As mentioned elsewhere, I’ve recently moved to a smaller-but-nicer apartment, which has given me cause to reconsider my audio-visual setup. Right now I’ve got a an Onkyo “home theatre in a box”-style system: 7.1* receiver, seven satellite speakers and a subwoofer. It’s a nice little set-up with reasonably decent sound.
But the truth is, I’m kinda tired of having wires strung all over my place. And there really isn’t any sensible place to put some of these speakers in my little studio apartment–there’s nowhere behind my couch, for example; it’s just back against the wall. So I’ve been thinking that I’d maybe like to downsize my system. Two speakers (and maybe a sub) are plenty for me right now. But I don’t want to use the TV’s speakers–they’re horrible. And I kind of need a receiver for switching purposes–with two game systems plus cable, I ideally want three HDMI ins and the ability to switch between. Are there any good options for something like this?
*While it can output 7.1, it can’t actually decode it. So the two extra rear speakers are primarily decorative.
How acoustically sealed is your apartment? If you upgraded to some really nice front speakers for a 2.0 or 2.1 setup, would your neighbors be pissed if you played it loud enough to really enjoy quality speakers? You might even consider a 3.0 or 3.1 setup by adding a center channel (to bypass the concern I raise below).
I’ve also heard that 2.0/2.1 systems are great for music - but it’s pretty hard for picking up dialog from movies/TV. Can anyone confirm/deny that?
How many HDMI inputs does your Onkyo have? These days, 3 is a pretty minimum amount. Depending on how long you see yourself in your apartment, I’d want to future-proof any expense like a receiver.
If you are looking for nice, I’d get a quality 5.1 receiver, and hook up 3 nice speakers and a decent subwoofer, and you’ll have pretty good sound without wires to the back - the surround speakers are the least important.
Something like:
Yamaha RX-V471 Receiver - 4x HDMI
Polk audio subwoofer
Polk CS2 center speaker
2x floorstanding speakers
or 2x bookshelf speakers
Now those are not the best speakers/subwoofer you can get, but are decent for the money and far better than any “in a box” system you will ever see.
Just don’t hook up the other speakers. There’s no reason you can’t use your current system with just 2 or 3 speakers. You might want to consider upgrading the speakers though, because you can get a pair of really good bookshelf speakers for a few hundred dollars. (As opposed to getting 7 of that quality.)
The Onkyo has three HDMI inputs–and as I’ve said, it doesn’t actually decode, just passes it through. This means I’ve had to use the digital audio inputs, of which it has only two optical. I’ve currently got a cheap switch to handle my three sources.
thirdname, the HTIB was HT-S5100. Not quite sure what the specific model # is on the receiver. And while I guess I could use the system I have, wouldn’t I be losing whatever sound goes to the back speakers? It’s also a bit… quiet, somehow. I often have it turned up quite “loud” in terms of the volume control, and still have subtitles on. The subwoofer is also bulky, and I’d rather move to something smaller if I can. (It’s also currently sort of broken–the male pin on the RCA plug broke off in the jack during the move.)
Munch, I’m currently listening to my neighbors TV. Can’t make out the words, but I can definitely hear it.
I like the idea of a sound bar–guess I’ll have to do a little research in store(s).