Chasing better home sound

I need some better speakers in the house. This sound bar thing is getting worse every week. 

It's looking like I only have 2 options though, PC surround sound, or full on receiver. Both have their pros and cons, but neither is really what I want.

I don't care about internet access, but Bluetooth is mandatory. I prefer wired speakers, but due to ugliness, I'll consider wireless IF they actually stay connected and don't randomly cut out like my wireless subwoofer does now. 

Currently, and for the foreseeable future, the only things that need to be connected are the Xbox, TV, and my phone. Right now, the Xbox hdmi goes to the tv, and a fiber optic cable goes from the tv to the sound bar. I like it, is simple, but for some reason I get way better Audio quality using the Xbox versus the built in apps on the tv.

I've been looking at Onkyo, Yamaha, pioneer, and a few brands I never heard of. I'm hoping to find a home theater in a box instead of needing to buy everything separately, but I could for the right deal. 

I'm not an audiophile by any means. Loud and fairly clear are my main wants, but for the love of all that is good and holy if there is something that would either automatically or manually normalize the volume of what I'm watching so I can hear what is being said without rattling the windows or waking the child up when there are gunshots or music, I will have to take a good hard look at it regardless of price.

Speaking of price, I've been looking sub $300, and I feel like everything I find there will be of similar questionable quality to the soundbar I have now. So maybe $500 all in?

So what does everybody like that won't break the bank or require building out custom boxes and cabinets and adding audio tiles and all that extra crap?

I'm definitely the wrong person to ask about the K.I.S.S. method of home audio. 

And on the home toons subject, not that I'm trying to hijack your thread, well, maybe... I need a 150-ish Watt sub woofer amp, preferably one that can take a high level input.  I got this powered 10" sub with a blown amp.

Dr. Hess said:

And on the home toons subject, not that I'm trying to hijack your thread, well, maybe... I need a 150-ish Watt sub woofer amp, preferably one that can take a high level input.  I got this powered 10" sub with a blown amp.

Look at Parts Express

2.1? 3.1? Actual surround?

Any HTIB under $500 isn't going to be great. My towers, center, and powered sub have been picked up over the years from Newegg, on sale, as they were phased out.

 If you go that route, the amplification is the better place to spend money.

​​​​​​The "theater in a box" will have some crummy 5" "sub" little 2-1/2" mid/tweeter combo drivers. It will be garbage.

But I also use my receiver and speakers not only for the PS4 and watching TV/Netflix/Blu-Ray/sports, etc, we also use it for music and have our turntable hooked up.

In reply to z31maniac :

Thanks.  Maybe this one:

https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-sa100-100w-subwoofer-plate-amplifier--300-802

That would increase my expenditure on this sub by 20x.

In reply to z31maniac :

5.1 preferably, but 2 or 3 would work fine. I must have deleted that sentence when I was editing. 

One of the bigger reasons I'm looking at system in a box that I missed earlier is space. With the room layout and where the tv is, I don't really have anywhere to put big front speakers. 

Maybe I do. If I wall mount the tv, I can get rid of the table it's sitting on and put fronts there, albeit within 6 feet of each other, but there would be some room. 

Partsexpress is a good company to deal with, ive dealt with them a few times.

I bodged together a setup with some very old Shure Vocal Master columns......and found out they were spectacular/. I think i have 50 bucks into  the whole thing. Needs a sub though for optimum boom

I’d look used, and I’d put most of my money into the receiver and the front two channels. 

Frankly at that price I would be looking for  just a 2 channel, maybe 2.1. 

In reply to mtn :

I agree here. A decent used head and a bluetooth reciever are going to be cheaper and better for the money than almost anything new. I always tend to snag high end units at thrift shops when im not looking, but craig might have the goods cheap as well. My go to brands for mid range sound are Onyko, Yamaha, maybe Sony. Stay away from 'insignia' and other crap. Google and audio forums are your friend. Be sure to test it BEFORE you buy used.

Also, companies that make good amps seldom make good speakers for some reason. Mix and match works great. I see infinity speakers cheap a lot online and recall them sounding nice for a smaller form factor. I rock huge Cerwen Vega and JBL speakers and they sound amazing, but they are comically large for a normal home.  Maybe someone can chime in here, I hear the parts express units are good value if buying new and crafty. 

I find myself preferring 2ch to my 6.1 for everything except blockbuster movie titles. More speakers does not make better sound imho. Some prefer a center channel for dialogue, and a subwoofer is nice if you need tiny mains. 

I’d look around thrift stores and whatnot, but if I were buying on Craigslist today I would lowball on this, 

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ele/d/monroeville-surround-sound-receiver-and/6799032230.html

and then sell at least two of the speakers. 

Then I would buy these to use as my twofront channels: 

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ele/d/pittsburgh-bowers-wilkins-bw-685-s2/6811417701.html

Unless you are like many of the audio nuts on here (yes, I are one) the Home Theater in a Box is the easy button, and can yield perfectly acceptable results.  Just stick to a reputable brand at a reasonable price point.  Five hundred sounds reasonable to me, but you could surely skimp on that a little and still have a nice system.

RevRico said:

In reply to z31maniac :

5.1 preferably, but 2 or 3 would work fine. I must have deleted that sentence when I was editing. 

One of the bigger reasons I'm looking at system in a box that I missed earlier is space. With the room layout and where the tv is, I don't really have anywhere to put big front speakers. 

Maybe I do. If I wall mount the tv, I can get rid of the table it's sitting on and put fronts there, albeit within 6 feet of each other, but there would be some room. 

Honestly, I'd save a bit more and try to do a decent 3.1 setup. I haven't had the desire, yet, to go through the hassle of at least getting 2 surrounds in the back of living room. 

My receiver is an Onkyo TX-NR777, I have my front Polk towers bi-amped (which made a big difference in sound quality), and a powered Polk 10 or 12" sub.

I have a Yamaha receiver that is currently a 3.1 setup, mostly because I haven't made the time to run speaker wire to my rears.

I bought two C-note speaker kits (definitely a very lovely experience and they make wonderful satellites), a deeply discounted Polk center channel from Crutchfield, and a Definitive Audio 8" powered sub that is really audiophile-level sound when placed correctly.  All of it runs through an overkill Yamaha receiver.

All of this could be duplicated with a used $50 receiver and a $10 bluetooth adapter hooked up to some used JBL bookshelf speakers.  You would lose a lot of features that I chose to pony up for: CEC/ARC, 4K HDMI, two-way bluetooth, etc, but it will get tunez that sound great.

Just for fun look for a sub design called The Homewrecker*. Above budget as the box plans and speakers (4x15") would cost more than that, but it is named appropriately. One day I'll build another. Just for fun.

*careful wth your googling on that one.

Back in the day this wasn’t an issue - they told you which ones to purchase.  

In other shocking news, the video embed feature is working!

MTN is nailing it. 2 channel or 2.1 and used. I had a pair of those B&Ws and for up to 150sq from space they're decent. 

Good 2.1 or 3.1 it can be then.

This is my living room. The steps which you can see, are an annoyance to proper speaker placement. What you can't see on the right, is the reason the chairs are behind the arch way, the door into a bedroom.

Last night I was thinking satellites in the corners of the arch would be ugly but feasible. The more I think about it, they wouldn't make much difference for what I hear in the blue chair. Mom is mostly deaf, child clearly doesn't care, so it's all me in the decision making. 

I could get away with anything that has a fiber optic input even without video, correct? 4k HDMI wouldn't be needed since that would go through the tv to the speakers, if I'm understanding things properly. 

So maybe even a shelf system, or ill just have to spend some time on partsexpress. 

Today is a weird Thursday, child doesn't go to her mom's until tomorrow, so my web browsing and shopping were kind of on hold until she goes to bed. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/VIZIO-32-5-1-Channel-Soundbar-System-with-Wireless-Subwoofer-and-Rear-Speakers-SB3251n-E0/817243109?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227105715893&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=219763285376&wl4=pla-354213604707&wl5=9016174&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=817243109&wl13=&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI27zIivO74AIVQ5NpCh2m7AU0EAQYAiABEgI4pfD_BwE

This is what we have been using the last few years. Simple, compact, you put the sub and rears anywhere. Sounds great. Obviously it's not as good as the 15" woofer'd floor standers we have in the bedroom powered by a big receiver, but it's great for movies/games/tv. 

RevRico said:

In reply to z31maniac :

5.1 preferably, but 2 or 3 would work fine. I must have deleted that sentence when I was editing. 

One of the bigger reasons I'm looking at system in a box that I missed earlier is space. With the room layout and where the tv is, I don't really have anywhere to put big front speakers. 

Maybe I do. If I wall mount the tv, I can get rid of the table it's sitting on and put fronts there, albeit within 6 feet of each other, but there would be some room. 

Are you opposed to building your own speakers from a kit?  Are you willing to cough up more money?

In reply to DrBoost :

Kits like yours and I think ProDarwin? They seem simple enough to put together.

Coming up with more money is another issue. Honestly it's hard for me to want to devote $500 to the project when I only paid $550 for the tv. It's also stretching the budget a bit to get to that point. This will basically be Aprils big expense for me, after the stove this month and the chicken and garden setup next month, before flat roof repair and new floors over the summer.

I am willing to spend a little more for something better, and I do have the time to watch Craigslist, eBay, and the like for deals so I have that going for me, which is why I'm after ideas now. 

You can do it for $200 pretty easy if you have time to piece it together, especially if you stick with a 2.0 channel. 

I'd keep a search out on craigslist and facebook markets for Onkyo, Marantz, Denon, Pioneer, and Yamaha. Maybe Harmon Kardon too. At worst with those brands, you're getting something decent. Maybe throw in Rotel as well, although those will probably be thin on the ground and out of your price range if they have optical/hdmi. For bluetooth, you may have to get a dongle to attach. 

For speakers, I'd be looking at B&W, Phase Tech, Polk, Klipsch, Canton, Wharfedale, and NHT. Maybe Monitor as well, but you'll probably get too many false hits for monitor speakers. There are others out there as well, but these are the ones I see used around me for a decent price. Maybe check around and see if there are any audiophile shops around you (not Best Buy)--if they have used stuff, just go straight there, if they don't, see what they sell to keep an eye out for on craigslist. 

If you want to include brands like Martin Logan, Thiel, or Magnepan, go ahead, but those will require a lot more power and are also more than likely (a) floorstanding, and (b), expensive.

For all of these, both receiver and speakers, do some research on the exact model. They've all had duds at some point. I personally would especially research Polk and Klipsch, I've had extremely good speakers of each, and some that I bought at estate sales without testing that, while in excellent condition, were just junk. 

RevRico said:

In reply to DrBoost :

Kits like yours and I think ProDarwin? They seem simple enough to put together.

I would do Overnight Sensations, not Cnotes if I were doing a home sound setup.  Cnotes are fantastic, but seem to work well for a smaller room.  I use mine in my garage, which is big, and the sound can be lacking.  I usually use them when working out though, and I'm only like 6ft away from them.

I'll just offer that the Overnight Sensations my son and I built for his room sound absolutely fantastic!