Speakers for Onkyo 805

[Hartos]

Any good recommendations for a 5.1 or even 7.1 speaker set in a reasonable price range ($3-600)? I just bought a Onkyo 805 and am looking for decent speakers for a family room setup. Pretty square room but definatley not a dedicated home theater so no need for high end but not bottom of the barrel either.

A good speaker review site would work also... maybe I am missing it on this site but I dont find as much on speakers as I did on receivers.

 

[mazersteven]

Aperion Audio Intimus 422 Harmony

http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Intimus-422-Harmony,12,35,17.aspx

Paradigm Monitor series

http://www.paradigm.com/en/paradigm/rec-systems-14-1-2-4.paradigm#

Ascend Acoustics System 22-2000

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cbm170/cbm170hts.html

 

[calnbs]

why would you spend so much money on a receiver and then go cheap on speakers? I just don't get it. Most will tell you, you should of gone with a lower end receiver and that money you saved should of been added towards your speaker. Remember, technology get outdated pretty fast. If you

With that said. www.fluance.com will be your best bet 5.0 for $300. You can't beat that. Decent reviews at cnet.com on those speakers. Bang for the buck.
http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html

If you live by Frys, they are always selling their polks for great prices.

The BICS' Acoustech and Venturi seems to be great buys too under $1,000 from the information I have gathered.

For the money, those owners are very happy with their speakers. Can they compete with a $4k speakers? No, but from my readings....You can't go wrong with what the prices they are going for.

If you can push your budget up to the $1K, SVS, HSU, and av123 x-series might be a good fit for you too. All have received excellent reviews for their price ranges as well. It all comes down to tastes in the end.

 

[Seth=L]

If you can return the TX-SR805 I would recommend doing that. Any new speakers in the $300-600 range, even just two channel, would be a waste of the TX-SR805's abilities. The TX-SR605, Yamaha RX-V661, Marantz SR-4001, and H/K AVR-247 are all really good receivers that can power most speakers pretty well. With the money saved you can afford to get much better sound for your money.

 

[Jey Jockey]

Yup, what Seth said. Or another idea, just buy the bookshelves to start with and add on later, 600 beans for a 5.1 setup will sound like a Kenwood HTIB.

Lots of nice bookshelves around for $500 or less. Axiom make some nice bookshelves and are on budget or less, I would suggest using one of these as your center channel as well. Those M22 would sound real nice with the 805!

http://www.axiomaudio.com/bookshelfspeakers.html

 

[Hartos]

Agreed

Not that I need to really but it is probably worth explaining the 805 vs. the lower end models to get over that and just focus on speakers...

I agree we are a bit over invested for our audio needs but we need 3 zones (the old receiver will be on 3rd zone amp duty) and the 3 HDMI inputs will give us 1 extra for the future. The lower end models didnt have 3 zones which was the main requirement i was looking for but I did think alot about refining that down to 2 zones to lower the cost. For $750 it wasn't a no brainer to upgrade to the 805 but after some thought we went ahead anyway since getting that with other solutions was close enough to that cost anyway.

Thanks for the speaker suggestions so far... any others are welcome.

 

[calnbs]

completely understand that you want the features that onkyo 805 have. I believe it will be best if you start with maybe with the 2 or 3 front speakers first than slowly add the surround when you have more money. It will be a better bang for the buck then to settle for LESS of a quality for the same amount of money.

I was in your shoes not too long ago. I wanted the Onkyo 805 for the features it have and thought about going with the BICs for my speakers and I would of gotten a great 7.1 BIC Acoustech or Venturi and don't get me wrong, I think I would of been really happy with the BICs considering their price range and excellent reviews from consumers. But in the end I couldn't justify spending so much on a reciever and so little on the speaker, so I bit the bullet and went ahead with a better set of speakers. I couldn't get my 7.1 because I was already way over my budget so I settled for 5.1. My results are not in because my speakers are back ordered but I believe from many, many reviews.....I will be much happier with the better quality of the 5.1 than I will ever with the lower quality 7.1. When I think about how expensive it is, I remember that I will have it for 5-10 years and I break it down to years, months, days, and then I realize its no more than a cup of coffea.

Knowing myself, I know that if I went with a lower quality, I would eventually drive myself crazy and upgrade. But Just a noob's 2 cent. Take it with a grain of salt....

 

[Davemcc]

With that said. www.fluance.com will be your best bet 5.0 for $300. You can't beat that. Decent reviews at cnet.com on those speakers. Bang for the buck.
http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html

Wow, that's quite a find at that price point. I wonder what they sound like.

 

[Hartos]

maybe change the question

Thanks for the suggestions... maybe it is worth changing the question...

Lets remove the $600 budget and see what happens. Keep in mind this isnt a home theater and is our family room but it is our main room to watch quite a few movies, TV all the time and play XBOX so I do want 5.1, probably wouldnt ever use 7.1 in the room.

What speakers would you buy? We dont need top of the line but I totally understand the argument that poor speakers will be a waste of time and they will definately be around for a while so there is a good arguement to invest in something right the first time.

 

[calnbs]

There are endless selections of speakers to chose from such as NHT, PSB, Polks, Energy, Boston Acoustics, Monitor Audio, Axioms, Aperions, Swans, BICs, AV123 Rockets, B&W, Paradigm, and the lists goes on. In the end, I feel that Internet Direct companies was the way to go....Best Bang for the Buck but at the same time, they are less well known that the store brands. I didn't feel like shelling out the big money for the Paradigms, Monitor Audios, or B&W. Take what I say and what everyone else says with a grain of salt.

Here are some of the speakers I looked at. Remember, these speakers are from MY lists.


Speaker GTG shoot out:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=931069

Swans:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=918136&highlight=swans

Aperions:

http://www.cnet.com/4244-5_1-0-1.html?query=aperions&fOrder=&sort=&tag=nav&type=product


Mark's thought on HIS Rockets:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12208563#post12208563


Rockets vs Axioms:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=862587&highlight=rockets+850

Good websites to research:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/

http://www.hometheatermag.com/buyersguides/speakers/

http://www.avguide.com/the-perfect-vision

avsforums.com in their speaker forums and the speaker owner's threads.

 

[rnatalli]

Speakers are a matter of taste so only you can decide after auditioning as many as possible. I'd do as others have already suggested and start with a pair of speakers. Check out the PSB Images or Monitor Audio Bronze at Saturday Audio. Those are some of the best speakers you'll find at the prices they're being offered.

 

[3db]

Being a PSB fanboy, I say audition their Image line. Having a complete system buutl around them, I can atest to their value and sound quality. Other speakers to look at are Paradigms, Energy, Axioms, Polk ...

http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/Image-Series

 

[Pilk]

Nice stuff on the links. Helps narrow things down...to about eleventy million choices.

 

[Pilk]

Sorry, I'm trying to get 5 posts so I can PM someone about some speakers.

 

[Pilk]

Ignore me, about there.

 

[Pilk]

And this may just about do it. Thanks for letting me clutter the thread.