[nickum32]

So, being new to the Head-Fi forums, I'm just curious to see what you guys and your infinite wisdom think of my home stereo setup. Just a few notes, most of this equipment was hand-me-down or a birthday present, since I'm only 16 and only got a job in the past year. At the moment, I have my setup built around my Onkyo TX-SR304 receiver/amplifier. In front I have a pair of twenty-five year old Marantz HD880s, which IMO sound awesome. In back, I have a pair of Infinity Reference 2000.6. I am absent a center speaker. Hiding in back I have a 600 watt VIBE Audio car subwoofer running off of a car amp with a high wattage PC power supply, which I mostly use to entertain my friends who thought that the pair of 12's hiding in my Marantz's was not enough bang. For all of my media, I have my stereo hooked up to my computer through a digital optical cable. Also, for portable use, as well as use when the parents are home, I just got a pair of Phiaton MS 400 headphones.
 
So, for a total of less than $500, I think that's a pretty good deal, how about you guys? Also, mind you, I am only 16, and am just beginning to amass my collection 

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[doof-ed]

Sounds pretty hectic! jealous of the Onkyo - looks like a decent machine
 
Sounds loud!!! I too am missing a centre speaker but doesnt bother me really.
got any pictures?
 
Just read you're 16! thats awesome

 

[nickum32]

Yea, it is VERY hectic, heehee. That's part of what makes it so fun, though. And yes, it is also VERY loud. I am in a basement with three of the four walls made of concrete, and it actually does a very good job of amplification without degrading the sound quality.
 
 

 
This is my whole setup. You can see my custom gaming PC, 28" monitor, the sub, one of the Marantz's, and my Phiaton's. Also, you can't see the wiring that is hidden in the corner of the room, that's where it gets really crazy.
 
 

 
There's the Onkyo.

 

[moodyrn]

You asked, so I'm going to give you an honest answer. I know you are young, and I put together my first home theater system when I got my first place at age 22. I had some mismatched parts as well. But I scored a hk avr80(retailed for 2200),  a nice pair of mitsubish tower speakers, a polk center channel, a 10inch mission sub, and also a much nicer sounding(didn't know it at the time) pair of sansui speakers, and a decent pair of surrounds. I was out of about 300.00 total. And this was in 97, before the internet was common place. I didn't even own a computer. So not only was I a noob, but I didn't have the resources that exists today. You could have done better for 500.00. A lot better. There are sooo many options for a complete, matching system in that price range. You should have put a lot of time into planning. There are also some pretty good deals to be found as well. With the resources available today, some careful planning could have yielded better results. I don't mean to sound harsh, but you did ask. So this is my honest answer. I don't believe in "sugar coating". I would rather someone tell me my outfit makes me look like a fool, than for someone to be nice and tell me I look nice. Then go out in public and people make fun of me.

 

[moodyrn]

I want to add a couple of things. The last apartment I was in before I got married, I put together a very good sounding home theather system. Everything I bought was refurbished directly from harman kardon's ebay store. It consisted of a pair of harman kardon 6 in bookshelves for the fronts and surrounds(retailed for 349 a pair), a 5 in matching center channel(retailed for 249) a harmand kardon 12 in sub(retailed for 500) a hk avr 225(retailed for 550) a hk dvd 25(retailed for 349). This was a 2000.00 system that I paid 600.00 for total. This was a very good sounding hometheather system that until about a couple of months ago, I still used for my bedroom system. Another example is the last car audio sytem I had. It consisted of 4 alpine type R 12 in woofers and a lanzar opti 2000d that push 2000 watts rms in a 1ohm load. I paid 500.00 total for that sytem and killed other people sytems that they paid thousands for. My very first stax sytem was a pair of lambda pros I paid 175 for and a srm1 mkII I paid 180 for. I prefer that setup to multi thousand dollar setups I've listened to. With patience and careful planning, you could put together a really good setup for little money.

 

[nickum32]

I just have a few notes about my money allocation. I paid $175 for those headphones, which IMO sound great, and we all know that after the general fidelity and overall quality, which these ones have in spades, comes the personal sound preference, and these headphones sound absolutely perfect to me, especially for that price. I did not buy any of the tower speakers, or the receiver, I only bought the subwoofer, which I paid only $200 for, with amplification. So, looking at your home stereo setup, I would say I got the better deal. Plus, considering I only work a very small part-time job due to high school and sports, I would consider this quite a system for me and my situation.