Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Question about HT set up

Heath, I don't think you will be dissapointed in any of the Axiom products you choose. What's just as important is that you stay within the budget you feel most comfortable with, to me that always makes the music sound better

Here's what I got everything for including shipping:

M22's, VP100, QS4's: $1026
HSU STF-2: 412.50
Yamaha RX-V557(from etronics.com): $301.43
Cables from BlueJeansCable: $75

Total: $1814.93

I also bought a Radio Shack SPL meter and an Avia Home Theater Test DVD to calibrate.

You may also want to consider the SVS PB10, a noteworthy competetor to the HSU STF-2 for almost the same price.

My dorm room is 21x9x8. My bedroom at home is 11x11x8. Sound is more than sufficient in each category.

In reply to:

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If that sub comes with a light that slowly pulses deep inside the port, I'll take one.

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It does look like a dwarf Cylon...

WhatFurrer

what is the difference between the yamaha lines?

For instance the yamaha you mentioned and the HTR-5850?

also, for my size room and those speakers, what would be ideal watts per channel?

Heath,
lots of great advice from the regulars on the board here. I'd certainly lean towards what JohnK suggested off the top - consider forgetting about the center channel and go "phantom". The main reason for having a center channel is not improved sound, but that it anchors the sound to the viewing screen. In other words, if you don't have a center channel, and move to say the left side of the room, the voices will appear to be coming from the left speaker - not the tv screen as was intended. However, if you sit at or near the center of the screen without a center channel, the voices will be well anchored in the middle of the screen. That would save you $240 for the VP100 or $385 for the VP150. At the very least it would be worth trying it like this for the first while and if you feel you are missing something down the road, hopefully you'll have the cash to add a center.

The other suggestion i'd make is that you may want to look at the Pioneer receivers a little more closely. The Pioneer VSX-1015TX. Lots of power and features and you should be able to find it just a bit cheaper than similar Yamaha receivers (at least it seems to be here in Canada was $500 Cdn on Boxing Day). Hopefully that will save you antother couple of bucks or so.

Plus make sure to look for you speakers in the Factory Outlet section on the website. That will get you a 10% discount. That is $84 savings on a pair of M22s and QS4s. Speakers would come to $756 + receiver should put you just over the $1000 mark. Leaves you some room to do some sub shopping.

Good luck!

I have read good things about the Pioneer VSX 815 also.

The only difference between the HTR and RX-V lines of Yamaha is the front panel. That's it. The insides are exactly the same.

The RX-V is viewed as the more high quality line, and the HTR line is more easily found in stores, but the quality is exactly the same.

I agree with Sid, the Pioneer 1015 is really well worth the few additional dollars over the 915. It is almost identical to their Elite 52TX receiver and has Mosfet amplifiers unlike the 915 and lower models. Possibly the best value to $$$ ratio in receivers right now.

I am leaning toward the Pioneer 1015 and SVS PB10, assuming I have enough money.

Do these things ever go on sale?

What websites do people use to look for good deals?

The PB 10 can be bought from B stock on ocassion, it a first come type basis.