Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Please allow me to introduce myself...

Thanks ST. Now how about my question about the receiver??? Is it a bad one? A bad price?

If CalProg sells out I'll have a GOOD budget. Ifnot.... I'll be buying it one piece at a time.

I know it's a bit more money, but I'd agree that you really look into some Denon gear from Ecost.

The AVR 1804 receiver and DVD-2200 look like a darn good deal to me. That will give you full 5.1 surround for both movies AND music. The DVD-2200 plays CD's, DVD's, SACD's, as well as DVD-A's.

Speakers for a room that size...assuming you want some Axioms:

M60ti or M50ti for your main channels
VP150 for your center channel
and QS8 surrounds.

And of course a Hsu subwoofer. Probably the STF-2 would suit your needs very well.

With this setup you'll have full 5.1 surround for your DVD's, excellent 2 channel audio for your standard 2 channel sources, and 5.1 surround for any SACD or DVD-A titles you pick up. (Such as Pink Floyd's DSOTM, and Elton John's Goodbye Yellowbrick Road)

It's not a small amount of money, but much like your last system lasted you many, many years - this one would too.

Consider it an investment in your entertainment for the next 10 years.

fyi...just so you know we're not totally Axiom biased, you should also try and listen to some Ascend Acoustics, B&W 700 series, Energy Veritas, Thiel, and Definitive Technology speakers. Those are just a few other brands that I've heard and enjoyed. (Be warned though, most of them don't have the buyer friendly prices that Axiom has though!)

It makes me think of Sympathy for the Devil.

OK, detail wise. What kind of speakers, what kind of receivers?

Oh yeah, welcome to the boards and stuff!

papajim-

i would stay away from the 'mainstream, cookie cutter' type amps and receivers. they are just of a poor quality and wont last or have the functions/ability that a higher end receiver can give you. i would stay away from your basic kenwood, pioneer, sony units. NOW, with that said, sony and pioneer do have a higher grade series of equip that is as good as the other stuff that we have suggested.. the pioneer elite series is good, and the sony ES series is good also.. but those are their much higer priced units than the one you were looking at.

good brands you need to probably go with are.. denon, onkyo, harmon kardon(HK), yamaha and for amps nad, outlaw, and rotel. you wont find a better band for buck value than with those names.

bigjohn

There's nothing wrong with a "low-end" Sony or Pioneer amp. My dad had his Sony 2 Channel reciever for ten years before it burned out on him(in the reciever's defense, my dad was playing 4 Bose speakers simultaneously on the A+B configuration the entire 10 years). My Sony 5 channel amp I've had for two years and it has shown no signs of letting up (although I plan to upgrade it WAY before it would need replacing). Will the Denon's and HK's provide a little more power and features? Yes, but a simple Sony or Pioneer will play 5.1 in both DD or DTS modes. And thats all you really need. Now I along with everyone else would recommend investing a little more in the reciever, but don't let everyone else "muscle" you into buying something you don't want to.

My Dad's PSB's sound just as good playing through my Sony STR DE 595 as they do through his Denon 1604.

I also am new here but have been into HT for some time after much research on speakers I decided to give AXIOM spkrs(M60's&vp150) a try.Was looking for high end sound for entry level money.Was prepared to send back if not satisfied.Well these speakers are amazing to say the least hearing things I never heard before in both HT & stereo.If you want more reviews by users of these speakers go to audioreview.com.Believe the hype.
al

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I feel like Data when he would interface with an unknown computer.

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Man what a geek! A man after my own heart! My own geek credentials include seeing the midnight show opening day of all 3 LOTR movies, wearing a black trench coat and sunglasses to the opening of "Matrix Reloaded", listening to Pink Floyd and Mike Oldfield almost daily, having seen just about every episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", still listening to prog rock (Porcupine Tree, anybody), being able to recite all the dialogue by heart whenever watching any of the original Star Wars trilogy, and having a geek wife (who owns every episode of "The Highlander available on DVD), and 2 geek kids (my daughter went with me to see the new Harry Potter movie yesterday, and the first words out of her mouth after the credits rolled were "When can we see it again").

That said, you will find a wonderful world of information here and elsewhere that will allow you to put together a sound system that will deliver movies and music more beautifully than you can presently imagine.

I do have a couple of suggestions.

1. Make sure you get a DVD player that can play SACD's and DVD-Audio. The currently available recordings of "Dark Side of the Moon", "Tubular Bells 2003", and "In Absentia" alone make this a must.

2. Get the best speakers you can. Speakers are going to be the most expensive component in your system, and also have the most influence on your sound quality. The difference in sound quality between competing receivers is nonexistent to negligible, The difference between speakers can be great. You can do a lot worse than Axiom for speakers, and you'd be hard pressed to do better for anything less that twice the price.

3. Get a receiver that has the features you want at a price you can afford. All mid to high range receivers should be fairly transparent soundwise. The idea that certain components blend better with certain speakers is unsupported by any objective evidence.

4. Don't buy into the expensive wire idea. Buy decent quality interconnects and Home Depot speaker wire, and use your savings to get better speakers.

5. As soon as everything is set up, toss the SACD of "Dark Side of the Moon" in your universal player and prepare for a profound spiritual experience.

Mark

That Pioneer you saw at Best BUy (it appears similar to the one I have in the gameroom, but newer) is very basic. If you had any intention of putting together a home theater that sounds awesome, it probably won't do it.
It doesn't allow you to adjust the volume level of each channel, I don't think it has any bass management, and it is not the most powerful receiver around. Reason number one is enough to dismiss it. Look at some of the refurbed units of higher quality if you're serious (but cheap ).

(warning, my links require adobe acrobat reader)

Actually, the more expensive Denons are a _lot_ better. The lower Yamaha models and the lower denon models http://www.homecinemachoice.com/frame.html?http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=3691

Most of them only do 35-40 watts per channel, and if you're going to pay a lot(since you're beginning this hobby after a long time, I assume you'd expect good performance from electronics with $400 price tags on them), you're going to want something a bit more powerful. Going for a refurbished higher end unit, such as the denon at ecost yeilds MUCH better results. Try and find a cheap Harman Kardon AVR 330, Denon 2803 or 3803. If you want to go for a lower price, try to find a cheap Panasonic digital amped receiver. They go 80 watts with all channels running no problem, which is an insane value for their low price - and it doesn't even horrible(if this isn't reassuring, I just don't know what would be. )