[SouthPaW1227]

Wow, and I thought high-end headphone gear was expensive...who was I kidding?! Think buying ONE pair of awesome heaphones is expensive? Try buying SEVEN awesome speakers!

Man...I got a MG Head OTL MkI & a set of AT W1000s and I was set...total cost: ~$500

But of course, me being an audiophile, this bled over into the speaker realm, and man...the final product is insane, but my wallet is yelling uncle. I decided to go all out and construct a complete home theatre system. After lots and lots and lots of researching here's what I ended up with:

Harman/Kardon AVR 230 6.1 Receiver
Denon DVD-2200 Universal Player (DVD/DVD-A/SACD/CD)
Fronts: Athena AS-F1s (2)
Surrounds: Athena AS-B1s (2)
Center & Rear Center: Athena AS-C1 (2)
Subwoofer: Athena AS-P300
Projector: BenQ PB6100 DLP HT Projector
A/V Rack: Sanus NF206 in Black
Gobs & gobs of speaker wire, cables & interconnects

Phew, that's all I can think of off the top of my head...of course my Xbox, PS2, and GameCube are all there as well as my Dell XPS for the occasional HTPC usage.

Needless to say, these Athena's are absolutely *incredible*. I'm hearing parts of music I never imagined were there, and the H/K receiver is mind-blowing as far as sound quality, style, and raw power are concerned. This receiver is WAY underrated too...it'll get so loud it causes pain. Plus it's triple-crossover system lets me put seperate crossover levels on the fronts/center/surrounds...nifty. Headphones are awesome, but man, having a mind-blowing surround system is just another ectasy-inducing situation. Plus seeing a DVD on a 100"+ screen is a sight to behold. Total cost: way too much...I bargain hunted everything and cut every penny I could and still spent nearly $2,700. Not a lot to some of you, but remember I'm in college, heh...the sweetest part of all of it was scoring the subwoofer on eBay for $75!!! Some dude listed it in "Kitchen" and misspelled it, thus I was the ONLY bidder on a $300 subwoofer in perfect shape, that was awesome. Heh, but anyway, do any of your headphone lovers own a equally awesome home theatre setup? Which do you prefer? Sorry to say, but my HT setup just outdoes my cans in most areas.

 

[D-EJ915]

Nice catch with the sub

. Harmon receivers are regarded as the "high current" amps, which essentially, they "play louder" than regular ones.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Nice job putting together a nice HT system. I bet you're loving life right now with the projector and all those incredibl speakers.

This post also helps put the headphone rig thing into perspective. Owning seven sets of cans is one thing, and would give you every flavor imaginable, but having the HT system for movies and such will be a killer experience unrepeatable with cans.

Congrats.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Now if only they'd put out more movies worth watching on such a great rig

 

[lan]

Two speakers are difficult enough to place so I couldn't imagine setting up a surround system. I also don't have room for that. I'll be sticking with stereo for the unforseeable future. Nice system though.

 

[RYCeT]

Wow, $2700.00, not as expensive as I thought would be. Now what you should do is to get someone who bought bose ht set up and let them experience yours.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan Two speakers are difficult enough to place so I couldn't imagine setting up a surround system. I also don't have room for that. I'll be sticking with stereo for the unforseeable future. Nice system though.

The newer receivers make that easier than ever. You can adjust the distance for each set of speakers, so as long as they're pretty close to equidistant for each speaker pair you're set. Now making the environment work with all those speakers is a whole other matter entirely.

Thanks, but I'll stick with cans.

 

[kartik]

Having spent about $5000 on my headphone based rig, I would beg to differ with the idea that headphones come cheap. And I'm using the SR-325s which are only ~$300. Headphone amp: $400, SACD player $1500, Analogue source: $1440, Phono preamp: $400, Cartridge: $300 , Assorted cables : $400, Alternate digital amp: $200

Edit: Retail values being Headphone amp: $800, SACD player $2999, Analogue source: $1600, Phono preamp: $500, Cartridge: $300 , Assorted cables : $600, Alternate digital amp: $4499

Headphones are not a cheap hobby!

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

pioneer 5.1 surround receiver, miller + kreisel 5.1 speaker set, speaker stands, sony dvd player, and tons of speaker cable = a little more than you spent. but i will agree, it has earth shaking sound capabilities. when i did live in a house it was spectacular. and there are plenty of awesome movies to watch on a system like this, saving private ryan, close encounters, star wars special edition laserdiscs..... i could go on and on. but for now i have to enjoy my movies on the pioneer surround headphone setup, ahh the joys of apartment living, feh!

 

[gpalmer]

Heh, I've got over 10K just in the speakers for my main rig, trust me, you got off cheap!

 

[SouthPaW1227]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kartik Having spent about $5000 on my headphone based rig, I would beg to differ with the idea that headphones come cheap. And I'm using the SR-325s which are only ~$300. Headphone amp: $400, SACD player $1500, Analogue source: $1440, Phono preamp: $400, Cartridge: $300 , Assorted cables : $400, Alternate digital amp: $200 Edit: Retail values being Headphone amp: $800, SACD player $2999, Analogue source: $1600, Phono preamp: $500, Cartridge: $300 , Assorted cables : $600, Alternate digital amp: $4499 Headphones are not a cheap hobby!

Ah yes, but you're including MUCH more than I was talking about in my example. You have an above average source as well as LPs which I don't have, nor including in my price.

Strickly talking speakers, it's WAY cheaper to get even a single set of high-end cans than to buy a mid-fi surround system b/c there's 5+ speakers to purchase right off the bat.

And gpalmer, yep, I thought I came out *very* good only spending that much. I saved somewhere between 40-50% off retail prices which I figured was pretty good. At any rate, it's blown me away, and anything better would instantly push me in the $10k+ range...heh, not until I get a career!

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ServinginEcuador Now making the environment work with all those speakers is a whole other matter entirely.

Yeah. I think I won't really get into speakers until I can build my own room.

 

[ooheadsoo]

My stereo setup you can see in my sig cost me about $1400, technically worth about twice that much. I like it better than my headphones in just about every way

Unfortunately, I'm about to upgrade my preamp/headamp, maybe soundcard, maybe throw in an eq, and definitely getting some room treatment done. My wallet has asthma

 

[m0nKeY bUsiNeSs]

SouthPaW
How does that Denon DVD-2200 sound with SACDs and DVDaudio?

 

[SouthPaW1227]

Quote:

Originally Posted by m0nKeY bUsiNeSs SouthPaW How does that Denon DVD-2200 sound with SACDs and DVDaudio?

It performs stunningly, to say the least. I upgraded from the Pioneer DV-563A universal player and this thing blows it away. It's SO CLEAR and evokes every layer of audio recorded with beautiful ease. I have never been so pleased...this ~$600 item I got for under $300 as a "refurb" from eCost. Of course, they sold out 14 hours after posting and don't have any more coming soon so I'm glad I got in. It arrived in PERFECT shape (not a stratch or blemish anywhere) and all outputs & formats worked flawlessly.

Multichannel DVD-A & SACD is where it's at. You think stereo SACD & DVD-A is good? You'd be blown entirely away at 5.1 music. It is insane. This player handles both formats amazingly and has it's own bass management system too. Plus, the picture quality on DVD output is outstanding as well. I couldn't recommend is highly enough if you can score one under $400. This thing performs like a champion.

EDIT: In addition, it plays redbook CDs just as beautifully. I *LOVE* using the Dolby II for Music decoder in my H/K AVR 230 as it takes stereo CDs and honestly turns them into surround sound, and does an AMAZING job of seperating voice into the center and giving it a VERY BELIEVEABLE multichannel effect. I use a Coaxial Digital output for CD & the 5.1 (6 cables) analog output for SACD/DVD-A. Buying 3 pairs of interconnects JUST to get true SACD/DVD-A output was a pain, but it's worth it.