Speakers selection help! (1 Viewer)

[The Yank]

hey guys, new here, i been looking to mix and match 5.1 or 7.1 surround for my new house. so far i had the contractor do the wiring for a 5.1 set up. but 7.1 could also be fitted if i chose to. but would it be necessary? my budget is around 1 grand or so. give or take a few hundreds. i was also recommended by a friend to get polk audio speakers like the CS10 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018QROM2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER and some polk monitor 40 and monitor 60. however upon checking them out i found they were considered vintage. now i'm not really up to date with speakers but does speakers have the same rule of thumb as television like the newer the better? or is it if it's a good speaker it will always be a good speaker?

 

[Al.Anderson]

Speakers last a long time,and even when they age the thing that usually goes is the foam material surrounding the speaker, which is easy enough to replace (the term for which I forget). So yeah, if you can find older speakers that you like it's not a big deal. That said, you really want to keep the front three speakers the same, even as far as being from the manufacturer line. This is so they are timbre matched. So if you can't find the center for the 40/60's, they I'd say skip them and get something from their current line. By the way, Polks are fine speakers, but not my style. The best thing you can do is listen to the speakers you're considering. Even in a comparison of two sets of good speakers you may like one set and not like another. As far as 5.1 vs 7.1, there is very little material recorded as true 7.1. So most of the time you are getting simulated sound out of the rear speakers in a 7.1 system. In my opinion, if you are budget constrained, skip the rears and just go 5.1. You can get a nice 5.1 set-up for $1000; diluting that $1000 for 7.1 will reduce the quality and overall sound (the benefit of the extra 2 speakers won't make up for the loss of quality overall).

 

[The Yank]

i see, what sets of speakers do you recommend for my budget of 1 grandish? and where would be good places to check out different speakers? the only place i know around here is bestbuy's magnolia center. would that be good enough?