Looking for the best surround sound setup I can buy for $1000 or under!? Help!! (1 Viewer)

[kurt_fire]

I would prefer some non-tower speakers, something that won't take up a huge amount of space. Some large bookshelf speakers are perfectly fine though.

Here's some basic questions that I answered! I just want to get the best products I can that are within my budget!

1) What is your budget? - $1000 or under

2) What does your budget need to cover? It needs to cover:
b) receiver - Yes
c) pre-amp/processor - if needed (hopefully not though)
d) amplifier(s) - if needed (hopefully not though)
e) speakers - 5.1? 7.1? how many? - 5.1 or 6.1, really doesn't matter between those 2; including the sub of course tongue
h) cables and wires - don't know for sure, but don't really include these in with the price.
l) furniture of any kind? - needs some front and rear speaker stands if needed.

3) What other equipment do you have already? - DVD player, TV, satellite receiver, VCR

4) What is the size and what are the dimensions of the room? (length x width x height) - pretty big, I'd say 25x25x9. It's going in a big, open style living room.

5) Is this a dedicated room just for the home theater, or is it serving double duty as a family room or bedroom or what-have-you as well? - It's the living room, primarly used for TV use.

7) How is the seating arranged within the room and can it be changed for optimal placement or is it set? - We can adjust this. He has typical couch and chair furniture. Nothing worth noting.

10) How will this system be used: DVDs, regular sattelite TV, some music probably

11) What kind of sound are you looking for? - hard to tell. Whatever will sound excellent when playing a DVD is really all that matters grin

 

[Benihana]

I would recommend the Rocket ELT home theater package that is on sale right now for $699, and any receiver in the $300 range.If you can raise the price to 1100, you can pick up the pioneer 1014tx receiver, would be perfect and can accomodate 2 more speakers if you want to do 7.1 later.

you can buy some speaker stands on ebay for real cheap, Ikea has a cheap set

 

[kurt_fire]

Well that Rocket ELT package does look ultra-sweet, I, unfortunately, have a revision to make to my original post. I would like all small speakers. By that I mean speakers small enough to hang from the wall on brackets; similar to Bose or the Athena Micra 6s size. Sorry for any confusion I have caused.

 

[John Garcia]

*edit - looks like there is no more ELT bundle - the same package with a receiver included for $1300.

I have to strongly recommend you not go with tiny satellites, despite the desire to wall mount (both of these are honestly less than ideal).

 

[Eric C D]

I second John's statement. If you're at all open to suggestions, the *best* thing you can do is to get away from really small satellites. To put it simply, They just can't move enough air to get to get good dynamic sound. Bookshelf sized speakers will get you down to 80 or 100 hz and then you can let the subwoofer take over. If you get micro sized speakers, there is a good chance you'll want more later.

If you're dead-set on micros, IMO avoid the Bose. They only have one-size driver - the Athenas and their have a tweeter and a mid. The Bose sats get nowhere near low enough to cross over to a sub, and their bass module doesn't even pick up until the sats are long-gone, nor does it really go that low - you'll miss out on a lot of the movie effects. The tweeter/mid sats typically get low enough to use a sub crossover of between 120 and 150 hz (but localization of the bass still starts to become an issue).

Finally, if you're looking to investigate other sats besides the Athena, you might consider the AV123 Tykes, HTD Middies, or a few options from Polk.

But PLEASE, reconsider and get bookshelf speakers. The ELT deal shown above in the forum is as sweet as they say. I've heard the ELTs - you'll thank us if you do go for them. The center channel is especially outstanding. IMO, the weakest part of that set is the sub (but it's VERY good for the $). If you moved up to the ELT/SVS deal, your friends will think you're an audiophile/movie mogul.

enjoy!

 

[John Garcia]

I heard the new Polk systems this weekend and they have improved over the previous generations, IMO. Still not spectacular, but FAR better than Bose and I believe they are on sale right now.


OK, a receiver takes the place of a pre-pro and amp, so they do not need to be part of the budget, and certainly will not be at the $1000 price point.

On a budget, 5.1 will be plenty, but most average receivers now have 6.1 or 7.1 capability so you can add the other speakers later.

If you need EVERYTHING under $1K, then options are severely limited. I'd probably recommend one of the Onkyo HTiBs or look at speaker packages from: www.fluance.com or www.hometheaterdirect.com, or used.

 

[Benihana]

You can look into the HSU research VT-12 Ventriloquest system.

Ventriloquist VT-12
Only $199 When Ordered with a HSU Subwoofer
BIG sound from small speakers
http://www.hsustore.com/vt12.html