I’ve been given a budget of $1,500 - $2000 to create a friends home theatre system.

Im a huge audio person, when it comes to DJ’ing and stuff. but home theater is something im not all to familiar with.
help me out??
the system should consist of: he would like a 5.1 more. a 7.1 would be okay though
the satellites
receiver
subwoofer

to make it simple for him i guess, im trying to stay away from amps and what not.
and since i dont know much about HT systems, i dont know if that budget is big or not, but thats what im given.

so some help would be greatly appreciated.
even if its just recommended brands.

Thanks,
Ankit

 

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YSP-4000BL-Di...r/dp/B000V7H1HM

 

Klipsch and Mirage are two brands that come to mind for speakers

As for receivers, it is hard to go wrong with Denon, although Onkyo and Yamaha offer some nice options as well.

As well as woofers, you are primarily concerned with power, so dont worry about brands.

They have this deal on Vann's that by what I have read, is a mind blowing deal. $1200+ speakers for $400 (each). That would give you some awesome up front speakers which you could pair with rears, center, etc.

Klipsch XF48

On Vann's they even have specialists you can chat with to recommend a system, I'd give them a try.

 

also checkout av123

the mfw-15 sub is amazing and on sale right now.

it also depends on the room and display.

i like onkyo for receivers.

yamaha does their own dsp thing, so if he definitely wants dolby and audyssey codecs, he needs to look elsewhere.

check out the back of a home theater mag for their top picks as well.
there is a large difference between towers, bookshelf, sat+sub, on wall inwall........

 

http://www.hometheatermag.com/buyersguides/speakers/

The HSUs look really good as well. with bookshelf speakers you will need stands for best performance

and make sure the receiver upconverts everything to HDMI.

get your cables from monoprice, otherwise you will need to save 15% of your budget for connections.



P.S> 2000 is not alot for home theater.

 

Check out AVS forum, they know their stuff

 

Spend most of the budget on speakers because they never become obsolete and he may want to upgrade the receiver later. Get a decent sub.

$200 - Receiver (craigslist?)
$500 - Sub
$1300 - 5 bookshelf speakers

AV123, HSU and Paradigm are good places to start for speakers.

SVS makes great subs

Get a receiver with the most digital inputs possible

Ignore watts when shopping receivers.

Stick with 5.1 on this budget

A great choice for him might be an Onkyo HTIB. You can get a good receiver and speakers for $500ish, and he will probably be very happy with it. It's easy to upgrade down the road and will give him a chance to figure out what he likes and appreciate the better gear.

I've steered a couple guys this way and they were very happy.

 

 

i figured so, its just what i was given.
also, he himself isnt a huge audiophile (obviously)
but i figure get him the best for the money right?

 

then just buy a simple kit. especially if it isn't yours.

look into that unit I posted above. it'll make shit easy on you. they sell a 3-piece set on amazon that includes the subwoofer and mounting bracket for $1900, and it will look good mounted below his tv. plus, no satellite speakers = no wires to hide.