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The search for a home theater surround sound system is now in
full swing. I started at a local big box store, given that I have
received a number of gift certificates for my graduation. I knew that
the quality would not be as good as a specialty store but figured that
any surround sound system would be better than no surround sound
system, and I may be surprised by the results and save myself some
money at the same time.
After talking to the sales clerk, Chris, he recommended two
systems. The first was the Bose LifeStyle V20. I had done a
bit of research before going in and had not read a lot of positive
reviews about the system, although it did sound very good in the store.
I may check it out at some point but not today. The second system was a
Yamaha HTR-6260 with Energy Micro-RC surround speakers.
This is the one that I decided to test out. Two weeks later it was
returned to the store. It was a decent system, given the price, but was
not a system that met my expectations or made me feel like I had to
call up my friends and have them come over so that I could brag about
my purchase.
The start of the set up was quite painful, but only because it
took me 3 hours to find a flashlight so that I could run the 14 gauge
wires through the walls. After the first night I had been able to run
the front and center speaker wires but realized that I had run out of
wire and had to wait until the next day to get some more to get enough
for the surround sound speakers. For the rear speakers my wife was
adamant that I not drill holes in the floor so I actually ran the wire
up through the vent against the wall and will staple it against the
window frame once I finalize on the speakers that I want to be
permanently set up. At least that was a one time hassle and is all
wired in now!
Just for reference my living room is about 16.5' x 14.75' with
one missing wall leading to the kitchen. I have a 47" Samsung LCD TV
mounted above the fire place and cabinets on either side of the viewing
area for components and DVD storage. The "testing chair" is my recliner
positioned directly in front of the TV. I believe that this is a
similar set up to what most people have giving me a "real world" test
case as opposed to some reviews that I read where they have a dedicated
set up for the systems (which I am sure sound amazing but is not a
practical representation of what you or I would experience).
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