Hello everyone! I will start off with some general information about my room, budget, and listening preferences... then get into the specifics of my questions. I am starting with an empty room (see floor plan below) and a ~$4k budget for a Receiver and 5.1 speaker system. I am also thinking of ~$350 towards a nice DVD player (non-HD/BluRay) for my CD/DVD listening/viewing. I would like to put about $2k into a 50-55” TV (I have a good idea of what I’m going to be doing in this area, but just thought I’d throw it out incase people have comments). This budget doesn’t include extras like cables, etc. so don’t worry about leaving room for those in the ~$4k. If you have recommendations for the extras feel free to go into that stuff too!
My Room:
My viewing room is approximately 9’ wide, 14’ deep, and 18’ tall. This is only one part of a larger room that is about 14’ by 33’ by 18’. The 14’ long wall (right side of viewing area) includes a large 18’ tall window, but it will be covered with fabric window treatments (reducing light and hopefully helping the sound a little). To the right side of the TV area is also a standard size (~36” wide, ~7’ tall) glass-in-frame door. Above the TV location in another window ~48” wide and ~9’ tall). To the left side of the viewing area there is a large metal spiral staircase. Lastly, the staircase leads to a loft that is ~11’ x 11’ x 9’ (adding to the volume of the room where the viewing area will be). The ceiling is flat (all right angles to the walls) and continuous through the whole room/loft).
Music/Movie Preferences:
Because this has an impact on this I’ll go into it briefly. I like rock/metal music mostly (I describe it as anything rock up until people start just screaming). I also listen to quite a bit of electronic/techno type of things as well. I can appreciate some classical music, jazz, instrumentals, etc. too. Basically, I’ll listen to anything but rap or country. For movies, I like action flicks and sci-fi sort of things (explosions are good). My demo music has been “Battery” by Metallica (it has a nice guitar instrumental intro that transitions into a hard, very quick, session of rock) and The Matrix (the lobby shootout scene has some great surround as well as fine details).
Receiver:
I’m looking at getting the Denon AVR-2807 ($1099) to power the system. I like many of the features available in this receiver (I can go into this more if people like), but if people have comments or other receivers to look into at this price range please feel free to comment.
DVD Player:
So far I’m looking towards the Denon DVD-757 for the ability to play burned media, as well as the 1080p scaling. Again, please feel free to comment or to suggest other players in this price range.
5.1 Speaker System:
Ok, to the heart of it (and if you’ve sat through all the previous commentary, thank you). I would like a system that can handle both my music and movie needs. I don’t mind large speakers/sub, so there isn’t a need for small sizes to hide away. I would like to get a package that allows for a great sense of environment/surround (you know that feeling when you want to look behind you to see the thing you just heard wiz by your ear), as well as great stereo/music performance.
Axiom Epic 80/350 ($2808)
M80 Towers
VP150 Center
QS8 Surrounds
EP350 Subwoofer
Likes: ???
Dislikes: ???
Klipsch RF-62 ($2644)
RF-62 Towers
RC-62 Center
RS-52 Surround
RW-12d Subwoofer
Likes: Great detail in the highs. Nice surround action.
Dislikes: Sub was slightly overpowering and obvious in the room (I could tell where the sub was by ear).
Definitive Technology ($2447)
BP7004 Towers
CLR2002 Center
BP1X Surrounds
Likes: Two subs (in front towers) eliminated the directionality of the bass in the room
Dislikes: Highs not as well defined as the Klipsch system.
So this leads me to my main questions:
With the described room and budget, what 5.1 Speaker System would you get and why? Do you feel that the Axiom system I describe will be able to meet me needs? Is there something different I should do within the budget (like getting M60s and a EP500 – or pair of EP350 – rather than getting the M80s)? Are there other brands/systems that I should be looking into? Any other things I should be concerned about?
Thank you all for any information, it is much appreciated. I'm surely going to need to listen to an Axiom system before buying (and I'll talk a look at the thread for people in my area), but all information is helpful!
-Todd...
