Hi! Welcome to the forum
You mentioned FutureShop. Are you in Canada?
If so, unfortunately, things tend to be a bit more expensive in Canada, either because our store prices are just more expensive to begin with, or because we have to ship things in from the USA, and the shipping and border fees make US items more expensive for us.
A lot is going to depend on what you consider "much cheaper". Obviously, you've made it clear that you do not want to pay $3000 for an AV Receiver, 5 speakers, and a subwoofer. But what IS your budget?
For example, an excellent "entry-level" system would be the following:
Onkyo TX-NR709 AV Receiver - $550 from NCIX
This is an excellent AV Receiver with a terrific feature set, lots of inputs, and great upgradeability. 8 HDMI inputs, dual HDMI outputs, Audyssey MultEQ XT auto-setup & room correction, and full 7.1 speaker pre-outs, which allow you to upgrade the amplifiers with separate, external amps if you ever want to.
These can be found for as cheap as
$450 in the States , but accessories4less will not ship Onkyo Receivers to Canada, and the price anywhere else in the States, when combined with shipping and border fees, would be more expensive than the NCIX price. NCIX is selling them with free shipping in Canada, so the only extra expensve on that price would be tax. I don't know which Province you're in, but this is easily the best deal in Canada right now, and they're almost sold out, so jump on it quick if this is in your price range!
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Pioneer 2nd Generation Andrew Jones Speakers:
SP-FS52 Tower Fronts - $130/Each (you would need to order 2!) from B&H Photo
SP-C22 Center - $100 from B&H Photo
SP-BS22-LR Bookshelf Surrounds - $130/Pair from B&H Photo
It's funny that you mentioned regretting your Pioneer HTiB. Hopefully, that won't put you off of the Pioneer brand entirely, because it really shouldn't! These Pioneer speakers - the 2nd Generation models designed by Andrew Jones - are easily the best, least expensive speakers on the market right now. They are good speakers. Full stop. Not just "for the price". But flat out good. If you throw in "for the price", they are astonishing!
But, sadly, we don't have any local retailers for them in Canada. Instead, we have to order them from the States. But even with the shipping and border fees included, they remain the least expensive option for truly good speakers.
B&H Photo has the best shipping policies into Canada. You can see a full "landed cost", that includes all the shipping, border fees and tax before you buy. This is in stark contrast to most US retailers who will only show you the shipping cost. Once the items arrive, you will often get hit with additional fees and taxes that were tacked on at the border - always a nasty surprise! But not so with B&H Photo! They take care of all the fees right away, so you know exactly how much it will cost, and you won't have any extra or COD fees when the products arrive at your door.
Again, the exact price will depend on your Province. Taxes are higher in BC and Ontario. But the 5 Pioneer speakers should end up being about $700 - give or take. In the USA, they are less than $500, so we get hit pretty hard.
If you are able to drive across the border easily, you can buy these same Pioneer 2nd Gen. Andrew Jones speakers at a Best Buy. You would still have to pay the border fees when you drive them back into Canada, but you would save a lot on the shipping. These speakers are quite large - especially the Tower Fronts - so shipping is expensive.
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Lastly, you'd need a subwoofer. A truly good subwoofer is never cheap. There is simply no getting around physics. Producing good, strong, accurate, deep bass simply requires a good amount of power, a large box, and a strong driver. There's no getting around it. It takes what it takes. And the one place where you should NEVER skimp in an audio system is on the subwoofer! A good subwoofer is what makes it FEEL like you are "at the movies" or listening to a live concert. More than any other component, a weak subwoofer will really leave you disappointed. But a good subwoofer simply isn't cheap or small. That's just the way it is.
Again, being in Canada, getting a truly good subwoofer is, unfortunately, more expensive for us. Normally, my favourite subwoofer brand for value is HSU Research. Like B&H Photo, they will quote you a full "landed" price for Canadian shipping - all border fees and taxes included. But the fees and shipping really increase the price on HSU subwoofers. To the point that it's not really worth it to ship them across the border.
For example, the
STF-2 is the least expensive subwoofer that I feel comfortable recommending to most people. It is a very good performer, reasonable in size (though still a lot bigger than what most people expect
), and it's only minor weakness is that it can't quite reach right down to 20Hz. But overall, it tends to be a great balance of price and performance for most people. Rarely is any buyer disappointed with the STF-2! In the USA, it's only $372 after shipping. But to ship it into Canada, the total price ends up being around $500. Again, the exact price will depend on your Province and the taxes.
So, it's still a good choice. But $500 makes it much less of a deal. We have
sonicboomaudio.com . They are the Canadian retailer for SVSound subwoofers. They don't have it listed on their website yet, but you could order the new
PB-1000 from them. The price will be the same $500 as in the USA, but in Canada, you will need to pay $40-$50 shipping, and then there will be GST and any Provincial taxes on top of that. So it's still more expensive than the HSU STF-2, but the PB-1000 will supposedly play a bit lower and louder than the STF-2.
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In any case, this entire, excellent, entry-level system would cost about $1700-$1800, give or take depending on your Province and taxes. Now, that's definitely less expensive than $3000. And this is a KILLER entry-level system. It's really about as good as it gets for this little money.
But "much cheaper" makes me think you might want something even less expensive than this. I have to say, that going less expensive than this can certainly be done, but it will definitely be a big step down in performance. You asked for something that would be just as good as the $3000 Paradigm system for less money. This Onkyo, Pioneer, HSU system would be it! But if you want to go even less expensive, we'll need to consider some pretty big compromises on sound quality and features.
For now, I hope that will help. Get back to us with more info and questions and we will do our best to help you out!
