Best bargain floorstanders? (1 Viewer)

Hello speaker people, I'm about to set up a new sound system to go with my new 37" HDTV. I already have a sub woofer and surrounds and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for "best bang for buck" for a pair of floorstanders costing at the very most $500 including tax. Do floorstanders generally sound bigger and better than similar priced bookshelf speakers? I also will need a center speaker and receiver. I'm considering the Onkyo sr 505 but would prefer the 605 with its better hdmi connections but it costs about twice as much as the 505 and that would destroy my center speaker budget. And do those better hdmi connections on the 605 make that much difference compared to the 505? I guess I should ask the receiver people about that, sorry for asking that here, I'm just looking for best bang for buck all around.

$399.00 a pair for these - with an available center that matches for $119.00. A good friend of mine just picked up an entire Level 2 system and loves it...


HTD Level TWO Tower Speakers

Thanks Martino, Wow if those speakers sound half as good as they look they would be amazing. They really are handsome and they look rich and well made. I'm not too concerned about listening to them first because I'm not spending big bucks on them and I don't think you would recommend them if you didn't believe in them.

Wow! Those are nice at that price. How do they do that at the price point. Wonder what they sound like. Can't be that bad can they?

I never heard of the brand HTD Level two so I'll google it and try to find reveiws on them. And the drivers are only 5 1/2" but that doesn't necessarily have to be a drawback does it? Anybody else have any ideas for bargain floorstanders?

Take a look at the E Design sets. I am thinking of picking up the floorstanding and T6t center for my second system. A friend picked these up and I am very impressed for the price. Elemental Designs

Yea - I was asked to put together systems for my friend given a $1000.00 budget (including powered sub)- and he wanted tower speakers, and that is the one he chose (the HTDs level two's all around).

I tried to use this form, and others for researching these systems. The HTDs have a 30 day trial period, so he would be able to return them if he didn't like them...After talking to him, they are not going back.

Here are the other ones I found that he didn't choose - even though he didn't choose them, why let my research go to waist...

Full towers, powered subs, - more defuse rear channels:
Home Speakers Direct

System Cost $899.00

Towers from that system are $329.00 a pair...

Home Speakers Direct


IF you like ribbon tweeters instead - Cost - 799.00 entire system

Home Speakers Direct

BIC Acoustech HT-75 Tower Speakers - 279.00 a pair

Home Speakers Direct



I am going over to his house to hear his system next week, so I'll let you know how the HTD's sound...

Thanks for the info Doug and Martino, I'm leaning toward the Level two's. I found one reveiw for the Level two's and the reveiwer was totally impressed by them. So yes Martino, If you can give those a good listen I'd like to know your opinion of the Level two's. Thanks again.

My brother in law put in a set of HTD level 2's and i have to admit for the price they seem to perform very well. I would suggest adding a subwoofer as the speakers are crisp. He is pushing them with a Onkyo TX-SR705 and has Polk sub, center, and rears. We built a very good sounding budgeted system for under $1500.

" I already have a sub woofer and surrounds and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for "best bang for buck" for a pair of floorstanders costing at the very most $500 including tax."

From his original post, it looks like he already has a sub, so that should not be a problem. Glad your brother in law is happy with them.

Martino, check out the Elemental Designs, I put my order in about an hour ago. I went and listened to my friends set up and for $500 they are a steal IMO.

I'm assuming you are talking about the A6 - 6T6 - Tower Pair from the link you provided:

Elemental Designs

Those do look nice for $500.00 - let me know how they work for you..

Like I said, I was given a bugdet of $1000.00 for an entire system (fronts, center, surrounds, powerd sub), but the system needed to have towers for fronts. I wouldn't be able to use the speakers you mentioned and still put together the rest of the system....

They have a tool on their site that allows you to build a system and they have a nice discount, the more you buy the more you save.

You tell the tool what kind of system you want 2.1 and up, then you can mix and match speakers.

I should have these next week and will let you know what I think.

x-sls Encores from av123

4 different real wood veneers to choose from or go with Satin Black.

I can't post a link since I don't have enough posts.

"floorstanders costing at the very most $500 including tax"

It looks like those A6 - 6T6 - Tower Pair would come in over his budget - as they are $500.00 without tax or shipping. They do look nice though..

Here is a link I found for the x-sls encore speakers mentioned above from av123 - they are listed at $399.00

AV123.com - x-sls encore Mid-Tower Loudspeaker

All of the speakers mentioned are good but the best deal I've seen lately is Audio Advisors current prices on the Athena LS speakers the LS500's with dual 6.5" fiberglass cone, rubber surround woofers, and 1" aluminum domes at $150 ea or the single 6.5" woofer LS300 for $99ea are steals they even have a package deal for a pair of the LS500's with powered sub matching center, surrounds and 100ft of kimber cable speaker wire for $594! that's flat out the best deal you can get on a full 5.1 speaker set with floorstanders and powered sub. They also have good deals on Boston Acoustics VR1, VR2 and VR3's . I think some of those are sold out though. I believe shipping is free and you have a 30 day no questions return policy. There's some cool video clips of Gordon Van Kessel chief engineer of Athena promoting the LS line. I bought my first good 5.1 speaker set from Audio Advisor over over 12 years ago a full matched set of Gordo's now defunct Sound Dynamics line, R515 tower speakers with THR Bipolar rears and THC2 matching center. I still have them in my bedroom system. Great speakers made in Canada by API, who also makes Mirage and Energy.

First of all I want to thank everybody for all the good suggestions. After researching all of them on the web I narrowed it down to two choices, the Level 2s or the Athena's. But while I was searching on the web I came across these JBL Stadium's for only 125 each including shipping. They have two 8" woofers and a mid range and tweeter. Does anybody have any thoughts on the Stadiums? JBL has a good reputation, I wonder if the Stadiums live up to that reputation? The low price almost scares me away from them, should that be a concern?

The JBL's are a decent sounding system, but the athena's would be a better choice as would infinity Kappa series towers from best price audio video.
Both the stadium and kappa series are being replaced with new models soon hence the discounts and closeouts. Don't know much about the ED stuff so if you likes the way they sound, then stick with them.

Not sure if you want a quality 2.1 setup or 5.1, but if you want 2 channels than I would recommend the Polk RTi A7 or A9 series. They have dual 7 inch woofers, 5.25 mid and 1 inch tweeter. Hope that helps....

You can get the Infinity Beta 40 towers from vanns.com right now for only $400 delivered!!!!!! As another poster mentioned the Athenas over at audioadvisor.com is also an awesome deal. Hope this helps. Good luck in your decision.