...trying to keep the speakers as small as possible while still producing the true home theater experience...
In my opinion, these are rather incompatible goals. The speakers you can keep down to a reasonable size (bookshelf size), but for a true home theater experience, you're going to need a sub, and preferably not a small one.
...while on a budget what speakers do you suggest???
If I was on a budget (you didn't specify a dollar amount), and wanted something fairly small, these Infinity bookshelf speakers at Crutchfield seem like a nice deal right now:
Bookshelf Speakers at Crutchfield.com
A couple of 162 or 163's up front for $85/each then a couple of 152 or 153's as L&R surrounds for $75 each would be a good start. For a center channel, you could see if one of the 16x/15x speakers would fit underneath your TV and order another one, or get Infiniti's center channel, the PC25x or PC35x. (I'd probably go with the PC351)
Center Channel Speakers at Crutchfield.com
Another slightly more expensive option is some speakers from Ascend Acoustics. They have their CBM-170 SE bookshelf speakers on sale for $298 a pair (same price as their smaller HTM-200 SE's).
CBM-170 SE High Performance Bookshelf Loudspeaker
Again, with the center channel, you could see if a CBM-170 SE would fit. The other options are a HTM-200 SE center channel for $158, or if you want a bigger one, a CMT-340 SE for $298. I would also suggest looking at their B-Stock units. All three of my Sierra-1 speakers were B-stock units, and the only flaw I could find was a small chip on the back edge of one of the units - was easily worth the reduction in price I paid for them.
For a subwoofer, if you wanted more output for that HT sound, you could try a HSU VTF-2 MK 4 for a little over $600 shipped:
HSU VTF-2 MK4 Subwoofer
Or maybe a Rythmik FV12 for $500 before shipping:
Rythmik FV12 - vented HT sub
Or if you really want to kick it up a notch, there's always an SVS PB12-NSD for $769 shipped:
http://www.svsound.com/products/view-all?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=14
SVS also has a small sealed sub (about a 14.5" cube) called the SB12-NSD for $679. I'd rather have the output of the larger ported PB sub for 90 bucks more though, unless the PB's size was an absolute killer.
If all of those options are too expensive, I would try searching the subwoofer forums for subs under $500. However, I think subs under $500 seem like too much of a budgetary compromise, so I don't think I'd dip much under there, unless you could find a deal or be willing to compromise performance for price. Also, because of of the opening, you would need to consider that space as well in any cubic feet calculation for a subwoofer. Right now, I got your room at 2618 cubic feet, which is a nice size.
I was thinking of getting the definitive tech procinema 600 series. Any advice helpful.
Yeah, don't waste your money. When I was first putting my system together, I considered a package just like that - I think it was the ProCinema 800 series system. But instead of buying it, I read up on what speakers were good, what attributes to look for on sites like Audioholics, and ended up saving myself $1200.
...Already purchased a samsung un60d7000led hdtv, a samsung bd-d6700 3dbluray, a harmony one remote, a monster power center, a netgear dual band n3700 wireless router, and a pioneer elite vsx 52 7.1 receiver. I also have or will have an ipod, mac computer, wii console and an ipad.
The room dimensions are 17 by 22 with 7 foot ceilings and a 3' opening near the right front of the room (4' of stairs split level home)the floor is tiled over a cement slab.
I also don't know which type of connections and how many and how many feet etc to get. Both the tv and receiver have 7 hdmi connections.
Well, depending on what speakers you get, you're going to need:
- A tape measure to find out how long of cables you need.
- Speaker wire
- HDMI cables (for your Blu-Ray player to your receiver, and another one from your receiver to your TV.)
- If your Pioneer Elite receiver is anything like my Denon, you should be able to hook up your iPod with a USB cable.
- Banana plugs - not necessary, but they make installation a lot cleaner.
- Wire strippers, if you don't have a pair already
- A subwoofer cable, like this one
- A Wii component cable, if it's not already hooked up with one
Monoprice.com can serve all of your cable needs. Great service, crazy low prices, and good quality (haven't had a cable fail on me yet).
I don't know what sort of connection you would use for a Mac computer to your receiver. And, as for your iPad, I thought the point of those was no wires at all
You probably also need to budget some $ for speaker stands and/or wall mounts, depending on what your placement options are.
So, in summary, I'd probably get something like:
Mains: Infinity 163's = $170
Surrounds: Infinity 153's = $150
Center: Infinity 351 = $200
Subwoofer: Rythmik FV12 = est. $560 (including shipping)
That comes out to about $1080, and in my view,
far superior to any of those tiny Definitive Technology systems.
