Buckeyefan 1 said:
That's a huge room. I'd be looking for some 8 ohm floorstanders (not 6) with a higher spl - say 91dB and up. If you don't, you'll need a two channel amp to power your mains. I'd also consider floorstanders with at least two 8" or larger woofers. It's going to be difficult to get bass from anything less, especially depending on which sub you integrate.
This kind of thread if funny because you will always get posters that suggest the speakers that
they own. I'm in a similar situation with a pretty gigantic "great room" that opens to several other rooms and another floor, and I'd definitely recommend floorstanding speakers and a decent sub and some patience in setting it up so that it sounds good as you walk around the house. I'd also recommend amplification if your speakers even come close to pushing the limits of your AVR, as many of us 3805 owners have found. That's not a complaint, because even today with $1K in my pocket I'd buy another 3805 just to have it because it's an awesome AVR, but if you're pushing demanding speakers or multiple sets (Zone 2/3) then you'll want and benefit from the additional power that an outboard amp offers. We've been very happy with our Anthem MCA-20 to power our fronts and let our Paradigm Servo-15 do all the low-end grunt work effortlessly. FWIW, we've got Paradigm Studio 100 v3's in front and most of our use is 2-channel music...still waiting for that whole hi-rez multichannel thing to catch on...
Find some speakers that you like and listen to them...a lot! Especially center channel speakers where the majority of dialogue will be coming from. I've got an older CC speaker that's simply disastrous as far as dialogue goes, so really take you time with that. If your fronts demand more power, for f's sake, give it to 'em...and in quantity...the more, the merrier...and don't get cheap with a sub...better to get a crappy one now and save up for a really awesome one than to blow your dough on a mid-level sub that you'll scowl at in 6 months...
Jason
