Home Theater Rebuild - Phase 1 - Really could use advice

netpez

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Hey all... so I really need some advice and am literally at the hair tearing out stage trying to figure out a good solution. I am NOT a Audio and Video guru, I don't really keep on top of the latest trends, as a matter of fact the items being replaced are about 12 years old (ancient... I know). This is my main room I entertain in, and I do love to put on big booming movies and sports in this room (and yes I love to kick up the volume till the house shakes)

Background​

While do a major remodel in the home, we went ahead and upgraded our almost dead Pioneer Elite Plasma TV (The finest TV I have ever owned) in our Family Room. As you can tell by this statement, its has been a long time since we have upgraded our Home Theater Equipment. We got a LG OLED 65" CX (looks great!). and realized our receiver doesn't do 4k. Then while doing research, we realized the newer receivers would blow out my current speakers (4 ohm), because they are usually rated 8 ohm (6 at the lowest). So now I have to identify a new receiver and new speakers. Before we go about naming off the most expensive brands, please note, that this is taking place AFTER a VERY costly set of home remodeling (new wood floors, new kitchen tile, fixed up and repainted walls, new granite countertops, new kitchen equipment (washer, cooktop, oven and hood), new basement carpet and other items as well. That being said, money is now TIGHT. You will see based upon some items I am leaning towards that they are budget friendly to put stuff in place, and then later rebuild piece by piece.

The Receiver​


I could be wrong, but based upon a lot of stuff I am reading we are kind of in a "in-between" spot in terms of receiver technology. 8K seems to be around the corner, but they still haven't resolved 4k issues yet... heck not all receivers seem to come with HDMI 2.1 yet... Because of that and my budget scenario, I was looking at either the Sony STR-DN1080 or the Yamaha RX-V6A. The Sony seems to (according to reviews) be a pretty solid receiver but with few bells and whistles. It also has no HDMI 2.1 capability. The Yamaha seems to have some favorable reviews, and comes with HDMI 2.1 capability (although many features of that seem to be unavailable until future updates. The thing that bothers me about the Yamaha (correct me if I am wrong) is that I heard something about it switching power between sets of speakers. This leads me to believe it is not as powerful as some other receivers including the Sony? I like the fact that while both are rated for 7.2, they both come with an additional 2 connections (I run 7.2 inside my family room, but have 2 outside speakers on my adjacent deck that I like to power on as well). Any input on these 2 receivers (or any other recommendations) is highly appreciated!!!

The Speakers​

Mentioning (again) our current budget restrictions, my wife recommended a set of Klipsh speakers from Costco (a 5.1 channel set set) This set falls under $1K which according to some folks is quite a deal.

The set includes:
  • Klipsch R-52C Center Speaker
  • Klipsch R-625FA Tower Speaker (x2)
  • Klipsch R-41M Bookshelf Speaker (x2)
  • Klipsch R-12SW Subwoofer
I haven't even looked at speakers in over a decade, and it suck I have to now, because if you look at my old outgoing equipment, I had some really nice Martin Logan speakers. I have no idea which brands are good nowadays. I have no idea if these Klipsch speakers and the brand overall is any good. I do have a couple of pre-existing issues that are cause for concern however

My Speaker setup issues​

If you take a look at the diagrams I have included in this post you will see a couple things. One item is that the couches are close to the wall. I have no way of resolving this issue. The other issue is that because of oddball openings in my walls (the only downfall of an open designed house) limits where I can place the speakers. Because of these issues, my surround and rear surround speakers are placed anywhere from 8-9 feet above the floor. I have tried to remediate the best I can by using mounts that point the speakers downward anywhere from 30°-40°. The other issue cause by open walls is something probably a lot more glaring to most of you, and that is that my surround speakers are NOT where they should be placed (at ear level or slightly behind). As a matter of fact, they are placed about 2 feet in front of of secondary listening position and about 6 feet in front of primary listening position. This room already had wires in place (through the walls) and the wife has put her foot down on any damage to the walls since they have just been redone. I don't know how bad this situation is, and if there are any recommendations on how to resolve it. Also, I am not sure if it something I should be concerned about, but I believe the speaker wires running through the wall are 16 gauge and not 14 gauge.

Because of couch placement height of speakers and the other issues, I have been racking my brain on what surround and rear surround speakers to get. I believe the R-41Ms in that costco deal are too deep (front to back) at a little over 11" to get a good angle to my listening positions (without being close to 90°). My old surrounds (Motion 4's) were much shallower at 5" making it easier to get a desired angle. I looked at other Klipsch speakers including the R-41SA which seems to have almost a upside down right triangle look, but it had a max amperage of 100W (50 RMS) which had me concerned about potentially damaging them at higher volume). The R-500SA has a better power rating, but again, I am not sure I am using the right speaker for the right purpose.

Another Klipsch option I was looking at because of the incorrect placement of my surround speakers was the R-402S or R-502S. I don't know much about these type of speakers. Someone mentioned at first they were bi-polar meaning same sound went out both drivers which sounded good, but then someone said they were di-polar and did some sort of noise cancellation and there was mention of null spots and other things.

I can't be the only person who has run into this type of situation, and I figure there is a lot of knowledge here that could help me with this speaker setup dilemma. I can't believe the choice of 4 speakers could cause so much headache.

As a side note, I already know because of high ceilings and open walls and other things that I most likely will NOT be able to experience Dolby Atmos in this room, at this point all I am looking for is SOLID surround sound experience that I can crank and put a smile on my face... oh and without my wife looking at the bill and planning my demise.

Old outgoing Equipment:​


Main Level Overhead View:

frht_overhead_main.png


Upper Level Overhead View:

frht_overhead_upper.png


View of Front Wall:

frht_wall_front.png


View of Left Wall:

frht_wall_left.png


View of Right Wall:

frht_wall_right.png


View of Rear Wall:

frht_wall_rear.png
 
The Sony model is 2017 so not really something to consider as it´s missing lot of features. Yamaha RX-V6A and Denon X2700H should be good choices. But as you have Costco shop nearby i would go with the TSR-700 model which is specifically for Costco and it´s identical to RX-V6A. It will cost only 399$ so quite a no brainer as the Denon cost twice of that! Yamaha is trying to find a fix for the hdmi 2.1 bug. Denon came with free "box" which you will need to use if gaming. Otherwise 8K is so far away still. Yamaha has good amount of power, little bit more than the spec says it seems. If you are eyeing the 2channel driven figure for 7channels that is not happening with any unit! Don´t stress about it, choose speakers that are easy to drive and have high sensitivity. Klipsches are usually that.




Klipsch is very popular choice in States (this is UK forum!), but the models you listed are the cheap Reference serie (R) and some people don´t like them cause they sound so bright/harsh. Better option would be the RP range, but it will cost lot more. However i have heard there is discounts possible. Something like RP-6000F or RP-8000F (1k$), RP-504C front three would be ideal, but you would need to build the system slowly starting from 2.0. This would be much wiser for long term as you end up with so much better system later on.

Alternative option is to look used locally if you really can`t up budget or can`t wait to build it slowly. The earlier range so RP-260F or RP-280F with RP-450C. Same as below:
Amazon product ASIN B07K1H7V36
The surround speakers are tricky. The height isn´t necessarily issue as typically with 5.1/7.1 system you would mount them about 2feet higher from seated ear height so go with the 8" if that is lowest you can do. Also if the surround speakers come in front of listeners then the RP-402S would be more ideal and they are bipole by design. It´s tricky with the open rear space, but if you want the effect channels then no way around it. Start with the bipole side surrounds (5.1) and worry the surround backs (7.1) later. You already have to make too much compromises..

One thing that would let you down would be the cheap package woofer for such large open space while knowing that you have superior options in the US. You want big booming bass with house shaking so fairly loud listening level is used. Sadly the woofer you have picked in that list is not going to put smile on face, amp failures are popular also. But i don´t know what to say as you have so low budget that decent woofer would eat over half of it. Second thing is you want to have two subwoofers at some point cause it`s very unlikely that you get good response for each seat so depending where you have listeners some frequencies are going to sound stronger and some weaker/non existent. The second sub would give you typically smoother response and it would help also with the extra headroom. But again i wouldn´t buy two cheap woofers which will fall off around 30hz and the quality of bass is what you pay for. Rather you would be looking something better around the 500-600$ mark from dedicated subwoofer manufacturer (SVS PB1000 Pro, HSU, Monoprice Monolith 12 THX etc.). There is no requirement to buy "matching" woofers so you should look the company that specializes in to them as you get so much better bang for your buck with long warranty and 365day support! This is tricky situation with such low budget, you buy something cheap now and you can be sure you will upgrade it sooner than later and lose money doing so. Quality woofer(s) can make your system so much better and also keep in mind that they are taking big load off from your receiver as the subwoofer is powering the power hungry range with it´s own amp and large drivers.

My advice would be to start with some very good 2.0 system, then the sub next and then center channel etc. Hell use the speakers you have there with the new mains until you get enough money to get rest. Yamaha will power them fine. You already save 200$ with the TSR-700 so use it for better speakers! The FA625 wouldn´t make any sense cause you don´t use the Atmos modules.
 

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