Looking for my first 5.1 Home theater set up

[tbkoyama]

I'm looking for a nice home theater setup for my living room. It's approx 18x20 room. My budget is roughly $3500-$4000 for the receiver, speakers and cables.
So far, friends have recommended the following:

NAD T758 receiver
PSB Imagine X2T fronts, XC center, XB surrounds and Sunfire SDS 12 sub.

Option 2:
Marantz NR1606 receiver
Golden Ear Triton 5 speakers
SVS Sub.

Is that overkill? Is one better than the other? I will be adding a 50" tv to this setup (outside of my home theater budget).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Brian

 

[shadyJ]

PSB speakers are very nice. The Sunfire sub would only be worth considering if you are pressed for space. If you can handle a larger sub, there are much better options out there for the money. Golden Ear speakers wouldn't be my first choice, although I did like the Triton 1s. SVS subs are fine, a higher value than Sunfire, but you can still do better if you can accommodate a larger sub.

If it were me, I would be looking at the Denon AVR-X4100 which just took a hefty price drop. Its a great time to pick up this unit, which has Audyssey MultiEQ XT32. For speakers, I would be looking at some EMP Tek R55Ti floor-standing fronts with a R56Ci center and some R5Bi bookshelf speakers for surrounds. I would also look at an Ascend CMT340 front stage with some CBM170 surrounds. For subwoofers, I would be looking at Hsu, Rythmik, or Reaction Audio, and get one or two of the ported 15" subs from any of those manufacturers.

 

[tbkoyama]

Thanks for the recommendations. The Denon, R55Ti fronts, R56Ci center, R5Bi bookshelf and two Reaction Audio subs fits my price range perfectly (about $3700)!! I am considering this setup!!

 

[shadyJ]

That would be an absolutely killer setup for the money. If that is what you decide on, let us know how you like it when you get it set up.

 

[tbkoyama]

Just purchased the Marantz SR7008 (it was on sale on Crutchfield), and the PowerSound S3600i sub. They should be here around 9/12. Now just waiting to purchase the Chane A5rx tower speakers (no stock yet).
I got the PSB Imagine X2T speakers in the mean time, while I wait for the Chane's to come in.

We'll see how this setup is.