Help me set up a basic home theatre system
January 13, 2015 8:16 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for absolute noob-level advice on setting up home music/theatre in two rooms on different floors of the house.
Our set-up will be:
Lounge: Smart TV (Samsung UA40H5500), DVD player and speakers. Content will come from the DVD player, USB and streaming from Windows laptops and maybe Android tablets. We’d also like to be able to play from the stereo downstairs into these speakers, if possible.
Music room (downstairs): stereo system with turntable and speakers. We’ll listen to records, CDs, and even tapes (if we can find a player).
We have the TV, DVD player and turntable. We need the upstairs speakers, and the rest of the downstairs system.
Let’s say we’re trying to spend about USD$1500, but if that isn’t enough we could go higher (maybe up to $3000). What should we buy? I’m looking for both brand-names recommendations but also types of devices [e.g. “you will need an amplifier”, “you should also get a Blu-Ray player”…. Assume I know absolutely nothing. Any links to good buying guides would be welcome too.
Our set-up will be:
Lounge: Smart TV (Samsung UA40H5500), DVD player and speakers. Content will come from the DVD player, USB and streaming from Windows laptops and maybe Android tablets. We’d also like to be able to play from the stereo downstairs into these speakers, if possible.
Music room (downstairs): stereo system with turntable and speakers. We’ll listen to records, CDs, and even tapes (if we can find a player).
We have the TV, DVD player and turntable. We need the upstairs speakers, and the rest of the downstairs system.
Let’s say we’re trying to spend about USD$1500, but if that isn’t enough we could go higher (maybe up to $3000). What should we buy? I’m looking for both brand-names recommendations but also types of devices [e.g. “you will need an amplifier”, “you should also get a Blu-Ray player”…. Assume I know absolutely nothing. Any links to good buying guides would be welcome too.
Best answer: This looks like it won't be easy. The basic problem is that you have sources in multiple rooms.
There are lots of products out there for multiroom audio. BUT. Some of them, like Sonos and Airplay and the like, seem to be intended to take digital music from a variety of networked sources and bring them together, so you can play music from this computer or this tablet anywhere in the house. But at a glance, it doesn't look like these are (usually) intended to deal with live sources and especially not analog stuff like phonos and casettes.
And some of them are receivers with multi-zone output, so you can listen to whatever source in one room or another. But to get this to work, you won't just have to run speaker wire from the downstairs receiver to the upstairs speakers. You'll also have to run the inputs from your upstairs components -- tv, dvd, bd if you get one, computers and tablets -- downstairs to the receiver. At best this will be a real pain in the ass; at worst it might be beyond the capabilities of unshielded RCA cables if the rooms are far apart. And wherever you are, you won't be able to control the sources in the other room. If you're upstairs, you could listen to a cd or record that was already playing downstairs, but you wouldn't be able to start a record playing or control the cd player without actually going downstairs.
Honestly, with the budget you've stated I would just buy an AV receiver for upstairs and a stereo receiver or integrated amp for downstairs, let the systems be separate, and leave a lot of money in my bank account (assuming you already have the speakers). You could always scan an LP or cassette to a digital file by hooking the downstairs receiver to a laptop (which might have sucky inputs) or just look for existing, uh, freely available digital files of the relevant music, and stick the digital files on a laptop or tablet.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:05 AM on January 14, 2015
There are lots of products out there for multiroom audio. BUT. Some of them, like Sonos and Airplay and the like, seem to be intended to take digital music from a variety of networked sources and bring them together, so you can play music from this computer or this tablet anywhere in the house. But at a glance, it doesn't look like these are (usually) intended to deal with live sources and especially not analog stuff like phonos and casettes.
And some of them are receivers with multi-zone output, so you can listen to whatever source in one room or another. But to get this to work, you won't just have to run speaker wire from the downstairs receiver to the upstairs speakers. You'll also have to run the inputs from your upstairs components -- tv, dvd, bd if you get one, computers and tablets -- downstairs to the receiver. At best this will be a real pain in the ass; at worst it might be beyond the capabilities of unshielded RCA cables if the rooms are far apart. And wherever you are, you won't be able to control the sources in the other room. If you're upstairs, you could listen to a cd or record that was already playing downstairs, but you wouldn't be able to start a record playing or control the cd player without actually going downstairs.
Honestly, with the budget you've stated I would just buy an AV receiver for upstairs and a stereo receiver or integrated amp for downstairs, let the systems be separate, and leave a lot of money in my bank account (assuming you already have the speakers). You could always scan an LP or cassette to a digital file by hooking the downstairs receiver to a laptop (which might have sucky inputs) or just look for existing, uh, freely available digital files of the relevant music, and stick the digital files on a laptop or tablet.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:05 AM on January 14, 2015
Sonos is probably the least painful way to do this. Put speakers where-ever you want them, and it all runs over wifi. You can plug any audio-source into a Sonos bridge and it'll stream wherever you want it. You can also output Sonos to your TV speakers if you want to use them.
Beware of audiophile websites trying to sell you expensive cables and so on. Diminishing returns are reached quite rapidly for audio gear, and it's not worth spending a pile of money on expensive speakers and equipment unless you're a professional music producer.
posted by empath at 7:42 AM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Beware of audiophile websites trying to sell you expensive cables and so on. Diminishing returns are reached quite rapidly for audio gear, and it's not worth spending a pile of money on expensive speakers and equipment unless you're a professional music producer.
posted by empath at 7:42 AM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
But at a glance, it doesn't look like these are (usually) intended to deal with live sources and especially not analog stuff like phonos and casettes.
Nah, it works fine.
posted by empath at 7:44 AM on January 14, 2015
Nah, it works fine.
posted by empath at 7:44 AM on January 14, 2015
Best answer: I'm interested in doing something like this in our house and have done some looking. As hard as I've looked to find a cheaper solution, I haven't yet been able to find anything that approaches what Sonos can do. It seems to be the solution for doing wireless sound in a relatively easy and high-quality way (although I'd be thrilled to be enlightened to a cheaper way). It's not cheap, but it sounds as if you have a reasonable budget, so it'll probably work OK for you.
Here's what (I think) you'll need:
posted by Betelgeuse at 12:05 PM on January 14, 2015
Here's what (I think) you'll need:
- Playbar for your TV ($700); you can add a subwoofer for ANOTHER $700.
- A "Connect" for your downstairs stereo that will serve as a source on your stereo ($350).
posted by Betelgeuse at 12:05 PM on January 14, 2015
Best answer: God i just cannot abide by how expensive sonos stuff is for what it does. The what it is to what it does ratio is just hilarrible, and would make bose tip their fedora. It all sounds fine and does what it says on the tin, but it's just So. Expensive.
If i was doing this, i'd end up with a slightly more fiddly but much nicer system, audio quality wise. If you're willing, and going to spend this much then you should spend it where it counts.
You want a proper amplifier for the turntable downstairs. Something like a rega brio, or something entry level from peachtree. Both of those can be had for a lot less than that, that's just the MSRPs(i'd recommend vintage stuff too. But honestly, i feel like that's for people who either have meatspace friends to guide them on what to get, or people who know what they're looking for... and you probably don't want to deal with refurbishing things that likely need it)
Now you need some decent speakers. There's a lot of stuff out there, old and new. I'm incredibly happy with these. They're affordable, dynamic, go way lower than you think they would(or could) and have a really nice smooth high end. They also handle big "punches" in movies fine without ever feeling like they're being overloaded. I don't like sub/sat stuff, i just like big speakers with big drivers that can do full range. It always sounds better to me, especially for listening to music.
A lot of the stuff mentioned here under $500 would be good. Definitive tech and polk make great stuff. I'd buy those polk RTIs in an instant, and i bet you'd love them(i like the cheaper polks like the monitor series soooo much, and the nicer ones are well... the same thing, but nicer). Polk seems to have mastered the art in the 70s and 80s or cramming a lot of speakers in to an illogically small box with little to no downsides besides "wow, that's heavier than it looks".
Now for your upstairs setup. Buy two more of those speakers(or four, and the matching center channel that polk or infinity makes for that set) and grab something like this(full disclosure, i did a bunch of research and bought the previous version of this receiver a couple years back).
You run a network cable from that receiver to your router, and bam. You can stream to it from android, iOS mac or pc over your network. You can also control it with a remote app on ios and i think android. It's been INCREDIBLY reliable since i updated the firmware, and the new versions are probably even better. It just connects, i never have to reboot or futz around with it.
Do you have network jacks in your house? If you do, find the breakout box and bridge the ones that go to the tv room and the downstairs room. even if you dont, the solution to getting audio from your dedicated phono setup downstairs upstairs is this and a quick cat6 cable run through your wall(or you know, some other way, but yea). I don't like bluetooth, and sonos is a ripoff. You run the line level output(or pre amp out, with a y cable) to that adapter, then run it in to a line in on your receiver upstairs.
You have to go downstairs to put the records on anyways :P
The difference between a cheapo preamp and a sonos, and a proper amplifier with a real phono stage and some decent speakers is going to be very noticeable if you have a decent turntable at all. If you don't, my next upgrade in this system would be a nice-ish turntable like a pro-ject or whatever everyones buying nowadays. The biggest bumps in quality i saw were a good source, a good amp, and good speakers. A good source and an ok amp with ok speakers still sounds great. Great or even amazing amp and speakers with a meh source will sound tired. If you're willing to drop this much money, get a better turntable unless the one you have is already solidly good.
If you want a tape deck, go to your local used hifi shop(do these still exist? there's at least one in my town) and talk to the people there. They'll likely have a used nakamichi or sony ES you'll be happy with. Can't help with a great modern CD player since i still use my ADC from like 1985 because it sounds amazing and still works fine if i remember to clean it occasionally. CD players("transports") tend to either be harsh and tiresome or good though, there's not really any middle ground. I've owned a few nice ones, and when i didn't have one i honestly generally ended up doing lossless rips of my CDs and playing them through my nice DAC/recording interface instead of bothering because oww. Looking here it looks like NAD still makes one people like. My advice would be to do some googling and buy a used nicer one than that for the same or less money.
A nice CD player or tape deck through a brio in to decent speakers will sound better than 99% of the stereos you'll ever hear. That is right at the line of the point of diminishing returns. If you haven't listened to your tapes/cds/vinyl through a setup like that before you'll be shocked. It's like buying real headphones for the first time but more.
This is the third time i've said it, but i can't restate it enough. You're willing to spend enough money here to get a solid media setup, and an entry level actual hifi setup. Don't blow that much money on some little sonos boxes. Do it like you mean it.
I myself have a very similar setup with a dedicated phono system, and a general media system. The phono setup is mostly packed up because my current place is fairly small, but i'll be doing exactly what you're doing when i move in to a bigger place eventually. This is exactly how i plan on solving it.
posted by emptythought at 7:26 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
If i was doing this, i'd end up with a slightly more fiddly but much nicer system, audio quality wise. If you're willing, and going to spend this much then you should spend it where it counts.
You want a proper amplifier for the turntable downstairs. Something like a rega brio, or something entry level from peachtree. Both of those can be had for a lot less than that, that's just the MSRPs(i'd recommend vintage stuff too. But honestly, i feel like that's for people who either have meatspace friends to guide them on what to get, or people who know what they're looking for... and you probably don't want to deal with refurbishing things that likely need it)
Now you need some decent speakers. There's a lot of stuff out there, old and new. I'm incredibly happy with these. They're affordable, dynamic, go way lower than you think they would(or could) and have a really nice smooth high end. They also handle big "punches" in movies fine without ever feeling like they're being overloaded. I don't like sub/sat stuff, i just like big speakers with big drivers that can do full range. It always sounds better to me, especially for listening to music.
A lot of the stuff mentioned here under $500 would be good. Definitive tech and polk make great stuff. I'd buy those polk RTIs in an instant, and i bet you'd love them(i like the cheaper polks like the monitor series soooo much, and the nicer ones are well... the same thing, but nicer). Polk seems to have mastered the art in the 70s and 80s or cramming a lot of speakers in to an illogically small box with little to no downsides besides "wow, that's heavier than it looks".
Now for your upstairs setup. Buy two more of those speakers(or four, and the matching center channel that polk or infinity makes for that set) and grab something like this(full disclosure, i did a bunch of research and bought the previous version of this receiver a couple years back).
You run a network cable from that receiver to your router, and bam. You can stream to it from android, iOS mac or pc over your network. You can also control it with a remote app on ios and i think android. It's been INCREDIBLY reliable since i updated the firmware, and the new versions are probably even better. It just connects, i never have to reboot or futz around with it.
Do you have network jacks in your house? If you do, find the breakout box and bridge the ones that go to the tv room and the downstairs room. even if you dont, the solution to getting audio from your dedicated phono setup downstairs upstairs is this and a quick cat6 cable run through your wall(or you know, some other way, but yea). I don't like bluetooth, and sonos is a ripoff. You run the line level output(or pre amp out, with a y cable) to that adapter, then run it in to a line in on your receiver upstairs.
You have to go downstairs to put the records on anyways :P
The difference between a cheapo preamp and a sonos, and a proper amplifier with a real phono stage and some decent speakers is going to be very noticeable if you have a decent turntable at all. If you don't, my next upgrade in this system would be a nice-ish turntable like a pro-ject or whatever everyones buying nowadays. The biggest bumps in quality i saw were a good source, a good amp, and good speakers. A good source and an ok amp with ok speakers still sounds great. Great or even amazing amp and speakers with a meh source will sound tired. If you're willing to drop this much money, get a better turntable unless the one you have is already solidly good.
If you want a tape deck, go to your local used hifi shop(do these still exist? there's at least one in my town) and talk to the people there. They'll likely have a used nakamichi or sony ES you'll be happy with. Can't help with a great modern CD player since i still use my ADC from like 1985 because it sounds amazing and still works fine if i remember to clean it occasionally. CD players("transports") tend to either be harsh and tiresome or good though, there's not really any middle ground. I've owned a few nice ones, and when i didn't have one i honestly generally ended up doing lossless rips of my CDs and playing them through my nice DAC/recording interface instead of bothering because oww. Looking here it looks like NAD still makes one people like. My advice would be to do some googling and buy a used nicer one than that for the same or less money.
A nice CD player or tape deck through a brio in to decent speakers will sound better than 99% of the stereos you'll ever hear. That is right at the line of the point of diminishing returns. If you haven't listened to your tapes/cds/vinyl through a setup like that before you'll be shocked. It's like buying real headphones for the first time but more.
This is the third time i've said it, but i can't restate it enough. You're willing to spend enough money here to get a solid media setup, and an entry level actual hifi setup. Don't blow that much money on some little sonos boxes. Do it like you mean it.
I myself have a very similar setup with a dedicated phono system, and a general media system. The phono setup is mostly packed up because my current place is fairly small, but i'll be doing exactly what you're doing when i move in to a bigger place eventually. This is exactly how i plan on solving it.
posted by emptythought at 7:26 PM on January 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Poldo at 4:11 AM on January 14, 2015 [1 favorite]