[wrekt]

Alright ladies and gents, need some advice here. Been doing some reading, but feel overwhelmed when it comes to this audio stuff. Few buddies of mine are going to rent a house and move in for a year and we're going to be setting up a sweet pad.

Here's what I am looking to do.

- 5.1 surround - I'm thinking for my budget, I am better off with a higher quality 5.1 than a 7.1
- Need all speakers and a receiver

What I am currently doing is running an hdmi cable from my computer to my tv. I use this because it already has the blu-ray player and I have all of my movies archived on my computer. At my new place i'd like to just set the computer up next to the t.v, or hide it in the cabinet. I'd like to keep the computer in use because we like to bash each other in some street fighter 4 once in a while. So how does all this work with setting up the computer to the receiver and the TV? Do I need the receiver since the video card/mobo I have runs 5.1 sound through the HDMI? I am assuming the sound on the computer is poo poo compared to a receiver.

Also, I am not sure on budget and what I should be spending. I know you get what you pay for, but I was thinking around 700? Is that too low for what I am looking to accomplish? I'm not sure exactly what I need, but if anyone can steer me in the right direction or give some advice on what to do, would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[hometoast]

Check out the Onkyo RC-160 for about $300-340, or the Yamaha v465 for <300 for a receiver.
Speakers? I've heard good things about Energy for the price. Newegg has a combo deal with a 10" Klipsch sub for $300 shipped

 

[monogoat]

Your computer may have 5.1 through the HDMI, but that is digital and unamplified. The only way you could get away without using a receiver is you

A) Buy a digital 5.1 PC Speaker Setup

B) Have analog connectors on your computer as well and use those with some adapters and regular speakers.

The built in amp for analog is probably crap, so if I were you I would buy a nice receiver and speakers and run the computer through that. Ideally get one with HDMI in and out, then you only run one cable to it, it decodes the digital stuff and makes it sound good and sends the video on to the computer. And you could add more devices later on and just use the receiver to switch them (game consoles for instance).

 

[wrekt]

Awesome, thanks for the links fellas. I'll go with the receiver/speaker setup. When hooking up the computer to all of this, do I just plug the HDMI into the receiver, or does that still plug into the TV? Easy question im sure - i'm just trying to envision the whole thing.

Any other setups/options? Should I raise my budget? Never actually having a setup like this I am sure anything will probably blow me away.

 

[hometoast]

If you get a receiver that switches HDMI with audio, then yes; computer to receiver, reciever to TV. Then you use the receiver to pick the input, not the television.

 

[soloz2]

Get some speakers the ladies will like, and you'll like listening to.
http://www.av123.com//index.php?page...mart&Itemid=37

or you could grab some ELT525T's if your budget won't allow the x-statics.

 

[wrekt]

The price of the receivers is negligible - however the onkyo reviews aren't quite as good as the yamaha's...thoughts? Is it just slightly higher priced due to the 7.2 vs 5.1?

 

[soloz2]

Onkyo makes some great receivers at 'budget' price points. But I would go Denon, Marantz, Yamah, NAD, etc over an Onkyo if you could fit one in your budget.

 

[H3||scr3am]

AV123 ELT525 5.1 sale with MFW-15 SUB $1000

amazing deal, it makes for the base of my own home theater, but I got an additional 2 ELT525 Towers for a 7.1 setup. Although when I got it, my Sub was in Cherry...

http://www.av123.com//index.php?page...mart&Itemid=37

this + a ~$300 receiver will get you to the top, and will allow for easy expansion to 7.1