|   Home Sound 101 | need4help
Oct 21, 2002 10:54 AM | | OK, I know everyone has a different ear. I know mine needs some work. But I am getting no where fast on figuring out how to set up my house. My appologies in advance for this basic 101-type posting.
We did a renovation and decided to wire the family room, dining room, kitchen and outside (we did other rooms, but I'm going to leave those burried for now, and probably forever). I'm on a budget, so the guy who wired me up suggested Klipsch contractor series, a Niles 2x75 Amp, and speakercraft AIM-Ones for the back corners of the family room. He also said he would charge me $1800(!!!) to install all this (6 sets of speakers, if I hadn't burried 2), and 18% off MSRP.
That didn't seem right to me, so I went to the local hi-fi guy, and he had me listen to the Speakercraft CRS v. the Klipsch SC (I liked the Klipsch), and said I would also need a center channel and a subwoofer. He suggested a Speakercraft BB-835 (8x35) Amp. He offered a 12% discount off MSRP, and said it would cost about $150 hour for two guys to do the work, and probably take a 1/2 day.
Does the local guy's advice make sense? Is an 8 channel x 35 watts enough, with the understanding that I will bridge channels in a few locations. Is a Speakercraft Amp any good? I looked for reviews but came up empty.
If not, should I just order the equiptment off the internet (at 25% MSRP), and install it myself. I'm handy, but generally clueless about sound. I like the idea of having a long-term relationship with the local hi-fi guy, if he's being straight.
Is putting 1 AIM Dual tweeter's in the kitchen (which is open to the family room) really dumb? I'm thinking the sound will generally come from family room, and that this would just be for background. The idea is to save the integrity of this old house (ie, cut down/hide ceiling speakers), but I don't want to do this if I'm just destroying the sound quality.
Finally, I'm currently going to use my JVC receiver that I bought last year (100 watts x 5 min (front center, rear)) for the family room. Other than the fact that it doesn't allow me to play two different zones (which I will probably hate soon enough), does this make sense for the time being.
ANY advice to a man who just wants to sit back and enjoy the sounds would be GREATLY appreciated. THANKS, and my appologies for going off! |
| |
