Building my first real Home Theater

[flannj]

I am a long time Klipsch owner and am in the process of finishing my basement. This means lots of choices to be made and questions to be answered. At this point I own two black Choruses that I will be using for front speakers one black academy for the center channel. Also I just purchased a black Velodyne DD-18 subwoofer. I also have a pair of black KG 2.5's that I could use for the rear surrounds. I am limiting myself to a 5.1 system due to the Wife Factor (an additional 2 speakers would probably result in my head being shaped like a frying pan). At his point I am considering either Rotel or Sunfire electronics. I really like the Rotel RMB-195 and feel it would be a good choice to drive this system. But I am comfortable with Bob Carvers products. In either case I am not set in my choices for electronics.

The TV will probably be a Panasonic 60 inch DLP.

Question #1 - Are the KG2.5 a good choice for the rears? I know Fortes or Choruses would be a better match but their size is larger than I would like for that location in the room. A bookshelf size would be a better fit physically. I assume 2 more Academys would work but they are getting bit overpriced and I would want them to be flawless in appearance.

Question #2 - Opinions on the electronics (also DVD player).

More questions will follow.

I am impressed with the level of expertise on this site and welcome any comments or advice.

Thanks in advance,

Flannj

(I also have a pair of black K-Horns in my family room driven by a Carver M-1.0t and the KG2.5's are currently in the kitchen hooked to the family room system and driven by a separate M-1.0t amplifier.)

[Guest Anonymous]

to say the least i a personally do not like the panny dlp's, they are i believe only 2nd or 3rd generation... although the chip in the panny dlp is the hd2+ chip which is a good chip set more info on the chip can be found here:

http://www.digiupdate.com/105_DLP_RPTV.html

i would highly reccomend looking at a the new hitachi ultravision line for tv's personally i think they are a better looking tv and they are just as bright as the dlps

[Chris Robinson]

Flannj, first, welcome to the forum!! Post often and let us know how your project goes.

Since 80% of the sound will come from your Academy and Chori, I think you're fine with your existing rears. No need for frying pans here. Keep the peace. At least you're staying with Klipsch, so there are greater sins of ommission. They should be fine.

For the DVD ... wow, there are so many choices. After a few revs on mine, I got the Philips DVD963SA which also supports Super Audio. It's no longer in production, though, but you can find them on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=61247&item=5750774159&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

It's a very musical deck too, especially with the Black Gate power supply cap mod. Search the archives with "Black Gate" and you'll probably find it. It's a killer $25 mod that really takes this player way up in performance.

For electronics, the big favs here (pocketbook depending) are BK, Rotel, Aragon, Denon and Outlaw. BK and Aragon seem to hold the top spots performance wise. In my next home (soon, probably), I'll replace my beloved Denon AVR4800 with an all-Aragon setup. I love the ease of the interface and many here say they are lovely with Heritage systems.

Good luck, and let us know how things progress.

_______________________________

Music Hall MMF-7 Turntable w/ Goldring Eroica H MC

Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CDP with 24 bit/192 KHz Upsampling

Wright Sound WPP-100C Phono Stage

JF Lessard Pantheon 6SN7 SRPP Preamp w/ RCA 5R4GY & Sylvania 6SN7

JF Lessard Horus Parafeed Cobalt 2A3 SET Monoblocks w/ Tung Sol 5687 & AVVT 2A3

1976 KCBR Klipschorns with ALK Crossovers

Gear Online: Two Channel & Home Theater Systems

[rplace]

Hey flannj welcome!

I have spent the last few months building out my basement and just last weekend watched my first movie in the mostly finished room with my new electronics. I have a very similar set up to you with Chorus/Academy/Chorus up front. During the rough construction I would drag my equipment back into the room and test it in various configurations trying mixes of Chorus, Academy, Forte, and Heresy. My favorite so far was Chorus/Forte/Chorus up front, so I think long term I will end up there or if the right set up circumstances pop up three Choruses up front (anyone out there have a chorus or two they are looking to rid themselves of). At any rate I think you will be in great shape to start out with your current line up of Klipsch speakers.

As for the electronics I have been a long time Carver fan when coupled to what ever Klipsch speakers I had at the time. Since I already had separate Carver amps and preamp I went with a Sunfire Theater Grand IV. I would give this a long hard look if you are at all considering Sunfire. I absolutely love it. Build quality is great, the look fit and finish are first rate, very well laid out, simple to use and oh yea by the way I think it sounds fantastic.

I also picked up a new DVD player to go with the TGIV. I went with a Denon 3910. So far I am very happy with it.

I cant help you out much in the TV department I went with a projector and screen. If you have that option (reasonable light control, etc.) give that some thought.

One word of advice, take you time and consider all your options during the construction. I went back and forth between 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1. The room gets a lot smaller as the framing/drywall/trim/carpet/furniture works its way in. I did wire for 7.1 just because you never know and it is a lot easier now then later.

Good luck, Rich

[Ki Choi]

Let me throw out my 2 cents. I too have built my HT setup (it's still in Work-in-Process...)

For the DLP projector and DVD player choice. To me the most important feature was DVI (or HDMI) interface capability. There are many characteristics in audio that people claim the "night-&-day" differences (such as power cables, etc...) but it ends up being a very subtle differences, if any. The DVI to Component display differences can be seen especially if you are planning on large front projector screen.

I have a Heritage 5.1 setup with front Khorns, Belle Klipsch center, and Heresy rears with SVS sub. I have tried top end Yamaha 7.1 receiver and Denon AVP processor, etc. but pretty happy with Sony TA-E9000ES + TA-N9000ES (for summer) and 5 x Heathkit W5Ms (for winter). Although the AC3 (DD) and DTS format supposed to do best with 5 equal speakers, I just don't hear much information from the rears from most movies and music DVD's that warrants better speakers than what I use. In most cases, the rear is noticeable when the shots and explosions are going . I don't think one needs equal speakers to hear the better noise.

Ki

[flannj]

I pulled the trigger yesterday. Impulse buying? Who me? I visited my local Rotel dealer and liked what I saw and heard. A great thing about living in the Chicagoland area is easy access to multiple dealers of all sorts of equipment. Bought a RMB-1095 amplifier and a RSP-1068 pre pro. $3100 for the package before sales tax. High sales tax is a bad thing about living here. Compared to buying the Sunfire demo I still get 200 watts per x 5. But I get brand new unused equipment with a longer warranty. Separates as opposed to a receiver (good for future pre pro upgrades). All for 200 bucks less. What I definitely heard was a lower noise floor on the Rotels. What I imagined I heard was a little less strain at high power levels. Unfortunately I also get a lot more heat and size with them as well. Although I liked the Sunfire quite a bit and from what I know and have experienced with my own Carver equipment they are well built and reliable. I am wondering if Sunfire may be pricing themselves a little too high with their recent increases. I found the Rotel dealer to be very low pressure and knowledgeable as was the Sunfire dealer. So, here is how my developing 5.1 system stands. Rotel electronics, Chorus mains, Academy center, KG 2.5 rears and Velodyne DD-18 subwoofer. Panasonic 61 inch DLP. All getting ready to be placed in a currently being constructed basement. Gramas701, I understand your reservations about DLP and chip issues but I dont have much choice in this case. My father-in-law is a Panasonic distributor and he can save me A LOT on this new unit coming out in May (beggars cant be choosers). The DVD has yet to be decided. So now I have a basement storage area filled with cool equipment that I cant hook up yet.

Thanks for the commentary everyone.

Flannj