Here's my post on your audio side:
Give us some information:
How big is your room? What are you aiming for - a truly theatrical experience or a 2 channel haven? Tell me what your room is shaped like? etc.
The thing is, always remember this, a bad sounding room, no matter what speakers you put in, will still sound bad. Thats why I reccomend first and foremost getting room treatments before going balls to the wall on anything.
Secondly, in my experience in home theater, there are two things that will truly bring you to impress other people. The first being a projector (and with the right screen you can make it as bright as a plasma for under 1k). The second being a subwoofer.
Look at brands like-
1. SVS
2. Epik
3. Elemental Designs
Lastly, remember, diminishing returns! I think audiophiles sometime take this hobby over board. You will be hard pressed to tell a difference between a good pair of 1k speakers and 10k speakers if you set things up right. More expensive doesn't mean sounding better.
Lets tackle this one issue at a time:
1. Speakers
Speakers are an interesting beast. You can have the most amazing sounding speakers, but they can be ugly as hell. This is the exact reason I went Onix Rocket.
Another thing to keep in mind is, the CENTER CHANNEL. It is the most important part of your home theater since 99% of the time it is active. The Onix Center I have is 50lbs in box.
Depending on where you live, you might want to audition as many brands as possible. Always audition your speakers before buying them. When buying speakers, I would reccomend getting a lower end tower speaker. That way you get some oomph and it looks classy.
Here's a short list of speakers to look into:
1. AV123- the Onix Rocket line (the company is now defunct due to the owner partaking in charity fraud)
2. Energy- the Connoisseur line (
www.energy-speakers.com)
3. Paradigm Audio - the Studio line
4. Polk- the LSi line
5. Klipsch Reference
6. Axiom Audio
A word of advice, always shop around, and ALWAYS look used. Use your craigslist, frequent forums, etc. Here is a helpful list of links I conjured up:
1.
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...re-sale-trade/
2.
http://www.tweakcityaudio.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=15
3.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=127
Some of those speakers look expensive, but I bought my entire Rocket set at 1000 dollars. A full 7.1 set, at 1k. Which would retail at 3k + shipping. Always look used
.
Here's an example of an outstanding deal used:
http://www.tweakcityaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3264
As with anything, talk him down, get those speakers, and your essentially done with your main speakers.
2. Bass
The challenege is, you live in an apartment? No problem! Here is the best known secret in home theater.
BASS SHAKERS for your bass. The Buttkicker LFE kit. Its a really nice piece of magic for apartments. This little item will give you the same effect of those huge subwoofers, only it makes zero noise and is cleverly hidden underneath your couch
. They can be had I believe for 400 bucks. You might want to get another one just in case. Don't believe me? Read this review:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/s...kicker-lfe-kit
3. Electronics
Don't worry about going high end in your reciever / amplifier. In today's world of audio, low - mid range of items tend to have 99% of electronics that you need. So if I were you, like they mentioned in the thread, the usual names are the ones to be looked at.
1. Yamaha
2. Harman Kardan (I personally favor these due to the warmness of their sound)
3. Onkyo
Don't spend more then $400. Reciever technology moves too fast, standards become obselete, and your left with an aging peice of technology.
Ask yourself when buying a receiver-
1. How many components will I be hooking up? (HDMI is a huge deal these days)
2. Does this receiver have audio correction software?
3. Am I buying this product short term or long term?
Always remember, get a nice remote! Those Logitech Harmony's are a Godsend.
