piecing together a 5.1 setup - receiver?

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homIcIde

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 16, 2002
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I have a pair of Klipsch F-2s and a pair of F-1s which I am hoping to use as front and rear speakers for a 5.1 setup, respectively. I need a receiver to power this, as well as a center and sub. Recommendations? I am hoping to do this as cheap as possible w/o underutilizing the speakers, as it is for a house of college guys who just want to watch loud movies - not a bunch of audiophiles.

On a separate but related point, I haven't tested these speakers and there is a chance that one or more may be blown. If one is blown, would it be more cost effective to get it repaired or just start the system from scratch?
 
I know those speakers very very well. Those are the same speaker my parents have in their living room after I got them to see that Bose isn't the holy grail.

Anyway, enough side story chat... you know you have very sensitive speakers and you can run them with almost nothing - even 10 watts will be enough to get cops knocking down your door. I would suggest a decent Yamaha receiver in the $150s to get you going or if you want you can try the Panasonic XR55 or 57 receivers for a little more. Also, Harman Kardon makes good receivers and you'd be well served going with even their entry level 147 receiver.

Good luck and happy listening.
 
Yep pinipig is right.

I'd suggest Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, Harman/Kardon, or even B&K (lol if you want to spend 3000 dollars).

Just don't get Sony because of name. Sony makes terrible receivers. I can't quite recommend Panasonic as I used to own one and it just did a so so job.

Also, wattage doesn't mean everything. With those Klipsch speakers, you sure as hell won't need a great deal of wattage. Even though Harman/Kardon's tend to have lower wattage for the money, they sure sound awesome and can pack some punch.

If you don't mind looking used, I'd suggest looking for a used 5.1 surround sound receiver made by Marantz. Just make sure it has digital coaxial and fiber optic inputs for Dolby Digital movies and such.

If you are with a bunch of college guys, I'd suggest getting at least a subwoofer to give the place some kick. Most people in general think that quality music and quality movies is having lots of high pitched stuff and lots of deep bass so if you lack either of those things, then your friends might be disapointed even though the system might be good. The high's would be pretty good sounding using the Klipsch speakers.

Anyways, hope that helps you out a bit. If you need a center channel speaker, keep an eye out on eBay, I have seen some Boston Acoustics center channel speakers which normally go for 300 dollars new, sell for around 30-50 dollars in great condition!

Ryan
 
Don't trust the wattage labels on most receivers. On my Harman Kardon AVR-320, the thing is only rated at 55wpc in 5.1 (65 in stereo). The total maximum power draw is rated at 275 watts (how much it pulls from the wall). On a Sony STRDG1000, for instance, its is rated at 120 WPC in 7.1 mode. It is supposed to only draw 480 watts from the wall. So how is it supposed to push 120w to each of the 7 speakers (840 watts total) and still only draw 480 watts? Here is how: they are lying to you! :p On the Harman, however, 275/55 = 5 so they are probably telling the truth about the power output. Onkyo, Harman Kardon, and Denon seem to be realistic about their output wattage. On receivers like Sony and Panasonic, they are blowing smoke up your ass.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll pick up an HK, as this is not the first time I've heard good things about them. Will a $150ish HK really be able to power this setup? The little experience I do have is either very low end, or very high end, so I know essentially nothing about this price range.

Also, could someone recommend an adequate sub? My total budge is around 3-400 I think.
 
I'm not totally sure if you can purchase a Harman Kardon for as low as 150 dollars but anything that is 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 by Harman Kardon would do the trick if you look around. (their 40 watt per channel receivers would be plenty for powering those speakers because Harman Kardon receivers are conservatively rated and tend to match the output of any of the other receivers claiming 100 watts or more)

I'd say the runner up to the Harman Kardon would be a used Denon 5.1 channel receiver with Dolby Digital capabilities. Otherwise a new Yamaha would be a pretty good and loud unit.
 
Harman sells their refurbs on ebay all the time. You can pick up one of their avr-146 receivers for around $150, maybe a little more to cover shipping.
 
HK would be a good buy. Like I said earlier, you wont have any problem at all blowing your ears before your HK runs out of steam.
 
Pinipig523 said:
I know those speakers very very well. Those are the same speaker my parents have in their living room after I got them to see that Bose isn't the holy grail.

Anyway, enough side story chat... you know you have very sensitive speakers and you can run them with almost nothing - even 10 watts will be enough to get cops knocking down your door. I would suggest a decent Yamaha receiver in the $150s to get you going or if you want you can try the Panasonic XR55 or 57 receivers for a little more. Also, Harman Kardon makes good receivers and you'd be well served going with even their entry level 147 receiver.

Good luck and happy listening.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Panny Xr-55 is the best receiver for the $$ atm.
 
homIcIde said:
I have a pair of Klipsch F-2s and a pair of F-1s which I am hoping to use as front and rear speakers for a 5.1 setup, respectively. I need a receiver to power this, as well as a center and sub. Recommendations? I am hoping to do this as cheap as possible w/o underutilizing the speakers, as it is for a house of college guys who just want to watch loud movies - not a bunch of audiophiles.

On a separate but related point, I haven't tested these speakers and there is a chance that one or more may be blown. If one is blown, would it be more cost effective to get it repaired or just start the system from scratch?
Click to expand...

I had a pair of Klipsch KGs with a blown woofer and it was pretty reasonable to get it fixed, so I'd check on that. Klipsch has a number you can call for parts IIRC.

The Panasonic is a great choice.

You want the sound of your center to match that of your mains so I'd look to the Synergy line for that as well, the C-2.

I'd take a look at the Hsu STF-2 for a subwoofer. $349. If you really want to cheap out you could go for a Bic 10" but you've got some pretty decent speakers (even though I personally don't like Klipsch) so it'd be kind of a shame to pair them with a real bargain basement subwoofer. My personal feeling is that your sub(s) should cost at least as much as your mains, which would put you into some nice mid range subwoofers from Hsu or SVS or the like, but I understand you're trying to get by for less.
 
Yes, a bad subwoofer could make the whole thing pretty pointless.

SVS I hear is really good but it is also a bit of money compared to the receiver you are looking at... Most people aren't really fans of Velodyne's bottom of the line subs but they are pretty decent. Personally I hate Klipsch subwoofers, they make more noise working their ass off than they put out bass. (case with all Klipsch subwoofers at Best Buy anyways, perhaps the reference line is different)

And like Nicolaskl said, a matching center channel speaker would be best. If I were you, I'd find a matching center speaker on eBay (used) and watch the auctions. I've seen some pretty cheap center speakers fly thru there recently...

My $0.02
 
There's a C-2 on eBay right now with a starting bid of 1 cent and no reserve. I'd guess you could get it for somewhere in the $150 range based off what it sold for new.
 
Yeah it is very important to have matching speakers for 5.1. This is especially true for the front 3. As to a sub: Avoid the entry level Klipsch. The Daytons or HSU or Av123 all are great entry level >$220 subs that do a great job.

The panasonic xr-55 and 57 is an excellent receiver. The power is digital and super clean. It also has a right decent dac that gives it an unprecedented sound for under $200.
 
Nicolaskl said:
There's a C-2 on eBay right now with a starting bid of 1 cent and no reserve. I'd guess you could get it for somewhere in the $150 range based off what it sold for new.
Click to expand...

Sadly for the seller I'm actually guessing that it'll go for less than 150 dollars because the guy said he paid 236 dollars for it. Center speakers from what I've seen don't go for anywhere near their full price. My bet: less than 100 bucks. Go for it dude :) Best sounding center channel for your setup since it'll match.
 
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