need help- new at this

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I am a total novice and would appreciate some good advice. &nbsp;Here is what I have: &nbsp;A 48 inch widescreen HDready TV with an HD satellite receiver. &nbsp;Also, have a multi-disc progressive scan DVD player that plays MP3, CD-R, CD-RW, SACD,etc. &nbsp;I am looking for a surround sound system in the neighborhood of $1500. &nbsp;The room it will go in is not that big and we will use it for both TV and music. &nbsp;I would like the speakers to be fairly small and wall mountable. &nbsp;The receiver should also be 2 zoned since we are prewired for speakers throughout the house and will eventually get to that.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I spent a long time looking and listening and the only speakers I heard that made a difference are Totem. Give the dreamcatcher series a listen. great for a a small room. Maybe a bit above your budget, but I changed mine to fit.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>In that price range you will likely do best with a good HTIB (Home Theater in a Box). &nbsp;It sounds cheesy, but several are respectable. &nbsp;Check out Cambridge Soundworks (www.hifi.com) which is possibly the best bang for the buck.</font>

 

[duff]

<font color='#000000'>Axiom puts together some nice packages in that range.</font>

 

[Audioholics]

<font color='#000000'>Since your budget is for a receiver and speakers, I wouldn't recommend a HTIB solution.

There are some other good posts in this forum on good receiver selections - I would stay around $400 if you want to have enough left for a decent set of speakers. Go out and audition as many speakers in the $1000 - $1200 price range as you can. Stay away from magical paper cone solutions with no tweeters. You want real speakers that hook up directly to your receiver.</font>