First HT setup, Yambeka?

[REDandBLACKpack]

I am looking to get my first HT set up pretty soon. I am planning to buy a 50'' Samsung HP-T5054 plasma television soon and I will want a nice sounding system for it. I am new to all of this so please bare with me. I have been looking around the forum and the Yambeka speakers seem to receive good reviews and are priced well. I would like to keep my whole set up, receiver, sub, speakers, wire, etc under $1000. I am unsure if I would go with the 7.1 or the 5.1. In the room I am in now the 5.1 would probably work better but next fall I will be in a bigger room I will have more space. I will be using my set up for daily tv use, playstation 3 , and blu ray movies, and maybe music listening if possible. Are the yambekas my best deal? I would like bass with my music and movies as well so what sub would you recommend? which receiver?

Thanks!

[JCD]

Note: I wrote this post thinking you said "Yamaha" and not "Yambeka". I have no knowledge of that brand (although I have just read the thread) so I can't really comment on the sound. Given that, I'm letting this one through anyway as I think the points are still pretty valid.

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I know this sounds bad, but a thousand bucks for a receiver, speakers and wire won't get you much.

If you really had a hard $1,000 limit, this is what I'd do:

Receiver
Onkyo SR605 -- I've seen it for as low as $385. It has a couple of HDMI inputs and supports the latest audio tech. It's as cheap as you can go and still get the latest technology with a good HDMI support

Speaker Wire
Go to your local Fry's, Home Depot, etc for your speaker wire. Buy a good sized spool of 14guage speaker wire of the generic variety. My opinion is that speaker wire is speaker wire and all you get from going with someone like Monster Cable is a name.

Interconnects
Two places to get them from IMO are monoprice.com and bluejeanscable.com. Both offer quality products and very reasonable prices. You could probably get your speaker wire there as well for the same price as Fry's or Home Depot. I think the cheaper stuff is at monoprice, but the stuff at bluejeanscable is probably of a higher quality. For the interconnects and the connection to the TV, HDMI is the way to go.

I'd guess that our total price tag is now somewhere in the $450+. That'd leave $550 for your speakers.
To get a sub of any quality, I think is gonna run at least $429 which is the entry level sub from SVS. Pretty much anything cheaper than this is going have bloated bass, high distortion, etc.

After that, we've only got $120 for the regular speakers. Probably the best quality entry level speaker out there is the SBS-01 from SVS. Those are $225/pair ($599 for a set of five). If you really have a budget, then maybe get just 2 and you've only gone over budget by $100. As funds permit, you can add to the system to fill out the remaining 3 or 5 speakers you want/need.

You have probably noticed that I didn't mention the Yamaha speakers. I know this is going to come off as snobbish, but there just aren't any speakers in the HTIB category that I think are any good. Any of them can "do the job", but if you're going to make that kind of investment, I'd want to get something that has some substance and quality. The suggestions I made above I think are the entry level for quality sound reproduction.

the other thing to note is that speaker preferences are not the same for everyone -- someone may love speaker A, but hate speaker B whereas someone else may go the opposite way. Neither is right or wrong, it's just what they like. That's why I suggest going out and auditioning speakers. The choices from SVS can be tried in home for 30 days. If you don't like them, you can send them back. You have to pay shipping, but I think you'd like them and not want to return them.

Another avenue to go is to look at used equipment. You can usually find some pretty good deals on ebay or audiogon.com or videogon.com. Obviously care must taken to make sure you don't buy something damaged.

Anyway, that's my opinion. Good luck and let us know how you do.

Oh, one more thing, you might want to take a look at this thread. It may help.

JCD

[eugovector]

I wouldn't spend the money on wireless rear speakers, especially for a small room. They won't sound great, and running wire should be a simple matter.

So, if I'm understanding right, you want to spend $1000, and get an AVR, and 5.1 speakers.

I'd grab an Onkyo 605 off Onkyo refurb or shop around, should be under $400. For a dorm,you won't be able to cranks the bass, so grab a Dayton sub for $150 from Parts Express. That leaves a little less than $100 a speaker. For that money, check out:

JBL/Infinity refurbs from the Official HK ebay store
av123 x-series
Look for used deals on Ebay, Audiogon, Craigslist

Save some money by getting...
Insignia 6.5" from Best Buy (used to be able to get these for <$50/pair)

Consider, spending all $450 on just 3 speakers, not 5. You can always add surround later, and 99% of the info comes from the front 3. You can buy better speakers now, and add rears when you have the $$.

[Sonnie]

I moved this to Home Theater Systems since you are asking about more than just speakers.

The Yambeka systems have been getting very good subjective reviews. It seems for the money they are worthy.

Here's another option I'll throw at you... if you are interested in the Yambeka speakers, get the 5.0 system for now at $300. Snag the Dayton sub that Marshall recommends for $150. Now you have $550 remaining for an AVR. This would get you by for now in your smallish room. Look to upgrade when you move.

[REDandBLACKpack]

so is buying all the parts seperate going to land me a better set up than buying a HTIB

[jackfish]

REDandBLACKpack wrote:

so is buying all the parts seperate going to land me a better set up than buying a HTIB

Oh yeah!

[salvasol]

eugovector wrote:

...grab a Dayton sub for $150 from Parts Express. That leaves a little less than $100 a speaker. For that money, check out ...

You can get one pair of JBL Arena $130 + one pair of JBL Monitor or Balcony $101 and JBL Voice (center) $101 ... that's five speakers for $332 plus $150 for the sub ... total $482.00

[REDandBLACKpack]

salvasol wrote:

You can get one pair of JBL Arena $130 + one pair of JBL Monitor or Balcony $101 and JBL Voice (center) $101 ... that's five speakers for $332 plus $150 for the sub ... total $482.00

What would be a good receiver to go with that? I would love to have one with ipod hookup.

[salvasol]

REDandBLACKpack wrote:

What would be a good receiver to go with that? I would love to have one with ipod hookup.

Any receiver will be okay ... usually you need at least 100WPC but more is better

I don't know what is your budget, but you can start looking here at the Shack electronics store http://www.hometheatershack.com/electronics-retailer/

[tonyvdb]

salvasol wrote:

Any receiver will be okay ... usually you need at least 100WPC but more is better

This is totally dependant on the speakers you use and room size. Even 75watts per ch is sufficient if you have the right combination. but of course the more Watts the better headroom you will have.
Onkyo seems to be the Receiver of choice right now. As salvasol said it depends on your budget as to where you go from here.