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Opulent Ceremony posted:I'm sorry if this request is antithetical to the spirit of the thread, but can anyone recommend a sound bar? What is your budget?
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Feb 12, 2024 18:47
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Opulent Ceremony posted:I'm sorry if this request is antithetical to the spirit of the thread, but can anyone recommend a sound bar? How much you want to spend? Mostly I’d just buy off feature set and weight. Heavier it is the better drivers it probably has. Sound bars aren’t optimal but they can be a million times better than TV sound and sometimes you just don’t have the space or spousal approval for anything better. I have a Sony that I’ve been happy with but Samsung and Vizio and probably most of the other ones are fine also.
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Feb 12, 2024 18:52
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bird with big dick posted:How much you want to spend? At most $500. Thanks to all who have already given me useful replies! VVVV Yea just an upgrade to my TV speakers is the goal really, this one looks pretty good thank you. Opulent Ceremony fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Feb 12, 2024 |
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Feb 12, 2024 19:09
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Opulent Ceremony posted:I'm sorry if this request is antithetical to the spirit of the thread, but can anyone recommend a sound bar? If you want to just upgrade from your TV speakers, I had a refurb Yamaha YAS for many years and it did an adequate job for 150 bucks.
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Feb 12, 2024 19:14
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Just get a JBL Deep Bass 2.1 or something similar.
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Feb 13, 2024 07:14
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Hope this is the right thread, though the answer is likely going to be simpler than I'm making it. We are currently renovating the kitchen and the idea came up to maybe use the chance to put in some ceiling speakers. The kitchen is next to, but walled off from, the dining room where our audio system is set up. Our stuff is older - an older turntable and a Marantz 2270 receiver. I like to listen to records while I cook, but it can be hard to hear from the living room, so the idea of having it play in the kitchen is nice. But, I don't want to run wire from the kitchen, meaning that if we did something it would have to be wireless. That said, I also don't want to totally bypass our current receiver and speakers in the dining room. Most bluetooth or wireless attachments I see talk about it in the context of streaming music <i>to</i> your older equipment. What I'm trying to figure out is if it's possible to stream music <i>from</i> our current set-up to speakers in the kitchen. From what I can tell, the only way is basically to not use the Marantz and instead connect the turntable directly to something like the Sonos Amp?
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Feb 22, 2024 16:07
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Ceiling speakers are going to require cables for power even if they are wirelessly streaming. I can't even think of any speakers mounted like that that would be wireless streaming though. There are plenty of wireless audio bridges, so you could bridge your current system to wherever you run the minimum required wires for the new system. Like a mini amp hidden in a kitchen cabinet or something. You can jump from your dining room to your kitchen with something like an SVS SoundPath Wireless. Stuff like that isn't "good" but neither are most in-wall speakers so its a wash. All of that will cost you much more than just running a single cable between the rooms. Other people may have better options.
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Feb 22, 2024 16:31
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If you are already renovating and want to do it right, just run appropriate gauge speaker wire in cheap conduit through the wall and ceiling to passive ceiling/wall speakers. SVS sound path + normal powered bookshelf speakers would be my second choice. SVS sound path + small class d amp + passive ceiling/wall speakers is such a weird half measure it doesn't make sense to me - you'll need to do more work to get power available in the walls/ceilings compared to a couple of low voltage runs from your receiver to the kitchen.
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Feb 22, 2024 16:57
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Thanks for the responses. I realize I have a few conditions here that make this probably not possible, at least not in any kind of ideal way. We're only opening up the kitchen, and absolutely not doing anything to the walls of the living room, which are plaster above wainscotting, so running speaker line in the walls won't happen. I was thinking that we could do something like a Sonos Amp + built-in speakers, in which case I think we'd be going directly from the turntable. This is probably a dumb question but do AV switchers exist? Like, could I run the turntable to a switcher, and run out to A) a Sonos Amp for the kitchen, and B) the Marantz to use in the living room? Sorry for the probably basic questions. I know very little about audio equipment. Often what I think a component does isn't actually what it does. For example, if I search for AV switcher, they all seem to do multiple inputs to one output, whereas I want the opposite.
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Feb 22, 2024 17:06
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z0331 posted:Thanks for the responses. I realize I have a few conditions here that make this probably not possible, at least not in any kind of ideal way. We're only opening up the kitchen, and absolutely not doing anything to the walls of the living room, which are plaster above wainscotting, so running speaker line in the walls won't happen. I was thinking that we could do something like a Sonos Amp + built-in speakers, in which case I think we'd be going directly from the turntable. You can do this in the Sonos ecosystem, or you can use Wiim mini's to do that. There's a few other options too but these are the most intuitive. If your marantz has a pre-out, for say, a Zone 2 area or tape out or whatever, you would hook that pre-out to a Wiim mini or the Sonos.. Port? I think input. Then you're going to need a Wiim Mini or better, or one of the network enabled Sonos products, to bridge that over using their rca or optical output to either a small amp like a Fosi Audio 2 channel amp or one of the multitude of similar cheap amps, and then into a pair of speakers. Or skip the amp and use a pair of powered bookshelfs. Or just use one of the network enabled Sonos speakers. You'll be able to plug the turntable into the Marantz's phono input and run it's audio into the Marantz's output, which will then be selectable as the line-in source on your ecosystem of choice's app(ie. The wiim app or Sonos app). Sorry if that didn't make sense, lemme know if there's anything there that's not clear
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Feb 22, 2024 23:31
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My question isn't about big home audio set ups, but it may involve a receiver, so I figured I'd start here. If there's a better thread please let me know! I need an FM radio for my sewing room, preferably with Bluetooth as well. Our internet is flaky so I don't want to stream, but I have some playlists on my phone it'd be nice to listen to. Budget is $300 max but I'd prefer to keep it under $200. I am not opposed to a receiver and 2 speakers, since I know a tabletop radio makes compromises. I am opposed to the "bookshelf" CD-cassette-radio set-up I had in college; those were ugly and I don't want to own one again. I've got about 2 feet of shelf I can easily put a unit on, but could do some rearranging for a little more if needed. (I can run an antenna where it needs to go, no worries there.) I found two units that might do what I want and are in budget: Sangean HDR-19, $229 at Walmart and about $299 elsewhere https://www.sangean.com/en/product/hdr-19-natural-cherry Toshiba TY-CWU700, $150 or so everywhere https://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-30w-audio-system-silver-brown/5937006.p?skuId=5937006 Remote control is highly preferred so I don't have to leave my task. My most-listened to station is a classical station and it has an HD broadcast available, but I've never heard it because my car is old so I don't know if it's that much better than normal FM. The Sangean does HD radio but it's also substantially more expensive. I don't know if that unit's speaker is substantially better enough to justify the price either. I did see the Sangean HDR-18 is about $150 but lacks Bluetooth, perhaps it plus a Bluetooth adapter could work? The room is carpeted, about 9x13. The sewing machine is fairly loud when in use and I don't expect a little radio to get through it (it'd be too loud for me anyway if it did), but I have a lot of quiet sewing tasks I do there too. I don't have time to stalk a thrift store to find anything used. Thoughts on those units? Suggestions for a different way to go? effika fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Feb 23, 2024 |
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Feb 23, 2024 15:47
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effika posted:Thoughts on those units? Suggestions for a different way to go? With your limited budget, those two items look fine. You might want to spend a few minutes searching craigslist, I found a Bose Wave Music System Radio CD Player w Remote & Bluetooth - $220 in my area ($450 new).
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Feb 23, 2024 19:06
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z0331 posted:Thanks for the responses. I realize I have a few conditions here that make this probably not possible, at least not in any kind of ideal way. We're only opening up the kitchen, and absolutely not doing anything to the walls of the living room, which are plaster above wainscotting, so running speaker line in the walls won't happen. What does the top of your wainscoting look like? Maybe there is a skirting board topping it, which could be removed and then hollowed out to house a two-wire speaker cable? Alternatively replaced with a hollowed out product.
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Feb 23, 2024 19:16
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effika posted:My question isn't about big home audio set ups, but it may involve a receiver, so I figured I'd start here. If there's a better thread please let me know! If you want better quality and flexibility I would try to find a “real” receiver and pair of stereo speakers like you said. There is a Sony that everybody sells that comes in at around $99-150 new, Best Buy has one or two Insignia models at that budget, and Yamaha probably makes the best of the bunch but it’s $150 just for the receiver. If you’re savvy shopping used in your area (Craigslist, yard sales, thrift, etc) or getting hand-me-down stuff from friends or family you can get something really fantastic for tens of dollars or even free. You can definitely thrift your speakers, and stereo receivers from any time in the past ~30 years are a dime a dozen (older than that and it’s generally going to be appreciated/cost inflated enough these days that it probably isn’t worth it for you unless you really love the vintage aesthetic). But it’s not unreasonable to get a good receiver for $0-50 and some speakers for $0-50 and have a much nicer setup than one of those all-in-one dealies
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Feb 23, 2024 19:32
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trilobite terror posted:If you want better quality and flexibility I would try to find a “real” receiver and pair of stereo speakers like you said. Got any receiver or speaker models in specific to look for new? I'm not going thrifting, but thanks for the reminder!
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Feb 23, 2024 20:42
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its hard to give a definite rec because speaker-room interactions are completely unpredictable used KEF, wharfedale, polk, energy are good bets
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Feb 24, 2024 03:26
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Good news: I found an old Philips phone dock/alarm clock with Bluetooth and FM, shoved away since the port doesn't fit anything modern. The sound quality is not good but it'll do for now and give me some time to watch for sales (and maybe thrift some). I think I will get an FM receiver and a 2.0 system. I could also hook up the small TV I have in the sewing room and that would be better than the little soundbar I have for it. Like the radio, it's used for background noise (and keeping an eye on the weather during storm season), not Experiencing Cinema. I could probably find space for a subwoofer. I'll keep an eye out for those brands, but if you have anything that pairs well together and would be under $400 I'm all ears. This is not a space where I'm trying for Best, just better than a soundbar and a phone dock.
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Feb 24, 2024 05:08
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 Oh, hey whatcha got in those boxes?  Wow, okay, but there's no room for those on the desk where are you gonna... no. Don't do it. It's stupid! Those aren't meant to...  Well gently caress. Yes, I realize this was a fully stupid thing to do, but goddamn if I don't love it.
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Feb 29, 2024 04:59
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That’s stupid levels of great.
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Mar 4, 2024 03:21
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TheMadMilkman posted:That’s stupid levels of great. It really is and holy poo poo does it sound good when you really push it.
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Mar 4, 2024 03:29
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That sounds like a lot of fun 
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Mar 4, 2024 06:29
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Looking for some advice as I look to buy pieces for my first home audio system. Here's what I currently have: - LG C1 65" - Vizio soundbar - PS5/Xbox Series X/Nintendo Switch - Hundreds of movies (4K/blu-ray/DVD) So as you can see, this will be primarily used for gaming and movie watching. The soundbar has done its job but this year I can afford to upgrade to something better and I feel like the time is right. I see the Denon AVR-S760H generally recommended as a good receiver - is this still accurate? I can get a refurb on Amazon currently for $369. Right now I'm really only concerned with making this a 3.1 system. What are some good speakers and a sub I could work into this setup for <$500? (Bookshelf speakers preferred for the fronts)
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Mar 7, 2024 01:07
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Tesh posted:Looking for some advice as I look to buy pieces for my first home audio system. Here's what I currently have: I'd focus on one part of your speakers at a time at that budget. A pair of KEF Q350's with a good receiver like that Denon will have a lot of oomph by themselves. You can pick up a cheap used sub off Craigslist or FB Marketplace for $50-$100 to tide you over until you can get a properly good subwoofer later. And then after you get a good sub you can get the center channel KEF that pairs well with your speakers.
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Mar 7, 2024 03:35
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e;fbTesh posted:Looking for some advice as I look to buy pieces for my first home audio system. Here's what I currently have: https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html One of these Jamo sets from Adorama via slickdeals would work depending on where you land for speaker needs: https://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?q=jamo&searcharea=deals&searchin=first&isUserSearch=1 For satisfying your immediate ask and keeping under budget, I'd personally go with the Jamo floorstander + center deal for $219 and then grab the separate S810 sub for $89 (unless the 3.1 for $309 goes up again, it looks unavailable at the moment). For future value, I'd spend the majority of the speaker budget on front R+L bookshelves and then save $500+ for a sub later. It will still sound amazingly better than your soundbar in the short term and you'll have a much nicer system in the long run. Bookshelf example: KEF Q150 pair from A4L for $349: https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/kefq150blka/kef-new-q150-pair-5.25-bookshelf-speakers-black/1.html (they come in white and walnut also) Sub example: RSL Speedwoofer https://rslspeakers.com/products/speedwoofer-10s-mkii/
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Mar 7, 2024 03:54
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aparmenideanmonad posted:If you're on a budget and in the US I'd recommend A4L over Amazon for buying a factory refurb receiver (S760H is only $300 there - there are other cheaper options as well though that's certainly a reasonable pick): Thank you both for the advice! This pairing is exactly what I went with and fits my budget perfectly. Looking forward to getting this all set up!
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Mar 7, 2024 16:20
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Not sure if anyone can realistically answer this, but : my current 5.1 set up includes a passive sub that came with my inexpensive yamaha HTIAB. I have already upgraded my front left, right and centre speakers, and am now wondering whether I should upgrade the sub, too. I live in a mid terrace house with my family, so rarely if ever crank things up to anything like cinema volumes, so I'm not sure if dropping more cash on upgrading the sub will be worth it, given those constraints. Should I spend a couple hundred on something second hand / refurbed, or not bother?
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Mar 9, 2024 14:32
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You can enjoy the better bass extension of a good powered sub even if it's not cranked loud enough to wake the neighbors, but the gains may be marginal for the price. I moved out of a free standing house into the same situation (interior townhouse) 4 years ago and have been mostly content with an old 8" 150W sub that rolls off pretty fast under 40Hz. Smaller room sizes typical in these types of places don't require huge subs to fill them up. I've been variously tempted by outlet sales and good looking deals on used stuff, but I've held off so far, partially because I hope to move again in the next few years. I have a new audio fund that will be put to good use (including dual thicc boi subs) once I'm back in a house with more space and no shared walls. If you're going to be there long term or just want to upgrade anyway, I'd go with a 10-12" offering from SVS, Rythmik, Hsu, or RSL.
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Mar 9, 2024 15:23
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The Perfect Element posted:Not sure if anyone can realistically answer this, but : my current 5.1 set up includes a passive sub that came with my inexpensive yamaha HTIAB. I have already upgraded my front left, right and centre speakers, and am now wondering whether I should upgrade the sub, too. how do you have the passive sub set up currently? what kind of receiver do you have? a powered sub will absolutely benefit your 5.1 setup if you don’t currently have one. What’s your budget? How big is your current passive sub (driver size)? How big/what are your speakers? I have a really solid 8” Polk sub that I got used for $60 a decade ago (it’s a higher end model with a remote and various phase and crossover controls) and it’s been excellent in a bunch of different apartment living room and bedroom and office applications. You really don’t need a ton of size and power to notably improve your sound. If you can drop $400-500 on something new you could get something nice off of A4L or an entry level SVS model and probably be happy with it forever. Otherwise, you can grab a decent midrange Polk or Monoprice, etc dealie for $190-$350 (check A4L) depending on time of year and sales, etc. I wouldn’t spend $130 on the bottom-range Polk 10” (edit: the PSW10) and I definitely wouldn’t spend $250 on it off-sale. Same goes for the Jamo sub, that’s not worth getting. You can shop used in your area but it’s hard to do if you don’t already know about subs a bit. trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Mar 9, 2024 |
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Mar 9, 2024 18:16
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The Perfect Element posted:Not sure if anyone can realistically answer this, but : my current 5.1 set up includes a passive sub that came with my inexpensive yamaha HTIAB. I have already upgraded my front left, right and centre speakers, and am now wondering whether I should upgrade the sub, too. Do you feel like your current sub is lacking in any way? If not, then no you don't have to upgrade just because you got better L/C/R speakers. If you do, then go for it.
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Mar 9, 2024 19:05
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Isolation feet/platforms do help reduce how much sound gets transmitted through the floor.
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Mar 10, 2024 18:33
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TheMadMilkman posted:Isolation feet/platforms do help reduce how much sound gets transmitted through the floor. Also setting a sub up to side-fire as opposed to downward-firing
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Mar 10, 2024 18:47
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TheMadMilkman posted:Isolation feet/platforms do help reduce how much sound gets transmitted through the floor. Can confirm. Night and day difference with my SVS SB12 plus, at least.
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Mar 10, 2024 19:27
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Thanks all. The sub and amplifier are what came in this package. Budget wise I'm probably unlikely to spend more than £100 on something second hand on Facebook, given how uncertain I am about the benefits. I mean the current one is fine, I guess, but then I don't know what I'm missing out on! There's a chance there's unparalleled nuances and punchy explosions the likes of which I daren't even dream. So long as it's not a ludicrous thing to do, I guess I'll just grab something for £60-£100 and hope it works out.
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Mar 10, 2024 19:32
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Wibla posted:Can confirm. Night and day difference with my SVS SB12 plus, at least. Yeah I have an old down firing sub and it has made a world of difference since I finally put some feet on it a few years back. It’s meant to sit on spikes but I was able to get a set of feet with the same size threads.
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Mar 10, 2024 19:49
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The Perfect Element posted:So long as it's not a ludicrous thing to do, I guess I'll just grab something for £60-£100 and hope it works out. Barring getting extremely lucky on the used market that amount of money will probably end up with something worse what you have now. Save your cash for a more significant upgrade or hitting gold if some audiophile dies and his widow just wants everything out of the house or similar.
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Mar 10, 2024 23:12
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I want to set up my living room for my friends to hang out after shows and I need some better speakers. Budget is like $1k (can do more if needed). subwoofer definitely needed because its mostly EDM and hop hop stuff. If anyone can recommend what to buy i can figure out setup and wiring and all that, or if active speakers actually are good now that's cool too. also i will be putting up acoustic dampening stuff, just gotta do the research on that too haha SSJ_naruto_2003 fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Mar 11, 2024 |
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Mar 11, 2024 00:28
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qirex posted:Barring getting extremely lucky on the used market that amount of money will probably end up with something worse what you have now. Save your cash for a more significant upgrade or hitting gold if some audiophile dies and his widow just wants everything out of the house or similar. The least I would spend is like $190 at A4L or its TERF Island equivalent. My aim would be for something better than a PSW10, which retails for $100-130 during Black Friday and other similar sales but is ludicrously overpriced at $250 normally. SSJ_naruto_2003 posted:I want to set up my living room for my friends to hang out after shows and I need some better speakers. Budget is like $1k (can do more if needed). subwoofer definitely needed because its mostly EDM and hop hop stuff. Seems like you want music performance over surround sound capability, right? Are you interested in surround or does 2.1 seem like a better fit for you? Do you plan to setup a turntable or tape deck, CD player, etc or is it all gonna be streaming/digital audio?
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Mar 11, 2024 00:52
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trilobite terror posted:
Yeah music quality is definitely the most important here. It will be used with streaming most of the time unless someone is bringing their deck to mess around with. Bluetooth kind of sucks in general. Are there like lightweight music streaming devices I could hook up to the speakers and control via wifi or something? 2.1 is good surround is not important SSJ_naruto_2003 fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Mar 11, 2024 |
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Mar 11, 2024 05:37
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For wifi streaming , the Wiim Mini's are hard to beat
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Mar 11, 2024 05:55
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Mederlock posted:For wifi streaming , the Wiim Mini's are hard to beat Actually decided I will just hook it all up to my TV (where i can stream stuff already) and move my surround sound setup to my other TV where i watch most of my stuff anyways.
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Mar 11, 2024 18:15
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