Hi folks, my name is Mike, I'm a college student at UCLA and I'm putting together an audio system for my apartment. I am very new to this compared to you all, so I figured I'd post here and get a few opinions. Here is my question... and thanks ahead of time.

I am trying to put together a sound system that is excellent at being both a SOUND system and a home theater system. To best explain this, I want it to be able to play music for parties and when I just generally want to rock out. However, I also want it to work well for movies with surround sound and such. I don't know if such a thing is possible, but I'm going to at least try *laughs*.

Currently, I have a few components, all mixed and matched that I managed to aquire or purchased.

Speakers - 2 year old Bose Acoustimass 6 system. Single jewel cubes with an "accoutsitmass module," which is Bose speak for two 6 and a half inch woofers inside a ported box.

Receiver - Sony STRDE598 . It's a 6 channel $200 amp from best buy. That's probably enough said, lol.

DVD Player - None, looking for suggestions. I want to have the best sound quality for DVD movies, I don't own any DVD-A disks so that's not a priority.

Subwoofer - LFM-1. I love this baby, but she needs a good system so she doesn't sound so alone.


Ok, so these are obviously not components that will work together. The Bose system is meant to be stand alone, and certainly is horrid for playing music at parties. It relies so much on the "Accoustimass module" it's horrible. I'm not married, so size of the speakers doesn't bother me. But I inherited the jewel cubes *shrug*

Now, I would love to hear your suggestions, I understand everyone's ears hear differently, but I'd love to have some audiophile ideas.

I am keeping the LFM-1, for obvious reasons, I don't think I can do better.

Do I need a bigger receiver? The Sony is of course way over-rated in its specs, so I'm looking into getting another. I've seen some neat Yamahas that set up the audio in your room for you with an included mic. I thought that might not be such a bad idea.

New Speaker ideas? Once again, I'm a college student, I listen to rock and other types of heavy music, sometime classical. Linkin Park, Audioslave, Green Day, just to give you a clue what the system would need to handle.

Bottom line, I'm looking to build a system that has dual functionality. I'm MORE concerned about the movie quality being better. But I'd still like to have a very good system for blastin music at a party as well.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your advice and help. I'm off to scour some more sites for audio info!

-Mike

first off,and it sounds like you know,you gotta lose the bose.and the sony too.sony does make good stuff,but you must go right to the top of the line.i listen to heavy music(heavier than what you list)and i get by with b&w 601s with a monitor asw-210 sub,with impressive results.
and though you may get lucky,i believe a good music system will play back movies with good results,the opposite does not always hold true.if you can wait,then get on the 1070 list.i own a 1050 with ext. amps that i love for music and it does a damn good job of 5.1 (6.1 if i was motivated)

I think painttoad has the right idea. I assume you are on a tight budget. Buying an integrated preamp/processor/amplifier/tuner is what people buy the most and has the best "bang for the buck", separates costing more. I would figure out what my budget is first and then purchase in this priority. 1st - Speakers (output) you will probably keep these longer than other components and they will make the biggest difference to you on the personal audio satisfaction. 2nd - DVD player (input) I think you're also going to want to play mp3's so look for that. 3rd - Receiver This is the heart of the system and needs to be capable of supporting the other parts of your system.

Most important: Make sure that everything is going to be able to connect together. You have to build the system "virtually" fist.

i understand..meangene..though virtual....i understand...speakers first........

Or maybe a better, although older, term than virtual would be "on paper".

I was meaning that everyone should plan ahead so that all your components will be fairly well matched.

I was in my VMware Virtual world there for a minute. (never mind)

As far as speakers, you may want to do some research on DIY speakers. For a given budget, you may be able to get much more bang for the buck compare to retail purchase. Of course, you have to do some work for yourself and that's the whole point. I can almost guarantee you that DIY method brings much more satisfaction if you don't mind little work for yourself, just do some research on the subject. There are tons of info over the internet. For starters, look into these two websites for more info: www.partsexpress.com and www.madisound.com

http://www.msnusers.com/stereoandtruckphotos/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=53

they are getting a bit of money from me lately.you get a flyer every couple of months and each one has some sort of speaker project.

Is this the site I should be linking too?

Ah, the HT bug. Once it bites, there's no going back. My first college system consisted of a Kenwood Pro Logic receiver and a Mitsubishi 4-head hi-fi VCR. The speakers were a mix of radio shack, Infinity and an Onkyo sub. But I digress...

While you're in college there is one fundamental thing you absolutely need to keep in mind when starting/building your system - the parties. Nothing is more frustrating than some unknown, drunk party dweller who thinks he knows your equipment better than you and decides to up the bass level or tweak your settings. Worse yet, unappreciative guests who think your equipment makes a great beer coaster. For now, follow a budget and don't get too attached to your equipment. In my humble opinion, based on experience mind you, I would go for gear that is simply "good enough" to meet your basic needs: it plays loud and annoys the neighbors. I shudder at the idea of a 1070 or, worse yet, a 990 stack meeting an early demise due to a poorly placed cup of Meister Brau.

Check e-bay for giggles. You'd be surprised what people sell and for how little you can get it. Some old school Paradigm 7se towers will put you back about $150, I've even seen some Magnepan's and B&W's in there for decent prices.

I also concur with MeanGene - go with the speakers first, then components and then finish with a receiver.

Lastly, a tip. I had a Costco membership in college. While Costco isn't exactly a high-class home theater boutique, they do sell some fairly decent equipment for the money. Plus (and this is the main reason I mention Costco), Costco's return policy is bulletproof. If you decide to upgrade, you can return the oldest piece of equipment, no questions asked, and get your money back to put towards an upgrade later - I know this because I did it with my first two big screens.

Have fun with it and welcome to the fold!

jt, wish you would 'uv sent that earlier! i was scared at the intro, but chilled as i saw different price ranges.

but PE already sent me shipping info.


but i have a question.why are there no driver dimensions available?

my advice is simple. sell the bose and sony.

get some good speakers #1, get a good receiver #2, get an inexpensive dvd player (but from reputable brand - Denon for example) #3.

ill rank them that way because they will become outdated the soonest with that approach.

i would rather have a good receiver and spend less on dvd, because with movies the receiver is going to be much better at audio and most times better with audio for music too.

i also agree painttoad has the right idea. the newer sony receiver tend to sound rather anemic. i think it has a lot to do with that ridiculous "energy star" crap. also, definitely lose the bose speakers. they're not doing you any favors. i'm surprised your ears don't hurt. focus your budget on a quality receiver and speakers that will give you reasonably good full frequency range....or as much as you can get for what you're spending. as for a dvd player, the technology is constantly improving. consider that "early" dvd players cost hundreds of dollars, whereas now you can get a decent dvd player for $100....and sometimes less! i have one of those (generic sony dvd/cd player) and it works pretty well. i will be upgrading soon to a cambridge audio dvd/cd player. the price difference ($99 for the sony vs. $379 for the cambridge) may be a consideration for you; however since you said you want your system for music as well as video, the budget should be geared more toward speakers and a quality receiver.

Hey all, it's been some time, UCLA has kept me as busy as ever. I am going to have a little more time and a little more funding for the home theater come next week, and I wanted to go over the current status.

I returned the bose system to my family, it's going to keep the living room lively for guests. The Sony receiver, unfortunately, is still a component of my system. However, I went a bought a few speakers. I got a VERY good deal on some low-end JBL's from e-bay. I have a few changes I'd like to make, and, if you have the time, I'd love to hear your opinions on the proposed changes and whatever else I could do.

Current Input - Roomate's Philips DVP642 DVD player (Nothing special).

Future Input - No idea, looking for something mid-line, suggestions?

Current Processor/Amp - Sony STRDE598

Future Processor/Amp - Outlaw 1070. OR 7125 Amp along with either a 970 or 990. There's a sweet deal going on for the 7125 amp... thinking about taking it.

Current Speakers - JBL Northridge Series

2 E-80's in front
1 E-35 center channel
2 E-10's in back for surround
1 LFM-1 Subwoofer

I eventually want to expand to a 7 channel system, not sure if I should get some more floor standers, or more of the surround E-10's or what. The floor speakers can handle 125 watts, while the E-10's can only handle a continuous 50 watts.

The JBL's aren't AMAZING speakers, but they are a huge upgrade from tha jewel cubes, and are currently suffering from a lack of power from the "100 watts per channel" (haha, riiight) sony receiver.

Obviously I'm concentrating on upgrading the sony into either a 1070 or take the deal and eventually scrounge together seperates from Outlaw.

There was some concern over parties and, believe me, I've had my fair share over the years. Guests are aware they'll be given a thorough beating if anything should befall the precious sound system, so I'm not too worried about it, everyone has been quite good about it so far.

I've noticed there's a distinct lack of surround-sound feeling when listening to anything. I've got the receiver decoding the Dolby signal correctly, but either the speakers are posititioned too high above the couch (they're about 3 feet above the couch, which is directly against the wall) or something is wrong with the signal processing.

What I don't understand is how the sony can be rated 100 watts per channel, and yet the 1070 is 65 watts per channel, yet so much better. When listening to music, I'll often just use two channels, and the subwoofer. Even then I don't think I'm getting 100 watts per channel. I understand the concept of the 1070 providing 65 watts with "all channels driven" while the sony may only do it with 2 channels, or whatnot. However, even with the two, it sounds weak.

Another concern I have is power. There are only two outlets in the area, and the TV/Amp/Process/Subwoofer, etc. must be plugged into one of the two outlets. Is it possible I'll have huge power issues? I'd rather not put the $600 subwoofer and the future $900 amp on the same circuit, right? *laughs*

Thanks for looking this over folks, I'm sure you're all chuckling at the naivety of this college student. Rest assured, you've been a big help so far and I can't wait for the next evolution of my home theater!

I wouldn't worry about power - we've had some good discussions here before, but basically the deal is that even at high volume levels most components don't draw their "nameplate" rated electrical load - I've got a Model 750 amp (Outlaw's original amp, 165Wx5), two Model 200's, a 32" CRT, an LFM-1, a 990, three DVD players, and a cable box on the same circuit and have no problems.

Does the Sony amp have pre-amp outputs? If so, adding an amp like the 7125 would be a nice upgrade that would also allow you to upgrade to a new processor later. The 7125 alone may not help with the weak surround sound, though, since I doubt the surrounds are being starved of power. I'd try recalibrating as a first step (won't cost you much, just an SPL meter if you don't already have one), but it may take an upgrade at the receiver to really get things rolling in that regard.