Speakers make me NUTS... help!

[Nephidoc]

I live in a small town in Utah and have little access to any local audio dealers. I'm 99% sure I'll buy my speakers "unheard" off the net. Hence my question as to which speaker system you think would work best. I know it's like flavors of ice cream... to each his own, but I would appreciate any feedback.

The specs so far:
Yamaha RX-V1800
Looking to start 5.1 and expand to 7.1
Room size 15'X30' family room with the screen 12' from viewing position
Carpeted
Budget around $1,500

Speaker choices I've come up with:
1) AV123 Rockets - Front 2 RS 760 Tower, Center RSC 200, Rear 2 RSS 300
2) Swan Diva 4.2, and the 4.2 C&R
3) Polk RTi10, CSi5, FXi5

Thanks for any help!

Stan

 

[Adam]

My advice is to buy from a place that will let you send them back. Ideally, it would be a place that will let you do it for free at no risk (such as Aperion Audio). That way, you can try them out in your home and just send them back if you don't like them.

 

[rnatalli]

Have you heard any speakers recently over someone's house or anything like that? If so, what were they and how did they sound to you?

 

[gcmarshall]

i concur with a previous post - buy from someone with a "golden" trusted reputation that allows you to send them back for at least 30 days. you will eat some shipping, but that's life. crutchfield.com comes to mind. they are one of the best in the country for customer service and a solidly trustworthy return policy.

i have personal experience with the Polk CSi5. it is superb. i also have personal experience with crutchfield. you never get a "deal", as far as price on crutchfield, but you pay a little premium knowing that they will stand behind their sales 100%. they also offer quite a bit of added value via instructional info on their web site (and, no, i do not work for them; i am just a critical consumer who has found them to be very good at what they do). that being said, crutchfield is not the only choice.

 

[j_garcia]

You can check on the AV123 forums to see if there is anyone in your area willing to let you hear their speakers. I've heard almost that exact setup except the mains were 750SEs and I liked them. Visually they are very nice too. Note that the RSC200 is HUGE, but it is definitely among the best center channels I've heard so far.

I have heard the Polk RTi8 and CSi5 and they are good but not as good as the Rockets, IMHO.

Have not heard the Swans.

 

[gmichael]

I like your tastes. Sounds like a system to be proud of.
I have the RX-V2500 driving a pair of Strata Mini's. These sound great to my ears. The Rockets have a different sound than the Mini's but have just as much quality. (like a different ice cream)
AV123 has a nice return policy if you decide they are not right for you.

 

[farscaper]

Hey, isn't RBH out of Layton Utah? Do they sell direct? Maybe a plant tour?
There were some good comments off the reviews of the TK series?
I don't know how far you are from them. It maybe worth a phone call?