Brian Sc

I recently purchesed the onkyo TX-SR502 upgrading from a kenwood vr 209. Anyways i am now looking to replace my current speakers and subwoofer. My current sytem is the following


Mains- Polk R 40

Center Polk CS101

Surrounds Polk R 1

Subwoofer polk psw 120

I want to replace this system with a system that i can tell is better and for the cheapest price. I would like for it to be 400 but i somehow doubt i can beat what i currently have for that price but please try :] Anyways realistically i would like to be around 600 but no higher then
1000 dollars and a 1000 dollars is deffintley on the high end.

I am not really wanting a mini system but am curious to how you think the HSU Ventriloquist system would compare with the stf 1 or 2 to what i currently have(yes i know the sub will blow mine away)

Anyways any suggestion are welcome thanks

JimMIT

Well, since no one else has replied, I'll give it a shot. I don't know anything about the Hsu Ventriloquist system. My suggestion is:

Mains - Paradigm Phantoms $549/pr
Center - Paradigm CC-270 $299
Surrounds - Paradigm Atoms $199/pr
Subwoofer - Paradigm PDR-8 $219

Now, these costs are MSRP and add up to $1,266 before tax. I realize this is over your maximum budget, however, things to consider:

- You could substitute the Paradigm Esprits for the Phantoms and save $120.

- If you didn't have to have floorstanders, you could substitute the Esprits for standmounts like Paradigm Focus at $319/pr or the Titans at $229/pr, saving $230 or $320, respectively.

- You could substitute Paradigm's CC-170 center channel for the CC-270 and save $100. As you know, the center channel is very important in a home theater system, so that might be a last resort in this scenario.

- You could hold onto your sub for a while and upgrade it later when you had some extra money lying around. And when you do, depending on how much you can spend, you should be able to find better subs than the PDR-8.

- It is not uncommon for Paradigm dealers to come down 10% or so, particularly if you're buying several speakers at once.

There are alot of good speaker companies out there, but as you may know, Paradigm is noted for good "bang for the buck" speakers. Of course, only you can decide if they sound better than your Polks.

Good luck!

Wayne Ernst

In my case, I was looking at Paradigm a few months back. The prices I was quoted by the dealer were 15% and 17%, respectively. This was without me even asking for the lowest price. But, mileage may vary from time-to-time.

Finally, Jim has put together a pretty nice speaker package. Even if it were to really stretch your budget at the high end, I'm sure you'd be very happy with the the performance you'd get for the amount of cash you put down.

\"My reality check ... just bounced\"

Drew_W

Do you see yourself upgrading in the future? If so, I'd start with a *SOLID* 2.1 setup and save up to add the rest. That will save you from upgrading speakers for a while...and you shouldn't have to do that since speakers will last forever...

I gave up on tracking my collection and actually started watching what I have.