what is the most important part of a home theater system?

Question

I'am looking at putting together a home theater system. i just
purched a new hd 1080p tv now for the sound where should i put
most of my money in the receiver or the speakers???

Answer 1

Everything is Equal.

Speakers
You want to try to stay with the same brand of speakers. Myself I love Boston Acoustics. You should go to several stored with your DVD's and listen to everything in your budget. go with what sounds best to you.


Power.
Amplification it's what actually makes your speakers work. You want to make sure that the RMS or constant power rating ins't to much for your speakers. Also make sure it has plenty of inputs for your system to grow and cover what you have now.

Cables. The wires that sent signals to where they need to go.
Don't skimp here, the bargin bin is something to avoid, but you don't have to buy a 100.00 3 ft optical cable either. Mon$ster makes good product, but you do not need the top of the line it's too expensive and is overrated, just go with something of good quality and construction.

Speaker Placement is a biggie, you want to make sure you get a good even placement, Put your powered sub in the corner.

DVD players. A next Gen Player is a great idea.

HD-DVD and Blu-ray both have there flaws and there peaks.
there are a few players that will do both. but they run about 1200.00 You can get a PS3 599.99 and an Elite 499.00 and the HD-DVD add on for the 360 170.00 I think for about the same price, and have both next gen video game systems.

Don't forget the couch, thats a big key also, thst where your going to be sitting anyways.

If I had to choose between Receiver or Speakers. Id go with the receiver because it's easer to get new speakers than it is to redo the receiver.

Answer 2

First, buy nice speakers. The bigger, the better. No matter what Bose says. I preferr B&W due to their flat response and open sound stage. I consider speakers the most important, because if you buy a nice set of speakers, you won't need to replace them for many years. Also don't place them in room corners. That will just add unnecessary bass. Most tower speakers are designed to be placed 2 to 3 feet from the walls near the corners. Not right along the walls.

Secondly, I would say your amplifier. If you have the money, try an amp / preamp combo. This will give you the cleanest sound. Also, when it is time to upgrade to the latest decoding, you only have to upgrade the preamp and not your amplifier. If you want to save some money, buy a good audio / video receiver. They are a good all-in-one solution.
For separates, I like Rotel. For A/V receivers, I recommend Integra. (High end Onkyo)

Next, but equally important are your cables. Audio and video signals need to travel through your cables. All cables will adversely affect these signals. The better the cables, the less they will damage the signal. Myself, I use AudioQuest. They make many levels and are built extremely well. It is hard to say how much to spend. Remember that if you buy good cables, you can use them for many systems to come.

Next, I would say power conditioners. Believe it or not, they do make a difference. Especailly on newer digital systems. They will give you more depth in your music by taking that background hiss out. They can also increase the black levels on your TV by reducing the video noise. I use Richard Gray. It isn't cheap, but it works. Monster, Furman, Panamax, and APC also make decent conditioners.

Next I would say your video display. Old school rear projection TV's and tube TV's will give you the most accurate colors. Plasmas come in next. Then DLP's and LCD's.
RPTV's and tube TV's are big and bulky and sometimes have reflection issues if there are lights behind your.
Plasmas are slimmer, but also have the issue with lights.
DLP's don't have a glare issue, but are hard to see from angles, and often have added video noise in the pictures.
LCD's are slim and don't have glare issues. They are good for gaming, but cheap ones will have issues with fast motion blurring. 1080p Recommendations: Plasmas - Runco, Pioneer or Pioneer Elite, DLP's - Mitsubishi, LCD's - Runco or Sharp (Sharp - 64 or 92 series) Cheap 1080p LCD's have bad motion blurring issues.

As stated above, seating is important. Buy comfortable seating and try to place it in the middle of the room, but a little closer to the rear speakers than the front.

I could go on. Instead, visit a local custom dealer (not chain store) and ask for their advice. If you have a budget, tell them right away and decide if you are more of an audio person, or video person. This way they can build the system to cater to your wants and budget. Also, remember that you get what you pay for.

Answer 3

Look on AVSForum - it s generally pretty consistent how people divide their budgets and it s nothing like people are recommending here.

Budget: 65-75% speakers (these stay in your system and voice the sound), 10-15% amplification (this also stays in your system), 10% processor (changes out frequently with different formatting, 3D, etc.), 5-10% source (same as processor), <5% cables (there is an article on AVSForum by an electrical engineer suggesting you could use lamp wire for speaker cables). The only cable you may want to get picky with is your HDMI because of how it conveys the data.

Example: I have PBN Montana SPI fronts ($7500), SPC center ($2500), Mini Monitors for surrounds ($1750), HSU Subwoofer ($900). I have a Emotiva XPA-1 (bought used(2)) $1000, XPA-5 ($500, bought used), Integra processor ($1600), Oppo 103D bluray player- best you ll get for video ($600), Soundquest SQ10 CD player ($350, retail $900). Monoprice cables - $100 or so.

Answer 4

Hi. My answer is fairly long but there is no way to make it shorter so if you can bear with me you will have a better understanding about how the components affect the system.
.
Most Home Theatre enthusiasts get it wrong when they are connecting their systems. When you are assembling an Audio and Video Home Theatre, it is still important to follow the basic rules of High Fidelity sound systems.That is the most important component of your HomeTheatre is the Source component (DVD/CD Player,VCR, Satellite etc.)The quality of the audio/video signal coming out of this first component will determine the quality of the video you see and the sound you hear from your Speakers.Every other component in the system merely passes on this signal with greater or lesser accuracy. None can enhanse or improve it.Information is passed down a chain from one component to the next and in one direction only.Nothing in the chain can improve upon what is sent to it.Because we can't make the signal better than it is on the software,the goal is to degrade it as little as possible.If information is lost, damaged ,distorted,changed, or altered at the Source,nothing else down the chain can make up for ,or repair it. You have to put something good into the system to get something good out.A better amplifier will not improve a bad signal from the Source.It will only highlight it.The next most important component is the Interconnect cables that transfer the signal from the Source to the Preamplifier/Processor.This device selects the input ,controls the volume,processes the sound and controls the amount of power the Power Amplifiers send to the Speakers.Any small error by the Preamplifier,such as noise,distortion or harshness,will be multiplied when the Power Amplifiers make a larger copy and send it to the Speakers.Preamplifiers are the heart of the system.The greatest compromise in a Receiver is the use of a single power supply for all three sections (the Preamp. the Power Amps, and the Tuner).The needs of the Power Amps. section affect the Preamp section.That is why Receivers are not as smooth,effortless.open,and full sounding as Separate components.(separate Preamp,separate Power Amps ,separate Tuner)
After the signal has left the Preamp, it arrives at the Power Amps.Their job is to move the speakers back and forth with control and accuracy while not introducing any noise or distortions to the musical signal it receives from the Preamp. The speakers must amplify the full bandwith of 10 octaves with complete linearity.they must not shift phase at any requency and it must not amplify any harmonics more than others.To do so would distort musicality.
Finally the signal travels to the Speakers via a special cable which can alter the signal if the wrong one is used . Many Home Theatre enthusiasts believe that the speaker is the most important link in the Home Theatre chain. This seems to make sense because it is where the sound comes from,and true enough,if you change to a better set of Speakers a very different sound will come forth.But that sound has not corrected a bad signal, it is still there mixed in with the new speakers sound. The new speaker has not improved what was sent to it. But to the listener it appears that the speaker has corrected the signal.,which of course,it hasn't.Even inexpensive speakers can sound very good if they receive a good signal.

Ok.Here is the order of importance in the audio/video chain :

[1] SOURCE.
[2] INTERCONNECT (from source to preamp)
[3] PREAMPLIFIER/PROCESSOR.
[4] POWER AMPLIFIERS.
[5] SPEAKER CABLE.
[6] SPEAKERS.

Anyway i hope i have given you some ''food for thought"Armed with this knowledge you should be able to get something good.If you have any questions or remarks feel free to email me .I am always pleased to help anyone when it comes to audio and video.

Answer 5

And now I know why some say that this field is confusing. I disagree with most that has been said. And I don't like the strong promoting of sub woofers that sellers and installers put on. Speakers are extremely important and if it were not for most receivers cutting off the bass to all speakers except the sub woofer, I would use my front left and right for bass reproduction. Most quality speakers used to produce better bass than most sub woofers today even forgiving them their high distortion because of ported tuning to "improve" base. When it comes to bass more is not better, cleaner is better. And don,t be sold on Monster anything. Your improvement bang for you dollar is very negative/miniscule. i.e not the place to waste your money.

I have been in electronics for over 50 years and an audio enthusiast/hobbyist for near that.

Answer 6

The most important part of a home theater is the display. Without a nice, high res and large picture, everything sucks.

As for the sound system, the receiver and speakers are both equally important. I would still be spending more on speakers than the receiver.

Answer 7

That you are satisfied with your investment

Answer 8

the subwoofer