Budget system for my bro

[jonnythan]

My brother is (finally!) upgrading his POS Samsung HTIB setup. His budget is $1500 or less. Here's what I was thinking about recommending:

Ascend speakers:
CBM-170 pair
CBM-170 center
HTM-200 pair

$806 for the above

Denon 1712 $275

Rythmik FV12 $615

That's a bit over budget, but I think it would be an awesome system if he's willing to buy it. For a cheaper option I'm thinking about keeping the receiver and sub and instead for speakers:

Pioneer:
BS41 pair $150
BS21 pair $85
C21 $70

That brings the total down to $1195.

Anything else comparable you guys strongly feel I should consider?

 

[jonnythan]

Also looking at the SBS-02 5.0 system for speakers, but I'm wary of suggesting smallish sealed bookshelves to him.

 

[templemaners]

You could swap out the HTM-200's and suggest Infinity P153's instead.

Infinity Primus® P153 Bookshelf speaker at Crutchfield.com

That would save about $100.

Another suggestion - Ascend looks like they have a pair of B-Stock 170SE's for like $10 more than the HTM-200s. That would be a worthwhile upgrade for a minimal price increase IMO (unless he's weary about buying B-stock).

Final suggestion, and this one I'm a bit more lukewarm on... It's a bit of an older model, but A4L has a Denon 3310 for $399.
DENON AVR-3310CI 7.1-Channel Network Home Theater Receiver | Accessories4less

Is he looking for 5 speakers? I wonder if just using the front 3 would work...

 

[jonnythan]

I was thinking about the Infinity but I imagine the SVS and Ascend offerings have to sound quite a bit better.

Definitely looking for 5 speakers. He's not the kind of guy who will want to mess with the system and add more speakers later or anything.

 

[jinjuku]

I dunno about the SVS and Ascends walking over the Infinity.

Would your brother be bothered by looking at craigslist? Where are you two about city wise?

 

[jonnythan]

Used market is highly unlikely. I would say he has a "perceived value" issue Ebay and Craigslist are pretty much out.

He's across the country from me. Literally the opposite coast. I'm on call support.

We could even maybe do Absolute Zeroes with an Absolute Center in the front and SuperZeroes in the back.

 

[zieglj01]

We could even maybe do Absolute Zeroes with an Absolute Center in the front and SuperZeroes in the back.

I much prefer NHT, over Infinity.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Depending on the person I like to recommend name brand items for family and friends. if they are showing it off to others they don't have to explain who Ascend or whoever is and still get sound quality better than they realized is possible. (if they can tell the difference) Most non-audioholics would be blown away by the sound of the Infinities and Denon with Audyssey MultEQ XT. The sub is where you almost have to go ID to get real value. How big is the room? How much sub is really necessary? An Epik Legend for $499 plus shipping might do the trick.

Yes, if he will stretch the budget the Ascend / Denon / Rythmik is a value packed great sounding system for the price.

 

[jonnythan]

Oooh I forgot about the Epik. That might be great for him actually. He's looking at a couple of places right now but I don't expect the room to be very large.

I'm leaning towards the Infinity setup (P153 mains, PC251 center, P143 surrounds) for tighter budget and the SVS SBS-02 if he wants to spend a bit more.

He's not the kind of guy that will get hung up on brands - he genuinely wants the best he can get with his money. He trusts me and would love to tell his friends "This completely blows away a Bose system that costs twice as much."

 

[jjclecky]

What about the HSU subs there awesome, and as far as infinity they are quite good, I just got upgrade mine to the Klipsch reference speakers.( RB-61 II and the RC-52 II)

 

[jcl]

NHT has a sale coming up starting May 15th. Unfortunately the super and absolute zeros aren't listed. The classic 2's will be $219 ea, and absolute center for 229.