Advice needed on home setup

[Polaris]

Greetings,

I'm looking for advice on how to setup my home theatre(s) setup. I'm a relative novice and please accept my thanks in advance for your patience!

I am looking to set up three and possible four different rooms.

1. Room 1 (160 sq. ft.): LED TV, HDMP, BR/DVD/CD player, Tata Sky+ HD STB, laptop
2. Room 2 (150): LED TV, HDMP, Gaming console, laptop
3. Room 3 (175): LCD TV, HDMP, Tata Sky HD STB
4. Room 4 (270) (maybe): Audio system only / pipe output from Room 1.

I'd like surround systems ideally for all the rooms and I'd like to accomplish this properly and economically with aesthetically pleasing and clutter-free results. IMO, only Room 1 and Room 2 (and possibly 4) require a sub-woofer. I am unsure as to what the current standards are and if 5.1 setup is still sufficient. I would appreciate insight on how to go about this: whether to go for home theatre systems or to build decks, speaker systems and so on. If you would like to know the size of each room, please let me know!

My thanks once again!

 

[hydra]

I'm not really sure your exact situation, and whether these four rooms are meant for four separate people. If most of this is meant to be used by one person, I'd suggest combining rooms 1, 2 and 4. You'll be able to setup a far better room and use far better equipment by combining the budget (which would otherwise be spread over 3 rooms).

You'll need to mention your total budget or room-wise budget, to get meaningful replies.

 

[Ajay Kamath]

Depending on room size, layout etc, there are a lot of possibilities.

You can get a 2 zone receiver for Room 1 so that your Room 4 requirement is taken care of. However, using just the OEM remote of most AV receivers, you will only be able to change source and volume of Room 4 when you are in Room 1.

 

[Polaris]

Hi Hydra,

Thanks for your reply These are basically different rooms (living and bedrooms) in a house and each member of the family could well be using them simultaneously. Room 4 is the drawing room and I'd ideally like to be able to pipe out output from Room 1 to Room 4, if that's possible.

I'm iffy on the budget as I'm not entirely certain how large the ballpark is But it's definitely on the low to medium end. I also prefer brands which are not too exotic as to make service a hassle. If it's any indicator, I would not want to spend say, more than 40-50k on an amp.

I look forward to your advice.

 

[Polaris]

Depending on room size, layout etc, there are a lot of possibilities.

You can get a 2 zone receiver for Room 1 so that your Room 4 requirement is taken care of. However, using just the OEM remote of most AV receivers, you will only be able to change source and volume of Room 4 when you are in Room 1.

Thanks for the reply, Ajay! 2 zone receivers sounds interesting and the limitation that you've mentioned is not much of a hassle. I'm assuming that it is not an either/or setup - I can have both zones playing at the same time at different volumes? Multiple sources?

I will update room sizes in my OP shortly.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

If you are already not having a home network with NAS in place, its highly recommended for your requirement.

 

[Polaris]

Thanks Jeyaraj. Yes, that's the plan for the media players My media player choices are very likely to be round 3 in my quest! I particularly want to ensure Hi-10 support.

----------
Denon AVR-1912: I am actively considering this for Room 1 + 4. I like the 2-zone system. But how good or bad will the second zone be? Any limitations? Please also suggest alternatives as well as compatible speaker setups.

Onkyo S5400: This appears to be the other alternative for Room 1. I haven't checked the price on this yet, but I expect that it'll be a lot cheaper than the Denon and takes the compatibility issues out of it, albeit at the cost of quality. Something will need to be done for Room 4.

Onkyo S3400: For Rooms 2 and 3. 5.1 and some compromise should be fine for these rooms, IMHO.

Please let me know what you guys think. I'm open to all suggestions and if you think that I'm being an idiot, please say so - I've got my asbestos boxers on!

 

[Ajay Kamath]

I'm assuming that it is not an either/or setup - I can have both zones playing at the same time at different volumes? Multiple sources?

----------
Denon AVR-1912: I am actively considering this for Room 1 + 4. I like the 2-zone system. But how good or bad will the second zone be? Any limitations?

I've got my asbestos boxers on!

Yes, there is full flexibility with respect to which zone is playing and the source. Some receivers output to Zone 2 even when the receiver is in standby. The only limitation is that digital sources are not output to Zone 2. You can get around this by making an additional analog connection for such sources.

Zone 2 speakers usually don't have any crossover settings or distance settings.

LOL @ asbestos boxers!

 

[Polaris]

Thanks Ajay. Re: digital sources and multizoning, I should, for e.g., have an HDMI connection between my HDMP and the AVR as well as an additional analog connection between the two? That seems cumbersome

I now have an additional system with respect to the room configuration. The couches unfortunately have to be placed flush against the walls and I'm wondering as to the best position for the speakers. From the looks of it, 7.1 is out and as I'm not in full control of the setup, I have to compromise in not having the two side-speakers at ear level. From the looks of it, they're going to have to be placed 3 feet above my ears and about 4 feet in front of me, albeit tilted towards my position. This is a real downer What are the drawbacks for this? Is there any way to mitigate this situation somewhat?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ajay Kamath]

Yeah, you'll need dual connections. Remembering the inputs is a bigger nightmare than hooking up the additional cables!

The surrounds could have been better positioned, but don't worry about the height. That's fine. And don't bother tilting the speakers towards the couch either. Surrounds should be de-localized.