Best speaker setup for $1000 (1 Viewer)

[FrankieB]

Can someone recommend a speaker package.

I have want a 5.1 setup so 2 front, 2 rear, center and woofer.

 

[FrankieB]

no one has any answers

 

[Jose G]

Speakers are tricky to recommend because everyone has different tastes in sound and different acoustical living conditions that will effect how speakers sound once home. That is why it's best to go out and listen to them, then bring them home with a strong return policy to make sure that they sound right once in your listening space. If you want to narrow down your ear testing experience- do a search here on this forum and see what people have recommended to others already. Type in something like "speakers" or "Best speaker," etc.. Don't worry, people will come by with lots of support- just do a search first to get some really good ideas if you haven't already. Also post this info: The size of your listening room; the receiver you'll be driving the speakers with; the music you generaly listen to; the more we know, the better the recommendations. Oh, most important of all- what's your budget?
Some speakers to look into in general are: Paradigms, JBL, B&W, NHT, Boston Acoustics, Dahlquists, Axioms, man there are a lot of good speakers out there, but you need to know how much you want to spend.

 

[Jose G]

Big, OOOPS! Should have read the thread title, right? Sorry about the last part there in terms of budget.

Some more thoughts: Do you want towers, bookshelf, small speakers that you can hide, will they go in a bookshelf, on a stand?

 

[Jose G]

Here's an example of a link I found when I did a quick search (it's a start): link

 

[Jose G]

I also know that Jandr.com has the pair of JBL S26 for $200. That would be $400 for 4, get the S center (another $150-200?), and get yourself a real nice sub with the left over- don't forget the speaker wire and such will also cost you, also. That's just an idea to start you off- you might want to look at the S38's as mains and just use the S26 for the surrounds, but I think there are a few here who like the S26 all around set up. Also the trouble with some packages that include a sub is that the sub may not be the best bang for the buck. Good luck!

 

[FrankieB]

Jose thanks man.

So is in not recommended to buy a package, but instead buy pieces.

I don't even have a receiver yet. But am looking into buying one of the slim designs either the sony sl7 or a panasonic. they really aren't that great but my living room is small. 10x 15 at most.

I am looking for something for movies but yet something that i can use to play music from cd.

A friend told me NOT to get satelites because they are great for movies but not so good for music.

So i might end up getting stand up speakers up front, mountable rears a nice center piece and a good sub.

Anyone want to let me know any recemmendations.

 

[FrankieB]

Hey Jose I think I will be bumping my speaker budget to $1500.

How does this look

Sub $400
Center $200
Front floor mains $500
Rear wall Mountables $400


What do you mean by getting a real nice sub, how much should i spend on the sub.

Oh yeah, am i being stupid by spending $1500 on speakers but yet spend only $300 for the receiver.

I can spend another $200 for the wires, any recommendation on wires or are they overrated and all the same.

 

[Guy Usher]

I have a 5 piece NHT, 4 Super Ones and 1 VS-1.4 center all mint. Center only 2 weeks old, super ones less than 2 years not used much only for HT and I only watch 1 or 2 movies a week so not many hours. I will make you a great price. Either PM or email me.
I will be out of town Monday thru wednesday, actually home wed night around 6Pm.

 

[FrankieB]

Guy just send me an email with you best price shipped to NY, or if you are in new york maybe i can demo and pick up.

But to be honest with you, i can get new products for pretty cheap, You must give me a ridiculous price for me to even consider.

 

[RobCar]

If you're open to a package, consider this from Onkyo:
http://electronics.cnet.com/electron...-20455132.html

Cnet gave it rave reviews, and the whole thing's like $250. Would probably sound great in a small room.

I have Boston Acoustics and would recommend them:
CR85s (mains) ($400 pr)
CR6s (rears) ($200 pr)
CRC (center) ($200)

http://www.bostonacoustics.com/Serie...ID=19&SpecID=1

 

[Robert_Gaither]

Nht's Super series and Jbl N/S series are the best thing going in the less than $500 range and would easily fill the room size you gave and the X-over points of most AVRs plus they both can be wall mounted for the most part. If it was me I'd pick up a sub from Adire, HSU, or SVS and up the budget on the AVR to incorporate at least a 6.1 Yam, HK, or Denon.

 

[Alan M]

For about $950,u can pick up an SVS sub and a fluance SX-HTB package.You would have a rockin system.

 

[Jose G]

Frankie,
Your numbers look good- leaving you with lots of options. Your space is pretty small so you don't need to go nuts. The fact that you are spending so much on the speakers and not the receiver is fine- and in my humble opinion makes sense, but that doesn't mean that you don't want a high quality receiver to drive them. A better receiver is less likely to distort, which means it's safer for the speakers. In general, I agree with your friend on the satelite speaker issue by the way. The Onkyo package that Rob recommended is nice for tight budgets and small spaces- but you have more to spend and can get a better sub than that, so I wouldn't get that one only for those reasons. The Boston's, on the other hand, are nice speakers and with a good sub will sound very good. I've heard great things about the NHT's and Guy posts a lot here and is very knowledgable, so if you are leaning to NHT I would probably not hesitate to buy from him. Now on that link I posted, the second post I believe suggests ascend acoustic speakers with a very well respected sub- you asked about good sub and that is what I was referring to- an HSU VTF-2 I believe. But Frankie, listen- depending on your room and your taste, what sounds good to Rob, Guy, or myself, may sound very different to you. So I really recommend going out there and listening before you buy- and if you hear something amazing and feel like you are going to buy it on the spot- don't! Walk away- keep listening to other stuff, come back to that great sound later, and confirm that it's really great. Than buy it with that return policy. If I am correct your budget is $2000 for everything and you can build a really nice system with that where friends and family will go

In terms of receivers- I assume you are only looking to a 5.1 system and not a 6.1 or 7.1 due to the small room size, but if you do want 6.1 or 7.1 than the package changes, right? Just some food for thought in case that hadn't been digested. The receiver- for music and HT, hands down, in your price range, get yourself the HK125 or 225 if all you want is 5.1. Look to jandR.com for the best price on it. If you need more bells and whistles, then look to a Marantz or Denon or an Oink, I guess. I would stay away from a Sony unless you get into the higher ES line and Panny- yuck! That's really unfair and biased but that's the way I feel about them. Wires? A good 14 gauge is all you need, even a 16 for short runs will be fine- use what the receiver recommends. Don't fall for the "This brand speaker wire is better than that one" crap: pay for the gauge, not the marketing (many will disagree with me on this point by the way). For the sub make sure to get a shielded variety cable. Also- you might want your sub to be shielded and your mains to be shielded- depending on how close they are to your tv. My mains aren't but my tube is in an armoir, so it doesn't effect it and my sub is far from the tube so it's not an issue- just something else to think about.

 

[FrankieB]

Thanks for all the info guys.

I would also like to clear a few things up.

-I would love to spend 700 on a high end receiver. But i simple have no room for it. It seems as if all the better recievers are pretty large to accomodate all the input/output. I have a sony wega 36xbr and the tv stand only has room for so much. I have the panny cp72 dvd carousel, a sony vcr to match my sony wega and ps2. So i am pretty much limited to the Panny XR10 or theSony SL7 reciever. are they any good, please let me know if i am making a mistake.

-RobCar, the Onkyo you mentioned looked really good especially for the price, but i will end up upgrading to more expensive speakers in a month. I would prefer to just get the higher end now. save money in the long run.

-I am only interested in a 5.1 setup. i personally think that 5 surround speakers and a sub is all i will need. reminder my living room is 10x15.

-I am a NEWBIE, so I have no idea what SVS sub and a fluance SX-HTB package or NHT are. Can someone explain.
Are they abreviations for a brand.

-My budget is now $1500 for the speakers, $200 for cables(don't know if that is enough or not)$300-$400 for the reciever.

-Oh yeah jandr has increadible prices, I work 2 blocks away. And its instant gratification.

 

[FrankieB]

Oh yeah Jose, I looked at the thread you linked me to earlier and saw that the JBL's got some good reviews also.

I might end up with something like this.

2 S312IIs as the fronts
1 S-Center II as the center
2 S-36's as the rears
and one PB12 as the sub

Any body know anything about these.

 

[Jason GT]

You're probably gonna hate this -- but you may want to look into the size issue... as in be willing to go large.

I assume that your only stand is your TV stand? most AVRs are DEEP. Much deeper than DVD players or other components. It looks like the two you selected aren't that deep (14" and 12 and a bit), but do measure your stand before going further...

Anyways, your receiver may not be very happy crammed inside a stand, especially with no room on top (as it sounds like what's going to happen). This is a heat issue, and will be more significant the more you like higher volume.

If you can spend $700 on a receiver, have you thought about spending a bit of that on an audio rack (or perhaps building your own)?

Anyways, SVS, Fluance and NHT are brands. SVS makes subwoofers only, and I do believe NHT and Fluance make speakers AND subs. (not familiar with any of these products save some about SVS). SX-HTB sounds like a speaker package product - "home theater in a box" being the HTB part of it.

IMO your cable budget is more than adequate. I wouldn't go too crazy on speaker wire, cables and stuff, but that's me. Don't forget to account for interconnects and/or speaker stands and brackets if you'll need them

 

[FrankieB]

My tv rack is pretty deep and can accomadate most receivers as far as how fat it would go back. its the height issue. thats why i am looking for receivers that are not taller than maybe 4 inches high.

i have not looked at an audio rack as my room is about 10' wide the tvs about 4 feet wide and i plan on getting 2 floor speakers on the front on the side of the tv, have some space in between which would leave me no room for the audio rack. But i guess i can look around for a slim one. then my problem would be solved.

 

[Jose G]

Frankie,
There is a lot to consider here in terms of a good HT/music set up. The heat issue that Jason points out is one of them. Being that your main speakers might be close to your tv, you may really need to check that they are shielded speakers- as most centers are- this is something else to consider. The quality of the receiver and the distortion level is another, but you are limited to design, so as long as you play your music at moderate levels and your speakers are matched well to them- I think the receivers you've described will be fine for you. The speakers you mentioned seem great. There are a lot of people on this forum with JBL's so a few searches on these and you will be set. Just a FYI- the receivers I mentioned, should you figure out a way to fit them, are not $700 units at all; they are entry level units at about the same price as what you are looking at. Once again, good Luck and happy listening.

 

[MatthewK]

Lots of good advice here. If I can "jump on the bandwagon"...

-I think you will probably want to "go big" on the receiver and get a quality, although not necessarily expensive, receiver. For around $300-$400 Dennon, HK and Onkyo all make great receivers.

-Subs, from my experience, rely a little less on peoples preferences for sounds. People generally agree certain subs are generally good and others are not as good. I do not mean to say there are not a lot of variables in purchasing a sub but mean only to simplify the process a little.

On this forum some proven subs (and favorites) available via mailorder are made by Hsu and SVS. There are many "good" subs also available at brick and mortars but I must admit that personally I don't think many compare in the $450-$700 price range.

-Speakers preferences vary a lot by person. For example some people like more "accurrate" speakers where others feel these are too "bright" or "harsh". I have found that I am sensitive to "bright" speakers and tend to not like them as much.

There are universal things that people evaluate though. Those being frequency response, build quality, customer support, etc.

That said, if you tend to like the brighter speakers Axiom may be an excellent route for you to take. You could couple the M3ti, VP100 and QS4 surrounds. That coupled with a Hsu VTF-2 or SVS would put you about $1200-$1300 shipped(speakers: $700 + $500-600 sub).

On the other hand if you don't like bright speakers you could get a Dahlquist setup. That being QX6s in the front and rear and a QX50 in the front. I think that would be about the same price range.

Something else you may want to check out is the Ascend acoustics speakers, Klipsh, Energy, Paradigm, and the list goes on.

These are but two of the many "favorites" on this board that I think most would agree are good speakers... but may or may not be for you in particular.

It is hard but if you are new in the field you probably want to talk with someone you feel you can trust and isn't just going to direct you to what they have onhand. Also, someone who will be patient and answer your questions. You can find this in a local shop quite often but I would go on another's recommendation as there can often be wolves in sheep's clothing.

If you are willing to buy via mailorder I feel that Marc at http://audioshop.on.ca/ is very knowlegable and has given fair advice. He has been known to recommend things he doesn't carry at times and is very patient with newbies (from my experience). As a side note he also has EXCELLENT prices on Axiom and Dahlquist gear as you get the favorable CDN=>US exchange rate. You could try shooting him an email with your situation or call him.

Basically, there are a TON of good value speakers out there. Perhaps the first step is finding the sound you like. Go to a local shop and just listen to Klipsh, Polk, Energy, etc speakers and find what you like / dislike about each.

Or if your not willing to invest that much time just do as I suggested above and find someone you trust and go from there.

Hope this helped.

Matthew