Results 1 to 18 of 18
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    'Merica
    Posts
    2,159

    Cheapish home sound system?

    I'm thinking about putting a sound system in my house. The house is pretty small, one main open area with the living room , kitchen, dining room. A small workshop out front, and a porch / fire pit in the front yard.

    I would like to be able to plug my I pod or phone in, probably in the living room, and control the volume separately from all three areas.

    Is this possible to do for a few hundred dollars?

    Sent from my SCH-I545 using TGR Forums
    Quote Originally Posted by Smoke
    Cell phones are great in the backcountry. If you're injured, you can use them to play Tetris, which helps pass the time while waiting for cold embrace of Death to envelop you.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Stuck in perpetual Meh
    Posts
    35,247
    Airport Express + Active stereo speakers (self-powered) in the locations you want. Control everything from your computer.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    19,810
    I have B&W Zeppelin and a Harman Go-Play. For rock music I like the Go Play better and it is portable.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    the Low Sierra
    Posts
    17,818
    I was able do that with my father-in-law's 35 year old Onkyo tuner and a trip to Radio Shack for something like $50

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    609
    I'm going to jump into this thread looking for advice because I'm in the market for something similar to the OP.

    I want a real stereo system that can receive a signal from the laptop via bluetooth or wifi and broadcast via bluetooth to a 2nd zone in the house. I need it to be cheapish, preferably under $500. I could spend up to $500 for the first zone and add self powered speakers for the 2nd zone later if need be. A 3 zone system would allow me to add outdoor speakers but it's not necessary. It needs to have a good radio. I'd like it to look decent out in the open on the hutch...

    The Onkyo TX-8050 looks interesting but then I read an unfavorable review on avsforum and since I'm a total stereo neophyte I'm nervous about wasting $250 on something that will be a huge hassle.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    9,002
    I have a pair of awesome KRK Rokit 5's hooked up in my edit suite ($300 for a pair) and I can control what gets played from any computer or phone in the house. That's all with free software. Not really portable but as long as you don't care if the music is playing inside to hear outside, my situation works fine. I can also bring my laptop or anything anywhere within wifi reach and stream all my music that way so I can basically play any audio or video I own with any device within wifi range again, with free software.
    Brought to you by Carl's Jr.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Posts
    1,107
    We have a couple setups, both inexpensive, both work well. We like music, but are by no means audiophiles.

    First is an old Marantz receiver I bought in Boulder twelve years ago with a couple small speakers and an Apple TV plugged into it. Works great.

    Second, we have a couple Sonos Play 5 speakers, one in the living room and one upstairs.

    Advantage of the Apple TV: you can AirPlay video from Amazon over the iPhone to your TV and receiver. The interface is great, better than Roku (although I think there are fewer services on the Apple TV).

    Advantage of the Sonos: you can sync multiple systems to play the same music at the same time. You can drive multiple sytems from a single device (smartphone or computer) over wifi. The sound that comes out of the Sonos sounds really good to me. The smartphone app is really good.

    If you just want to listen to music, Sonos is worth checking out.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Carbondale
    Posts
    698
    I have one of these hooked to my desktop computer:

    http://www.dx.com/p/vmr6512-hi-fi-fm...1#.U5UphJSwJdo

    Any radio in the house gets whatever the computer is playing. Not super high fidelity but darn cheap and pretty good.

    If you hunt the web sometimes you can find a version that has an led readout of the transmit frequency. I've managed to get a couple. It's pretty low power but I've picked mine up on the car radio 1/4 mile or more from home.

    Here's the led version:

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-...560932594.html

    It nicer in that it has a mini-usb jack that takes power so you can power it from the computer.
    Last edited by stevesmith7; 06-08-2014 at 09:53 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Missoula
    Posts
    2,104
    If you have/get a receiver with HDMI inputs you can also use something a google chromecast or apple tv. Then control music plus everything else it does from your phone or computer or whatever. Or if it's near a TV you can just use the audio out. I have a chromecast plus an android and it is pretty great. receiver is cheap and old 2.1 single zone with no hdmi a little limited on what I can do. New receiver plus some decent speakers would let me have dual zones and not have to turn on the tv to listen to music. Have heard these speakers were pretty decent for the money:

    http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...eakers/SP-FS52
    http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...peakers/SP-C22

    Second zone would be outside so I guess some sort of an outdoor speaker. I've seen some yamahas for cheap.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    5,722
    cheapest way is to use a stereo receiver and wire a 4-channel impedance matching network, preferably one that has volume controls on the front so you don't have to wire from the speakers to the volume control and then to the matching network. Cable each pair of speakers to the IMN, and the IMN to the receiver A channel. That channel will drive all the speakers and the IMN can control the volume at the head-end.

    get a dock, or a cord to plug the iPod into, docks charge and cords don't, docks, plug in and get more data for better sound than a cord plugged into the headphone jack.

    This assumes that you can wire from each speaker to the head-end stereo location.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Stuck in perpetual Meh
    Posts
    35,247
    Great inexpensive outdoor speakers: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    I have them and they sound great.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    At the beach
    Posts
    19,067
    Maybe I am missing something here, but I just plug my computer into the tape input on my stereo and allow the Hafler 500 watt amp and my Klipsch Fortes do the rest??????
    Quote Originally Posted by leroy jenkins View Post
    I think you'd have an easier time understanding people if you remembered that 80% of them are fucking morons.
    That is why I like dogs, more than most people.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    The CH
    Posts
    1,465
    I have a pair of Audio Engine A5+ self powered speakers. I am very happy with the sound.
    http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Powe...wered-Speakers

    I'd rather have a couple independent sets of self powered speakers and bring my phone to the room that I'm in then to try to control the phone from a separate room. If you have independent setups people in other rooms can listen to different things.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Stuck in perpetual Meh
    Posts
    35,247
    Quote Originally Posted by Todds View Post
    I have a pair of Audio Engine A5+ self powered speakers. I am very happy with the sound.
    http://audioengineusa.com/Store/Powe...wered-Speakers

    I'd rather have a couple independent sets of self powered speakers and bring my phone to the room that I'm in then to try to control the phone from a separate room. If you have independent setups people in other rooms can listen to different things.
    Those are slick - I'm getting a pair for our dining room/kitchen when we remodel next year.

    I wish my phone would let me stream to more than one airport express at a time like iTunes on your compooper lets you. Maybe there's an Airplay app for the phone - never checked.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    17,747
    a Yorx portable double tape deck w EQ

    "timberridge is terminally vapid" -- a fortune cookie in Yueyang

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    San Juan Islands, WA.
    Posts
    1,188
    Quote Originally Posted by jamal View Post
    New receiver plus some decent speakers would let me have dual zones and not have to turn on the tv to listen to music. Have heard these speakers were pretty decent for the money:

    http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...eakers/SP-FS52
    http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...peakers/SP-C22
    I bought a pair of the BS22's a couple months ago and highly recommend them, I don.t think you can find a better speaker for the price ($129.00) ,They had them on sale on amazon this weekend for $65.00 a pair and almost bought a second pair even though I didn't need them, they also had the 52's for $65.00 each and really wanted to find a use for them but couldn't and didn't order them. I have the 22's connected to a 80wpc Denon receiver along with a 250 watt 12" subwoofer in the bedroom and it sounds very good , especially for a third system in the house pieced together with unused parts. Parts express ( www.parts-express.com ) has great deals on Sherwood receivers that get very good reviews but I have not heard them.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    here and there
    Posts
    18,583
    Got one of those Splash outdoor bluetooth speakers, coupled to my Kindle(or laptop) and tunes on cloud that works very well.
    watch out for snakes

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    The best neighborhood in hades
    Posts
    4,553
    I went to the Apple store about 7 years ago and found something very similar to this, almost identical, but I remember it being $150, not $450. You could set up 3 of these. Klipsch is quite awesome, and to this day I'm surprised at the value. I literally can't turn it all the way up, and the sound is amazing for 3 little speakers.
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	klipsch-ifi-speakers.jpg 
Views:	27 
Size:	35.4 KB 
ID:	156125
    http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1886685,00.asp

    Or you can go down the rabbit hole. I restored some Marantz stuff, started out with this setup, and have since gone to a 2325 all in one unit, and the speakers have been replaced the speakers with $6k Dynaudio MB15 studio monitors. %10 of the $$$ for 90% of the effect, 90% of the money for the last %10, but that last %10 (although I'm probably at 98%) is blissful.
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	1947814_10102647006489672_1673917748_n.jpg 
Views:	39 
Size:	76.7 KB 
ID:	156126
    "One season per year, the gods open the skies, and releases a white, fluffy, pillow on top of the most forbidding mountain landscapes, allowing people to travel over them with ease and relative abandonment of concern for safety. It's incredible."

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •