Blank canvas, suggestions please

velogalway

Hello,

I have just started building a new house and am looking at a blank canvas of a fairly large living room (25 feet x 20 feet). I want to completely wire the room for 5.1 and install all surround speakers on the walls. I am looking for a surround system for a reasonable budget and open to any suggestions.

The speakers need to be very discrete as the house will be very minimalist and contemporary, so no big black boxes allowed.....

Also a question. I will be building a base for the TV out of studwork (painted white) and would like to incorporate the subwoofer into this base with a white speaker grill in front. Is this possible and if so would it adversely affect the sound from the subwoofer.

I really want to achieve an impressive sound but in doing so I want the speakers to be virtually invisible.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Richersounds.ie: John

velogalway wrote: »

Hello,

I have just started building a new house and am looking at a blank canvas of a fairly large living room (25 feet x 20 feet). I want to completely wire the room for 5.1 and install all surround speakers on the walls. I am looking for a surround system for a reasonable budget and open to any suggestions.

The speakers need to be very discrete as the house will be very minimalist and contemporary, so no big black boxes allowed.....

Also a question. I will be building a base for the TV out of studwork (painted white) and would like to incorporate the subwoofer into this base with a white speaker grill in front. Is this possible and if so would it adversely affect the sound from the subwoofer.

I really want to achieve an impressive sound but in doing so I want the speakers to be virtually invisible.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Velo,

Many thanks for the post & apologies for the delay getting back to you.

Exciting project! Can I ask you a few questions and then I'll respond by return?

Roughly what budget are you looking at?

Would you like to have a look at in-ceiling / in-wall speakers (if you are building from fresh it would be a great and cost effective option and completely eliminate the 'black-box' syndrome.

On the subwofer issue - yep that is entirely possible, no problem - once the Subwoofer is in the same space and can 'breath' the same air as your listeners you will get the Sub effect - however you should choose the particular Sub carefully to ensure that it is ported properly for your particular install.

As above keep me posted if we can assist - we will do our best,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew

velogalway

The budget for the system (not including TV) would be around 1500 euro. This would have to include Bluray DVD and 5.1 amp and speakers.

Richersounds.ie: John

velogalway wrote: »

around 1500 euro.

If I can be a little liberal with the 'around' bit of your budget: here is my 1st suggestion!

AV Receiver - Onkyo TXSR608 - AV Receiver
Panasonic BD65 Blu Ray DVD
Monitor Audio SC165 In-ceiling speaker * 4
Monitor Audio Silver RX Centre * 1
Monitor Audio Radius 370HD Subwoofer * 1

That system should retail at about £1679 / €2049 ish - I can squeeze it in at a boardie special price of £1199.95 / €1479.99

If you wanted conventional on-wall satellite type speakers - here is another alternative:



AV Receiver - Onkyo TXSR608 - AV Receiver
Panasonic BD65 Blu Ray DVD
Monitor Audio Radius 90HD Satellite speakers * 4 (including wall brackets)
Monitor Audio Radius 180HD AV Centre * 1
Monitor Audio Radius 360HD Active Subwoofer * 1

That system should retail at about £1590 / €1929 ish - I can squeeze this one in at a boardie special price of £1179.95 / €1449.99


Keep me posted if you have any thoughts - if you use an iPhone or iTouch give us a shout as the new Pioneer receiver VSX1920 has a really cool app which could tempt you!

Thanks again,

ATB,

John Mc & Crew

soldsold

Hi,

Is there a reason for using a conventional centre speaker rather than a ceiling speaker for the centre?

Thanks,

S

Richersounds.ie: John

soldsold wrote: »

Hi,

Is there a reason for using a conventional centre speaker rather than a ceiling speaker for the centre?

Thanks,

S

No particular reason - however generally whilst positioning of the 4 fronts/rears are important it is generally considered that the centre speaker position is critical as this has to tie up with the dialogue channel and therefore it is thought best to keep the phasing & positioning as close to the visual source of the dialogue as possible - however to counter that if you use a ceiling speaker (such as the C165) which has a steerable HF driver the effect is still excellent - but again if a conventional centre can be utilised that's the way I would go.

Thanks for the query - what do you guys think?

Keep me posted if we can assist,

ATB,

John Mc & Crew

soldsold

Thanks for that, I will open a separate thread so I'm not hijacking this one.

S

zabzab

<SNIP>

Richersounds.ie: John

Zabzab,

Many thanks for your post/advert - however whilst I am familiar with the products you are advertising - I don't think that The Richer Sounds / Philips Shop forum is the best place to promote these.

The OP was looking for a complete system up to about €1500 including electronics and to the best of my knowledge even using your proposed option of the excellent budget Amina speakers the budget for 5 speakers alone (without the sub or electronics) would be in excess of €2000.

John Mc & Crew

The Ritz

John, thanks, haven't mastered the art of bi-location (yet.....).

Mod Comment:

zabzab,

Please do not post on this forum pimping your business/whatever. The Charter clearly states that this forum is for commercial interraction with Richersounds and that references to other retailers is allowed only when looking for a genuine price match. If you want to use Boards for advertising, see the details on the Charter. I have sent you a PM.


Ritz.