Your advice on setup

You will most likely save more money if you buy it all from one store and have that store install it.

Steve

Hmmm, Sorry to hear that you don't want to do it yourself. By letting some else do it has one draw back. Whenever something happens you haven't got a clue! I did it twice, one at home and one out at cabin. Was learning experience but not that hard. All depending on budget I guess. My order of picking was, TV >>> surround speaker package >> a/v receiver, other components already I had. And bunch of cables of proper length to hook them all up, then calibrate speakers, configure remote control to control everything with one. Good luck, Tony

First of all, no you won't **** it up. I'm pretty good with a pc, but a total novice at home theater.

Long story short, I got a lot of advice in alt.home-theater.misc before selecting my components -- still have to do that for the TV, once the audio part is paid for. Got some very good links for sites & forums to do my own research. Plus some very solid advice on what might be appropriate & what might not. What you're going to want will depend on room size & whether you're bigger on TV/movie audio or music.

I ended up going with Onkyo components with a Velodyne sub & Athena Point 5 Mark II 5.1 surround speaker system -- I intend to get two more speakers for Zone 2 (mostly indoors, but with enough wire to stick them outside when we barbecue). And concensus seemed to be that my situation wasn't really going to gain anything from going with 7.1 instead of having the second zone.

Since I rent, in wall wiring &/or speakers is out of the question. So, I got my wire, hooked up the speakers first. then my sub & antennas (AM/FM & XM satellite). Set up the speaker audio with the speaker setup mike. Then I tried the radio functions of the receiver. Afterwards, I connected my DVD/CD changer & cassette deck. Since I have a TV card in my pc (plus a ton of audio files) & a 19" lcd monitor, I also have the pc audio running through the receiver. All hand wired by me.

The wiring requires a little bit of reading of the receiver manual, having enough speaker wire to start with, & a good wire cutter/stripper. The plethora of rear connections on the rear of the receiver can seem pretty daunting. But the reading & a little thought make it pretty simple. I took my time to be sure I didn't screw it up. So, my couple of hours might be on the long side. But I have most of the wiring running around the edges of the room, behind some furniture (some of which needed to be moved), mostly hidden. It looks good & I can figure out what goes where because I did it, rather than having someone else connect everything. I saved money on the installation & I have the satisfaction that I did it.

Other than a little time, it was all pretty easy to figure out. So, don't be afraid of doing the whole hookup yourself. If I owned this place, I might even have tried in wall wiring. :-)

Bill K

I tend to agree with Bill - up to a point. If you're talking about a custom installation or equipment in the +$10K range - go to a single store - you'll get the best results. Get to know the owner/manager and listen - listen - listen. If you're not up to a certain level, some of the smaller stores tend to be a bit condesending. If you experience that...leave. Go find another store who will share your enthusiasm.

If you're all you're talking is TV - Receiver - DVD - Speakers = do it yourself. It's not difficult. And next year you'll want to add another component and you'll won't have to call them back.

I would avoid the installation service of any of the chain stores.

Just take your time. One trick that has worked for me is to use a short section of tape - athletic training tape works great - and a marker to label each wire and cable. I just fold 3" of the tape around the cable about 6" from both ends so it sticks to itself forming a 1" label. Then I write on each end what the cable is doing: e.g. DVD, or LF (for left front speaker). That way when you get around back of your receiver, you'll know what each does.

My Pioneer receiver has an autocalibration function that is very simple to use and does a good job of setting up the unit. Make sure you read the owner's manual. Post any questions here. You'll be fine.

Excellent suggestion. When I got my Onkyo 803, it included included wiring labels. If cubemonkey is anything like me, writing on labels sometimes tends to become undecipherable over time (like 30 seconds). :-)

Bill K