Home Theater

"I still need to figure out how to get all my other components to work with it. IE, xbox, ps3, cable box...from what I can tell, I'd plug all those directly into the TV and then it pushes down to the bar?"

The soundbar does have a toslink optical IN, so if your TV has optical out, then your plan should work.

Also, the review implies that the soundbar has its own amplifier, which would be the next concern.

 

aw, no mantle...

 

we need to meet up and chat about it. shoot me an email

 

a theater you goof. I know things

 

bumping this back up for two reasons. I'm looking to get rid of all the wires, and my current receiver just crapped out about 10 minutes ago. I'm looking to replace everything, as my towers and mid (I'm currently running 3.1) are over a decade old now. I'd like to switch everything to wireless. Now that i've got the chromecast, I can run everything from my computer wirelessly, it's amazing.

anyway, i have no idea where to start looking. I found something like this, but this seems WAY too cheap. I was doing research on receivers alone and it seems like most are going for at least this much. My budget is in the $500-750, but I'd like to stay cheap as possible. Townhome community, so I can't exactly blast the system (though, we can play it very loud, it's only bass that makes it through). My current living room is setup around 25' x 40', with the TV along the 40' wall.

Anybody know much about this?

edit - or, is a sound bar the best current option?

 

If you are going the sound bar route then get this http://www.crutchfield.com/S-HcDzjFfcsD2/p_158HTCT260/Sony-HT-CT260.html?XVINQ=DST&XVVER=GGG

Its the best bang for the buck when it comes to sound bars. It has 232 reviews on bestbuy with a 4.7 out of 5 rating and 270 reviews on amazon with the same results. I'll be getting one this weekend for the bedroom and can report back on it if you haven't already got something.

Also, this is what I currently have for my living room and its plenty enough for right now. Can't turn it all the way up because I will piss everyone off (townhouse also). It has a piece that you put in the center of the room when you set it up and it measures the speaker distance and then adjusts the speaker output to maximize the sound. Pretty cool shit. Also, rocket fish makes an adapter that will turn your speakers into wireless speakers. I have a few friends that use it and will swear by it. I'll be testing that out this weekend also.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004U40598/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=20736830395&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3480366491201855133&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7fnz6t1cyq_b

 

In regards to the Denon setup, found this. There's an updated link in there where they're essentially saying ditch HTIB and go for a soundbar

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-home-theater-in-a-box-denon-dht-1312ba/

 

also, i need HDMI switching - i assume the only viable solution to this is still an AV receiver, correct?

 

I am pretty sure you are correct unless you want to buy some sort of external HDMI switch.

People are blowing out 2013 receivers right now.

I have both Onkyo and Pioneer receivers in my home and have used Denon and Yamaha in the past. For sound the Pioneer Elite receiver is the best I have used....plus it has airplay which is a very nice bonus if you have that fruit product in your house. The onkyo seems to have the best gui and setup features...plus it has onscreen display for volume which the pioneer does not for some strange reason.

I also have this speaker setup in my bedroom powered by an Onkyo receiver and it sounds pretty pheonominal for what it is. You can sometimes find the Martin Logan speakers cheaper during sales on frys and newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882981013

Wow, just saw this on Fry's site. Looks like a pretty great deal to me?

http://www.frys.com/product/7405885?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

 

A sound bar will never be as good as a true 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound setup. They emulate the effects of having a full system but will always come up short. Will they sound good? sure. But will you hear something behind you going from one side of the room to another and freak you out like in a 5.1 setup? No.

 

Looks like I'm going to pick this up as its a GREAT deal. My denon shit the bed and I haven't replaced it yet.

 

That is correct.

 

ditto. my denon just shit the bed last night, lol...right in the middle of GTA V. lame

 

damn, both fry's locations in georgia are already sold out...

 

For about $100 more than the price of a sound bar you can get a decent htib. You'll have a fuller sound and deeper bass. If you're only looking for something a little better than what the TV speakers provide then a sound bar is the way to go.

 

the number one goal is the elimination of wires. because i'm in a townhome, i can't really go through walls and such. my search into wireless speakers has come to an end...for some stupid reason, nobody has a decent set out there. most of the router / repeater options carry low amp outputs, and by the time you piece everything together, it would be cheaper to pay a professional to install all of the wires.

 

Do you want all of it to be wireless or is having just the back wireless an option?
If so then use this http://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketfish-universal-wireless-rear-speaker-kit-black/8275528.p?id=1171058476489&skuId=8275528

 

that's still not wireless, it's the router / receiver combo i was talking abotu earlier. You still have to run power cables, you still have to run individual speaker wires from those units to the speaker.

Why the hell don't they have a bookshelf speaker with all of this built in? I just want to be able to hang a speaker above an outlet (so I can drop the power chord straight down behind the sheetrock to the junction box) and have everything work. It's not that difficult, why is this technology so far behind?

 

Oh. gotcha. Ya, that still has a power cord and crap.

 

looks like a sound bar it is.

 

My guess is cost since you would have to use newer wireless technology to get the data transfer rate high enough for good sound. Why pay $500 for a pair of speakers when you can probably hire someone to run wires for you cheaper.

 

you would still think there would be an option. receivers are already incorporating wifi technology in them, the idea shouldn't be too much of a stretch. I get it that it would have a high cost since it's new to the market rofl: remember that time when we were some of the first going rotated? that was cheap...), but I'd be willing to look at any decent alternative right now - and there are NONE.

just a little surprised, that's all. I saw a sony combination w/ soundbar / sub that incorporated what looked like an external jack for a wireless card (which was provided) - why not have these for satellites?

 

But how are you going to power the speakers wirelessly? The receiver is also an amplifier that powers the speakers. So to do it wirelessly, you would need a built in amplifier in each wireless speaker. One of the main reasons why you purchased this awesome receiver is for its high quality amplifier. So you build a wireless speaker and put in this tiny little crap amplifier and it sounds like dong. There are plenty of wireless speakers out there that even run on battery power but they all sound like crap for this very reason. To build a true wireless speaker that sounds good would probably cost too much money and would have a very small demand.

 

I would position them over the wall outlets, so you could drop a power line down to the plug and tie in through a disconnect.

i'm probably just reaching, here, though...

 

I dont think you are getting what I am saying. You have to amplify (power) the signal it is getting so the speaker actually works. Speaker sound is produced by electrical signal and the quality of the output is reproduced by the quality of the electricity it receives. Having low level signal to a speaker and you will get very little output. So in order for this to work you would need an amplifier in each speaker....an amplifier that small would sound like shiat.

 

the signal needs to be amplified before the data is sent to the speaker, not after. Yeah, i never even thought about that

 

Hahaha...Newegg put thoe speakers on sale again. This is the cheapest I have seen them. They usually mark them down to $199 but never $169.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1113-Index-_-HomeAudioSpeakers-_-82981013-L0K

 

i've been looking for a chance to try this thing:

http://www.amazon.com/Bic-Watt-Chan...0&sr=8-12&keywords=bic+center+channel+speaker