Thanks for the great reply.
I'll definitely be picking up either a Pioneer, Denon or Onkyo. Sometimes the sale prices at even our local stores can be quite good for all 3 of these. I just have to decide if Audyssey or MCACC is the way to go.
Is it true that Audyssey is easier to use, yet your either accept it or turn it off...no real fine calibration is available?
I have no real experience with either besides toying around for a few minutes with my father's Pioneer sc-67.
I really enjoyed your take on the subs. I'm pretty sold on getting an EP800. I'm sure I'd enjoy a SVS as well, but for all the reasons listed in an earlier post, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the EP800.
If I invite friends over, 3 to 4 people probably will be the max. Though generally, it will be just me and the wife. I don't have a dedicated home theater room yet, for I rent, so I can't quite make it mine. I plan to buy eventually and I'm looking forward to embarking on creating a true HT room in the basement. This is a dream of mine. I'm hoping to get many years out of this system I plan to buy.
The main living room is 16X12X8, but to the left of the living room is a big open dining room that leads to the kitchen. The living room and kitchen are seperated by a 6 foot wall. And then the "back wall" of the living room has 3 open archways that look over the stairways leading to the downstairs and entrance. It's all hardwood laminate flooring
I do know that I particularly like the acoustics of this room. We just moved here and the sound from my system from one house to another is astonishing. The sound sounds less muddled and more free to "breathe" then in the last house. I don't get any nasty reverberation or anything which is nice. I don't have to turn it as loud to feel the same experience as in the last house. It seems to sound clearer and get loud easier if that makes sense
For music, it's usually just me. But once in a blue moon, I like to throw a big party and for example, last Halloween I had about 15 people over at one point. The wife and her girlfriends starting putting all sorts of heavy club songs on the playlist...my cerwin vega D9's handled that crap great lol
On moments like those, it's rare mind you, I like to show off. Especially if I've been drinking
I'm hoping to impress people with the M80 system with a EP800.
But more then that, I'm looking for something I can't describe for ME. A quality of sound imaging, quality and pristine highs with warm mids, incredible deep, smooth, but not excessive bass. I want to be excited about my music again. I want to hear things I haven't heard before with my large music collection.
I should also note that at times I love to hear my music VERY loud. I will tweak my equalizer and try to push my cerwin vegas to the very edge of what they are comfortable with, back it off just a tad, and listen to that level comfortably for awhile.
I should note that I've only blown a fuse on my speaker once in my entire life and I have never damaged any of my speakers or equipment...yet
I'm no audiophile. I'm a huge enthusiast hoping to expand my knowledge and experience a little further. And when I have everything dialed in and sounding incredible, I want to show it off so others can go buy it and experience it for themselves.
I definitely want to help audition these for people. There is no one in my area.
