7.1 Mid Range Surround System (1 Viewer)

[g_wiesenberg]

Hey,So I've got roughly 1k to blow on a new surround syatem and want the best bang for my buck. Ive got a marants SR5600 receiver and a Panasonic 65VT50 television. I've thought about building my own cabinets but at the end of the day I just want something easy and like I said before, great sound quality and clarity. Any suggestioms on what to get?

 

[schan1269]

Are you keeping that AVR?Have any speakers already?Sources?

 

[g_wiesenberg]

Yes I am keeping my AVR and right now I have a panasonic 5.1 crappy out of the box system. Which is why I want to upgrade. I plan on getting an Oppo Bdp -103 and also stream from my NAS.

 

[sean1976]

For that budget I would recommend two systems :

First, the Andrew Jones designed speakers from Pioneer get rave reviews from everyone and are supposedly unmatched at their price point:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=andrew%20jones%20bookshelf&sprefix=andrew+jones+bo%2Celectronics&rh=i%3Aelectronics%2Ck%3Aandrew%20jones%20bookshelf

Pair it up with a Klipsch RD-12 subhttp://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-RW12D-12-inch-Reference-Subwoofer/dp/B000UVWIO0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1371227166&sr=1-1&keywords=klipsch+rd-12

Option two: A smaller Canadian company called Fluance, I had there lower end product the SXseries before my PSB's and thought they sounded great. For your price point you could get their high end series:
http://fluance.com/product/XLHTB_High_Performance_5_Speaker_Surround_Sound_Home_Theater_Speaker_System.eng-104.html
Then get either the bipolar or a second set of two bookshelves to round out to the 7.1 depending on how you like your sound dispersion:
http://fluance.com/product/Fluance_XLBP_Wide_Dispersion_Bipolar_Surround_Sound_Speakers.eng-111.html

The floorstanding speakers in the above set have subs built in, and although they won't shake your walls like the klipsch would, will do a good job of reproducing bass in music and home theater at reasonable levels. They look great too. They also have ( I believe ) free shipping and are sent out the day after you place the order.
One last trick ( I learned ) if you do decide on these, go to the order page then try to navigate away, it will offer you an extra 5 percent off your order if you " change your mind " lol.
Cheers, good luck with your search!

 

[schan1269]

Other good options...BIC DVInfinity PrimusPolk Monitor/New Monitor/Monitor ii(depends where you find them, who has which variation)

 

[g_wiesenberg]

Ok I think im going to go with the pioneers and klipsch sub. For my rears though what do you guys think about bipolar speakers? I love the look of them and everything im reading and hearing says theyre good.. thoughts? And if positive, what brand/model?

 

[schan1269]

Di/bi-pole only works when you place them correctly. Also, you don't mix brands. Since the Pio AJ isn't available with di/bi-pole...forget the di/bi-pole, or forget the Pio AJ and find another speaker brand/series.

 

[sean1976]

Ok I think im going to go with the pioneers and klipsch sub. For my rears though what do you guys think about bipolar speakers? I love the look of them and everything im reading and hearing says theyre good.. thoughts? And if positive, what brand/model?

My old set of speakers ( the Fluance ) had bi polars and I quite liked them for atmosphere during movies... BUT, I was running 5.1, so it was great having the sound seeming to come from behind AND beside me ... when I switched to 7.1 I went to direct firing speakers, because I didn't need the sound bouncing off the walls to encompass me, as I had extra speakers that actually fired at me. So what I'm saying is for a 5.1 set up I would recommend from personal experience the bi polar speakers, but for 7.1 get the direct firing ( regular bookshelf ) speakers. You don't want sound bouncing off the walls and interfering with sound waves that are already coming towards you from your second set of surrounds, it will muddy the sound. ( with 7.1 you want to know if sound is coming from the left of you or to the rear left - not somewhere in that general direction, otherwise just just stick with 5.1) That's my opinion anyways.
... Your right though they do look cool.