To preface, you do not want to use multimedia speakers for a home theater any more than you would want to use a car for a boombox. You ever stand outside a car with a high-end stereo? It sounds like garbage anywhere but in the passenger seats. Multimedia speakers are made for your computer, and expect you to be sitting right there at the desk; they are not meant to fill a room with sound like home theater components. As another analogy, using multimedia speakers for home theater is like using a compact car to tow a boat.

Based on our conversations you want a home theater. You want a dedicated subwoofer with some kick, decent sound, and the ability to watch television, movies, and maybe put some music on once in awhile. You are not an audiophile and have limited knowledge of home A/V, but are willing to learn and do it yourself with a little research. You put a lot of stock in something of value, meaning you want to get a lot for your money.

This said, you do not need the highest-quality speakers. Home theater is not the same as listening to music; you want matching speakers, a decent receiver, and a beefy sub.

Tier 1 - Over budget - Your expectations will be exceeded

Onkyo HT-S9100THX - ~$1,000
Probably the best pre-made system out there, easy and convenient to set up since most of what you need will be in the box

Energy Take CIassic 5.1 ~$400 and receiver combo:
Pioneer VSX-1021-K (~$500)
Denon AVR-1911 (~$400)
Yamaha RX-V667 (~$500) You will still need to buy some wiring, but it will offer the best audio for the longest period of time.

Tier 2 - At budget - Entry-level home theater; meets expectations

Onkyo HT-S5400 - ~$500, Decent entry-level home theater system, Full 7.1 Sound, "Real" receiver, Convenient package, includes most of the equipment you will need

Dayton HTP-3 5.1 Home Theater Package (~$220, requires some additional wiring) OR Polk Audio RM6750 Black 5.1CH Home Theater Speaker System (~$200) and combo receiver:
Pioneer VSX-920-K 7.1 Home Theater Receiver (~$270, strongly preferred)
Pioneer VSX-521-K 5.1 Home Theater Receiver (~$250)

These are entry-level receivers, and may have quirks such as a non-intuitive user interface or video pass-through issues. Everyone has their brand preference, but for an entry-level receiver all you really care about is whether it will receive your audio signal, decode popular formats (Dolby Digital 5.1, for example), and power your speakers. Some might argue for an Onkyo, but the current generation of budget Onkyos run very hot and reliability issues have been reported. Still a good brand, but not in the sub-$300 category at the moment. As an alternative to Pioneer, however:
YAMAHA 5.1-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver RX-V371 (~$230)
Denon AVR-1609 (~$200)

Anything less expensive than the above combos and you are firmly in Samsung home-theater-in-a-box territory:

Tier 3 - Below budget - HTIB, subwoofer may lack punch, speaker accuracy questionable

Yamaha YHT-395 (~$349) - Convenient, includes "real" receiver, beefier sub than the Sony
Sony HT-SS380 (~$350) - Convenient, attractive, etc.

I hope that the aforementioned options are all helpful as you take a look around at what you want, and has given you something to think about. Drop me a note once you've made a purchase and gotten it all installed to let me know how you like it.

Good luck,

Boz

Putting a subwoofer in your attic, while not necessarily ideal, is fine. There are actually a lot of in-wall subwoofer manufacturers from Goldwood to MTX to Boston Acoustics. I've seen numerous custom installations with subwoofers mounted in the floors or wall and ported into the room using a heating vent cover or similar camoflage (http://home.comcast.net/~infinitelybaffled/page2IB-Gallery.html), and it works (though I'd prefer a sealed or bandpass box design to the infinite baffle examples shown). It may not sound as great as a dedicated square box sitting in the corner of your room, and it will most certainly be a pain in the butt to tune, but it will be much better than having no subwoofer at all and it will look much, much nicer (since you won't see it at all).

The more handy you are and willing to research the better it will come out. Personally I'd build an MDF box between two beams and tune it to a 12" sub, using a sub amp from Parts Express. You'll have a bit of a time running the wiring up to the attic, but that's half the fun, right?

Good luck,

Boz

I'm most likely going to build one. However, when I really start to get serious about it and I've saved up a little money I'm probably going to have people in this forum help me select like all of the components lol. There's just far too many to learn about and too many things to debate about which is better or worse. I'll probably come up with a price range of like $800-$1000 and see what people can come up with. I'll try to get the optimal recommendations and then see if I can't bargain hunt for deals on slightly better components if possible...

ALBELtheWICKED

1. Read this sticky
2. Read these blogs (includes video)
3. Visit this external sticky (particularly the "Sweet Spot" builds sticky and "What should I build/buy?")

Good luck with your new build!

Boz

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Firefox 4.0.1

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I receive the following error: ""You haven't contributed any forum posts yet. Get crackin'! Post away, my friend. Post away."

Thank you and happy gaming,

Boz

A television typically does not have the capability of powering external speakers. Though it might have "clip-on" speakers that you attached to speaker outputs on the rear of the set and hand on the sides, these are not going to provide sufficient power for a home theater system. A true home theater system has five dedicated channels of amplification typically between 80 and 100 watts or higher compared to the average of 8 to 15 watts from a television's speakers. The subwoofer itself almost always has its own dedicated amplifier. The following article explains in a clear, concise manner your options for upgrading your television audio:
http://www.crutchfield.com/Learn/learningcenter/home/ht_htib.html

The reason I keep asking you all these questions is because I need to know whether you need just a set of speakers, speakers and an amplifier, a receiver/speakers combo, or a home theater in a box (includes Blue-Ray). If you have a cable box and Blu-Ray player already it will change the recommendation. If you do not have room for surround sound speakers it will change the recommendation. If you want to plug your PC into the receiver it may change the recommendation. I want to make sure whatever you spend your hard-earned money on, you are able to actually plug all your gear into and get working. I want to make sure that all the cables you're going to need are budgeted (allocating $500 to speakers and needing $100 in cables is a downer).

I cannot get what will work for you exactly at a reasonable price unless you answer a few additional questions. If you have the exact models of your current equipment, meaning your television, HD Box (cable/sat), DVD/Blu-Ray player, I can tell you exactly what cables you will need and recommend a receiver/speaker setup to best effect. :D

Separates are always preferred, as its easy to upgrade each component, than having to deal with one unit. Though when on a budget receivers are great.NVIDIATI

At $500 separates are not going to be a consideration for this user; he's firmly in receiver territory. At that price, with cables, he'll be able to do a Dayton home theater set and receiver combo, HTIB, or receiver/speaker set, though I'm not sure about whether he has access to Dayton in Canada.Since he has limited experience, it's probably not a great idea to have him assembling the speakers in addition to wiring the receiver to his components. I know Energy is Canada-based, so that might be an option. I think Athena, Mirage, and Paradigm are up there, too, but probably out of budget. If you know any more Canadian-based manufacturers that might have a factory outlet or something, I'm all ears. I got relatives up there. ;)

Happy gaming,

Boz

i see so I guess you need one of those receivers

blaznwiipspman1

I had the same problem. What I did was go to my computer and open up system tools (or something like that) and go to the Sound options. My computer had its sound default set to my computer monitor but it recognized my HDTV as an option. When I switched the default to the HDTV it worked perfectly. Good luck. I'm at work now but if you need more details let me know and I'll go through the exact steps later while looking at my home pc.YellowOneKinobi

Good luck!

Boz

This is helpful; some follow-up questions:

• You mentioned movies and home theater, so I had assumed a surround sound setup, but the "PC speakers" made me assume a PC was involved. It does not appear that you are hooking your home theater up to a PC (or are you?). You mentioned this is to hook up to your HDTV. To what are you planning on adding speakers? In other words, if you're not using a PC as your source, what do you plan on using as a source for media (meaning DVD player, Cable Box, CD Player, Record Player, etc.)? How many things do you want to play through these speakers?

Odds are you will need a receiver. I know you are not interested, but you have to process and amplify the signal somehow; you cannot get surround sound or even basic stereo music without some sort of processing and amplification.

Even with a receiver you should have quite a few options available.

Boz

Can someone answer my question?D=

mitu123

Here are some things that we need to know to get you the best home theater for your money. You should be able to get a decent setup for $500.

• What are you using the speakers for? Are you only playing games, or are you watching movies and listening to music? Just music?
• Are you always sitting in front of your PC when you are using your speakers, or are you sitting back on a couch or something to watch movies, conduct voice chat, etc.?
• If you are not sitting at your desk all the time, how far away do you sit, and how large is the room? What shape is the room?
• Is size a concern? Meaning, how big are you comfortable with the speakers being? Speakers need a certain amount of cabinet volume to sound great, and tower speakers can take up a lot of room. Do you need micro speakers? Or will bookshelf speakers suffice?
• How important to you is the appearance of the speakers?
• Would you prefer to build it yourself (meaning are you handy, or prefer to have it all just work when it arrives)?
• Where are you? Meaning, in what currency will you be purchasing speakers, and if you are in the domestic US, what is the closest major city?

Answer the above in as much detail as possible, and I should be able to make a pretty accurate recommendation in your price range. Buy a quality setup, and you'll be able to use it for decades (I still use the surround setup I bought over 15 years ago).

Good luck!

Boz