What do I need to look for? What features are important? Can I find a good receiver for <$400? Would two floor speakers be sufficient, or do I need the center speaker to connect it all? Any other information would be appreciated.

TIA.

Dangit! wrong icon.

center speaker is a must have...jmo

Yes, good receivers can be found in the $200 neighborhood.

And yes a center is a must if you plan of using your receiver as the audio for your TV.

I think $200 buys an adequate receiver. $400 buys a good receiver.

A good receiver has not only good amplifiers, it has HDMI switching and a calibration system including microphone.

Is your total budget $400 or can you spend a bit more?

I was hoping not to spend much more than $400 on just the receiver. Speakers will be much more than that.

Sony has a couple of sweet, cheap HTIB with Bluray included for under $400.

If you're going to spend more than $400 on speakers and you're not going to put in rear surrounds, IMO I don't think you need a center channel. Of course a little of that depends on the size of your room and how far away your front speakers are away from your TV; if the fronts are going to be close to the TV, then I'd apply that center channel money back into the front L&R speakers. I've been extremely happy with my 2.1 setup.

Here's what I did last week.

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1837274&forum_id=30

Sounds great. I haven't hooked the center channel up yet because I haven't gotten around to mounting the shelf above the TV.

I bought these bookshelf mounts from Amazon. Took maybe 5 minutes to mount them, just make sure you have studs where you need them to go.

http://www.amazon.com/Pinpoint-Universtal-Bookshelf-Speaker-Mount/dp/B002UV03MW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1305771992&sr=1-5
So far I'm very happy w/the system. I haven't fully hooked it up because we have an entertainment center arriving this weekend and I don't want to go through the entire process of hooking up everything that will eventually go there only to unhook it when the furniture arrives.

FWIW - the center channel is HUGE. I didn't pay attention to the dimensions when I ordered it. You could probably hear my wifes sigh across the state when I pulled it out of the box

[This message has been edited by Adam Ag 98 (edited 5/18/2011 9:26p).]

[This message has been edited by Adam Ag 98 (edited 5/18/2011 9:26p).]

Denon...go with that.

Frys online has the Onkyo RC-HT360 for 299...I paid 449 last week and the cheapest I found online was 430.

Thanks for the info everyone!

Holy Crap Adam Ag thanks for the heads up! Bought and picking it up today!

Adam Ag - how's that Hsu sub?

I think a lot of people underestimate the importance of the center channel. It carries the dialog of most movies and TV shows. Clean midrange is very important. Using just L+R can do the job reasonably well, but it is still a compromise.

I agree with Spicewood for the most part. I just feel like if your front speakers can image well enough and they're going to be close to the screen then you can get away without the center channel and use that money towards even better front speakers. Typically, when you start talking about a pair of speakers that're going to cost more than $400 bucks you're getting to a range where you can pull that off.

Fry's called back to tell me the item was out of stock. Their website showed them to be in stock at the store, but the lady told me they sold out over the weekend. What a crock!

The Hsu sub is great!

This weekend I'll finish mounting the center channel. With the EC arriving as well I'll be able to get everything completely setup and really test it out. I have barely scratched the surface w/configuring the sound to this point. Never having had options before I don't know what I'm doing so it's a slow process.

Hooking the iPOD up though, the sub was awesome

Hooked up the center channel and outdoor speakers this weekend.

A few false starts w/the outdoor speakers and the volume control by the back door - the builder put in a box that didn't fit the volume control - I now have two zones of awesomeness

I finally realized that zone2 couldn't have a digital source (I'd been trying to play directv sound outside) and when I realized this it all went together easy peasy japanesee.

Congrats Adam Ag. Good sound is a must for good TV. I don't care so much for outdoor sound quality, but you did it right!

quote:

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Frys online has the Onkyo RC-HT360 for 299...I paid 449 last week and the cheapest I found online was 430.

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Price Match

As stupid as it may sound, I don't think Fry's brick-and-mortar stores will price match their online prices. I was looking at TV's 3 or 4 years ago and they had a good price online. In store the price was a bit more and they refused to match it.

Fry's PM policy has changed recently. They are fairly good about price matching anyone's price now.

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This...

Thanks, good to know!