Building a home theatre system

[musicholic]

Hi,
I'm new to the home audio game so please excuse my ignorance. I want to build a home theatre system from scratch in two phases.
Phase I - receiver, 2 front speakers, center channel and sub
Phase II - 3 rear speakers to complete 7.1 effect.
Looking to spend ~$3-4,000 on phase I. Have fallen in love with the matrin logans and are available for $2,000 for the floor model at harveys.
But I'm open to any configuration the experts here may recommend.
Thanks

 

[mulester7]

Hi,
I'm new to the home audio game so please excuse my ignorance. I want to build a home theatre system from scratch in two phases.
Phase I - receiver, 2 front speakers, center channel and sub
Phase II - 3 rear speakers to complete 7.1 effect.
Looking to spend ~$3-4,000 on phase I. Have fallen in love with the matrin logans and are available for $2,000 for the floor model at harveys.
But I'm open to any configuration the experts here may recommend.
Thanks

.....any so-called experts here don't have your ears, MusicHolic....sounds like you know what you're doing....I would suggest you either get a receiver with kahunga power, or a less expensive receiver to use as a pre-pro with slave-amps all around....and, word has it them Merlin Hogan speakers are good stuff......

 

[musicholic]

thanks, which receiver would the group recommend an dare there any other speakers less pricey than martin logans?

 

[zildjian]

On this site, you'll find lots of fans of Denon & Yamaha receivers. Mule made a great point, either go with a receiver with good power reserves (like Denon's 3806 or Yammies 2600), or a lesser powered one & save the $$ for external power amps.
Martin logans are nice, they are placement picky, off axis response can drop off, but if you're in the sweet spot they sound good. Go with what you fall in love with, you'll be happier longer!

 

[AVRat]

Yes, there are many fine speakers less expensive than the MLs, but as mentioned your ears are the ones that matter. Do more shopping around and listening. One of the easier recos we can do is for the sub, but room size info will help. BTW, phase II will require 4 speakers for the 7 channel setup, .1 is for the sub.