Help finding new speakers. (1 Viewer)

The wife and I are in the process of buying our first house and want to upgrade our current speaker setup and need some input on to what we should audition/purchase. The room the speakers will be in will be 24x13. Our current setup (5.1): Receiver: Harman Kardon - AVR2600 Fronts: Polk R50’s Center: Martin Logan Encore TF Rears: Behringer 2030P’s Sub: Polk PSW10 We would like to spend $1500 or less on new stuff. Our primary listening goals are TV/Movies 80% of the time and music 20%. Should we go all new, just fronts new, ect..? Any input is appreciated! Thanks.

All 5 (or 7) speakers should be from the same brand and the same series for audio cohesion as the sound pans around the room. Since the subwoofer produces frequencies that the other speakers don't it doesn't have to be from the same brand. For sure, dump the R50's and the PSW sub. The 50's aren't bad for what they are but with $1500 you can do better. I really don't know much about Martin Logan but that's the only one you have I would consider keeping. Round out the system with other ML speakers from the same series. The PSW10 needs to be replaced either with a BIC F12 or V1220 or if you really want the feel the thump, an SVS or LAVA. Dayton from PartsExpress also has decent subs but with your budget and room size I'd think about something a little better. Spending $200-$300 on the sub ($400+ for SVS) leaves you with $1100-$1200 for speakers and $100 for wires/cables/etc. The 10" lava sub is $285 with HTF discount. Speakers are a very personal choice but here are the ones most often recommended. Newegg.com has great prices on the Polk Monitor II series. Monitor 60's or 70's plus a CSI or CS2 center and Monitor 30's or 40's for surrounds would be well within budget. Since your room is fairly large and you watch movies/tv mostly I'd say get the smaller speakers and a bigger sub. There really is a difference in sub performance as you go up in price. If you listen at low or moderate levels then maybe you can get by with a cheaper sub and better speakers but that really is a pretty big room to fill. Other speaker options are the Infinity Primus series and Klipsch Reference series. Most critisize Klipsch for being overly "bright" and for music this may be true but for movies I find a brighter speaker to be advantageous. If you can live with bookshelf speakers then consider a speaker/sub package from SVS.com. I think speakers from Axiom.com AperionAudio.com PSB's from SaturdayAudio.com and Swan's from TheAudioInsider.com are a bit outside your budget but they're worth a look. There are many others but this should get you started. Monoprice.com and BlueJeanscables.com along with PartsExpress, are great places to buy very good quality cables and wires on the cheap.

The weakest parts of your current setup is the subwoofer and the mismatched center channel.


For home theater, it's very important that the front three speakers be from the same product line (called timbre-matching) so that panning sounds are consistent across the front.


The R50s are nice speakers, but finding a matched center (also from Polk) is going to be difficult. All of the best matches are discontinued, and from the brief looking I did, they are hard to find, even used.


Polk also doesn't make the best subwoofers. You can get much better value going with one of the many Internet direct manufacturers that are frequently recommended here: SVS and Lava (the 12" is roughly $285 with the HTF discount).


I'm not familiar with Berenger, but those seem like nice speakers, and it's not as crucial for the surrounds to match the rest of the speakers.


So, you could keep those, and use the $1500 for new fronts, center, and subwoofer. If you like the sound of Polk's you should try auditioning some in your area. They have lots of options that would fit your budget - floorstanders and bookshelfs. One option might be the TSi500 and a matching CS20.


You should also check out newegg.com - they often have great deals on Polk speakers. But be sure to audition first - only you know what sounds best to you.


Good luck. I'm sure you'll get more suggestions.



Edit: I need to improve my typing speed... Gene pretty much covered it all!

Well looks like things have changed a little, we are going to hold off on a new tv $2k, and put that towards the speaker budget. So the new budget is $3500 or less, what would be my options for speakers then? Thanks!

Amazing! Most people run for the flat panels and almost ignore the audio. Now you're in a whole different league (and out of mine ). With that budget you really need to do your homework. Start with the SVS-MTS series http://www.svsound.com/products-spks-mts02.cfm Then: Swan (original-better for music?) Black Cherry vinyl will save you $450 http://www.theaudioinsider.com/index.php?loudspeakers=original-swan-diva&cPath=21_30 Swan (new) http://www.theaudioinsider.com/index.php?loudspeakers=swan-diva&cPath=21_22 Axiom (people rave about their surround speakers) http://axiomaudio.com/hometheaters.html Aperion Audio (look at their "Aperion University". Lots of info) http://www.aperionaudio.com/catalog/NEW-Verus-Speaker-Family,89.aspx PSB "Image" http://www.saturdayaudio.com/ If you're willing to go bookshelf instead of tower then there's also the: Swan "D" series http://www.theaudioinsider.com/index.php?loudspeakers=swan-high-end&cPath=21_23 Ascend Acoustics Sierra series http://www.ascendacoustics.com/ Those are mostly internet-direct companies you may not have heard of. There are many, many more in-store brands. Too many to list. Look in the phone book for high-end sellers and have a listen to paradigm, Totem, Pinnacle, etc. When you have a few minutes, read this thread http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/297610/how-to-buy-new-speakers Consider the speakers and subwoofer separately. Maybe $2000-$2500 for speakers and $1000-$1200 for the sub. Start a new thread for a subwoofer search. You will pull in more members who are very knowledgable about them.