Hi! Welcome to the forum.
Before we get into recommending specific products, we need to know a lot more about your situation
A $2500 budget for an audio system is a good starting point. And we know you want some really kickin' bass for music.
What is your room size and layout? The room is actually the largest part of any audio system. So we need to know all about it. Dimensions. Where the openings are. How the furniture is laid out. And how you use the room. Is it dedicated to audio? Or do we have to worry about looks? And where can the speakers and other gear be placed? A diagram or photos are a big help
Next, we need to make the room a good environment for audio. There's no sense putting great speakers in a crappy room! Good speakers in a great acoustic environment will sound a million times better than great speakers in a poor environment. Again, the room is the biggest part or your system.
So you might end up spending some money on acoustic treatments. We'll have to see. I'd recommend you get in touch with the good folks at
GiK Acoustics. They will really help you tackle your room's acoustics. You can also get great products from
Acoustimac. And
Auralex offers a free service where they analyze your room and make suggestions on ways to improve the acoustics.
So between those companies and us here on the forum, we'll get your room nicely set up for great audio! For a very generalized idea, some bass traps in the front corners, a couple of panels on each side wall at the first reflection points, and some thick bass traps right behind your seat are generally a great place to start when it comes to treating the acoustics of most rooms. And you can do all that for not too much money, so long as you stick to using the basic panels with normal fabric. If looks are a concern, there are nicer fabrics, patterns, suede, and even printed or dyed panels, which can have any graphics you like on them. But all of those things make the price go up. A basic Room Kit from GiK or Acoustimac is your most cost effective starting point
There can also be more "natural" ways to address your acoustics using furniture and other objects in the room. Plush couches or other thickly padded, fabric covered seats can help to absorb reflections. Thick carpeting. Wall hangings. Lots of big pillows. And bookcases with lots of odd and irregular shapes in them can act as diffusers that scatter sound waves. The point is to reduce the area of hard, flat surfaces. Hard, flat surfaces create strong reflections and don't allow the sound waves to dissipate.
With the room sorted, the next biggest thing to tackle is the bass. Do you have only one seat that you really care about? Or do you have multiple seats that are important listening positions?
Reason I ask is because it's not too hard to get nice, linear, accurate bass at just one seat. For that, you can use one good subwoofer, carefully positioned, and maybe perfected with a little EQ. For multiple seats though, you really need at least dual subwoofers. A lone sub will always create standing waves. And from seat to seat, the bass will sound different. Dual subs, carefully positioned, can reduce a lot of standing wave problems, and greatly decrease the differences from seat to seat.
There are lots of great subwoofers these days. But HSU Research and Outlaw Audio (who's subs were largely designed by Dr. Hsu) tend to offer the highest "bang for your buck". Given your budget, you'll likely end up with one of their subs. The exact model is going to depend on your room size, and whether you need to go with dual subs, or can get by with a lone, high output sub.
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Next up, one product I will recommend right off the bat is the
Onkyo TX-NR709 , which, at the moment I'm writing this, is going for the absurdly low price of $400 over at accessories4less (A4L). A4L is a fully authorized Onkyo dealer. You get a full 1 year manufacturer's warranty when you buy from them. They label the units they sell as "refurbished", but do not let that deter you for even a moment. The units are often literally brand new and merely being cleared out of inventory by the manufacturers. In the case of the 709, it's an older model, but it happens to be a better unit, feature wise, than the current TX-NR717 that replaced it. For whatever reason, the TX-NR717 took quite an obvious step backwards in some areas. The TX-NR709 is a terrific value. It's got 8 HDMI inputs that are all fully 3D and HD Audio ready. Component Video switching, THX Certification and Listening Modes. Pretty much every feature you could want - except for maybe AirPlay, which it does not have, but it's got other network streaming options, iPod USB support, and you can always hook up an AppleTV if you really want AirPlay
The feature that really makes the TX-NR709 stand out though is that it has full 7.1 speaker pre-outs. Those pre-outs are necessary if you ever want to connect a separate, more powerful amplifier. Given your budget, you might not be able to afford a separate amplifier right away. And the amps that are built into the TX-NR709 are already pretty decent, and should drive most speakers just fine. But it sure is nice to have the option available to add external amplification later. Especially if you like to listen really loud, or if you opt for speakers that are a little bit less efficient, or can absorb a ton of power. The TX-NR709 just can't be beat in terms of features and flexibility for the price. So I highly recommend grabbing that specific model of AV Receiver.
Finally, we get to speakers. Are you planning to just run two channel stereo? Or do you want a full 5 or 7 speaker surround setup?
Again, your room size and seating distance will be a large determining factor. You could easily end up spending over $1000 on the subwoofers. You've got the Onkyo AV Receiver at $400. And a nice, basic Room Kit acoustic panel and bass trap package from GiK or Acoustimac will likely run you around $550. So you might not have a ton of room left in the budget for speakers.
But that's ok. Because luckily, these days, there are some surprisingly good speakers available for very little money. The
Pioneer 2nd Generation (all the model numbers end in a "2") Andrew Jones speakers are rather easily the least expensive, good speakers that are out there at the moment. Those SP-FS52 towers that I linked to can often be found for $100 each. Very affordable, but they're darn good speakers. And even if you want a full 5 speaker surround setup, you could afford the matching SP-C22 Center and SP-BS22-LR bookshelf surrounds within your budget.
Another good option might be the
Inifinity Primus speakers . The P363 Towers there, and the matching PC351 Center can play incredibly loud without distortion. That's their real strong suit. And they'd be a good candidate for some high Wattage external amplification down the road. They can certainly make use of the extra power if you want some really really loud playback!
Another speaker brand that can play very very loud, and are probably the best looking speakers for a low price right now are the
EMP Tek speakers . If you're only looking to get a pair of speakers for 2-channel stereo right now, these would be a tremendous choice. I find them a little bit "polite" and laid back in the top end. Maybe not quite as detailed as I personally like. But they NAIL the midrange. And the bit of roll-off I hear in the top end is helpful if you don't have a lot of acoustic room treatments. They never ever sound harsh or fatiguing. And they can take a ton of power and play super loud as well.
I'll throw out one more brand, which is probably my favorite speaker brand at the moment, and that's
Ascend Acoustics . Every model they make is tops in its price class in terms of just sheer accuracy and sound quality. The tweeters they use are especially good - at least to my ears - for their price range in every model. A real cut above in terms of accuracy and clarity. The CMT-340SE that I linked to there would make the most sense for your price range and for loud playback capabilities. They have matching stands that make them look like towers if you want.
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So those are a good place to start, in any case. The last thing I'll mention is to head on over to
monoprice.com for all of your cable, wire and accessory needs.
Have a chat with GiK. Take advantage of Auralex's free room analysis service. And get back to us with lots more details about your room
We'll sort you out and get you a killer system.
