Hi everyone! First off thanks for helping me build up my main 3.1 system. It's wonderful: Ascend Sierra towers + matching Sierra-1 NrT, Outlaw LFM1-EX, Onkyo NR709. I may upgrade to 5.1 in the future, but that's another post...
My new, permanent office needs a system.The speakers will rest on isolation pads on my sit/stand desktop, at <3' to each ear. The sub will be adjacent to my desk. The room is 15x14x10 with windows behind the desk/speakers and on the right. The entire room is wooden bookshelves. Many will be full of books but many won't be. Could be sonically challenged until the books repopulate...
My budget is <$2k, the lower the better, within reason.
Probably want a sub unless the monitors are so great I can hold off on the sub for a year or two. I'm an Audyssey convert for sure and love the effect on bass management. MultiEQ preferred if its in budget, thus the refurb Onkyo.
I listen to music all day long, every day, and often late into the night. I alternate from speakers to headphones several times per day. Volumes vary from quite high to low. Music tends to be jazz, electronic, classical, opera, and hip hop. My music catalog is 8k tracks (none pirated, just saying) and I stream Spotify/Pandora/Grooveshark at max settings a lot. Also audiobooks, movies, video games, etc. Due to this I am sensitive to fatigue. Precise playback is nice and all but I really like a laid back sound with "bright enough" highs. I'm familiar with studio monitors of many price ranges due to music producer friends and not looking for that necessarily.
My hit list as a result of lurking here for years is as follows:
AVR
onkyo tx-nr525 $240 from ac4less
Speakers
emptek e41 $300
hsu hb-1 mk2 $320
ascend cbm-170 se $348
nht abso zero $440
Sub
hsu vtf-1 mk2 $420
svs pb-1000 $500
hsu VTF-2 MK4 $560
If you were in my boots, what say ye? Go nuts and skip sub for sierra's? Get a better sub and go with e41's? Something else entirely?