Newb on a budget needs advice

[Ghost]

Ok My tv is beyond amazing, Panasonic 42 inch industrial model plasma.

I have a pioneer, vsx-917v-k receiver.

Now, im looking for some "decent" cheaper speakers.
I plan to eventually upgrade to more expensive speakers, but im on a tight budget right now.

50/50 HT and music.

I was leaning towards bookshelf, simply because i have a small room, and they would be alot easier to position.

Now my budget is really anywhere from 60-100 for a pair. So any suggestions on the best sound for the that price range?

I figure i'll be able to upgrade in a year or so.

I've been researching online for about 10 hours straight, including these forums, but for the most part, I cant find any reviews at all for cheaper speakers. At least not from reliable sources.

So any input would be very much appreciated.

 

[Matt34]

How many speakers are you at with that budget?

 

[Ghost]

Probaly should have mention. The plan was to buy 1 pair now, another pair in maybe 2 weeks.

I'll be buying a nice sub around christmas, then will get center, then slowly replace the orginal 2 pairs, finally adding a 3rd pair.

My plan is by this time next year to have 5.1 working, and by summer of 09, 7.1

Of course time table could be sped up, if i get a better job or something.

 

[Matt34]

I'd take a look at these, it's what i have and they really are a steal at $165 a pair.

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=82.1

 

[Matt34]

I haven't heard these but there a few folks here that like them. They have a 30 day risk free trial also.

http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Intimus-422-LR-Satellite-Speaker,7,20,6.aspx

 

[Ghost]

If i bought two pairs of those, i'd have to sell my car.

Not really, but it wouldn't be affordable right now. Im looking for something in the range of 60-100$ for a pair.


Thanks for the quick replies though.

 

[corysmith01]

Yeah, the ones mentioned above are great, great speakers if you can stretch your budget. But, going on the assumption that you can't, I'd suggest the Polk R150's which replace the r15's (I believe). There's probably not much out there for <$100, so these should probably be on your short list. I haven't heard them personally, but I owned the r15's and for their price, thought they were a solid buy.

You could look at the Aperion 422's, but with no sub, i think you'd probably get more bang for your buck with the Polk's based on the better frequency response they offer.

 

[Matt34]

My bad, read your post to quickly thought it was per speaker.

These JBL monitors are in your budget, saw them at BB the other day and they didn't sound too bad.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4103973

 

[Ghost]

Assume i will have a sub.

I'll look into the polks right now as well.

Thanks

Edit.

The polks are only 80 at JR (JR rules btw)

Hmmm. Thanks for the help guys. Now i've got at least an idea on what i should be looking for.

 

[DavidG]

I agree, with your budget look at the JBl monitor bookshelves ($100/pr) or the Polk R150 bookshelves ($50/pr at Frys online) If you can stretch your budget just slightly, Frys has the Polk R50 towers in cherry for $59.99/ea. You might also want to check out harmanaudio on ebay as they often have pretty good deals on remanufactured Harman products (Infinity, JBL, HK).

If you will be getting more money in a couple of weeks, you may want to save up and get 2 quality front speakers and hold off on the surrounds. I would recommend waiting and going with something like these from AV123.com:

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=105.1

Good luck with your search.

 

[Darth Mike]

JBL Control Ones. Cheap, and sound great, come with wall mounts, and are tough as nails to damage.

 

[mazersteven]

I'd take a look at these, it's what i have and they really are a steal at $165 a pair.

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=82.1

I also recommend these.

 

[zumbo]

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-America-DV62si-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B00006JPDI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1196580903&sr=1-5

 

[mazersteven]

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATASB1.2

 

[zumbo]

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATASB1.2

Check this out. It is taken from the Athena description.

The 1" high-powered dome tweeter produces loud, clear and accurate highs that are dispersed from the unique faceplate in a very wide window.

High-powered. Oh my.

 

[Ghost]

The forums, wouldn't take my password odd

Anyway, i thought about saving money and getting a high end speaker pair now, but i would not be able to afford a 2nd set for 4-5 months. I'd miss my all the fun

I had been using for surround a Logitech 280 watt, computer speaker set for about 3 years now. Thx and such and sound wonderful. Well I spilled some tea on the sub/amp the other day, and now my 2 left channels dont work. It is out of warranty, logitech offered to fix it for free, but to ship the sub/amp was going to cost something on the lines of 65$. So i figured this was an excuse to buy a real system.

I do plan to take the sub apart eventually and attempt to repair it, dont know jack about speakers but i got an engineering back round.

Anyway. Im on the budget for the speakers unplanned, I quit my job the other day, and dont want to spend a ton of money, not knowing when i will be getting my next pay

Thanks for all the suggestions, so far im leaning towards the JBLs, 100$ for a pair, free shipping, and JR music is one of my fav stores.

 

[Halon451]

For the price, I really don't think you can go wrong with the JBL's. If you search many of my own posts thus far on this forum, you will see me refer to my JBL's quite often, as I too am on a limited budget. Head over to the nearest Best Buy and take a listen at some of those little JBL Monitors. I think you'll be rather pleased. Even hooked up to a little MP3 player as they had on display in the store, they sounded pretty good.

Incidentally, I'm NOT in any way associated with either JBL or HK. I just like their products.

 

[mojo_13]

I've heard the polk r150's and I think they sound very good for a $50 bookshelf. I will be using these as a rear speaker along with the polk r50's for the front. Maybe you could get the 150's then save an extra week or two and get the r50's and move the 150's to rear duty.

 

[rnatalli]

http://www.tsto.com/cgi-bin/TSTO.storefront/4752d40300c3e1d62740ac100341060e/Product/View/2191

Darn good speakers for $70/pair. Boston Acoustics CR series at Onecall are also worth a look.

 

[Ghost]

Im going to go ahead and order those JBLs.

Now few more questions, both may seem stupid, but ehh.

I've never had to hook up to "banana" terminals before, will i need to buy connectors for the wire? or no?

Two. Is any wire much better then other wire?

For example im looking on jr.com, and 50 foot of wire ranges pretty cheap, 6-12$ for no name stuff. At least no name to me. Monster cable on the other hand is outrageous. With 30$ for 30 feet.

I know for video usage monster cable is a big rip off. What about audio. Will an analog signal get destroyed using these cheap speaker wires?