OT: Dorm Room setup

[SasquatchBump 10+ year member]

Im going to college at the University of Idaho this coming fall and I really would like a decent sound setup for my dorm room when I go. My budget is fairly tight, so nothing totally extravagant.

I want a system with a THD less than .5%

Wattage isnt really an issue.

Thanks

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[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Maybe pick up a single Shiva, and a plate amp off of http://www.partsexpress.com

 

[SasquatchBump 10+ year member]

well that would be an option for a sub, but I have nothing right now. Including reciever or any type of speakers //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Im looking for a total setup. This may not really be the place to ask, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

 

[Radar 10+ year member]

i have an old aiwa 350w reciever, it gets the job done. im usin a klh (think pyramid of home audio) and suprisingly its **** loud in my dorm

 

[wags 10+ year member]

doesn't pyramid make home audio ? (I know i've seen pyramid home audio receivers)

 

[Radar 10+ year member]

They do, ive seen their home audio amps.

 

[mattj 5,000+ posts]

Buy a nice reciever and find some surround sound speakers to hook up to that. and find a great low end sub like a shiva or something and throw it in a low tuned ported box. and just hook it all up to your computer.

My buddy had a simmilar setup at uw-madison with a reciever, surround sound speakers and a ported box with a polk dx. man, that was heard 3 floors up and 3 floors down. real nice setup for just being slopped togeather.

 

[xjmadness 10+ year member]

Buy a nice reciever and find some surround sound speakers to hook up to that. and find a great low end sub like a shiva or something and throw it in a low tuned ported box. and just hook it all up to your computer.
My buddy had a simmilar setup at uw-madison with a reciever, surround sound speakers and a ported box with a polk dx. man, that was heard 3 floors up and 3 floors down. real nice setup for just being slopped togeather.

matt you got any links for good receivers and surround speakers?? I'm just starting to get into home audio. Want one for my room and then next year will move it to dorm //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[JeremyD 10+ year member]

My recommendations would be this:

Reciever: Look into an older used high end piece. I personally am IN LOVE with pioneer, sansui, and marantz units from the mid-late 70's. The power is clean and the sound from these units is jsut superb. I've demoed thousand dollar new solid state units in direct comparison with my babies and it was a clear choice. The sound is just so much warmer and fuller. I find that is whats lacking from modern units. Although, a proper tube amp can take care of that //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Speakers: I'd go DIY here. I'd narrow it down to a couple of choices. You could go with a simple 2 way, an MTM design, or a single full range. I personally would opt for the single full range driver. Maybe this is because I am in love with horns. But I can assure you that once you've heard a properly designed horn, you will not be satisfied with the sound of any typical speaker any more. Even Bang & Olufson's newer models can't keep up with my fostex horns. It really is disappointing that they cost about 10x more than my drivers and don't sound as good.

 

[B&R Innovation2 10+ year member]

Excellent call on the mid/late 70's models.

Modern recievers are good for home theaters. I really feel that the solid state recievers and amps from that era were awesome. Their was a home audiophile thing going on at the time and the equipment makers responded by making very solid units.

Personaly in my dorm I run this set up.

A modern Sony dolby digital 5.1 reciever (picked up a shelf unit at best buy for like 250...was 410 retail)

JBL studio front speakers from around '91

Pioneer External mount car speakers for surround.

A Kicker Comp 15 in a LG ported box tune to around 32

Running the comp a old sheerwood reciever ('79) that is just a beast. It is bridged to 4ohms and I've installed a cooling fan at the top of the reciever just incase the load gets a little heavy after awhile.

And then just a nice JVC VCR, PS2, Panasonic 5disk....all presented on a 13" tv...yeah i need a new tv.

But the center piece is the optical connection from my soundcard (couldn't tell you the name or anything...got it for free from school) into the reciever. It is like the clearest thing you'd ever hear and it really cranks out the music.

 

[namster44 10+ year member]

My parents and I have spent more money on Home Audio then, I have in Car Audio, which is saying a lot....

Yamaha makes awesome recievers, and this video processing with the unit is amazing at worst. They have things for every comsumer, whether you want to spend like 250 or 3000, they make some quality stuff.

As for speakers, you have so many options, I have had Bose 901s which were crazy loud! Each speaker was made up of 11, 4 1/2 inch drivers, that didn't carry an RMS rating, just a note that said "can be powered by any conventional amp" or something like that.

B&W are sweet speakers too. Kevlar and dimpled cones make for unreal sound reproduction, but it comes with a price.

Mission speakers are quite nice if you are looking for some lower end speakers.

Lemme know what you are looking for in a system, aka budget and so forth and my dad and I might be able to suggest you something.

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

Jermey is right, I collect old home audio, I have 3 pre 1978 Pioneer receivers, and they are not the loudest and no they dont have the fancy features but the pure sound that they produce is wonderful, oh not to mention the old Pioneer and techniques speakers that I have all over, they are all in really thick wood boxes, and for the wattage they are getting the bass is amazing, sounds stupid, but you can find some great old stuff at nice pawn shops

 

[SasquatchBump 10+ year member]

Sorry about the lack of response, the e-mail back system on CAF is not really up to par.

So far Ive been looking at used/refurbished Receivers from reputable companies like Onkyo or HK. I havent really looked at the older receivers because I would have to hook these up to my computer. Ive browsed DIY sites about speakers and I've looked at pre-mades by Paradigm and PSB.

Basically my budget is $200-300. Im looking for a nice stereo reciever and a set of good bookshelves.

Thanks

 

[jer_stud56 10+ year member]

I have a late 1970 MCS receiver from JC Penney, yea...it's a great receiver, puts out 300w, has subsonic filter (which I dont use) AUX (used for my cd player), tape (used for my tv surround sound), and it is compatible with anything if you know what to look for and how to do it. I have some older sansui speakers, and some DIY speakers, and 2 MCS speakers that came with the receiver (my dad bought the MCS stuff brand new) MYSELF I have spent 180 bucks, but thats not including the 27" tv (200) and I didnt buy any of my 6 speakers, just my little 10" KLH 120w sub ($100-130) and my cd player($80)

If you want pics pm me on aim: jerstud56

- pe@ce

 

[Bavarian3 10+ year member]

Buy a nice reciever and find some surround sound speakers to hook up to that. and find a great low end sub like a shiva or something and throw it in a low tuned ported box. and just hook it all up to your computer.
My buddy had a simmilar setup at uw-madison with a reciever, surround sound speakers and a ported box with a polk dx. man, that was heard 3 floors up and 3 floors down. real nice setup for just being slopped togeather.

hey i liked ur idea but how would u hook it up to the computer? i was looking to do something like this because my new computer has really good speakers but i want to add a more powerful sub. And why would u hook up a reciever to the computer