7.1 surround sound system recommendations?

Audio

7.1 surround sound system recommendations?

Posted by Aaron on June 17, 2008 at 12:17 pm

7.1 surround sound system recommendations?

Hi All,
I’m looking at setting up my home fcp edit station to do surround sound?
Any recommendations on systems and configurations?

I have a 12 channel mackie mix board that I can work into the config. as well

Im not an audio pro so forgive any ignorance on my part.

If its a small room 15×20 is it not even worth going 7.1? Should I do 5.1 Instead?

Cost is an issue so the cheapest setup without sacrificing too much quality is ideal. Im on a budget so lets say $400-1200? I am willing to buy used gear if that helps me get better quality at a cheaper price point.

Thanks for looking! 🙂

Aaron replied 17 years, 10 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Ty Ford
June 17, 2008 at 7:29 pm

Hello Aaron and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

If I were you, I’d go to Vann’s website and see what NOS you might be able to find to build your monitoring system.

I just pimped my living room stereo to a 5.1 using my existing Klipsch stereo speakers as left and right front. I bought an Integra 7.1 receiver amp (locally), a center channel and two surrounds from Vann;s that match my Kipsch.

https://www.vanns.com/

Regards,

Ty Ford

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Watch Ty play guitar
Aaron
June 17, 2008 at 9:34 pm

Thanks Ty!

I noticed Geek Squad via Best Buy does Home Theater Surround installs for approx $400 is this worth it or should I be looking at other service providers?

My main consideration here is purely aesthetics. Apparently they will run the wiring behind the drywall mount all the speakers (provided i buy the mounting hardware), etc.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Are there any turn-key systems (speakers and receiver) that are recommended in the $500 range?
Ty Ford
June 19, 2008 at 1:06 am

Hi Aaron,

None that low cost that I know of, but they may be out there.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar
Peter Perry
June 20, 2008 at 4:49 pm

Hey guys,
Maybe I am misunderstanding something. Are you guys talking about authoring surround sound content? If you are, then you can’t just go to Best Buy and get something. Those systems are for playback of encoded material.
If you want to do surround sound right, you will need an audio interface with at least 6 discreet channels to get the 6 channels of info (in 5.1) out of FCP and into your monitoring setup. There are lots of different ones available.
Then you would need the six monitors, preferrably active monitors.
The good news is you can get all this stuff for less than the $1200 max budget you have. $500 is a stretch.
You could gete a M-Audio Delta 1010 interface for under $300….that is eight channels, in case you do want to go 7.1.
You could get 6 M-Audio BX5a active monitors for $600….cables to connect it all and you should be good to go.
I don’t know FCP…can it do 5.1 mixdown and encoding?
Peter
Aaron
June 20, 2008 at 7:49 pm

Hi Peter,

Yes I’m just looking at playing back authored content. Not mixing and monitoring discrete channels.

Although this is all good to know.

The room will never be good for mixing unfortunately, and the more I think about it 7.1 is overkill, And I am exploring 5.1 Soultions for playback.

What do you think about the ONKYO HT-SR600 as a solution?:
https://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/502299436

Any other recommendations?

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