Best sound in a home theater

[Geral]

So i've been researching about building a HTPC. But i cant find whats the best setup to have a nice sound for it.

Should i:

• 
  ■ Buy 7.1 speakers and conect them to the HTPC directly?
  ■ Buy a stereo system (with 7.1 speakers included) and conect the HTPC to that?

Also, how should i connect them?

• 
  ■ Optical
  ■ Digital
  ■ HDMI
  ■ Other
  ■ (I would appreciate a brief explanation on what are these exactly and which one is the best if possible)

e/: Wich one is better? 5.1 or 7.1? Maybe 5.1 would be the best option for movies, music, and gaming?

Should i buy a sound card for the HTPC?
And, what if i just play some music, how does that sound on 7.1 system?

Thx guys, if you know of a guide about this stuff out there, please give me the link since i am a bit confused.

Thx.

 

[Geral]

Thanks mate, ill go find the prices on them both.

the sony str-dh740 you suggested in the first place ( Link ), says 6 ohms. Will there be no problem with that? I mean, what if i conect 8 ohms speakers to that, will my speakers burn or something? What if its the other way, 6ohms speakers connected to 8ohm receiver?

I ask this because it might be cheaper to get that one via internet (incluiding shipping) than those from harman/kardon, will it be better that one? Thanks for taking the time to teach me this stuff

 

[ssddx]

i'm not sure how the pricing is going to be... but you can likely pick one up for a hair over $200 at the right time of year which would be a decent buy. then of course shipping and import fees... so i'm not sure if it would be cheaper or not. the reason i suggested that one is because whe purchased the 540 (older model i'm guessing) for about that price when i was looking for a cheap receiver to use with some rather demanding floorspeakers for my parents living room when they finally upgraded. it has its flaws for sure but it sure does power them nicely for $200 spent.

will it be better... well, not "better" but it might have a slightly more powerful amp then the 700 or 1510 units... i would say its amp is likely as powerful as the 2650. the 740 has switching so it can use 4/6/8 ohm speakers but the power will be a bit less for 8 ohm of course. i would say it is likely 100w per channel or a bit less at 8ohm.

build quality is perhaps just a bit better on the harman kardon then the sony but you pay extra for that. also many other brands in the same price range have less powerful amplifiers paired up with them.

another thing to keep in mind is that if you cannot get sony in your country... if it ever breaks how will you repair it? who will you take it to or contact?

so yes, the sony could work for you, however there are a few things to think about before making a decision.

 

[Geral]

Yeah i was thinking on that too.

What about this:

I mean, what if i conect 8 ohms speakers to that (6ohm receiver), will my speakers burn or something? What if its the other way, 6ohms speakers connected to 8ohm receiver?

 

[ssddx]

in most cases audio equipment will work together since afaik most have 4/6/8ohm switching.

a few examples:

100w@8ohm receiver connected to 50w@4ohm speakers: it will work, however since the amplifier is capable of more power than the speakers can handle you can not turn the volume knob up very high. if you go too high you could blow the speakers. you might not have much fine adjustment for speaker volume since you cannot turn it up high.

80w@6ohm (around 40w@8ohm) connected to 100w@8ohm speakers: it will work, however since the amplifier is underpowered you may need to turn the amplifier up high to get reasonable audio volume levels. capable of fine audio level adjustment however the max level is going to be quieter than other more powerful amplifiers

having a receiver capable of power just under what your speakers are rated for (ie a 90w/ch receiver for 100w speakers) is ideal. this would mean that you can adjust volume in fine increments and that the volume adjust scale with the knob is fairly accurate. it also means that since the receiver is physically incapable of providing more power than the speakers can handle that you will not blow speakers even if you maxed out your volume knob.

speaker sensitivity also has much to do with it. a speaker with a high sensitivity (say over 88db) will be easier to drive than one with a low sensitivity. in other words... it needs less power to drive. for example a speaker with 93db sensitivity will be louder and easier to drive on a low power amplifier than a 80db sensitivity model. higher sensitivity is considered good.

if you want to read technical jargon then this http/www.avforums.com/threads/impedance-ohms-and-their-relevance-to-speakers-and-av-amplifiers.1692649/ explains things far better than i ever could.

 

[Geral]

Oh ok mate thanks for that detail. Else i would probably blow my speakers.

I narrowed down my options to this receivers:

• 
  ■ AVR 700 75W / 6 ohms 5.1
  ■ AVR 1510 75W / 6/8 Ohms 5.1. This one has Radio Included and ARC (is arc good? what is it good for? and do i need it?)
  ■ AVR 2650 95W / 8 ohms 7.1. This one has ARC too, Radio included and Ezset/EQ (automatic equalizer). This IS the best one right?

And to this speakers:

• 
  ■ HKTS 5
  It says 5.1 system with 60W Subwoofer and the specifications says:
  Speaker Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 10W – 80W
  Speaker Sensitivity: 86dB @ 1 watt/1 meter
  Satellite Sensitivity: 86dB @ 1 watt/1 meter
  Satellite Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms
  Satellite Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 10W – 80W
  Speaker Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms
  Frequency Response: 45Hz – 20kHz (–6dB)
  
  ■ HKTS 16
  5.1 system with 200W Subwoofer and specifications says:
  Satellite Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 10 ~ 120 watts
  Subwoofer Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 200 watts RMS
  Satellite Sensitivity: 86dB @ 1 watt/1 meter
  Frequency Response: 45Hz – 20kHz (-6dB)
  Speaker Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 10 ~ 120 watts
  Satellite Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms nominal
  Speaker Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms nominal
  Speaker Sensitivity: 86dB @ 1 watt/1 meter
  
  ■ SCS 145.5
  5.1 system with 100W Subwoofer and the specifications says:
  Satellite Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 10 – 100 Watts
  Subwoofer Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 100 Watts RMS
  Satellite Sensitivity: 86dB @ 1 Watt/1 meter
  Frequency Response: 35Hz – 20kHz (–6dB)
  Speaker Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 10 – 100 Watts
  Satellite Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms nominal
  Speaker Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms nominal
  Speaker Sensitivity: 86dB @ 1 watt/1 meter
  
  ■ CS480
  5.1 system with 125W Subwoofer and the specifications says:
  Satellite Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 10 – 100 Watts
  Subwoofer Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 125W RMS
  Satellite Sensitivity: (2.83V@1m) 86dB
  Frequency Response: (-6dB) 110Hz – 20kHz
  Speaker Maximum Recommended Amplifier Power: 10 – 100 Watts
  Satellite Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms nominal
  Speaker Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms nominal
  Speaker Sensitivity: (2.83V@1m) 88dB

Acording to those options, what would you recomend?

I think the cheap option would be AVR 700 with SCS 145.5 or HKTS 5 (the second one being with better speakers).
The middle option would be AVR 1510 or AVR 2650 with HKTS 5 or CS480
The Best option would be AVR 2650 with HKTS 16

What do you guys think? what do you recommend with these options? Would you please tell me what is ARC?

EDIT: Will even the cheap combo be better than the logitech z906? or ill be just better buying those?

 

[ssddx]

out of those three i would say the 2650 is the best one, yes.

arc= audio return channel. basically it allows you to use a hdmi cable that is not in use for sound transfer. eg, you have a cable connected from the hdmi input on the tv to the hdmi on the receiver. typically this would not work, but with arc it can. generally this is just used if you wanted to play sound on your speaker system when you were using the tv tuner, playing things from smart tv apps or via a usb stick plugged into the tv which otherwise would not allow sound output in surround sound. however it can sometimes be useful if other devices do not support hdmi output but are connected to the tv. it comes in handy....sometimes.... but in other cases its not used at all.

to be honest i'm not familiar with Harman Kardon Speakers... so wouldnt be able to tell you how they sound compared to the z906 or which you should buy. just a guess here but likely the more expensive ones sound a bit better in addition to being more powerful by the specs. in this case i would suggest that you look at reviews for sound quality. while i dont personally know and did not research those speakers... i would say that your quality scale of worse to better seems likely.

all i can say is that typically home theater speakers tend to be better sounding than pc speakers. also i can say that the home theater may be able to get to louder volumes and be more easily connected to other devices. i can also say that typically hifi and home theater tend to be a bit more expensive as well.

the z906 is certainly a nice set of computer speakers. its a step down in quality from the previous z5500 but still nice. its a hard call to make as for if its worthwhile over cheaper priced home theaters though. i think whether its really an option depends on price. if you can get the z906 for half of the cost of a home theater in your country then perhaps its definitely worthwhile, if not then its more questionable... some things to note about considering it:

-it is 3.5mm or optical only. while this would work with your htpc fine will it work with any other devices you own? most of the market is hdmi only so i am not sure. this limited connectivity also means limited connection options in the future if you expand to many devices.
-price. here in the usa the z906 is just a bit under what a basic non HTIB home theater set would bring. this makes it compete with products which far surpass its capabilities. if however it is quite a bit cheaper than other options then it may be worthwhile considering on price alone.
-it has less quality sound then many home theater...which is rather typical of pc vs hifi but the 906 doesnt sound bad. compared to other pc speakers it sounds decent enough.

completely your call on the route you want to go... i'm not sure what the difference in cost between the z906 and the home theater sets is down in your country. if the difference is quite large... then you might want to weigh out the pro/con of the decision and figure out if the one outweighs the other for options vs the price paid.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

the thing about watts: most of your listening you will find your probably using 10-20w from your main speakers, the sub might use a bit more. 100w rms into most 90db sensitive speakers it quite damn load. Also 100w is not twice as loud as 50w, half the watts reduces volume by 3dB. 25 watts would be approx half the volume (-6dB) of 100w.