Which Speaker to buy? (1 Viewer)

I have roughly $200 with which to purchase a pair of HT/Music speakers. I currently have an Onkyo SR-500 reciever, which i purchased yesterday, but no speakers. I'm currently looking exclusively at buying used, as new would be far too expensive for my modest budget. Any input is appreciated, I'm currently looking at the Dahlquist QX** line, Paradigm mini-monitor/titan/atom, the Axiom line, and anything else in my budget. I cannot listen to any of the aforementioned speakers nearby due to a lack of audio stores in my area, so I'm going purely on reccomendations.

Hi Scott, This is my first post here as I just recently joined and up to now, have only been a "lurker" I guess you could say *lol* doing a lot of reading and research for my own future HT system. From what I have read here and elsewhere, I have a couple of suggestions for you, both of which are for new, 5-piece speaker sets:

1) JBL NSP1 -- Check what others here are saying about these
speakers and I think you'll be impressed. I just did a
quick google search and found them at ecost.com and
PCMall.com for $182.00 with free shipping. Both had them
listed as "open box." You could add a decent sub down
the road.

2) Check out Fluance speakers. Again, there have been some
posts here about this company. They have a setup called
the "5-speaker system AV-HTB" which they sell direct for
$199.99 Looks like you could possibly forgo a sub down
the road if you go this route. Fluance.com

Hope I was of some help, let us all know what you end of going with.

You said "pair", but if you are talking $200 for 5 speakers, then choices are very limited.
The NSP-1 package is about as good as it gets in this price range, but don't expect to be blown away by them. I would not be happy with them without a sub.
Along with Fluance, there is also www.hometheaterdirect.com which has complete packages in that price range.
If we are talking $200 for one pair, then it is tough to beat the Paradigm Titans. See if your local dealers have any deals. I just picked up a pair of v2 Atoms for $113/pr today for a bedroom system (40% off, open box). And I bought a pair of shielded v3 Titans new for $189/pr earlier this year. The Titans still benefit from a sub, but they can hold their own for the time being and they should match up well with the Onkyo.

http://www.speakerpage.com/
The K05B50 can be purchased as a complete pair for $160 or for less than $100 you can buy everything but the enclosure and build the enclosure yourself. Some people who's ears I trust rank them up with the Paradigm MiniMonitor or PSB 2B (clearer midrange, but less low end extension; plenty for an 80hz crossover to a sub though).

yeah, I'm only talking about a pair right now, I plan to add on later, thanks for all the replies so far though, keep 'em coming

I'd recommend having a look at this Onkyo system. You can get the whole 5.1 thing from Circuit City for $269, and it's gotten excellent reviews:
http://electronics.cnet.com/electron...ml?tag=topfive

Scott,
In that price range I'd say go with the Dahlquists.
Many speaker companies use a lesser quality tweeter in their entry level series than their more expensive series which is a bummer but it also makes it challenging to match up with the more expensive speakers for a HT later.
Not so, with Dahlquist. They still use the cloth suspension, aluminum dome tweeter (which makes it easy to blend with their more expensive speakers later) and they still use the aluminum powder/polypropylene woofers with Kapton windings.
If you are looking at the Dahlquist QX4, it's a sealed box design too so would be fine for wall mounting as a rear effects speaker later once you upgrade the front speakers.
They also have remarkable bass extension, excellent timbral accuracy and spectacular stereo imaging too; best fidelity in their class IMHO.

Hi Scott,

I second Marc's opinion. I have the Dahlquist QX4's (actually 3 of them) and they are wonderful. Great quality, look good and very affordable. You won't be sorry.