To get amazing sound, the two most important factors are usually the speakers and the room itself. You then need to amplify them properly, and preamplify that properly, but "properly" depends on what speakers you end up with.
This is going to come as a bit of a surprise to you but a quality pair of stereo speakers will give you a more amazing experience then a mediocre 5.1 set, if we're talking about budget. I'd invest in some mains and a subwoofer.
Perfect. Then we don't have to worry about beating the BS out of you
There's only a few vocabulary you need to worry about
Soundstage and imaging - How wide does the sound feel, how tall does it feel, how deep does it feel, and where do individual sounds in a stereo recording come from? This is often attributed to room interaction as well as off-axis frequency response.
Tonality - Does it get the sound of something "right"? We search for neutrality here, and that's usually accompanied by a flat mid-range frequency response
Dynamics. Does it handle a very quiet passage with clarity, and can it shift to an extremely loud passage cleanly?
... that's about it... for now
Right here
. For starters let's make a list of what you need in some sort of logical order
-Processor - This will decode high definition surround codecs and preamplify a signal for an amplifier. A receiver is part processor and part amplifier.
-Amplification - This will either be in your receiver to power passive loudspeakers, or built into your active loudspeakers.
-Wires - 14awg is usually a good choice of gauge. Monoprice is usually the go-to place although you sometimes have to do a slight bit of DIY with as far as connectors. Blue Jeans Cable is a good choice for completely ready-made wire.
-Front Speakers - A great pair of front speakers hold a ton of sonic information, and can either completely bring a soundtrack to life or make it dull and flat. In movies they usually hold a good deal of ambient information, background music, and dynamic special effects such as gun shots.
-Diffusion and absorption panels - The right balance of these things is key. If you don't get the room right, you could buy $20,000 speakers and have them sound "wrong". The goal is to take away reflections within the first 10ms but keep later reflections. This gives an enveloping soundstage.
-Subwoofer - A subwoofer holds a lot of "impact". It's not just there to add some one-note rumble... it brings to life an entire effects channel.. the .1 in 5.1! Over here we like to recommend multiple subwoofers because in a room, any given spot will be likely to have nulls as described below, and peaks. With multiple subwoofers we can have a move even bass response at different seating positions. Placement and subwoofer choice are very important. You must select a subwoofer based on how it will presumably interact with your specific room!
-Bass Traps - In a room, bass wavelengths are just too big, will reflect, and merge, and cancel. There will be too many peaks and valleys in response from 20hz to 500hz or so. With bass traps we can clean that up to an extent and really give definition to bass.
-Soundproofing - We don't want our sound to leave the home theater. That will reduce our own apparent sound pressure levels, especially for bass, and will disturb others, especially for bass.
-Center Speaker - Of course it will hold 75-80% of the content in a movie soundtrack. However a quality pair of stereo speakers can create a "phantom center", so if you don't have the budget for a center, don't fret! It's better to get a great pair of stereo mains and save up for a good center later. I usually recommend great off-axis response and vocal clarity for a center.
-Surround Speakers - Surround speakers usually hold ambient information and can occasionally have panning effects. Very fun to have in a game situation, but overall not a worthwhile investment if you don't already have great mains. People often prefer dipole surrounds which give a spacious, diffuse effect but I don't consider it realistic. I prefer good old monopole speakers, that is, speakers that "fire forward" instead of two ways.
-Rear Speakers - Actually very useful IMO for a larger room, especially in matrixed 7.1 it will reduce the ability to localize the surround. Still, like the other other surrounds, not a worthwhile investment until you've got other pieces figured out.
All speakers should be able to reproduce content down to 70hz in order to blend seamlessly with a subwoofer in a room without
Infinity Primus P362 mains - $400 a pair from crutchfield
Marantz SR5004 Receiver - $389 from accessories4less (refurbished but reliable)
Monoprice cable
And a subwoofer. This decision will depend on your room so please elaborate. You say it's 14 x 10 but you didn't mention the height, or whether it's open to other areas or sealed. assuming it's a small room like that though, the Emotiva Ultra Sub 12, Epik Legend, and SVS SB10-NSD all seem like the ideal choice for you. Multiples if possible.
And later, as you add to the budget, you can throw in an Infinity PC351 center channel, some Behringer 2030A or 2030P surrounds, more subs, lots of acoustic paneling and bass traps, measurement equipment to know if your room acoustics are optimal, etc. It`s a long process but trust me, home theater is very much capable of being very good even on a budget. Getting the room right is arguably the most difficult step, because we already know that money can buy some absolutely amazing speakers!
As far as matching IMAX SQ, I bet you could do it if you keep your eyes glued to the used market. Just right now a fella has an entire 7.2 RBH T system for sale on the Audioholics classifieds for $7000... those speakers would probably wipe the floor with IMAX sound quality... the set would retail around $25000 and may be worth every penny
