ADVICE NEEDED: 5.1 CUBE Speakers (all 6) for $600-$900 (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

I have a friend who just built a Home Theater

room. He has a new TV, and I am loaning him

an extra DVD player and receiver until he buys

one.

The $600-$900 he has left is budgeted for 6

speakers: 2 main, 2 rear, 1 center, 1 subwoofer.

Yes, I know that kind of money doesn't buy you

quality -- but that is why I am seeking advice

amongst all of you.

He wants small CUBE speakers like the BOSE.

He has a small room and the wife doesn't want

huge speakers.

Perhaps BOSE makes a 5.1 set of speakers in a

more budgeted line for under $1,000.

Can you guys suggest anything? Perhaps a link

to an on-line vendor?

Thanks in advance

 

[EricHaas]

The Energy Encore system is a set of small speakers that are slightly rectangular, not perfect cubes, but actually are more attractive than Bose. I have demoed them at the Good Guys and they sound terrific. Perfect Vision put them in their top recommended speaker category, the only micro speaker set they put there. MSRP is $1500, but $975 is cheapest online price. This includes a subwoofer. Check shopping.yahoo.com. Energy Take 5.2's are good too, but IMO a little less attractive and don't sound quite as nice. I think they run $600 for the set. Either set will sound better than any Bose set.
Here's a link:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/topsellers/enensys.html

 

[Dan Hine]

Ron,
You can find some pretty good cube sized packages from Cambridge SoundWorks . I have not heard them personally but have read many favorable opinions of them on this board. Most likely much better than Bose and a lot cheaper too. I hope that helps.
Dan Hine

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Ron;

I second the Energy Take 5s. I used to own a set of Bose Acoustimass 10 speakers before I wised up. At the same time, a friend of mine owned a set of the Take 5s, which cost him around half the price of my Bose speakers. The truth is, the Energy speakers were far superior even though they were less expensive.

Please, whatever you do, don't point him in the Bose direction.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

There is a company called Gallo Acoustics that make small, 4-inch spherical speakers not much larger than the Bose cubes. Yet the sound is quite good and they have even made the annual "Recommended Components" list from Stereophile Guide to Home Theater. They come in colors so they can compliment different decorations.
www.roundsound.com

 

[Bob McElfresh]

There is also another set, the AR HC6 that is nearly a micro-cube in size (ok, a bit larger) but the system is a nicely matched set with a sub for SRP of $699. But this other thread shows you can get them for less and includes a link to the Acoustic Research site:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=34881

 

[Randy Prue]

The best sound, and the best value in small speakers that I have seen/heard just got even cheaper.
From the same company as Energy ... athena. All six for $1,100. CAD dropped to $1,000., and yesterday dropped to $800. at Future Shop in Canada. They sound better than speakers twice their price.
I figured that if their small ones were that good, then their bigger ones should be even better. I bought their largest ones and do not regret it! Their small ones (The Point5 set) are also slightly rectangular, mirror black sides with silver faces. They're very small.
www.athenaspeakers.com

 

[Ron Alcasid]

The Klipsch Quintet seems to have fallen out of favor lately but I think they are still worth considering. MSRP is $899. They are not "cube" seapkers but they are fairly small, attractive and available in silver.
Specs
Gallery

 

[Aurel Savin]

Ron:
I also second the ENERGY 5.2 system.
You can get the whole system with the subwoofer for $685 at this link: http://www.soundpros.com/energy_home.cfm
I got mine from them 6 months ago and the service was good.
Also check out my HT pics in my signature to get an idea what size they are mounted.
Good luck!

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Buy 3 pair of these PSBs:
http://www.yawaonline.com/psbalinlrbst.html
For $450 (and probably get a quantity discount if you ask)
Add in a sub (VTF-2 or Rava) and you've got a $900 system that is very 'cube'-ish that will BLOW BOSE away.
You can do this for around $700 with a decent Sony subwoofer.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Oh, and frankly, if I were him, I'd probably get a new wife. Not kidding!

I'm glad my wife and I know how to compromise and support each other.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Ron, I understand the wife thing - it has killed deals I had started, that is to make and sell speakers to guys, who, when they talked to the boss at home, came back and said: "sorry, my wife doesn't want speakers to be seen in the room. That's why Im designing a Bose-Buster system. I just finished the prototype sub with an 8" driver and 100-watt plate amp. The cube design comes next. Your friend probably can't wait until I'm finished and ready to ship, but I'm sure I could do 5 cubes and sub for about $650.

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

"I'm glad my wife and I know how to compromise and support each other"

Uh, it sounds like the guy *IS* compromising and supporting his wife. Perhaps in your arrangement it's your wife who does all the compromising?

--Steve

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Uh, it sounds like the guy *IS* compromising and supporting his wife. Perhaps in your arrangement it's your wife who does all the compromising?

Nope, we support each others hobbies to the fullest degree, because we know that life is short and we both want each other to be as happy as possible.
How we arrange this varies depending on where we are living. Currently, the living room is her domain as far as asthetics and the family room is my domain from that respect. But even when we lived in a tiny townhouse, we were always able to find mutually beneficial solutions without either of us telling the other what they can or cannot do.
I guess it helps that neither of us has a big giant bug up our ass.

 

[Marc H]

Ron,
Also, ask him to consider Axiom's Epic Micro Surround system.
I think it's very musical and open sounding and would be a better bang for the buck over a Take5.2.
Voices are open and real sounding, imaging superb and extremely low distortion across the entire bandwidth. Even adding an extra VPZero speaker for the rear centre would still be within budget too.
Review:
http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/axiom_epicmicro.htm

 

[EricK]

How about the Sony Dream system? It has a dvd/sacd player and the cube speakers for approximately $600.

Eric.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Ron,
I can not vouch for the way these sound.. But all the feedback
say they sound great (and to a J6P I am sure they do)
They are very similar to Bose Cubes and they are cheap!
Check these out..
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1316604139
Better get a set of those before Bose finds out.. No doubt
they will sue this company!
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI...tem=1317589534

 

[jeff lam]

Energy Take5 all the way. However, If he can come up with an extra hundred or so, have him look at Definitive Technology Procinema systems. They are the best satellite/sub systems around.

 

[Christian Speights]

Paradigm Cinema Series? Can't believe that they're not mentioned yet. Could easily believe that I missed it though. Regardless:

Not cubes but not BIG either. Plus I think a PDR-8 would fit in that budget also.

 

[Richard Burzynski]

Have heard lots of good things about Acoustic Research HC6 package as of late, and a great price. Try to give them a demo.

Rich B.