home stereo audio system, advice

the budget is 300-400. I appreciate your comments.

not all these have CD players.

Reviews...

http://www.cnet.com/topic-reviews/ipod-dock.html


or these cool looking ones but some will be more costly then the ones on C/net link...

http://www.digsdigs.com/15-best-designed-ipod-iphone-docks/

that great and the stereo separation is non-existent. And if you buy a receiver you wont have much left for decent speakers. Speakers, more than any other part make or break a sound system.

My inclination would be to get a good pair of powered speakers such as these A5's from Audio Engine (http://www.audioengineusa.com/a5_home.php) and then get a cheap DVD player at Target.

By the way, "wireless" speakers will always have wires because without speaker cables you still need to power the speakers. You are just trading in one set of wires for another.

"And if you buy a receiver you wont have much left for decent speakers"
by that you mean that there are only a few good sets of 2.0 speakers to go with receivers?

Thanks for the input guys its helping a lot, and thanks for the link to the audioengine speakers.

Its just that 300-400 is not much if you need to buy a receiver and a set of speakers AND a DVD/CD player. That amount of money would surely buy you a nice set of bookshelf speakers from any number of companies, but then you'd have very little left over for the receiver and the CD/DVD player. CD/DVD players can be had for pretty cheap though (30-50 dollars) so combining that with a good set of powered speakers would b a nice compromise between the all-in-one iPod dock systems and a full on separates stereo system.

Plus if you ever decide to upgrade to a nicer system the audio engines would make a great set of speakers for a home office or a computer and they wouldn't require you buy another amp.

Yes at first I was not sure whether or not I needed a receiver to connect a cd/dvd player with those speakers. It looks like I do not; It has an audio input on the back and on the top. Also the company makes a small wireless transmitter which is a nice option although its 150$

So as i understand it I can plug in a cd/dvd player such as this one http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9028054&type=product&id=1218010176877into the speaker, as well as have the ipod connected. This sort of setup is ideal, less components to deal with. If i can do without a receiver, I will.

by the way, best buy has a few polk audios speaker pairs which look good. What do you think of polk audio? Here are the speakers

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8828076&type=product&id=1207956903826
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8828067&type=product&id=1207956903759

best buy also has a polk audio t15 model in store for 100 bucks (pair) and a klipsch VB-15 pair for 300 bucks, both models in store.

Sony also makes a SS-B3000 model for about 100 bucks but is sold out at best buy.

WHich one of these would you recommend?

I noticed you mentioned you wanted to play music from your ipod and considered wireless. Have you considered something like the Logitech Squeezebox Boom? This is a great little stereo that we use in a second room, and have access to all our music from our computer. It also gives you Internet Radio as well. This is a solution designed for the future. All you need is a wireless router in your home.

The logitech boombox seems great; how are the speakers? We do though need a cd player and receiver to plug in some good speakers. Right now i was unable to find good wireless speakers that could match something like the polk audio TSI100 (200$).

thanks for your great advice minimalist, it helps a lot. I would now go with polk audio or klipsch over sony. unfortunately they are not available in the store! I would have to order them online from the best buy website.

Minimalist - check this out http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NAC715

Great piece of equipment. Lasted me 20 plus years. In fact I still have it feeding some bookshelf speakers in another room.

but they used to be a decent loudspeaker when I was shopping for 2.0 gear in the 80's and 90's. Unless something dramatic has happened to the company I'd likely go with them over the Sony's (I find dedicated speaker companies offer better quality products over a company that makes everything). But you'll need to let your ears be the judge. I believe Best Buy doesn't have any restocking fee so you might be able to buy them and try them out and return them if you don;t like them in your space.

So I got the Energy C-200 speakers (audioadvisor.com) and the TEAC cr-h227i receiver/cd player (electronicsexpo.com). I have them connected with monster xp cable

Label: NW . Compact Precision Stranded High Resolution Speaker Cable with Magnetic Flux Tube and LPE Dielectric
- I?m not sure what gauge they are though, the diameter of the copper is about 2mm, so the SA is 3.14 mm2

Should I get better cable?

Also, I would like to know which connection method you recommend. I was thinking banaplugs adapters to easily plug them in the back of the receiver and speakers. At the moment they are hooked up with bare wire. The connectors on both the receiver and the speakers are 5 way binding post.

Also, do you both with bi-amplification or bi-wire? My speakers can do that although my receiver has only two channels each with 1 positive and 1 negative output.