Entry-level HT options

[mobius1]

I'm taking advantage of being speaker-less to go ahead and put together my very first home-theater set-up. I have a Panny 42" plasma, PS3, and will soon have an Onkyo 605. My budget for speakers and sub is $360.

The home theater's main uses will be gaming (about 3/6ths of the time), movies (2/6ths), and Music (1/6th). The TV's speakers will suffice for regular channel-surfing.

I've done quite a bit of research and have come up with a few potential set-ups, and I wanted to see if anyone had good reasons for leaning towards one over the others.

1. The Speaker Company, TSBLA-HT 5.1 ($360)
- TSBL 6.5" bookshelves as mains
- TC2 Center
- TSB 5.25" as surrounds
- ASW10, 10" 100 watt sub

2. Fluance, SXHTB+ 5.1 with extra center for 6.1 ($370)
- floorstanding mains
- packaged center moved to rear
- AVSC center channel as front center
- bookshelf surrounds

The SXHTB's default center isn't well liked, so I think adding the improved center makes it a viable option. The problem then is finding a sub. I live in an apartment and the Fluance towers are pretty bassy, from what I've read, so I might be able to do without a proper sub for a while.

3. Energy, Take Classic 5.1 and tSc ASW8 sub ($300)

(I'm cursing my timing on this one. Energy was getting cleared out left and right only a month or two ago)

4. Energy, C-50 5.1 ($350)
- C-50 for mains and rears
- C-C50 center
- tSc ASW8 sub

Personally I'm leaning towards the first two. I feel like I can get a significant boost in sound quality over the Take Classic satellites or the C-50s with tSc's big bookshelves or fluance's floorstanders, for not much more money. Then the question is, how to decide between those two?

Thanks guys, I look forward to not wracking my brain over the decision!

 

[ack_bak]

Instead of trying to buy a 5.1 setup for $360 or less, have you considered buying nicer speakers and starting with a 2.0, 3.0, or 2.1 setup first?

 

[mobius1]

Instead of trying to buy a 5.1 setup for $360 or less, have you considered buying nicer speakers and starting with a 2.0, 3.0, or 2.1 setup first?

I did, for a bit, but then I got swept away in the allure of surround-sound. Is there a particular speaker in that price range you'd recommend?

 

[ace0001a]

My vote goes to the TSC setup you have as option #1. It should be plenty good for your apartment. Plus, TSC has a 30-day trial period with free shipping both ways and so you really don't have anything to lose.

 

[Soundman]

I did, for a bit, but then I got swept away in the allure of surround-sound. Is there a particular speaker in that price range you'd recommend?

Surround sound is over rated. Take your time and get something nice you can enjoy for years to come, even if it means you have to do it a little at a time instead of all at once. A really nice 2.0 or 2.1 system will blow the pants off of a crappy 5.1 or 7.1 system. Besides, in most cases, at least 80% of a movie soundtrack is coming from your front channels.

I had a friend who really wanted to purchase a 5.1 or 7. system. He had like a $400 budget. I told him to just purchase the 2 main channels and build the rest of the system around it and he'd be happier in the long run. I even did some shopping around and found some great deals in that price range that would have sounded excellent. Well, he didn't listen to me and instead bought some crappy 7.1 system. He's not happy with it and he did this b/c he just had to have "surround sound".
Here's something else to consider. More does not always mean better. 7.1 is not necessarily better then 5.1. In fact, you really need to have the right size room to even consider 7.1. Just thought I would mention that b/c my friend just thought 7.1 was going to be awesome.

Quality always bests quantity.

 

[mobius1]

Surround sound is over rated. Take your time and get something nice you can enjoy for years to come, even if it means you have to do it a little at a time instead of all at once. A really nice 2.0 or 2.1 system will blow the pants off of a crappy 5.1 or 7.1 system. Besides, in most cases, at least 80% of a movie soundtrack is coming from your front channels.

I had a friend who really wanted to purchase a 5.1 or 7. system. He had like a $400 budget. I told him to just purchase the 2 main channels and build the rest of the system around it and he'd be happier in the long run. I even did some shopping around and found some great deals in that price range that would have sounded excellent. Well, he didn't listen to me and instead bought some crappy 7.1 system. He's not happy with it and he did this b/c he just had to have "surround sound".
Here's something else to consider. More does not always mean better. 7.1 is not necessarily better then 5.1. In fact, you really need to have the right size room to even consider 7.1. Just thought I would mention that b/c my friend just thought 7.1 was going to be awesome.

Quality always bests quantity.

One concern I have with building a system over time is matching all the components. At around $350 it seems like I'd still be shooting for recently discontinued speakers, and by the time I got to thinking about rears or whatever (which would be atleast 6 months to a year) I'd have to go back to feverishly researching whether a speaker will complement what I already own. I should mention I'm in my last year of college, so money is tight and I don't expect it to get any more available for a loooong time

 

[Soundman]

One concern I have with building a system over time is matching all the components. At around $350 it seems like I'd still be shooting for recently discontinued speakers, and by the time I got to thinking about rears or whatever (which would be atleast 6 months to a year) I'd have to go back to feverishly researching whether a speaker will complement what I already own. I should mention I'm in my last year of college, so money is tight and I don't expect it to get any more available for a loooong time

I understand that. I've been there and the options you mentioned are quite good for the money, but don't be too concerned about the surround channels matching. It is not critical. You do want your front stage to match, but I've seen setups where the surrounds were completely different brands and they did just fine. Personally, I would prefer to stick with the same brand, but if a speaker is discontinued, usually there is something you can get that will sound very similar within that speaker family. I doubt you would even notice if using for surround duty.

 

[ace0001a]

I'd hardly call the speakers from TSC crappy. All the ones reviewed here have had high marks. Even if you went for their TSAT-1000-HT8-B System (which were given a 4.5 out of 5 for performance and 5 out of 5 for value here), you'd have one heck of a setup for an apartment. While I can't knock piecing a speaker system together over time, I would say you can't go wrong with a decent 5.1 setup over just having a pair of higher end 2.0/2.1 setup.

Just in case you missed the reviews here on TSC speakers:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/satellite/tsat-1000-ht8-b

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/floorstanding/tsc-tst2

http://www.soundadviceblog.com/?p=1384

And no I don't work for TSC, but I am demoing a full setup from them right now and I must say their speakers are quite impressive especially when you factor in the price to performance ratio, free two-way shipping and solid customer service.

 

[mobius1]

I'd hardly call the speakers from TSC crappy. All the ones reviewed here have had high marks. Even if you went for their TSAT-1000-HT8-B System (which were given a 4.5 out of 5 for performance and 5 out of 5 for value here), you'd have one heck of a setup for an apartment. While I can't knock piecing a speaker system together over time, I would say you can't go wrong with a decent 5.1 setup over just having a pair of higher end 2.0/2.1 setup.

Just in case you missed the reviews here on TSC speakers:

And no I don't work for TSC, but I am demoing a full setup from them right now and I must say their speakers are quite impressive especially when you factor in the price to performance ratio, free two-way shipping and solid customer service.

Which speakers are you demoing?

 

[markw]

You might want to see what you can kludge together from AudioAdvisor, particularly as far as Energy speakers go. Many sales. You can get a good set of "matching" speakers.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/

And, if you can forgo a subwoofer for a few months, your options are even greater and you'll have a "better than starter" system to begin with. Remember, subs are pretty universal. Mains and centers aren't.

If you can wait on that sub, I'd consider a pair of C-200's, a cc-50 center, and a pair of C-50 surrounds will bring you in right about on target.

Of course, if you can up the budget somewhat, those towers sure look tempting...

P.S. They have the take 5 system, less sub, for $200.

 

[Rickster71]

Your first choice sounds good.

One suggestion, see if you can buy 3 of the TSBL 6.5's and use one for center, along with their sub, for a 2.1 setup. Those three identical speakers for L-C-R are a better bet than TS2 Center.
That will keep you happy until other funds become available for rear surrounds, that you won't miss anyway.
I put two pairs of the TSBL 6.5's in a spare room and they sound surprisingly good, especially when they go on sale for $50 off.

 

[mobius1]

Anyone heard about or listened to Jamo floorstanding speakers? They're going pretty cheap on WWStereo.com

Thanks for all the input so far!

 

[lsiberian]

3 set of http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHB2030P is the best system you can assemble for surround sound under 1000 IMO. Though there are other options out there the build quality is way better than the price. You do a price match to get a discount.

They are 150 per pair.

So for 450 you get six channels of superior sound to anything you listed.

If you don't have the funds for 3 pairs just get 2 pairs and phantom the center until you can get another pair.

For subs go to audiogon.com and be prepared to save your cash if you want amazing. If you want cheap grab the Dayton 12" from PE.

Don't settle for something sub par.

 

[ace0001a]

Which speakers are you demoing?

I'm demoing a set of TST3 Towers, TC2 Center Channel, TSS-B Dipole Surrounds and a pair TSAT-1000 for Surround Backs. The key with my selection is that all speakers have the aluminum woofers and most importantly the same "Hi-Cell" tweeter. So far they sound as good as the reviews have been saying and I would agree that they easily sound as good as speakers that cost double of what TSC sells them for.