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?