2.1 or 5.0

[thoff]

Hello All,

I have been piecing together a home theatre for the past few months and am pondering my next purchase. I have Infinity Primus 150s for my right and left speakers. I have been looking at subwoofers in the $200 dollar range to make it a 2.1 system. The subs I have been looking at primarily are the Velodyne VX10 and the Onix x-sub. However, for $200 I could get the primus c25 center channel speaker and two Primus 140 surround speakers. I do not like the look of the updated Primus speakers (142 and c250) and would prefer to get the older models that matches my 150s and are cheaper, but they won't be available for much longer.

I live in an apartment and placing a subwoofer would be easier than placing the center and surround channels for the time being. It will be a while before I can gather the money to spend on more equipment. Any advice on which would be the better way to spend money in the short term.

If it matters, the system is used about equally for both movies and music.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Davemcc]

Wow, tough call.

Once you watch movies in surround, you won't want to ever watch movies without it. But once you put a sub into the system, you won't want to be without one.

 

[MDS]

My opinion is that it would be better to get the center and surrounds first, especially if they match the fronts and may not be available much longer.

If the front speakers can play reasonably low you'll miss more not having a center and surrounds than you will by not having a sub.

 

[markw]

Excellent points

My opinion is that it would be better to get the center and surrounds first, especially if they match the fronts and may not be available much longer.

This is my thinking and always has been. Matching across the front at least. All five is better, if possible.

Get 'em while you can or else you'll be at the mercy of the used market and it sounds like your window of opportunity might be closing, so act quickly.

You can add a sub at any time. Subs don't have to match and virtually any sub can be successfully integrated into virtually any system. And, as an added bonus, as time goes on, subs tend to offer more performance for less money.

 

[thoff]

Thanks for the help. I had been leaning toward getting a subwoofer until I found the price for the center and surrounds. I bid on a subwoofer at audiogon.com and if that doesn't work out (as I now hope it won't) I will go with the center and surrounds for now.

Thanks for the replies. I have found this to be a very helpful forum in the past and will continue to come here for my A/V questions.

 

[mpompey]

Welcome to audioholics, everything you need to know you can find out right here.

As far as my $.02, I would also go 5.0 first. Although your 150's in the front are too small to adequately reproduce LFE, but since you are in an apartment, you probably can't go too crazy with LFE. You might want to get some good headphones (Sennheiser around ear) for late night watching. I used to live an apartment, and the Sennheiser saved my sanity, until I was able to build my own theater.

 

[jcPanny]

2.1 system

I listen to a lot of music and the occasional movie so I started with a high end 2.1 system (Onix Ref 1's and SVS SB12-Plus) and will gradually add the matching center and surrounds when budget allows.