New Guy Sharing Home Theater Pics

[punman]

Well. I finally got my home theatre to the point where I want it to be (at least speaker-wise).

It started last October with the purchase of the Panasonic 42 inch plasma T.V.
Then I wanted High Definition viewing so that meant purchasing a high definition box (PVR) at Christmas.

So if you have 5.1 sound with high definition or DVDs, you want a receiver to accommodate that, so you can hear it – so a new receiver AVR 146 Harmon-Kardon (a lower end model but it seems fine at the moment). [My old Fisher RS270 receiver from 1981 had long ago given up the ghost].

Then the agonizing part about the speakers. I finally decided on KEFs and bought the center (iQ2) on New Year’s Day as it was half price. Then I watched for sales since then to get the iQ5s for fronts, the iQ1s for rear surrounds and the KEF PSW2500 subwoofer. By buying them bit by bit as I could afford them and as they went on sale, I was able to get all six KEF speakers new for $1266 Canadian including tax (about $1000 U.S.).

I am still using an old no-name brand DVD player and will continue to do so until I buy a Blu-ray player but I am in no rush at the moment.

The entertainment room is in our basement in an 11 foot wide x 17 foot long room – although not really a room as it has no doors. You go down the basement stairs and you are there – with a corridor to the left of the T.V. to access the bedrooms and bathroom. It has always been a T.V. room; we did nothing to modify it. Actually it was also a fish room. By selling my 180 gallon tank, fish, and accessories, I made room for the stereo stuff as well as enough money to cover most of the speaker cost. The distance from the T.V. to the seating is ten feet.

We were using an old futon for the seating area and hadn’t ever bought a sofa for the basement. I checked out some theatre seating chairs but they were either too pricey for our budget or cheap looking if they were in our budget. Plus they would always look like theatre seating. My wife compromised by allowing the leather sofa that holds three with the two end seats reclining – nice reclining comfort but a proper sofa look the rest of the time.

I must say my wife was quite understanding about this (notice I let her keep her doll collection next to the rear surrounds as a token of appreciation). I went stereo crazy in the early 80’s shortly after we married and then that calmed down for many years so maybe this is my midlife crisis although I am probably two-thirds through life. She does not mind this stuff occupying the space, nor did she mind the expenditure as we try stay out of debt and don’t use food-living expense money for hobbies and extras. The only thing she minds at times is the noise. The day after I got the subwoofer she was upstairs and came running down yelling “I can hear that thing upstairs with the door closed.” [Note to self – bought an effective subwoofer].

Thanks to all of you who have answered my questions in the last few months. I admire the more elaborate systems many of you have but hope this may give other beginners some ideas of where to start as I am new at this too. Enjoy the few pictures.

[robbo266317]

Looks good. A very tidy setup.
What brand speakers are your mains?

[punman]

All are KEFs - mains are iQ5s. They make an iQ7 and iQ9 which are larger and very nice but never seemed to go on sale so were out of my price range.

[Mike P.]

Nice setup. Gotta say the couch looks comfy. What brand is it?

[punman]

Honestly I don't know. Bought it from a furniture store in our city for $1400 Canadian (about $1100 U.S.). It is only partial leather (the primary panels). All parts leather makes that stuff a few times more expensive.

[tonyvdb]

Looks good Dwayne, Nice and clean

[Sonnie]

Nice system

I have heard a lot of good things about those KEF speakers. I believe they are a similar design to some of Tannoy's speakers. I would like to hear some one day, but have yet to find anyone nearby with any to listen to.

[punman]

I'm lucky as even though I live in a city of a million people, and only a handful of stores stock KEFs, one of them is six blocks from where I live.
For those in the States (I am in Canada), Vanns in Montana carries KEFs and has free U.S. delivery.

[OniJon]

Gotta love those iQ KEF's. They have such a warm sound and sweetspot is just huge, the sound is all over the room with only two speakers.

[forsberg21]

I like the space you have, it has a lot of potential to do a lot more with that room. Nice set-up!