Clover11
Novice Member
I am going to buy my first decent home theater system for my living room and wanted some expert advice. I have a $2,000 budget for a A/V receiver and speakers but am thinking of going with just the front left, center, and front right speaker to start. My room is far from ideal for a full surround or Atomos type systems, and I think I would rather have a fewer high quality speakers then more low quality speakers. I could then add additional speakers in the rear at a later date when I have more to spend. I have detailed a few options I have been considering below but please let me know if you think you have better options. I have been doing a lot of reading lately but am still new to all of this so thanks for the advice.
Environment:
The system will be used for both TV and steaming a wide range of music. Room is about 35 ft. long and 16 ft. wide. Roof is about 18 ft. high and vaults to the side of the room, which opens up over stairs and a loft for the front half of the room. The back half of the room has a 9 ft. roof. The vaulted roof has popcorn treatment and with it angled into the open lofted room to the side, I am guessing this would be terrible for an Atmos system and is bad for sound in general. My old systems is a lower end 5.1 system that can’t fill the room with quality sound and has poor dialog clarity on TV which I am looking to improve.
Idea 1: “What I think I want”
AV Receiver Marantz SR6013
Speakers Front KEF Ls50 with a KEF Q600c center
Only 3 speakers and I would need to get approval from the wife to go over budget, but all seem to be high quality components that are on sell right now. Is the receiver enough to drive these speakers? While I think music would be strong on this, would it work for TV?
Idea 2: “Front Tower Speakers?”
AV Receiver: Marantz SR6013
Speakers: ELEC Uni-fi UF5 Floor Standing Speakers and a ELEC Uni-fi UC5 Center
Maybe Tower speakers are the way to go through my wife would prefer something small. Read some hype about ELEC and Andrew Jones.
Idea 3: “Go Surround ELEC”
AV Receiver: Denon AVR-X3500H
Speakers ELEC Uni-fi UB5 bookshelf speakers x 4 and ELECT Uni-fi UC5 center.
Maybe I just need better speakers and receiver and I would be happy with the surround sound.
Idea 4: “Go Surround Low end KEF”
AV Receiver: Denon AVR-X3500H
Speakers: KEF Q150 x 4 and KEF Q600c Center + affordable sub
If I go surround, I could only afford lower end KEF speakers for surround but could have a little nicer center speaker for TV. Is the AV receiver enough for these speakers? They seem to be on a good sale right now.
Idea 5: “Out there”
KEF LS50Wireless.
Would this be enough to power my room and sound good for TV/Music? Would I regret not having a separate receiver/speaker down the road? No cheap, but I am guessing well paired and would sound a bit better then an mid range a/v receiver and ls50 passives.
The two main receivers I have been looking at are the Denon AVR-3500H and the Marantz SR6013. Both are a generation old but are on sell. It seems like I am better off getting a little nicer receiver from the last generation on sell then a new one at a lower level. I am not sure these have the power for the speakers I am looking at though and am a bit concerned I would need some type of amp. Would different speakers or a different receiver be a better path for me to go down? Thanks for all the help.
Environment:
The system will be used for both TV and steaming a wide range of music. Room is about 35 ft. long and 16 ft. wide. Roof is about 18 ft. high and vaults to the side of the room, which opens up over stairs and a loft for the front half of the room. The back half of the room has a 9 ft. roof. The vaulted roof has popcorn treatment and with it angled into the open lofted room to the side, I am guessing this would be terrible for an Atmos system and is bad for sound in general. My old systems is a lower end 5.1 system that can’t fill the room with quality sound and has poor dialog clarity on TV which I am looking to improve.
Idea 1: “What I think I want”
AV Receiver Marantz SR6013
Speakers Front KEF Ls50 with a KEF Q600c center
Only 3 speakers and I would need to get approval from the wife to go over budget, but all seem to be high quality components that are on sell right now. Is the receiver enough to drive these speakers? While I think music would be strong on this, would it work for TV?
Idea 2: “Front Tower Speakers?”
AV Receiver: Marantz SR6013
Speakers: ELEC Uni-fi UF5 Floor Standing Speakers and a ELEC Uni-fi UC5 Center
Maybe Tower speakers are the way to go through my wife would prefer something small. Read some hype about ELEC and Andrew Jones.
Idea 3: “Go Surround ELEC”
AV Receiver: Denon AVR-X3500H
Speakers ELEC Uni-fi UB5 bookshelf speakers x 4 and ELECT Uni-fi UC5 center.
Maybe I just need better speakers and receiver and I would be happy with the surround sound.
Idea 4: “Go Surround Low end KEF”
AV Receiver: Denon AVR-X3500H
Speakers: KEF Q150 x 4 and KEF Q600c Center + affordable sub
If I go surround, I could only afford lower end KEF speakers for surround but could have a little nicer center speaker for TV. Is the AV receiver enough for these speakers? They seem to be on a good sale right now.
Idea 5: “Out there”
KEF LS50Wireless.
Would this be enough to power my room and sound good for TV/Music? Would I regret not having a separate receiver/speaker down the road? No cheap, but I am guessing well paired and would sound a bit better then an mid range a/v receiver and ls50 passives.
The two main receivers I have been looking at are the Denon AVR-3500H and the Marantz SR6013. Both are a generation old but are on sell. It seems like I am better off getting a little nicer receiver from the last generation on sell then a new one at a lower level. I am not sure these have the power for the speakers I am looking at though and am a bit concerned I would need some type of amp. Would different speakers or a different receiver be a better path for me to go down? Thanks for all the help.