I dont know much.. Im so tired of searching (1 Viewer)

Two months ago I went out and purchased what Ive wanted for the past year... a new plasma. I m so happy with the plasma so I said chit might as well go out and get some good sounding speakers to make this HT rock. I went into the bose store and heard the lifestyle 48. I must admit I was impressed. With a 4K price tag I left the store. I ended up going with a local dealer that was selling the unit for 3k.

I hear all the talk of bose not being "all that." Fine. What are other alternatives for novice like me. I dont have a keen sense of sound, im not a audiophile. Heck I just want to be happy. Is there anything that is small like the bose speakers since I would like I clean set-up. I dont want my HT to be intimidating. I would like sounds to come from all round the room and my guests doesnt know where the speakers are located.

At this point Im fed up. I have no clue on where to look. I browse this forum almost everyday but im so ignorant to model numbers and terms that I dont have a clue. Can someone just point me to the right direction. I would like to come out of the dark. -- Sean

Talk to the good doctor at Plasmadocs (see ad banner and sticky notes above); they might be able to set you up with a nice combo system that is small and discrete while still sounding great.

There are in-wall speaks out there, but they are a bit more work to install. Good looking speaks mounted on classy stands or wall mounts can make a fashion statement without being visually intimidating.

Polk Audio is doing some nice things with speaker systems designed to compliment thin TVs (like plasma) and be very discrete and fashionable in the living space while still offering high performance sound; check them out at www.polkaudio.com.

Check out the Energy Take 5.2 system, and look for a decent woofer (Synergy, or some other brand). Total: Around $1,100 or so. Sound is quite good.

Take a look at the B&W Natulist speakers they are kinda small and funky looking....and sound amazing.

How about some on-walls like these-


http://www.nhthifi.com/2004/products...2&ProductID=85

http://www.paradigm.com/Website/Site...or_Series.html

http://www.definitivetech.com/loudsp...s.html#mythos6

Then get a sub from Hsu or SVS and either the Pioneer 1014 or one of the digital receivers from Panasonic. I'd look into the new Panasonic XR70.

There are other companies with on-wall speakers. I also believe Paradigm has some in their cinema series too, which I did not link.

If you like the size of the Bose speakers you might want to also look at Orb Audio systems. http://www.orbaudio.com/

I've never heard these personally, but every review by owners is very positive. The price is sure attractive...especially compared to Bose.

Mort

B&W, Energy, Polk, Paradigm, (others)... all are IMO a better return on your hard earned dollar than Bose. Just go to a stereo store and give them a listen. Chances are you will find something you like that sounds great for under 3 grand.

Find a Best Buy or Circuit City and audition some of their speakers. They may or may not offer the best price so take notes of what you like and what you don't. Then either buy one of those Home Theaters in a Box units or put together your own system. Onkyo has some nice HTIB packages.

Generally you'll get what you pay for but you are welcome to post what you auditioned and get responses from people here.

Its not that hard to put one together yourself. You'll need a receiver, a good dvd player, a great subwoofer and at least five speakers (one of which will be your center channel). That will give you a 5.1 system. (five speakers, one sub)

Bose sounds good to many people but you don't get the highs or the lows. Try asking Bose for their speaker ranges sometime. They won't tell you.

Your not going to hear anything that sounds great at Circuit City or Bestbuy but you are welcome to look. I sold more crap to people at circuit city than you would ever guess. So yeah go to a good audio store where they have real nice speakers.

Goodness! Is that kind of crap, what advertising on HTF allows you to do these days? I hope not! The frickin intellitext turning my writing into someone else's ad is bad enough.

Too much advertising I think.

To the original poster,

If you want something that doesnt impede too much and intimidate your visitors, go with bookshelfs and a solid subwoofer. Fot the price of 3k, you can get some pretty Hi-End speakers!

Dont settle for bose just because they are small.

To make things easy on you....
If you were I, I would get:
Polk LSi9 (Left and Right Front Speakers) - $900
Polk LSi7 (Left and Right Rear Speakers) - $700
Polk LSiC (Center Speaker) - $500
SVS PB10 (Subwoofer) - $400

Total Retail:
$2100 for the speakers + $400 for the subwoofer.

Go to tweeter to check out the Polk LSi speakers and if you buy it there, you can easily get a huge discount when buying the two pairs. Perhaps 10-20% off. DONT BE AFRAID TO HAGGLE. If one tweeter doesnt give it to you, go to another one. THREATEN TO WALK OUT. LOL...

Anyway, 10-20% off is pretty good. A 2100$ setup might cost you only 1700$ if you deal right.

OR...

You can do what I did and go ebay.

You can get the LSi9 for for about 600$ and the LSi7 for approximately 400$ or so. The LSiC can be had for maybe 300 to 400$. The whole thing can be yours for approx. 1300 to 1400$ from ebay. Not bad!

There are many other speaker combos out there, as I'm sure more will respond with their picks and tips. However, for my taste and after searching for so long, I have found that these Polk LSi are the best I can get at this price.

My opinions, take it with a grain of salt. If you are in the chicago area, you can come by for a demo! PM me if you need some more help! I would be glad to help.

Good luck in your search for speakers!! This is the fun part!

I would never buy from BB or CC. However, speakers such as JBL, Infinity, Polk, etc are not all "junk." I use JBL's all around and paid %40 of BB's prices. Again, would not buy there but it is useful for auditioning.

Polks may not be discounted for any reason. No amount of haggling will get you a penny off regardless of the store.

-Dave

Regarding the Polks.. never say never... I have a friend that works in a medium end audio/video shop. They have ways around that and he would gladly give me say 10% off. Its all in the way they do the paperwork.

Secondly for the initial poster. I can vouch for the Rocket set up and go to av123.com. Give Sean a call there, tell him what you have or want for components, They have alot of b stock stuff coming back like Denon receivers that were loaners until their brand finally hit the states. He could make you a huge deal on a system that would Rock your socks off for half the money of a brick and morter store plus not only do they sound better they are built and look much better. Customer service is better than a "10" they will go to the ends of the world to make you happy. Great group of guys and people on their forum are equally as nice and helpful.