5.1 system for $5k or less, anyone?

[parinshah]

I have another thread, but the title is too narrow...anyone have thoughts on a good system under $5k?

I am considering (have a toddler and newborn!)...but would be open to floorstanding if it was worth the difference (they aren't toddlers forever). I was thinking about Paradigm, Axioms, and B&W....but am really looking for a great bang for the buck, so any recommendations would be nice.

We are building a house that will have a room that is 30' x 18', with 10' foot ceilings....the back half will have a pool and ping pong table and the front half will have a TV, sofa and other media stuff...so its not a "true" media room.

I have a 70" Hitachi DLP that is 23" deep, and a Denon AVR-2805 receiver.

Does anyone have any recommendations for speakers...I was debating between the Paradigm and the Axioms, but am open to any thoughts.

The couch will be about 12-15' from the tv set. I want speakers that will be good for movies from this distance, but also give me enough sound for the whole room for music when shooting pool.

Looking for some good insight...Thanks!

 

[Exit]

This is a less than your budget (which could be a pleasant surprise because you could use the money elsewhere, such as killer subwoofer(s) and a better projector) and probably not high end enough for you, but it is a great deal. The Audioholics store has EMP 5.1 speaker systems on sale at very low prices during December. See link below.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/emp-speaker-package-blowout-sale

You can get a HTP-351T 5.1 Tower system ($1870) for $689.
You can get a HTP-351 5.1 Bookshelf system ($1319) for $489

The EMPs are internet distribution versions of RBH speakers, so they should be pretty good and you can read the RBH equivalent reviews linked below.

The towers are EF30T speakers which are basically RBH TK-5CT ($949/pair), see review below.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/floorstanding/rbh-sound-tk-5ct

The bookshelves are EF30 speakers which are basically RBH TK-5C ($499/pair). See review below:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/bookshelf/tk-5c

The subwoofer is a EMP E10 ($499) (included in 5.1 speaker sets.). See below.

http://www.audioholics.com/buying-guides/system-buying-guides/the-5000-audio-centric-system/equipment-product-recommendations

So the RBH system speakers (EMP sub), at full and sales price are as follows:

HTP-351T 5.1 Tower system ($1947) on sale for $689 or 35% of retail price

HTP-351 5.1 Bookshelf system ($1497 on sale for $489 or 33% or retail price.

Sorry if I wasted anyone’s time on this for an obviously higher-end budget, but by the time you add the 5.1 tower retail to a couple of high end subwoofers at about $1500 each you are right about the $5000 budget range. You could also put more money into a projector for example.

 

[m_vanmeter]

I'm a firm believer in "it takes cone area, moving a lot of air, to fill a large room". (or, if you are a Sunfire advocate, massive amounts of power) So, whatever you choose, please keep that consideration in the background. Towers are an excellent way to get larger speakers into an estheticly pleasing form, and so far (keep fingers crossed), three spriited grandchildren have basically ignored the towers in my setup as they progressed from crawlers to toddlers to elementary schoolers.

 

[Exit]

When my kids were toddlers, they loved to get into my audio equipment rack and fiddle with all the buttons, knobs and switches. It was always a puzzle to get the system restarted. My kids were never interested in the speakers though.

 

[parinshah]

Interesting. Thoughts of kids running around and into speakers scares me a bit...and I like the minimalist look of having them in or on the wall.

I spoke with my builders home theater guy and they sell triad's and sonance. Any thoughts on those? how much do these run...and how do they compare with the axiom's?

 

[parinshah]

Ok..

Axioms are still at the top of my list....that being said, anyone know if I can get a pair of B&W's with a good sub for around $5k?

 

[parinshah]

That would be floor standing B&W's...I have been sold on that

 

[Matt34]

MTS-01 Full size 5.1 channel system with matching PB13-Ultra subwoofer from SVS.

$4099
http://www.svsound.com/products-sys-mts01.cfm


Enough left over for a nice receiver and cables.

 

[nova]

Hmmm,... me too. Four kids and five dogs over the last twenty years,... none of them were ever interested in the speakers. Receivers, DVD, VHS, Cassette Decks, TV monitors etc. could not keep the kids them away from them (dogs could care less about any of it). I'd go with floor standers.

 

[jamie2112]

Ok..

Axioms are still at the top of my list....that being said, anyone know if I can get a pair of B&W's with a good sub for around $5k?

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/srch_fs.pl?BAAW plenty of great B&W if you don't mind used.ALL of my speakers were bought used if that helps...

 

[parinshah]

or is dynaudio better for the money?

 

[zeuiax]

With all that money, I would start auditioning anything I could find around.

GL in your search.