Best places to talk Home Audio?

February 25, 2008 8:42 PM

What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups/forums for someone wanting to learn about said items?

I'm working in big-box retail (and loving it, thank you very much), and there are some extremely tempting Employee Accommodations available to me. I've been looking at home audio a lot recently, and this cements it--I'm definitely buying when the components cost between 50 and 75% less than retail.

The catch is, I don't know very much about home audio. I've googled the models, and gotten some information. I've googled for audio and home theater forums as well (with tons of results), but I don't know who to trust or respect. That's where I need your help. What and where are the best audio/home theater discussion groups and forums, so I can get good advice and not waste my once-a-year accommodations purchase or, at worst, buy the wrong thing and burn the house down?

(Because I know you'll ask: My preliminary plan is to get a Harman Kardon AVR-144 receiver with two Klipsch RF-82 floorstanders and an RW10d sub. Price to me: roughly $700 for everything. Yes, this will be an ad-hoc 2.1 system on a 5.1 receiver, but I'm not buying everything at once for budgeting reasons.)

posted by Phyltre to technology (10 comments total)

IMO, begins and ends with AV Forums
posted by sandmanwv at 8:59 PM on February 25, 2008

Although similar in name to sandmanwv's suggestion, AVS Forum is probably the top dog in this arena. You will be hard pressed to find a larger, more fanatical group of AV nuts in any one online community. Just take the time to read the FAQs and use the Search function before posting, as many obvious/common questions have already been asked and answered.
posted by mosk at 9:16 PM on February 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Yeah, AVS Forum is pretty much the standard. Unfortunately, it's suffered from its own success (MetaFilter Syndrome?) Popular topics/devices yield literally hundreds of PAGES of comments, putting a pretty heavy burden on anyone trying to be thorough in their research. I felt obligated to read through several thousand comments before settling on an HDTV purchase.
posted by robbie01 at 9:31 PM on February 25, 2008

HTGuide is a smaller forum which I have found very valuable. Definitely has a smaller, tighter-community feel to it compared to the others.
posted by david06 at 9:45 PM on February 25, 2008

In addition to the aforementioned AVS Forum, I recommend the Home Theater Forum. Members are very personable, even though it's a huge site.
posted by Monochrome at 1:52 AM on February 26, 2008

avs forums, for sure. i had a similar experience to robbie01's.
posted by lohmannn at 6:23 AM on February 26, 2008

For the purely audio part - Audio Asylum.
posted by caddis at 7:02 AM on February 26, 2008

nthing AVSForum.
posted by somanyamys at 8:34 AM on February 26, 2008

A recommendation on using the AVSForum. Yes, lurk and search, first, then ask for help.

And whatever you do - STAY OUT OF THE PROJECTOR forums!
posted by cptnrandy at 9:54 AM on February 26, 2008

Audioholics is a good resource for A/V Home Theatre stuff.
Sure, they have a link to their forum, but the real gold is in their "AV University" and "What to buy" sections. They'll really tell you all about the snake oil that is peddled in the AV industry (Bose, Monster Cables, etc)
posted by ijoyner at 10:30 AM on February 26, 2008