I've read good things about the pioneers as well, especially for the price.
What sub are you looking at?
What sub are you looking at?
Piecing together a speaker system
- Thread starter Sean_sl
- Start date
I have an Onkyo sub that came with my set that I probably won't replace for quite a while, but if/when I do it'll be with the Pioneer sub that matches the speaker set.
So, took a 150 mile round trip to Fry's today with my dad. It was the first time I'd ever been a Fry's. Like, holy fucking shit, that place is MAGICAL. Nerd loot as far as the eye can see.
I asked about the Floorstanding Pioneers and the guy went back to check and said they didn't have any, was pretty bummed. Then I had him go check on the Pioneer Bookshelf speakers and he came back with a pair of the Floorstanding ones and the Bookshelf pair, he had missed the last pair of Floorstanding Speakers being up on a shelf and the Bookshelf speakers were also the last set they had in stock. Got pretty lucky with my timing getting there, guess they sold pretty fast with the sale.
Ended up getting the 2 Flootstanding speakers for 77 each and the Bookhself pair for 77 for a total of $231. Saved about 200-225 bucks over current online prices, pretty awesome.
And man, I thought these speakers would look a lot bigger. They had like 3-4 speaker rooms and they looked freaking tiny compared to some of the other ones they had there. They're still fairly large for my room size now that I've got them hooked up, but they don't feel oppressively big like I thought they would.
Also I am now totally broke. >< Hopefully I can catch the Center on sale to complete the set in a month or two. This ended up costing a lot less than I thought it would due to Fry's sale though.
Also of note, those bookshelf speakers don't have anything on the back to anchor them with. Pretty sure they're also way the fuck too heavy to anchor. Going to hit up Lowe's with my dad tomorrow or sometime soon and see about building some corner stands for them since speaker stand prices fucking suck balls.
Holy, fucking, shit. Played my two favorite songs of the files that I have in flac (Euphoric Field and Diamond Crevasse) over these in just stereo mode so it's only use the two floorstanding speakers.
Blown thefuckaway. There is an absurdly huge world of difference between these Pioneers and my shitty Onkyos.
Blown thefuckaway. There is an absurdly huge world of difference between these Pioneers and my shitty Onkyos.
Grats!!! Now go watch some movies and play some games! Good audio makes everything so much better!
Pictures since someone asked.
Also thinking about moving the subwoofer that's on the left over to where the two bookshelf speakers are currently sitting on the floor (won't be hooked up till I build a stand for them to put in the corners behind the couch).
Also thinking about moving the subwoofer that's on the left over to where the two bookshelf speakers are currently sitting on the floor (won't be hooked up till I build a stand for them to put in the corners behind the couch).
Hey Sean,
Glad you like them. The center channels rarely go on sale, I am guessing you will have to pay full price for one. As for subs you don't ever have to match subs. All you need is a competent driver with enough watts to dig deep. The sound quality of a well engineered sub is always room dependent.
I could write in 2 pages how to setup speakers, but to setup a sub would require a book, no joke.
For your budget the best deal that goes on from time to time are these klipsch subshttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882780078
They are usually $1000.00 but go on sale to 300.00 5-6 times per year.
My personal favorite "affordable" subwoofer is the SB-1000 from SVS.https://www.svsound.com/subwoofers/sealed-box/sb-1000
This is quite a bit more expensive than the klipsch but worth it imo. Generally with subs I recommend buying 4 of them for room placement though 2 can be quite acceptable.
A placement idea.
This might save you some money. Since the center channel will probably not go on sale any time soon. If you were to buy a wall mount for the tv and mount it so the bottom is as high as the tower speakers you could purchase another pioneer tower for your center channel. You could then tilt the tv down if its too high. just an idea.
Glad you like them. The center channels rarely go on sale, I am guessing you will have to pay full price for one. As for subs you don't ever have to match subs. All you need is a competent driver with enough watts to dig deep. The sound quality of a well engineered sub is always room dependent.
I could write in 2 pages how to setup speakers, but to setup a sub would require a book, no joke.
For your budget the best deal that goes on from time to time are these klipsch subshttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882780078
They are usually $1000.00 but go on sale to 300.00 5-6 times per year.
My personal favorite "affordable" subwoofer is the SB-1000 from SVS.https://www.svsound.com/subwoofers/sealed-box/sb-1000
This is quite a bit more expensive than the klipsch but worth it imo. Generally with subs I recommend buying 4 of them for room placement though 2 can be quite acceptable.
A placement idea.
This might save you some money. Since the center channel will probably not go on sale any time soon. If you were to buy a wall mount for the tv and mount it so the bottom is as high as the tower speakers you could purchase another pioneer tower for your center channel. You could then tilt the tv down if its too high. just an idea.
Wall mounting the TV here is impossible (that wall behind it is not able to hold anything at all) and impractical. There's just no way that I can do the 3x tower speaker thing. Also it would look absolutely terrible.
I'm just going to keep the Onkyo sub, it's more than adequate. I can't really do much with a subwoofer in an apartment like this anyways. Ended up talking it out in IRC and decided to place it on the side of my couch so it's out of the way and hidden a bit, I need to buy a longer RCA cable to connect it there is all.
I guess the Center not going on sale won't be a huge deal, I'll try to pick it up next month. That'll mean my total for the 5 speaker set will be about 330 (77x3 + 99) which is pretty awesome for how good these speakers are.
I'm just going to keep the Onkyo sub, it's more than adequate. I can't really do much with a subwoofer in an apartment like this anyways. Ended up talking it out in IRC and decided to place it on the side of my couch so it's out of the way and hidden a bit, I need to buy a longer RCA cable to connect it there is all.
I guess the Center not going on sale won't be a huge deal, I'll try to pick it up next month. That'll mean my total for the 5 speaker set will be about 330 (77x3 + 99) which is pretty awesome for how good these speakers are.
Btw, the Center speaker does go on sale:http://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?...=0&firstonly=1
It's been as low as $59.99 at Fry's (sadly it wasn't on sale anymore when I was there or I'd have picked it up instead of the bookshelves probably since it's more important) and it's currently $67.99 at Tigerdirect. Hopefully it's still that low at Tigerdirect next month, if it is I'll have BB pricematch it so I can get free shipping.
That'd be a total of $298 or $330, if I get it at the $99 it's regularly at, spent on an amazing set of speakers (HOLY SHIT EXPENSIVE RIGHT GUYS). Major thanks again to forin for the suggestion and I'm glad I got lucky with the Fry's sale and had some money still saved up, was some seriously amazing timing there. These things will probably literally last me for the rest of my life, they are crystal clear in quality and I'll likely never live in a place where I need larger ones. Between this and the TV that I saved up for11 monthsfor, which will probably last me a good 10 years, I won't I likely won't need any major home theater stuff for a lonnnnnnng time.
Heh, this has seriously brightened my days up and I really needed it with my health getting worse and worse.
It's been as low as $59.99 at Fry's (sadly it wasn't on sale anymore when I was there or I'd have picked it up instead of the bookshelves probably since it's more important) and it's currently $67.99 at Tigerdirect. Hopefully it's still that low at Tigerdirect next month, if it is I'll have BB pricematch it so I can get free shipping.
That'd be a total of $298 or $330, if I get it at the $99 it's regularly at, spent on an amazing set of speakers (HOLY SHIT EXPENSIVE RIGHT GUYS). Major thanks again to forin for the suggestion and I'm glad I got lucky with the Fry's sale and had some money still saved up, was some seriously amazing timing there. These things will probably literally last me for the rest of my life, they are crystal clear in quality and I'll likely never live in a place where I need larger ones. Between this and the TV that I saved up for11 monthsfor, which will probably last me a good 10 years, I won't I likely won't need any major home theater stuff for a lonnnnnnng time.
Heh, this has seriously brightened my days up and I really needed it with my health getting worse and worse.
Finally ordered the Center Speaker. Got it for $82.42 (67.99 + 14.43 shipping) from Tigerdirect, which is about 22 dollars cheaper than Amazon (96.99 + tax).
That brings the total to $313.42. Pretty awesome price for all 5 speakers of that quality.
That brings the total to $313.42. Pretty awesome price for all 5 speakers of that quality.
I finally got to hear those Andrew Jones designed pioneers. They sound damn good for the price. I don't think you can match these floor standers for under 500 bucks.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 37,961
- 14,508
Guys wondering if you could help me with something. I've never setup home audio before, so a bit of a noob.
My dad got a new wireless setup, so he gave me his entire old setup (2 front, 2 rear, 1 center, 1 sub, 1 receiver) for free. The speakers are all Polk Audios, not sure on the model - is this a decent brand? The receiver is a slightly older Sony, which again I don't know the model. Everything I have (ps3, comcast,) except for our Wii is connected to our TV via HDMI for both audio and video. This receiver is old enough that it doesn't have HDMI support (just red/white I think? two cables for each unit). I've decided that this beast won't handle any video (except the wii, maybe) and just be for the audio exclusively.
My first question, is this possible to hook up so that HDMI out goes to the TV for all video, and connect the colored audio cables to the receiver so that the sound will go through the system? I guess I'm not sure if the PS3 or dvr-box disable the other ports when running an HDMI cable. I assume it's possible as on some laptops the HD connection only carries video and audio has to be sourced elsewhere. But again I'm a total noob.
Secondly, is this a decent starter system? I think the speakers are good, but I'm a little concerned with the receiver. If I wanted to buy a decent low-end one, would you suggest the Onkyo?
My dad got a new wireless setup, so he gave me his entire old setup (2 front, 2 rear, 1 center, 1 sub, 1 receiver) for free. The speakers are all Polk Audios, not sure on the model - is this a decent brand? The receiver is a slightly older Sony, which again I don't know the model. Everything I have (ps3, comcast,) except for our Wii is connected to our TV via HDMI for both audio and video. This receiver is old enough that it doesn't have HDMI support (just red/white I think? two cables for each unit). I've decided that this beast won't handle any video (except the wii, maybe) and just be for the audio exclusively.
My first question, is this possible to hook up so that HDMI out goes to the TV for all video, and connect the colored audio cables to the receiver so that the sound will go through the system? I guess I'm not sure if the PS3 or dvr-box disable the other ports when running an HDMI cable. I assume it's possible as on some laptops the HD connection only carries video and audio has to be sourced elsewhere. But again I'm a total noob.
Secondly, is this a decent starter system? I think the speakers are good, but I'm a little concerned with the receiver. If I wanted to buy a decent low-end one, would you suggest the Onkyo?
Polk is a good brand, but that old receiver is pretty much worthless for a modern setup. About the only thing you could do is maybe run an Optical/RCA cable to it from the TV for audio, if it has an Optical/RCA port.
Onkyo receivers are pretty good and easy to use, someone else might have a better suggestion though. It'd be best to know exactly what the speakers are so you can find a receiver that matches them well power output wise.
Onkyo receivers are pretty good and easy to use, someone else might have a better suggestion though. It'd be best to know exactly what the speakers are so you can find a receiver that matches them well power output wise.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 37,961
- 14,508
It had optical and RCA, just no Hdmi. Are you saying I could go right from the tv to the receiver and it would take all audio? Haven't had much time to look at it completely.
If your TV has an audio out, yeah (they usually do). You'll only be able to do some very basic audio formats though: 2 Channel PCM, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1. No HD audio or mutli-channel PCM.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 37,961
- 14,508
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
- 37,961
- 14,508
Upon further investigation I can run optical for audio from the ps3 and disable Hdmi audio in the menu.
Edit: didn't want to triple post. Had some fiber optics audio (I think?) cables just lying around at my brother's house (IE. they were his). I was able to connect both the PS3 and the Comcast HD Box's audio to the system and it's working.. and it sounds fucking glorious. Obviously it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of newer stuff, but I'll take it for now. I'm debating if I even want to connect the Wii to this thing.. feels like more effort than not.
Going to upgrade soon for sure, I know this receiver is pretty shitty.
Edit: didn't want to triple post. Had some fiber optics audio (I think?) cables just lying around at my brother's house (IE. they were his). I was able to connect both the PS3 and the Comcast HD Box's audio to the system and it's working.. and it sounds fucking glorious. Obviously it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of newer stuff, but I'll take it for now. I'm debating if I even want to connect the Wii to this thing.. feels like more effort than not.
Going to upgrade soon for sure, I know this receiver is pretty shitty.
Btw, the Pioneer SP-C22 is now on sale at Amazon for $79.99 if anyone is looking into this set. The Bookshelf pair is also on sale for $99.99, which isn't as good as the $77 sale Fry's had, but they're usually around $125.
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-FS5...ioneer+sp-sf52
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-FS5...ioneer+sp-sf52
My Favorite budget HT receivers are Yamaha, they sound good, have competitive features and are priced right. Denon/Onkyo/Pioneer are all pretty similar in price/features as well, you really cant go wrong with any of them in the $300-$600 range. Once you get over that price range you may start looking at some different brands, but honestly unless you have a few grand or more into your speakers and subs there is no need to spend any more than that.
edit:
Polk's aren't bad at all, some are pretty good to great even. General rule though, older Polk >>>>>>>>> new Polk.
Check the model number on the back of the speakers, if the receiver didn't have HDMI and they were purchased around the same time you could have a pretty damn nice set of speakers.
http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V575...amaha+rx+v+675
A receiver like this (or Denon/Onkyo/Pioneer) in this price range will do anything you need to for a conventional HT setting. A common beginner mistake is to spend way too much on electronics and not enough on speakers. The speakers account for the vast majority of your sound quality. You could have the exact same speakers hooked up to the above receiver, or a $100,000 McIntosh setup and very few people could tell the difference.
Set your budget, spend 25% on electronics and the rest on speakers. Ive got about 3 grand into speakers with an older model of the above receiver. And for HT, a good sub(subs) is going to give you the most "fun".
edit:
Polk's aren't bad at all, some are pretty good to great even. General rule though, older Polk >>>>>>>>> new Polk.
Check the model number on the back of the speakers, if the receiver didn't have HDMI and they were purchased around the same time you could have a pretty damn nice set of speakers.
http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V575...amaha+rx+v+675
A receiver like this (or Denon/Onkyo/Pioneer) in this price range will do anything you need to for a conventional HT setting. A common beginner mistake is to spend way too much on electronics and not enough on speakers. The speakers account for the vast majority of your sound quality. You could have the exact same speakers hooked up to the above receiver, or a $100,000 McIntosh setup and very few people could tell the difference.
Set your budget, spend 25% on electronics and the rest on speakers. Ive got about 3 grand into speakers with an older model of the above receiver. And for HT, a good sub(subs) is going to give you the most "fun".