Home theatre shopping

[Igotnothing]

I'm looking to get a home theatre system, nothing to fancy, but I think I want more then just a sound bar. Where is the best planned in Calgary to do this shopping. I live in the deep south so something down here is preferred but not required. I was. Debating dropping into London drugs as they seem to have good selection and are localish.

Thoughts?

TIA

[GoinAllTheWay]

I'd try Visions.

Some seem to think they have a bad rep, haven't experienced that myself but have only bought a couple of items from them. They do, however, have a decent selection and are usually able to move the price down a bit. Especially if you intend to buy the full system.

London Drugs is a good choice, always a great place to shop but not sure what kind of selection they have. Is there a location farther south than the Macleod and Heritage location? I find the selection there to be small unless you are looking for a TV.

[Saint Troy]

London Drugs on 130th carries Klipsch which is great choice to get into HT.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Saint Troy

London Drugs on 130th carries Klipsch which is great choice to get into HT.

Good to know as I had my eye on that brand.

As I'll hopefully be doing the same shortly, any other brands to keep in mind or stay clear of?

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Igotnothing

I'm looking to get a home theatre system, nothing to fancy, but I think I want more then just a sound bar. Where is the best planned in Calgary to do this shopping. I live in the deep south so something down here is preferred but not required. I was. Debating dropping into London drugs as they seem to have good selection and are localish.

Thoughts?

TIA

I would say that London Drugs has an underrated selection. Definitely worth strolling through. I believe they carry Tannoy and you may wish to give PSB a listen. Bring high quality music you are intimately familiar wish - not just whatever they have on their demo system. Although unlike others here, I am not a fan of Klipsch' typical offerings.

The Audio Room carries PMC and Tannoy speakers, which you ought to give a listen to. The former is an excellent brand seen in some of the finer mastering studios, and the latter is also an acclaimed brand.

I also suggest dropping into K&W Audio in downtown. While I don't necessarily see any brands that interest me, I can say that their custom installs are probably the best in the city if that's the route you want to consider. No harm in window shopping.

I'd also suggest considering looking into non-locally available brands such as Salk Sound, Amphion Loudspeakers, Danley Sound Labs, Seaton Sound, Ascend Acoustics, RBH Sound. Or if a little bid of woodworking is an option, DIYSoundgroup's SEOS-based designs. These are the brands I would personally be putchasing if I were in the market.

My biggest suggestion is to direct your budget towards speakers rather than electronics (recievers etc). And then consider how those speakers will be interacting with the acoustics in your listening space before electronics (this begins at the speaker in its measurements but also extends to the room acoustics). And of course aesthetic fit might be a consideration. Finally for a surround setup, dedicate more of your budget to the front L/R mains than the side or rear speakers. And be careful not to buy a poorly timbre matched center speaker, this can ruin the experience. I'd rather eschew a center than use a bad one.

Have fun.

[Saint Troy]

Good advice above, one nice thing about Klipsch is that they are horn loaded speakers and are very easy for an amplifier to drive.

[McG]

I would add that the features of a receiver might be important especially if you want multi room audio or integration with Alexa or Apple play or similar.

I have also used 4 different receivers in my listening room and the sound can be quite different with each one.

With boxing week coming up, I’d make your list then hit the interwebz after 10 pm mountain time on Christmas Day.

Enjoy your shopping!

[Igotnothing]

Thanks everyone for the advice. In general I'm looking for something pretty basic with solid sound. While I can appreciate the high end stuff I dont' think my ear can. The point about speakers being primary budget allocation is well noted and kind of what I was expecting after some googling for what's considered 'best' as an entry level consumer. I don't know how much music will be listened to, this is mostly to round out the tv/movie watching experience.

In regards to PSB, i bought a pair of their headphones a few years back and was super happy with their sound. However after about a year and a half of use (sitting at a desk, nothing rigorous) the headband cracked at the hinge. I called them up and they basically told me I was SOL, which sucked as I was trying to support a Canadian company. Makes me kind of leery to buy their speakers as a result.

[DownInFlames]

If you want to support a Canadian company I'd look at Kanto speakers. Their powered speakers are quite good for the price. I have the YU6s in my office and they have all the inputs you need, even a phono preamp and bluetooth.