Well, I could potentially talk about a lot of things here. Most folks who aren't all crazy into Audio/Video like me (
) tend to understandably focus on the gear (speakers, amps, receivers, etc.) and also tend to expect it to be "plug and play".
The truth is that the gear is only 1/3rd of an audio system. The room itself (its acoustics) are really a full 50% of the system, while the remaining portion is proper placement, setup and calibration (including what the listener is used to and expects the system to sound like).
So honestly, if you want to really experience accurate sound and hear all of the detail that the sound engineers and mixers put into the recordings, there's a lot more to think about and address than just the choice of speakers.
But I don't expect anyone who doesn't live and breath home theater and audio to get into all of that stuff right away
What I think is an easier and more natural approach is to start with good gear that we audio nuts know is empirically good gear. Equipment that is objectively accurate and free from distortion. In other words, if it doesn't sound good, it's not the speakers' fault!
If you start with objectively good speakers, it let's you know that any problem with the sound comes from either the room's acoustics or your setup/placement/calibration.
Given your low price range, there's no better choice for you than the
Infinity Primus speakers
Start by looking through Infinity's website and getting the details on the sizes of the various models in the Primus lineup. Once you have the models that you think would fit best in your room in mind, do some comparative price shopping online because the Primus speakers can be found for very low prices if you look around. Do a
Google Product Search for the Primus speaker models that interest you and you should be able to buy them within your desired budget
There are, of course, even better speakers than the Infinity Primus if you're willing to spend considerably more money. But the Primus are an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to experience accurate sound reproduction for a very reasonable price.
Now, the one area where I would not recommend sticking with the Infinity Primus brand is for the subwoofer. Reproducing accurate bass is very, very difficult. To do it properly, you have to be able to move A LOT of air. And to move that much air with control and accuracy is even harder. And it costs some money to make that happen. There's really no way around it. You cannot cheat physics and you cannot make a good subwoofer without some decent parts and good design that doesn't cut corners.
So I have to tell you that, personally, I think good bass starts at around $500. If you can manage to swing that much in your budget for the subwoofer alone, I promise you that it is worth it. And the subwoofer to go for at $500 is, without question, the
Rythmik FV12
Now, a lot of people naturally think that all of their speakers should come from the same brand. Please believe me when I say that that is NOT the case. Your subwoofer has a specific job that is best accomplished by a truly dedicated design. There is nothing at $500 or less that can really compete in terms of accurate, deeply extended and very clean, distortion free bass reproduction with the Rythmik FV12. It is a steal for $500!
Now, I realize that might be considerably more than you were expecting to pay, so I will offer a lower cost option. With the
HSU STF-2 at $350. You will be giving up some extension with the STF-2. It doesn't play as deep as the FV12, nor as loud. But if you care more about music than movies, the lack of that deepest extension won't be much of an issue. There is very little bass below 30Hz in music, and the STF-2 can play down to 30Hz quite nicely. So it is a real option worth considering if you want to keep the price lower. Honestly though, do not go below the $350 HSU STF-2. Going cheaper than that takes you into the territory of genuinely wasting your money. You would be better off to start with no subwoofer and simply save up your money until you can afford a proper subwoofer with the STF-2, or better yet, the FV12
Finally, if you are looking to replace your receiver, my advice is to stick with
Denon . Again, look through the specs on the website and then do a Google Product Search to find a good price.
Denon is not always the cheapest, but they are a very reliable brand with rock-solid products and very good feature sets for the money. What I personally like with Denon is that they use the Audyssey brand of auto-setup and EQ, which I personally find to be the best of the auto-setup programs that are out there. You will find Audyssey on Onkyo branded receivers as well, which are often the lowest in price for a given feature set. But there are more instances of Onkyo receivers developing problems - most of them associated with heat since Onkyo receivers often run quite hot. Denon has a better reputation for reliability, so I feel that their very slightly higher prices are justified
Hope that helps! And if you want to get into more detail about room acoustics and setup/placement/calibration, I'd be happy to do that! But for now, if you just want to start with some gear that I can promise you is good gear - accurate and objectively good - get yourself some Infinity Primus speakers, the Rythmik FV12 subwoofer if you can, the HSU STF-2 if you can't quite afford the FV12, and a Denon receiver to power everything.
Enjoy!
