Home Theater/Game Room Thread

slowstang_sl said:

Denon AVR-X5200W 9.2 Network A/V Receiver with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Dolby Atmos
Denon AVR-X5200W 9 Ch A - Newegg.com

If I got something like this could I avoid getting an amp altogether?

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I have used Denon for the last 10 years with 3 different AVRs. My current Denon AVR powers 5 figures worth of HT speakers and I really could not say I needed discrete amps to make them sound any better. You need fairly unreasonable listening volumes to really push the higher end Denon AVRs to the limits.

Also keep in mind, power amplification is logarithmic. I can't remember the exact formula, but you need a doubling of amplifier power for every 3db of gain. There's a pretty steep wall that rises quickly for amplifier power requirements for pretty diminishing returns. Here's a full explanation:

Double amplifier power does not double the volume - Geoff the Grey Geek

TLDR: Any high-end AVR amplification these days will be just fine. Make your decision based on other necessities (Audyssey, Atmos, etc)

Picked up my 83lb pound speakers and brought them up stairs and find out UPS damaged one of them.

FUUUUCK That sucks man

Meh, at least its on the back. You'll never see it

I'm going to be finishing my theater setup today. My room has such awkward dimensions it took forever to finally settle on a room setup.

The 7th Guest > Myst

Complete novice but I figured i'd ask before ordering a bunch of shit from monoprice.

I am finishing out my basement and have total flexibility on running wires and how to do speakers etc. I was thinking i'd get the $40/ea in-wall monoprices for center/front and in ceiling for rear for a 5.1 setup because i've never been to discerning on sound. However i'm wondering if they'll completely suck because there's no insulation behind them and if i'd get a better value wall mounting some decent speakers, or if there are quality inwalls. It'd be cool to have some with some style but I think anything over a few hundred bucks a speaker is completely lost on me and mine (if that much).

Also, how important is sub and its placement, I think I could wire it up to be under a coffee table but it's going to be tough to have it near TV.

Picasso_sl said:

I am finishing out my basement and have total flexibility on running wires and how to do speakers etc. I was thinking i'd get the $40/ea in-wall monoprices for center/front and in ceiling for rear for a 5.1 setup because i've never been to discerning on sound.

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A lot depends on your choice of amp. In-ceiling speakers for the rear channels probably aren't optimal, the ceiling speakers would be better used as part of a 5.1.2 Dolby atmos set up, you would just need a dolby atmos type amp. Dolby atmos being 2 extra height channels in a 5.1 set up so that the sound comes from above you and not just from around you

Picasso_sl said:

Also, how important is sub and its placement, I think I could wire it up to be under a coffee table but it's going to be tough to have it near TV.

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Sub placement does not matter whatsoever, it's not directional sound at all. Just put it somewhere where it won't touch something that will rattle or vibrate and annoy you.

I just have mine stuck back in a corner under an end table to the side of my couch. I don't like looking at them.

Finally got round to fitting my ceiling speakers for Dolby atmos.

So on that point my house is open concept so the living room, dining area, kitchen (and to some extent the sun room) are all open. Primarily the kitchen and the living room. The ceiling is cathedral so it's about I dunno, 20+'? at the peak.

Do you think there's any practical way to wire the whole area for sound? I would theoretically like eventually to add in-wall/ceiling stuff. Have the attic access but I'm worried from where a receiver might be you'd be looking at maybe 60-80 feet to the far side speakers. It's also an irregularly shaped area, not a theater, so I'm not sure if an oddly shaped area with cathedral ceilings will just murder quality anyway.

Case - Azza Hurrican 2000

CPU - AMD FX-4100 3.60 GHz Quad-Core AM3+ CPU 4MB L2 Cache & Turbo Core Technology

CPU Cooling - Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System

Memory - 16GB (4GBx4) DDR3

Motherboard - [CrossFireX] GigaByte GA-970A-D3 AMD 970 Socket AM3+ ATX Mainboard w/ On/Off Charge, 7.1 Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe X16, 3 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI

Power supply - 700 Watts - XtremeGear SLI/CrossFireX Ready Power Supply

Video - AMD Radeon HD 6750 1GB GDDR5 16X PCIe Video Card

Prob need some additional fans, maybe 6.

Barraco Bisi_sl said:

What's the lowest spec I could get away with on a HTPC? Just to run downloaded non-4k stuff, Kodi, Netflix, etc.

Something that runs Windows.

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Denamian_sl said:

A NUC should be able to do that just fine. There are cheaper options, but that would probably be the simplest.

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^ This ^

I love my NUC and use it exactly for what you describe. It's my HTPC that is used for Kodi 95% of the time.