Looking for Input on New System

[streaker76]

How are you? I've been looking at a complete home theater system again. I just got rid of my Bose Lifestyle 35. Was not impressed. I'm starting over from scratch except TV. I've been asking for input along with doing some research. Here is what I've come down with but just have to make a decision.

Denon 3808CI - Just waiting to hit the market in Canada.
Speakers - Narrowed it down to 2 brands. B&W 684 front towers, DS6 rears, HTM62 center.
OR Snell Acoustics. Not sure which speakers yet.
Subwoofer - I wrote an email to SVS with all my dimensions of basement. They came back with 2 PB NSD 10's or PB NSD12/2. Now they had stated that the 2 10's would be a better bang.
DVD Player - Haven't decided.

Any input would be appriciated.

Steve

[JCD]

I think you've got some good equipment there. I think everything there would keep you happy for a long time to come.

As for some additional comments:

1. SVS has always been very honest in their recommendations. I'd be inclined to take whatever they suggest.
2. This is just a preference, but I prefer a direct radiating (vs di or tri-pole) speakers for surround duty. And they're cheaper.
3. Since you're going to be using a sub (or two!) for the lower octaves, I'd consider some of the bookshelf's. Just my opinion, but I think a bookshelf speaker will sound better than a floorstander at the same price level, especially when mated with a quality sub. That's not always the case, but I think it makes for a good rule of thumb. Also, I prefer having the exact same speaker for the front LCR -- it's the only way to perfectly match the tone across the front -- and again, it'll probably be cheaper than a typical center channel speaker.. and sound better (speakers are made to be vertical, not horizontal)
4. As for the brands being mentioned, that part is too personal -- what may sound good to one will sound bad to another. However, being Canadian, why not some of the offerings from Canada? E.g., Paradigm, PSB, etc. I'm not sure, but you might be able to get some better deals from those brands.
5. DVD player -- I'm with you on that one. HD or Blu Ray? Or just keep with the "current standard"? HD players are cheaper, but there are more movies for Blu Ray and Blu Ray appears to have the upper hand in the format war at the present time. Then again, a regular progressive scan DVD is super cheap these days...
6. It looks like you've got the right mix in your budget -- 65% for speakers, 35% for electronics. I might even be inclined to go with with 70/30.
7. Don't forget the acoustics in your room -- that'll make a great speaker sound like junk or make a mediocre speaker seem amazing.

If you look at my equipment list, I've broken most of my "rules", but I bought my current rig before I really got into this hobby. My rig would be significantly different if I were going to buy a new one right now.

Anyway, there's my $0.02. Good luck and have fun with the whole process!

JCD

[Sonnie]

Hi Steve and welcome to the Shack!

As usual Jacen has some good recommendations there for you.

I have owned Snell and PSB... highly recommend either. You might also consider the new MTS line at SVS since you are considering their subs, which you will love.

Great choice on receivers... don't think you can go wrong there.

Do you have a budget for a DVD player yet? There is a Samsung unit coming out in October that will be dual format for HD. If I were looking for a bargain I would probably snag a Toshiba A2 and I'd have an HD-DVD player and an excellent upconverting SD-DVD player.

[streaker76]

Thanks for the input guys. I haven't put a budget out yet on a DVD player. I'm still torn on what would be best or better. There's a little too much confusion as to who is going to be the better of the 2 formats. I'm probably going to hold out until this fall. I'll just get a basic DVD player for the time being. I'm buying the new denon as it "Should" be or "Hopefully" be future proof for some time. I'm a huge fan of DTS sound so I'm hoping the DTS-HD MA will be worth it once the new decoders in the players can format the sound.

Steve

[jackfish]

Just get an Oppo DV-970HD ($150) Oppo DV-980H ($170) or Oppo DV-981HD ($230) until the HD wars are over.

[eugovector]

jackfish wrote:

Just get an Oppo DV-970HD ($150) Oppo DV-980H ($170) or Oppo DV-981HD ($230) until the HD wars are over.

I sang the same tune for quite a while, and still haven't jumped on the next gen disc format (my vote is for downloadable HD content). Recently, with $250 hd-dvd players that upscale decently well, I'd start with one of those over an Oppo for a little less. I think the extra $100 or less is worth the added functionality and slight hit in upscaling performance. Make sure you get a netflix subscription to go with it.

If you want to stick with standard dvd, I lke the philips with the usb port in the front for about $60. Nice to be able to put pics, music, and movies on a thumb drive (or a large external hard drive for some movie jukebox action) and have them play no fuss.

[JCD]

eugovector wrote:

If you want to stick with standard dvd, I lke the philips with the usb port in the front for about $60. Nice to be able to put pics, music, and movies on a thumb drive (or a large external hard drive for some movie jukebox action) and have them play no fuss.

That's the route I'd probably go. The format war is likely to take another couple of years to settle out -- assuming it does. It looked like Blu Ray was going to be the winner, but Paramount's recent paid defection to HD-DVD will definitely pro-long the war. I truly hope Paramount loses more than the $150million they were paid to go over to HD-DVD.

JCD

[santora]

Like many are saying, a good uprezing DVD player should fit what you need nicely until this long brewing war eventually comes to a close. However, if you have the HDTV going with one of the HD Disc formats wouldn't be the dumbest thing you could do. Both work very well.

Right now I think that the best bargain out there is the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD Player for $299. Really if you're thinking of dropping $150 on a decent upconverting DVD player, jumping into HD DVD is a no brainer. Higher quality sound, better picture, good studio support. And since eventually I think this war will be won by a combo (HD DVD/Blu Ray) players, you could do worse. And it's a great upconverting DVD player, too. It tops out at 1080i - so if you need the 1080p then hit the Toshiba HD-A20 for $100 more.

But Blu Ray's got some good stsuff too - unfortunately they start out at $500 and they're about to go through a major spec change in October, so I'd suggest waiting on them right now.

[jackstraw]

I recently bought an Oppo 981 and a Toshiba HD A2 to compare at home. The Oppo is decent, but I'm keeping the HD A2. I think the price difference was $10... and I'll agree that I think that the HD A2 does a little better job upconverting. HD DVD playback is nice to have, and the unit just generally seems to have much higher build quality. I tried them out with the Oppo on top of the Toshiba -- I wouldn't have dreamed of setting anything on the Oppo.