) nothing compares to a Marantz. Marantz is one of the receivers who deliver continuous power output across all frequencies uninterrupted.

You could perhaps get a more powerful subwoofer from B&W if your budget permits or get Velodyne Impact 12 which is one of the best in the world. There are tons of reviews and videos on the internet posted by users to help you in deciding the best.

B&W speakers perform at a higher sensitivity level (higher than 88db) which is good and puts less strain on the receiver in terms of output. The speakers are well designed and made to last longer.

You may want to demo speakers using the following....demo the B&Ws with a Marantz if possible:

* Nessun Dorma - Luciano Pavarotti (Voice & Pitch test)
* Any action scene from a movie involving crashes, thuds, explosions etc (The '2012' movie scene where the Limo drives through the falling city is a good clip for testing all sudden frequencies the speaker can handle.
* Hotel California - Eagles - Live (Instruments and Voice Handling)
* What a wonderful World - Louis Armstrong (Vocal handling)

Hope this helps....all the best

 

[jagdish_p]

Since you are building the room do you have an option of changing the room dimensions ? Google for "golden ratio audio room" - though there is no hard and fast rule for the room dimensions this gives a recommendation.

 

[elangoas]

For 100% watching movies, you don't need a Floor stander... A very good BS (or) Top satellite speaker can do the job for you.... This is because you have crossover on your AVR which will kick in when you match movies...

Assuming you will be setting that @ 80Hz on your AVR, your Sub will take care of all the bass there by defeating your purpose of FS....

 

[gerry2ray3]

For 100% watching movies, you don't need a Floor stander... A very good BS (or) Top satellite speaker can do the job for you.... This is because you have crossover on your AVR which will kick in when you match movies...

Assuming you will be setting that @ 80Hz on your AVR, your Sub will take care of all the bass there by defeating your purpose of FS....

elangoas, what type of speakers/avr would you suggest then?

 

[elangoas]

elangoas, what type of speakers/avr would you suggest then?

For AVR you can consider the top of the line series

Onkyo 1010/3010/5010, Yamaha 1030/2030/3030, Denon X 3000/4000/ 3313, Pioneer Elite series & of course Marantz...

You will have around 10 ~ 15 AVR's to choose from... All top guns from market leaders...

For Speakers, you can look for a BS from the same Paradigm series (or) look for something specific to Cinema series...

http://www.paradigm.com/products-current/series=cinema/

 

[adedaomizi]

though there is no hard and fast rule for the room dimensions this gives a recommendation.