New to HT, opinions requested

[EmperorBox]

So I am looking at buying my first Audio system ever from BB. Having

auditioned the F-3's before, I liked them but that was months ago and I

will be auditioning them again.

Realistically, these speakers will be used for HT and such, not as much music, though some.

Current setup I am looking at:

2 F-3's

2 B-3's

1 C-3

For receivers, I am up in the air, but I am looking at Pioneer VSX-1016TX to try to fill the gap, my inputs I have:

1 hdmi

2 component

5 Composite S-video

I live in an apartment, I don't have the exact dimensions, but the living room looks something like this:

__

|

/ where areas of the left side of the living is wide open, so wall mounting is not an option.

First of all a few questions on this possible future purchase, since I am rather new at this:

1. Will I need a sub? I havent added them in, because it comes close to

the top of my budget and if I can get away with watching movies without

one and still sounding great, that would be fantastic?

2. Your opinions on the speaker setup, I assume they will match perfect

because they are of the same line. How well will they fit my apartment

design?

3. How does the receiver hold up to what I need?

4. Never having done this before, what will I need for wiring and will

monoprice.com fill that gap for me? What options should I use for

audio, optical or coaxial? What is the difference?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[Cal Blacksmith]

So I am looking at buying my first Audio system ever from BB. Having
auditioned the F-3's before, I liked them but that was months ago and I
will be auditioning them again.



Realistically, these speakers will be used for HT and such, not as much music, though some.



Current setup I am looking at:



2 F-3's

2 B-3's

1 C-3



For receivers, I am up in the air, but I am looking at Pioneer VSX-1016TX to try to fill the gap, my inputs I have:



1 hdmi

2 component

5 Composite S-video



I live in an apartment, I don't have the exact dimensions, but the living room looks something like this:

__

|

/ where areas of the left side of the living is wide open, so wall mounting is not an option.



First of all a few questions on this possible future purchase, since I am rather new at this:



1. Will I need a sub? I havent added them in, because it comes close to
the top of my budget and if I can get away with watching movies without
one and still sounding great, that would be fantastic?

If you want to feel the sound effects, you will.

2. Your opinions on the speaker setup, I assume they will match perfect
because they are of the same line. How well will they fit my apartment
design?

The setup is less than perfect but you can get some fairly good sound.

3. How does the receiver hold up to what I need?

Most any receiver in the $500+ range will get you a great start. The maker isn't really a factor, most are about the same. Just pick the one that has the features that you want and you are good to go. I don't know anything about the receiver you mentioned, I am a Yamaha man myself.

4. Never having done this before, what will I need for wiring and will
monoprice.com fill that gap for me? What options should I use for
audio, optical or coaxial? What is the difference?

Wires will open a big debate here. My opinion is just use a good 14 to 12 gauge wire from the local electronics store or home improvement center and you will be OK. As to optical/coax, just use what you feel. The optical has 2 additional transformations to make (electric to light and back) while the coax is slightly more suseptable to electrical interferance but either will work fine.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[DrWho]

1) "Yes" - especially if you'll be watching a lot of movies. However, if budget doesn't permit then this is something you can certainly postpone for later when funds return. Being in an apartment setting, a subwoofer becomes much less of a concern (unless you want to annoy the neighbors) []

2) Your package looks pretty good. Assuming you have some speakers right now, you might consider using them as surrounds to fund the purchase of a subwoofer. If you stick with the Synergy line, then I would recommend the Sub-12 over the Sub-10 (in fact, don't bother with the sub-10 if that's the only thing you can afford). Anyways, you can make your purchase in steps and put off the surrounds for later.

3) Receiver should be fine. I'm a bit biased towards Denon, but I would also argue that every brand receiver in the same price range is going to sound about 90% identical. The most important criteria is that the receiver has all the functionality you need. I didn't look up the particular model Pioneer you're looking at, but you should make sure it does video upconversion - that way you don't have to change the video input on your TV when you change between sources that use different video formats (in other words, upconversion allows you to connect a single HDMI cable to your TV and everything will be upconverted to run down that cable). For what it's worth, I happen to prefer HK and Yamaha over Pioneer.

4) As far as wiring - the guys at Best Buy are going to try to sell you on some esoteric fancy high priced cable. This is where they make most of their profit which is why they try so hard to sell you on this crap. I personally just get my cable from Radio Shack because it's convenient (again, avoid the silly high-priced items). Bluejeanscable.com seems pretty popular too. The only difference you should consider between cables is the longevity of the connectors (aka, good strain relief and quality connectors) - not differences in sound quality.

As far as your room layout, could you provide rough dimensions that correspond to that shape? You might consider setting up your system to fire into the room at an angle to provide better symmetry across your front sound stage. It also would make it easier to position your surrounds.

[Briankz]

1 - subs can come later, when you're ready for 'punch' in your music, and 'rumble' in your HT

2 - it seems like a good match, though I went with the JBL fronts and the rest klipsch because I thought the JBL stadiums sounded better. They also mixed well with the klipsch synergy's

3 - Receiver is great, I have the 1015tx.

4 - go with atleast 16 gauge wiring for your speakers, and bi-wire the klipsch's. as far as cables go, go with your budget. you don't need to pay 'monster' prices to get good performance.

5 - go with a good surge protector / line conditioner, it makes a very noticeable difference

[bismarck]

IGNORE

[bismarck]

4) As far as wiring - the guys at Best Buy are going to try to sell you on some esoteric fancy high priced cable. This is where they make most of their profit which is why they try so hard to sell you on this crap. I personally just get my cable from Radio Shack because it's convenient (again, avoid the silly high-priced items). Bluejeanscable.com seems pretty popular too. The only difference you should consider between cables is the longevity of the connectors (aka, good strain relief and quality connectors) - not differences in sound quality.

What? Over priced cables!?! Not in your dreams. Everyone needs monster, in fact, everyone needs Audioquest!............Well, maybe not..?..

I would buy good cables, not the cheapest you can find and not the most expensive. It is easy to find alot of Monster and AcousticResearch stuff for half off online. I have ripped open enough Monster and AR cables to see that Monster is made higher quality so like the good doctor said, they can last longer, or hold in place better etc... I have also heard that Bluejeanscable.com is great and accessories4less.com is good (I think that is the name). Another great site is harmanaudio.com, they sell refurb HK stuff for half off and some new stuff at MSRP.

[tommyboy]

I wouldn't recommend getting the sub while you're in an apartment. It's a tease. We lived in an apartment when I bought my RW10, but I wished I would have waited. I had to always have it turned down, and could never let it "spread it's wings"