Suggestions for 5.0 system with $600-700 budget

[SpeakerRookie]

Hey guys, so I am looking to get speakers for my home theater and I have an old subwoofer but i need speaker. I can only spend around $600-700 for the speakers and i wanted a 5.1 set up. My room is about 2000 cubic feet, any recommendations???

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Yes, do 2.1 instead. Pair of philharmonic AA bookshelves, dayton sub1200 and a refub or a second hand receiver

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

 

[KEW]

I agree with BSA'a statement.
We should make sure your sub needs to be replaced (I suspect it does). What is it?
Those AA speakers compete with $500 speakers (I preferred them over Andrew Jones latest Elac UB-5).
Two good speakers (with sub, since you will not get solid bass in your price range) will sound much better than 5 marginal speakers (with sub).
If you are all about home theater and must have the surround sound, either skip the center or see if you can get another AA for your center and save money on your surrounds.

At $80, these (as noticed by AfterLife) look like a good budget value for surrounds:

https://jet.com/product/detail/e47ccd8f1826490c8be1541ee3d08e00?jcmp=pla:ggl:gen_electronics_a1:audio_audio_components_speakers_a1_other:na:PLA_348772140_24231300420_pla-156819079020:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&ds_c=gen_electronics_a1&ds_cid=&ds_ag=audio_audio_components_speakers_a1_other&product_id=e47ccd8f1826490c8be1541ee3d08e00&product_partition_id=156819079020&gclid=CNaG6dPph9ACFYwvgQod0HINMg&gclsrc=aw.ds

The bottom line is not much content is in the surround channels and it is usually effects stuff. You will not recognize that the shattered glass falling all around you sounds like 10mm thick glass instead of the 15mm glass it should be. Or the bullet whizzing by sounds like a 22 instead of a 9mm. Even something like a chopper flying in from behind, your sub is catching the heavy stuff and the surrounds are playing the higher frequency whirring, etc. We just don't know (or care about) the subtleties of these sounds enough to spend too much of your budget on them. However, you will notice that the voice and the acoustic guitar of the musician in front of you seems bloated at certain frequencies and lean at others.
Just to be clear, I have not heard the Fluance Bipolar speakers, and my expectation is that they would not sound especially good for critical listening to music. However, for surrounds, they have a lot of stuff (on paper) going for them, and I expect they would be a good choice and allow you to put more money where it matters.
If you have money left over, adding a second SUB-1200 to smooth out the bass effects in your room is where I would put it.

 

[cel4145]

Five of these fit your budget: http://emptek.com/bs6019855430RB.php.

The RBH R5BiB can be turned on it's side, so you can use one for a center channel. Or you can buy the matching center (cost a little more)

However, depending on what your sub is, I'd go for three of those and a pair of these for surrounds: http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-b652-air-6-1-2-2-way-bookshelf-speaker-with-amt-tweeter-pair--300-651

That would leave you enough for a new sub, such as a BIC PL-200. But depends on what your current sub is. What make/model is it?

 

[zieglj01]

You were looking at the Elac, did you change your mind? You had a 30 watt HK receiver, are you looking to upgrade it?

 

[SpeakerRookie]

Yes i was looking at Elac but Im in Canada and the price is much more than i orginally expected. I currently have a polk audio PSW125 sub. I was thinking of upgrading to a refub denon X3200 receiver. I would like to have 5 channels but if having 2 better quality speakers is a better choice i'd rather go with that as in the years to come i guess when i save more money i could always add rear surrounds if i like. Also if I were to just do a 2.1 system what do you think of having 2 tower speakers if i increase my budget a little would that be a good choice?

 

[zieglj01]

Since you are in Canada, look at the KEF Q100 speakers
http://www.visions.ca/Catalogue/Category/Details.aspx?categoryId=160&productId=7265&sku=Q100

Buy a better sub than the Polk you have. Check with Sonic Boom Audio and see if
they have any B-stock subs. If price is too high then look for a JBL or Bic sub.

Buy a decent used or refurb receiver - a Denon is not a bad choice. Spend more
on the speakers and sub over the receiver.

You can always add to your system.

 

[SpeakerRookie]

ok thanks for the advice! btw do you have any recommendations on a receiver other than Denon?

 

[cel4145]

I prefer Denon and Marantz receivers because of Audyssey room correction. So the X3200W would be a great choice, IMO.

The KEFs are a fantastic deal in Canada right now. If you can swing them, go for it