Speaker recommendations and upgrade path?

[archimedes123]

Be warned, I'm starting from scratch, and still pretty low on the learning curve...
I'm looking for help on both an initial setup and an upgrade plan.

Budget is 400-600 for the initial setup and I would like something that could grow into 5.1 or 7.1 later, but right now have no room (or budget?) for rear speakers.

Should I start with bookshelves or towers?

With an even mix of music/movies/gaming should I include a center channel in the initial setup or am I better off buying a better pair or bookshelves/towers initally and adding the center once I have more budget?

I was origianlly planning 50/50 budget for receiver (onkyo 604 or 605) and speakers. Should I slide this one way or the other?

Thanks in advance

 

[MDS]

If the budget is $400-600, either of the Onkyo receivers will take up almost half of it unless you can find a good deal on a refurbished model. You might do better choosing one of the 50x series. They now include HDMI switching (but not upconversion from other analog video formats) and nearly all of the features you are likely to need, especially when you are just starting and haven't accumulated a lot of other devices.

Bookshelf speakers are just fine but really need a subwoofer. Towers extend much lower in frequency response and although a subwoofer is still an important addition, you can get away without one for a very long time if you buy towers.

The surround speakers are less critical than all the others, so if possible I'd get two towers and a center channel. These three speakers really need to match for the best results and if you get just the towers first, you may be unlucky and find that the matching center will no longer be available when you are ready to get one.

Used/refurbished is a good way to go as you can often get a really good deal. I intend to upgrade my speakers when some of the new models I'm considering are released. I'll end up selling my JBL towers and center for a pittance - probably under $200. You could very well find a decent deal like that if you look - Ebay, Craigslist, classified ads, etc.

 

[archimedes123]

Thanks for the advice.

Since either route needs a sub, what advantages do the towers bring (given my budget)?

Asked another way, am I delaying gratification to have an overall better sounding setup later, or am I buying the bass twice and be better off spreading the dollars around somewhere else?

 

[MDS]

Towers have the advantage of going much lower in the frequency response range than bookshelves and thus you can do without a subwoofer for awhile.

For example, my JBL towers (which were bought around 1996) extend down to 40 Hz whereas most bookshelf speakers can barely get to 60 Hz. A subwoofer can enhance either but the towers already can deal reasonably well with the low frequencies that bookshelves cannot. Therefore you can afford to wait on buying a subwoofer.

If you buy towers now and later on down the road buy a subwoofer, the towers are still useful and the sub will take a load off of them making them play cleaner because they no longer have to deal with the 'heavy lifting' of reproducing low bass. If you buy bookshelves first, the bass response will be lacking until you buy a subwoofer.

There are other issues with bass management that are a bit involved but suffice to say that it is not a 'waste', despite what some people will say, to have floorstanding speakers that can reproduce bass frequencies when you also have a subwoofer.

 

[Nick250]

It depends. MDS's suggestions are good and may be the better choice for you. An alternative would be if you think you will be able save up (around four to five hundred bucks) for a decent sub in three months or so, I would go with bookshelf speakers now.

The over riding factor IMO is to get the best two front speakers you can afford even if that means you have to cheap out somewhere else. You can buy the center speaker and sub down the road. But that's right for me, it may not be for you.

Nick