New HT Setup

[HJMiller]

Building my first HT setup and also am interested in moderate music listening. I have a Onkyo 605 on its way and am looking for speakers and a sub though I may have to purchase in phases. I'm on a semi-restricted budget, but I want something decent. I'm hardly a discerning audiophile, but know I would get bored with a HTIB (and figured it would be more fun to research and buy the components to boot).

My system will be in the family room on the main floor. Room is 17X19 with a 10 foot ceiling. Appearance and size certainly factor in since it is in our main living area.

For the Sub I think I have it narrowed down to either getting a HSU SFT-2 or the BIC H-100.

I have a 47" rear projection TV, and am leaning towards buying towers for the fronts rather than getting something smaller and then having to buy stands. The towers which I heard and liked is the Polk Monitor 50, however I am waiting to catch the right deal. I would then add the CS1 or similar for a center and the R150's for the rear.

My question is that I saw a decent deal online for a set of Yamaha NS-555 speakers. Based upon the number of drivers and performance spec's they seem higher end than the Polk's, but can be had for a bit less. I don't know if Best Buy has them locally to hear anymore so I was wondering if anyone has heard both or can offer any better feedback on that choice.

I have also toyed with just getting the R50's for the front, but haven't heard how they compare to the Monitor 50. I like the look of the Monitor better and did like the sound when I listened to them.

Any feedback is appreciated for a newbie.

 

[HJMiller]

Front Speaker Recommendations

My original post is a bit rambling, here is the main advice I seek

Basically I am looking for the nicest fronts I can get $250 or under.

Full list I have considered is:

Polk Monitor 50 (assuming I catch them on the right sale probably $260/pr).
Polk R50 (wish you could find them in black, but $120/pair plus shipping)
Yamaha NS-555 (could be had for $260/pr w/free shipping)
Infinity Primus 252 (could be had for $230/pr plus shipping)
Athena LS300 ($200/pr plus shipping)

What the best value? What would you choose?

 

[Exit]

Most people will advise not to go by the number of speakers in a speaker or other published specifications such as frequency response. The best way is to go and listen to the speakers and find something that sounds good to you. Failing that, try and find reviews and forums that talk about the speakers you are looking at particularly for internet direct purchasing so at least you can learn what to avoid. The Japanese companies are not noted for having particularly good speakers but American, Canadian and British companies produce some of the better designs. I have not shopped for speakers for a long time so I can't get more specific than that about your selections. Others will probably be able to advise you further.

 

[jephdood]

I've heard the Polks you listed, and wasn't impressed. Flabby lows, hollow sound.

The Yamaha NS-555's generally sounded pretty darn good. Maybe a little bright up top at higher volumes.

Those Athenas are a great deal right now. But buy all you need now since they're disappearing.

 

[jamie2112]

Are you against buying used? There are plenty of 250 speakers out there. The athenas are disappearing quickly but they seem to get good reviews. The polk monitor 50 is not a bad sounding speaker but I needed a sub with my bedroom setup with the 50s.

 

[jcPanny]

AV123 X-series

AV123 is clearing out some of their "classic" X-series speakers. Consider a pair of X-sls or X-mtm floorstanders for the front and X-cs center channel.
http://av123.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&option=com_virtuemart&on_special=1&Itemid=131&vmcchk=1&Itemid=37

AV123 will have an upgrade path in the future to convert the "classic" series to the "Encore" version with upgraded tweeter and crossover.

I have also seen some deals posted for Athena speakers that are discountinued. I still have a pair in the garage and they are a good budget speaker.

 

[HJMiller]

Made a descision ...a bit of a different direction

After getting feedback here and reviewing many other similar posts, I decided for the time being to skip buying the towers and instead bought 3 sets of the Polk R150's, and a CSR for the center channel for a 7.1 setup. With the price at Fry's I got all seven speakers for what I would have dropped on all but a few of the tower options I mentioned above. I am working with a finite budget and and mostly 70/30 going to use for home theater. I felt saving some budget for a decent sub and then seeing how like this setup for a year or so would be better than rushing into a budget tower decision hastily and/or spending way over my budget. Thanks for the replies. I'm going to post a sub related question on that forum.