what % of budget should your speakers be?

[gcmarshall]

considering just equipment (and not room build out costs, treatments, etc.), what % of the overal equipment budget do you say needs to be invested in a 5.1 speaker setup? in other words, in a budget for receiver (or preamp/amplifier separates), front speakers, surrounds, center, subwoofer, cd/dvd player, etc. (ie all the electronic hardware), what percent of that total budget should go into just the 5.1 speakers?

 

[mtrycrafts]

considering just equipment (and not room build out costs, treatments, etc.), what % of the overal equipment budget do you say needs to be invested in a 5.1 speaker setup? in other words, in a budget for receiver (or preamp/amplifier separates), front speakers, surrounds, center, subwoofer, cd/dvd player, etc. (ie all the electronic hardware), what percent of that total budget should go into just the 5.1 speakers?

The speakers are the most important aspects of audio, along with the room acoustics. So, you would purchase accordingly. Hard to place a figure on it, by me at least
Wires are a non issue, so it gets the low man on the totem pole position.
You do want to select your speakers first as the amp/receiver will depend on the speaker loads and sensitivity to an extent. I am sure you will get numbers that you can relate to better.

 

[Nick250]

It would depend some on the price range you are considering but I would say about 60% to 70%. Take a budget of $1000. I would budget as follows:

$600 speakers
$300 receiver
$100 DVD player

 

[toquemon]

At least 50% of the total budget for speakers.

 

[majorloser]

If you are talking about a home theater and you are including all of the visual gear (display or projector/screen), I'd say maybe 50%. You have left quite a bit to our imagination since you said receiver or separates. BIG DIFFERENCE IN BUDGET. My 50% also includes the powered sub in your 5.1 speaker budget.

When setting a budget the first things that needs to be considered is what type of room (dedicated home theater or multi use room) and what will be the primary purpose (movies or 2 channel audio). Speakers should always be where you place a "lion's share" of the money, but as an example if you listen to music more than watch movies a good set of towers and lesser surrounds might be money better spent.

Please tell us more. You'll get plenty of advice from this group