Advice on new build

[cloudbuster]

Hi im ready to finally buy some speaker to build a HT in my family room.
After reading quite a while it seem that
PSB Image T6 loved by a lot of people reviews say good sound.
Arx A5 about the same for their big tweeter and technology used.
On this other 3 I am willing to spend the extra $ if they actually deliver
Monitor Audio Silver the sew Silver is suppose to be even better than the old one Im looking at the 8 or 10.
Focal Profile 918 not a lot of reviews that I could find but I did read Focal in general are great. Im considering them for the price reduction.
Focal 836V almost the same not many owners review. price reduction.

They would be paired with the respective brand center. For Sub I be looking at SVS or HSU. Surround I think the SVS Ultras are a good option for the different ways it can be setup 5.1 or 7.1.

Due to the couch being all the way to the back on the wall Im only looking for a 5 speaker configuration.
The tower would go right next to the TV stand mine look like this RTA Home and Office TVM-020 B Plasma TV Stand BLACK Tempered Glass with Wire management: Furniture : Walmart.com and I calculated the back of the speaker to be about 12-13'' from the wall, Due to the TV extending more from the stand it have about 56'' from tower to tower I would estimate. Room size 15x15x7.5. One one side there the kitchen only divider is a 3.9 feet tall by 8' long aisle. So on this side the room is BIG.

this would be my 1st ever system, I dont have the opportunity to go out and test for myself closest big town about 4 hours away.
I would like them to put a smile on my face as the volume goes up, no static noise, degradation in sound as with regular computer speakers.
Thanks!

 

[TheStalker]

B&W CM8
Focal Aria 926

 

[zieglj01]

The Focal 836 and Monitor Audio Silver are nice options

Anything on your list, is far better than computer speakers.

 

[ImcLoud]

What is your budget? What are you doing for an AVR?

If I were building it for my house I would go with...
first the stand, NO WALMART STANDS, lol I had one, and WOW, never again... VTI gives you a lot for your money, I love the BL series, I have some of their stand alone amp stands and they are great, my brother has this one with 2 $80lb emo amps on it an avr, bluray, ps3, ect plus a 60"ish plasma... Amazon.com - BL Series Audio Video Rack w 3 Shelves (Black w Black Shelf) awesome stand!!!!

For subs, I always like duals, and my favorite bang for buck sub is the vtf2 {I have 2 of them and can not imagine anyone needing more than that}...

As far as surrounds go, I have tried many, some sound better with bi, di, or omni pole designs, some with mono's... Unless you are listening to multi ch music {in which case they should timbre match your fronts} you don't need to spend much at all, I use ascend 200se's and they work great, I have used the Fluance bi poles and they are also very nice, so in short you most likely wont hear the difference between a $100 bookshelf vs a $1000 bookshelf.... They are effect speakers and hardly ever light for more than a few seconds and usually its with effect noises like foot steps, car doors, wind, ect I have yet to hear voice through a set of surrounds during a movie...

Now your front sound stage is the important part, you should demo them, I prefer bookshelfs {no matter the room size, to me books sound better than towers when a sub is involved, you get more for your money and cabinet resonance is not an issue, plus vti also makes bookshelf stands} sure ask around and read reviews to get a good start, but this is going to be up to your ears alone.. I like bang for the buck and ID is hard to beat, Ascend Acoustics entire line has amazed me for their price, Carnegie acoustics CSB and CST's are a great buy rite now through GR {less than half price} I bought a set of csb1's and love them things, they sound HUGE}, If placement is flexible Maggie MMG and MMGC makes a very nice front sound stage when paired with a decent sub, there are tons of options I can tell you I like the PSB stuff {imagine series is incredible for the money from a B&M store}.

You are in the rite place to get good info, let us know what your budget is and we can give you our ideas....

 

[cloudbuster]

Like I mentioned I am willing to spend the 2k on those speaker if they are actually a pretty good deal considering they cost more but are being discontinued.
Then for the sub about $800
surround $1200 considering I liked those for the versatility. Of using them in 7.1 with the duet mode. With only 5 speakers. Are they a bad choice then?
Receiver: around $700
I don't see me listening to a lot of music mostly blue ray movies.
Center: whoever main I get to pair it. So unspecified $ ATM
So it look that for the front alone I was looking at about 3k but if the other options sound just as good I get the less expensive ones.
I am looking closely at the Arx A5 for their tweeter and splitgap and XBL2 but I don't know much I mentioned them for good reviews from user and they won't the 1k shootout.

I like towers I think they look better and they would be part of the decoration for a long time.
I already have a TV stand I mentioned so you guys see how it look like, like you mention it wobbles a little bit but not that much to concern me. I keep that link handy for when I upgrade it.

 

[lsiberian]

Get your couch of the wall! Don't waste half your budget on surrounds they aren't that critical. Audition Aperion, SVS and Ascend in your home pay for them all on a card and send back the two you don't like. Do the same for any local auditions. How they sound in the store is not how they sound in the home. Don't get taken on speaker cables or external amps. Speakers are the most important feature in your system the second is the room. Fix the room however you can.

 

[ImcLoud]

Too bad you already got he stand them VTI's are amazing, I would compare them to stands i have seen at musicdirect for $3000 lol...

OK, So, I personally am not a fan of ARX, just don't do much for me for the price, I also looked into them... Since you are set on towers, (I did the same thing, I have towers in my 2.2 and the bookshelfs of the same speaker actually sounded better, but I owned them both and used the towers...) Anyway, check out the sierra towers, since they are in your budget, the center is expensive but you are going to find that with an expensive set of towers, call dina and Dave over at ascend and they will answer any questions you have. I like the towers with the std tweeters...
Sierra Tower Bamboo Loudspeaker Very high quality speaker...

I would move your surround budget to the fronts and sub, go for dual subs maybe dual vtf3's and you won't regret it at all...

Next is your avr, your budget permits a decent denon, yamaha, or marantz unit, just get the most you can from one of them companies...
MARANTZ SR7005 3D Ready 7.2 Home Theater Networking Receiver | Accessories4less
DENON AVR-4310CI 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver w/ Networking | Accessories4less
you can get a lot of avr for that budget...

PS IMO the dual surround BS is just that, I have heard systems setup properly that I don't like the effect of 7 channels, there aren't even that many movies recorded in 7.1, and it pulls you out of the material, with the couch on the back wall don't bother, its going to be a waste. 5.2 will sound better, my brother went crazy with 11.2 its a 7 ch with front highs and rear highs, its non sense he admits it, and said when he remodels or paints he is burying the cables and going to 5 channels and 4 subs, smooth strong bass adds to the feeling and experience of a movie more than 100 effect speakers ever could... I watched 2 guns {again, I like this movie} today and the house rumbling away makes you feel like you are on the scene, and you forget you are in your living room, effect speakers {especially when done wrong} tend to pull you out of the material and throw your attention to where the sound is coming from... Its fun to think someone just slammed a door in your driveway or see the dogs go crazy when someone in a movie knocks or rings a doorbell, but 5.2 does that just as good as 7, 9, or 11....

 

[TheStalker]

B&W CM8 (X2)
B&W CM Centre 2
B&W DS3 (X2)
SVS PB1000 (X2)
Denon AVR-X4000
Sony PS4
Panasonic TC-PST60

Thank me later

 

[cloudbuster]

Get your couch of the wall! Don't waste half your budget on surrounds they aren't that critical. Audition Aperion, SVS and Ascend in your home pay for them all on a card and send back the two you don't like. Do the same for any local auditions. How they sound in the store is not how they sound in the home. Don't get taken on speaker cables or external amps. Speakers are the most important feature in your system the second is the room. Fix the room however you can.

I did look at those too and just saw this from a review from a member that martini water test impressed me, dint know loudspeaker could have no vibration. does that equal a good speaker? I dont really like the look of this tower.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/85671-svs-ultra-tower-review-ted-nicolakis.html

Too bad you already got he stand them VTI's are amazing, I would compare them to stands i have seen at musicdirect for $3000 lol...

OK, So, I personally am not a fan of ARX, just don't do much for me for the price, I also looked into them... Since you are set on towers, (I did the same thing, I have towers in my 2.2 and the bookshelfs of the same speaker actually sounded better, but I owned them both and used the towers...) Anyway, check out the sierra towers, since they are in your budget, the center is expensive but you are going to find that with an expensive set of towers, call dina and Dave over at ascend and they will answer any questions you have. I like the towers with the std tweeters...
Sierra Tower Bamboo Loudspeaker Very high quality speaker...

I would move your surround budget to the fronts and sub, go for dual subs maybe dual vtf3's and you won't regret it at all...

Next is your avr, your budget permits a decent denon, yamaha, or marantz unit, just get the most you can from one of them companies...
MARANTZ SR7005 3D Ready 7.2 Home Theater Networking Receiver | Accessories4less
DENON AVR-4310CI 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver w/ Networking | Accessories4less
you can get a lot of avr for that budget...

PS IMO the dual surround BS is just that, I have heard systems setup properly that I don't like the effect of 7 channels, there aren't even that many movies recorded in 7.1, and it pulls you out of the material, with the couch on the back wall don't bother, its going to be a waste. 5.2 will sound better, my brother went crazy with 11.2 its a 7 ch with front highs and rear highs, its non sense he admits it, and said when he remodels or paints he is burying the cables and going to 5 channels and 4 subs, smooth strong bass adds to the feeling and experience of a movie more than 100 effect speakers ever could... I watched 2 guns {again, I like this movie} today and the house rumbling away makes you feel like you are on the scene, and you forget you are in your living room, effect speakers {especially when done wrong} tend to pull you out of the material and throw your attention to where the sound is coming from... Its fun to think someone just slammed a door in your driveway or see the dogs go crazy when someone in a movie knocks or rings a doorbell, but 5.2 does that just as good as 7, 9, or 11....

the tallest center speaker that I could fit in the TV stand is about 9'' so the Ascend sierra horizon wont fit, unless I can have the TV on top of it but that dont sound like a good idea.
that why I posted that list I believe all their center are smaller than 9''
I dont think the wife would be happy on me buying a new TV stand so soon.

So the surround tri mode is not good? I liked the idea of choosing different setup from the same speaker. I found similar ones Infinity C255es
Best of Audio Infinity Classia C255ES (black)(each)

the C255ES is capable of reproducing two discrete channels from one loudspeaker, making it perfect for upgrading to 7 channels using only five or six loudspeakers.

I though you could use ProLogig IIx to help with the 7.1 setup.

About the 2 subs would they be placed on the front or on the back each side of the couch?

So the Arx are not that great then, good to know.
is there something else that have great sound and cheaper than the Ascend or the Focals I was looking into since they dont get raved about so much, they do look cool especially the 836V with all those driver on the front maybe overkill.
FOCAL CHORUS 836V TOWER SPEAKERS (PR) at Music Direct
FOCAL PROFILE 918 DIAMOND BLACK (PR) at Music Direct I dont get why at one point they were so expensive there not much talk about them.
so then would that put the PSB Image T6 on the top of my list? bang for $$ or Monitor Audio Silver?
would it be easy to tell what speaker are playing let say between them 2.

 

[lsiberian]

I did look at those too and just saw this from a review from a member that martini water test impressed me, dint know loudspeaker could have no vibration. does that equal a good speaker? I dont really like the look of this tower.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/85671-svs-ultra-tower-review-ted-nicolakis.html




the tallest center speaker that I could fit in the TV stand is about 9'' so the Ascend sierra horizon wont fit, unless I can have the TV on top of it but that dont sound like a good idea.
that why I posted that list I believe all their center are smaller than 9''
I dont think the wife would be happy on me buying a new TV stand so soon.

So the surround tri mode is not good? I liked the idea of choosing different setup from the same speaker. I found similar ones Infinity C255es
Best of Audio Infinity Classia C255ES (black)(each)

I though you could use ProLogig IIx to help with the 7.1 setup.

About the 2 subs would they be placed on the front or on the back each side of the couch?

So the Arx are not that great then, good to know.
is there something else that have great sound and cheaper than the Ascend or the Focals I was looking into since they dont get raved about so much, they do look cool especially the 836V with all those driver on the front maybe overkill.
FOCAL CHORUS 836V TOWER SPEAKERS (PR) at Music Direct
FOCAL PROFILE 918 DIAMOND BLACK (PR) at Music Direct I dont get why at one point they were so expensive there not much talk about them.
so then would that put the PSB Image T6 on the top of my list? bang for $$ or Monitor Audio Silver?
would it be easy to tell what speaker are playing let say between them 2.

You get a free shipping both ways trial for SVS and Aperion you should try them both at the very least. We are talking about a risk free trial you have nothing to lose other than time. Speculation is speculation you won't know what you like until you try them out in your own setup. We can talk about this or you can actually see for real if you like them. Your room and situation is different from every review and every person on this forum. You simply need to find your preference. You can get a JBL 8320 compact cinema surround for less than those.

If you really want budget speakers.
Amazon.com: Energy CF-30 Floorstanding/Tower Speaker (Black), Each: Electronics these are phenomenal speakers it's an older model so they are at a steep discount

The Energy C series is excellent. I auditioned them with a buddy of mine and they beat everything in the room. They also have surrounds and a center you can do the entire set for 1k get a top of the line sealed SVS sub and have a sick setup. You will want to aim the speakers toward you.

If you are an average joe the Energy series will probably amaze you. If you are an audiophile then get Salks.

 

[cloudbuster]

Those aperion also look good.
just to think about free shipping both way make me feel guilty if I have to return one of them.

also what is the average rear spacing between the back of speaker and the back of the wall when it comes to rear ported towers.
that would disqualify some of the towers now that I think about it.