Re: Need HT system on a $2000 budget... Recommendations???
There's lots of options out there, with lots of aesthetic and sound differences depending on what you like. But here's a sample system:
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR606
Amazon.com: Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver - Black: Electronics
- $400
Front and Rear Speakers: AV123 x-ls bookshelves (x4)
AV123.com - x-ls encore Monitor Loudspeaker - $400
Center Speaker: AV123 x-cs encore
AV123.com - x-cs encore Center Loudspeaker - $130
Subwoofer: HSU VTF-2 MK3
HSU VTF-2 MK 3 Subwoofer - $550
Use the rest of the money for wires (monoprice.com), universal remote (logitech harmony comes to mind), shipping. This is just a quickie system I built in a few minutes with your budget, however here's a general guide as to who is "good" for your budget:
Speakers: av123.com, hsu, klipsch, polk, infinity, axiom, ascend, paradigm. There's others but that's all I can think of.
Subwoofer: don't skimp on this if you can, a big bad sub can really make the difference. Good ones are HSU, av123, some klipsch (I have the Sub12 and it's great for the price), SVS. Elemental Designs is going to be the biggest bang for the buck however the spray-on bedliner finish is ugly to me - edesignaudio.com
Receiver: I'd recommend getting an HDMI v1.3 receiver just to make things easy with blu-ray. Ones in your budget are going to be Onkyo TX-SR606, 605, 705, and Yamaha HTR-6160
Cables: don't overspend, go to monoprice.com and don't worry about expensive HDMI cables, they are pointless.