First HT Speaker Buying Help

B

beergeek

Audiophyte
Hello All.

I have really appreciated the knowledge I have gained from this forum in guiding me through my first Home Theater purchase. I am concentrating on getting my audio setup together now and had a few questions on how to best spend the rest of my budget.

I will mainly be using my setup for movie/TV watching, but there will be some audio and game playing. I am by no means an audiophile I just want to get something that doesn't sound terrible at a decent price. I was going to get a refurb Onkyo 606 but spotted a deal yesterday for $369 for the 607 and I jumped on it (glad I did it is back up to $494 today!). I also have a old serviceable (I think) Infinity BU2 subwoofer I will be using in the setup.

Anyway I am trying to figure out the rest of my setup. I think I am going to get a pair of Polk Monitor 40s for the fronts. I think I would rather have the 50s (tall floor speakers) but the bookshelf is a much more convenient size for my setup, and my 18 month old is far less likely to topple them over . Are these suitable speakers for the front?

And next what is the best next purchase for my system? With that I think I will have a reasonable 2.1 system. Should I replace my aging sub? Add a center channel speaker? (CS1 or CS2?) Add some rears? If adding rears is the best bet, I'll need some fairly small wall mountable ones? Is there anything available at a reasonable price?

When all is said and done I'd like to keep it under $400-500 for the rest of my speaker purchases. The lower the better of course :)

Any help is appreciated. This whole process can be a little overwhelming
 
sholling

sholling

Audioholic Ninja
That's a nice little receiver and I think you'll like it a lot. I just put last years TX-SR606 in my master bedroom and I like it a lot. As far as speakers go I'm going to stick with generalities because speaker choice is so subjective. What I may like you may hate and vise versa. It's just way too subjective of a subject. The other joker in the deck is that what sounds good in the store may not sound good in your home. Dealers play with receiver settings and the room acoustics will be totally different.

Depending on your goals I'd look at two possibilities.

  • For most people looking for 50% music, 50% movies I generally suggest starting with a 3.1 system That's left, right and center and they need to be an acoustic match for each other and not just random selections. You can always go back and add surrounds later when you have the money to spare.
  • Book shelf speakers are generally going to be a bit less expensive but will not usually have as much bass. I'd pick out something that will comfortably go down to at least 80hz if you're using a subwoofer. Lower if you didn't have one. Placement remains an issue because you can't just hang a rear ported speaker on the wall. In general they'll need somewhere between 6-10" between the speakers and the wall.
  • Floor mounted will tempt little fingers but will usually be more full range.
  • The other option is to pick up a 5.1 set. 5.1 setups in your price range usually have compromises (what doesn't) but can be good values. You just have to make the decision about what compromises work for you. I'll toss two out as examples... Please keep in mind that I've never listened to either. 1.) The Energy Take 5.1 There is a review on the Audioholics site. There are also some other reviews there that are worth taking a look at to. 2.) The TSC TSBLT-HT is another option that I haven't heard. Again I'm just tossing out ideas and not recommending a either of these. Only you know your taste and what your ears like.
Bottom line you need to get out and do some listening and should probably buy from a company that takes returns without a restocking charge.
 
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