Receiver and Speaker help needed

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I am a total novice and would appreciate some good advice.  Here is what I have:  A 48 inch widescreen HDready TV with an HD satellite receiver.  Also, have a multi-disc progressive scan DVD player that plays MP3, CD-R, CD-RW, SACD,etc.  I am looking for a surround sound system in the neighborhood of $1500.  The room it will go in is not that big and we will use it for both TV and music.  I would like the speakers to be fairly small and wall mountable.  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'>Check out the Panasonic SAHE200. I got the reference from this site in the 'dream system' area and checked it out for myself. Very impressive for the price. It blew away the higher priced Yamaha next to it. Great features and solid sound.
Polk has the free subwoofer deal going right now. It's not a great sub, but you can always upgrade it later and it just saved you a couple hundred bucks to put into better bookshelfs. Their new line of speakers sounded as good or better than the comparable JBL's or Infinities.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>If you are looking for advice, I would suggest you check out audioreview.com. You can find opinions on just about every piece of equipment out there. The nice thing is that it is rated by the average guy (gal) and not by some magazine shmuck who gets paid by the big companies who advertise in their mags.

One brand you might want to look at is Aperion Audio. All reviewers rate them 5 stars. Also, you buy direct from Aperion, and last time I looked they had a sale on. I think the basic system is the same in all their models, you just add on a bigger subwoofer for a little more moola. Anyway, check it out and good luck...</font>

 

[JCC21K]

<font color='#000000'>I hope it's OK to mention a retailer's name here.
If not, I apologize in advance.
Fry's Electronics has some great deals on Pinnacle Speakers.
These are close-out specials and the speakers are very
good. &nbsp;To my ears, the Pinnacles sound every bit as good
or better than Polks and the Clearance prices are like
60-70 percent off MSRP. &nbsp;Where else can you get a good
center-channel with a 7 year warranty for 100 bucks?
I'm using Pinnacle 5.3 for my rear channel and the work
well with NHT front channel.
Regards
J.C.</font>