The Q800C is 5.1.2, no idea where you're getting 11 speakers from. The reason I recommended it is because it produces great sound with a monster of a subwoofer and can be bought for like $380, not because any of its surround sound features. That said, the surround/ATMOS tuning on modern soundbars is, at the very least, better than nothing, and if you have a room with the right acoustics it can sound great. You also have the option of adding 2 satellites to the system.
Home Theater/Game Room Thread
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Ossoi
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Burns
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Don't know what your parameters are, but if I was going to be moving and upgrading in a year, I would rather spend my money on the beginning of a better system. If you're renting for the foreseeable future, then it's a bit harder to do a 7.1.4 (full atmos) system and may not be worth paying for a receiver that can do that. Unless that's the ultimate goal and you don't want to buy another receiver for 15+ years or more.
Regardless, for a standard future surround sound set up that you might buy, the receiver is the single most expensive item. I don't think tech develops fast enough in the home theater industry where waiting a year will get you any substantial difference in performance.
As for Soundbars, they rely on reflecting sounds, which may be good for a perfectly square room with a door that can shut, but for everything else, I get the impression they are mediocre. Similarly, for Atmos speakers, I've read that the ones the reflect sound off the celling are also rather mediocre, even when compared with moderately priced in ceiling speakers like ones from Monoprices (I think those are the the ones that got high ratings for the price, but not 100% sure).
If you have an area to work and are even slightly able, you can get better sounding speakers for the money spent by building your own speakers. Depending on what you buy, all you need to be able to do is solder some parts and paint/finish wood. I built a pair of bookshelf speakers fairly easily and I had only used a soldering iron a couple times previous to that.
As has been said before, it is recommended that you match the drivers (speakers) of the center channel and front left/right. Parts Express has a decent selection of speaker kits with CNC cut MDF, where all you need to do it glue it together and finish it. Dunno much about the Parts Express kits, so you would need to look them up individually to see what people think. Parts Express also has a pretty good forum talking about DIY speaker builds. There are a few other places/forums around the net that people post builds too as well.
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Not sure I want to invest in nerding out with building a kit lol but I'll drfinitely look into a receiver, sub, and two front facing speakers for now. I probably need to find a home entertainment specialty store if Best buy isn't a good option.
Burns
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I'm a bit biased against Best Buy because they went through a period of selling absolute shit audio for the price they were asking. In some cases the manufacturer would get a contract with Best Buy and they would start maximizing profits by steeply cutting quality. It eventually caught up with them and I think a new CEO came in, around 2008, to course correct with price matching and wider selection through their website.
If you are buying something off the shelf, I know most of the audio reviewers say that you should listen to the speakers yourself, since different people hear differently, even if it means paying more to a shop that will go that extra mile to set up proper listening rooms.
That said, for rear surround and ATMOS celling speakers, I just read around reddit and a couple other audio forums to try to get a consensus around what I wanted to spend. Then looked for the cheapest prices online. Some online shops may have return policies that let you try a speaker for x amount of time, but don't know how that works with the break in period of new speakers.
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Thank you, I'm glad I have options outside of a sound bar. I really miss watching TV with surround sound, just never kept up to date with the industry after college and thought the bars were the next big thing.
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Here are three options from Best Buy:
Non-wireless & bluetooth?
Not wireless & no bluetooth?
This looks gay, no wireless or bluetooth.
Non-wireless & bluetooth?
Not wireless & no bluetooth?
This looks gay, no wireless or bluetooth.
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Ossoi
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Obviously you're in the US so this doesn't apply but it shows what's possible by buying all the components together.
You get a Denon AVR that can do 5 speakers with 2 atmos speakers. The only thing you would have to add would be the ceiling speakers for atmos. And obviously it's a budget subwoofer.
Generally people suggest buying a subwoofer from a premium sub brand like REL, SVS, Arendal etc rather than buying one from a speaker manufacturer that also does subs. I bought a used Arendal and tbh I can live without it.
The other point to consider is whether you'll be using it for gaming and therefore need the latest HDMI gaming features
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I'd like:
- Bluetooth
- Wireless speakers and sub
- To be able to plug my switch and xbox into it, but for now I just route sound through my TV and then from my TV into my soundbar
Ossoi
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If you go the AVR route then you're gonna need to use wired speakers.
I would consider going with a Denon 1800 avr and seeing what audiophile level speakers are available on FB marketplace in your area from the likes of Kef, Monitor Audio, Klipsch, Bowers & Wilkins etc. Starting off with fronts and centre from the same brand and model line
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Was talking to my buddy who's an audiophile, he said without atmos speakers, I'd be a pitiful example of man.
Stakes are high in the audio world lol.
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Burns
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Never looked into wireless systems/speakers. I vaguely recall reading something about bluetooth software processing sound poorly, as it relates to a gaming PC set up. It also somewhat defeats the purpose of a good receiver, since part of the cost is the built in amplifier.
There might be systems out there where you save money on the receiver part, by offloading powering the speaker to amplifiers built into the speakers. Although, the good receivers I've seen all come with an auto speaker set up, where you use a mic they give you to set delay to the primary seating location. I would be a bit surprised if a cheap wireless system would have such an option, and the wireless has more of a delay.
As for research places:
RTings.com seems to have good methodology for the PC products I have looked up, so for the speakers, my might be a good place to check out. I had THIS speaker review bookmarked after it was linked on one of the audio forums, so you may be able glen some info on other stuff, if you want to poke around the rest of their reviews. Otherwise it's the ol Google/Bing, like I found THIS on reddit for searching "YHT-4950UBL site:www.reddit.com" on the first item from Best Buy you linked above.
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Burns
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From what I remember when researching the stuff years ago, people were rating 4 ATMOS speakers more important to the home theater set up than a subwoofer. Mainly due to the fact that a good center with good front R/L can cover a decent section of the base needs. In other words 5.0.4 > 5.1.0, as long as the media is broadcasting in ATMOS.
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It's worth pointing out that most "audiophiles" fall into the hyper neurotic side of the mental illness spectrum. A lot of these people are chasing imaginary gains with gear upgrades and feel the need to constantly push their bullshit on others as a way to validate their obsession. I'd take what these people say with a grain of salt.
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I've seen his system (that he updates on a 3-4 year basis), I definitely hear you there lol. I don't jerk off in front of my TV enough to justify deep diving into the world they live in. I'm sure even a basic 5.1 set up would be enough for TV/Music/Console Gaming.
Ossoi
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lmao
Masakari
I was actually coming back to the thread to point out that until a few years ago most of my components were purchased second hand - even my AVR today - a Denon 6500 (2018) was purchased used. The only new parts of my system are the front Monitor Audio speakers that I luckily won at half RRP in a no reserve ebay auction lol, the matching centre and then a separate stereo amp to power the fronts for music.
Until 2022 I was using a mid-range Denon 3200 AVR and second hand Kef Q3 (released 2002!) as the fronts.
The point is - you can get a decent AVR and then build/upgrade around it in years to come whether that's with higher/lower end new purchases or second hand purchases.
What would someone with 27 posts know about me?
I am not hyper neurotic
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I wasn't specifically referring to you, but since you asked, you are a textbook example of hyper neuroticism:
Ossoi
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BrutulTM
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I tend to agree that so-called "serious audiophiles" are either nut jobs or people with more money than they know what to do with and shouldn't be taken too seriously. On the other hand, when they play the THX sound effect at the beginning of a movie and the room shakes from your big assed stereo system it's very satisfying. I'm never sure where to draw the line. I'm up to an 85" TV with a 2nd tier 7.1 system and enough leather couch space for 9 people or so and I'm probably not going to stop here. My AVR doesn't 'do 4k though and I have no Atmos speakers so I guess I have not yet even achieved manhood.
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