Noob needs major help with 5.1 Surround! (1 Viewer)

[Xal-Shoota]

Hey guys.. I am trying to get a "real" 5.1 system, not a home theater in a box, for about 400-450$. Here are a few things I am looking at right now. I know almost nothing about Home Theater, but have a friend helping me out who knows plenty. I just wanted to see if anyone could find better deals or better speakers and recievers if they know of any!
Here is what I am looking at now...

Reciever:
Shop Onkyo

Speakers:
Shop Onkyo
(I know these are 7.1's , but they seem great for the price)

Keep in mind I would prefer cheaper 5.1's to a 7.1 setup, and I am not afraid of buying refurbished!

Can you help me out, Brohemians?

 

[hodedofome]

Your links aren't working, however for your budget the Onkyo systems are going to be your best bet. Nothing else comes close for your budget. This one is refurb'd for $350:

Shop Onkyo

 

[Kevin Stewart]

I'd buy this set of speakers that's for sale here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...-pb10-sub.html

And an Onkyo receiver to go with them (probably a refurbished 575). If you can increase your budget a bit, I'd try and get an Onkyo 606, which is more future proof (gives you the ability to decode the lossless audio from blu ray), but it's about $400

 

[youravinstaller]

Onkyo HTS5100 is a 7.1 system with a sub and an ipod dock. i used on of these a few weeks ago, and i was amazed at the performance. I can tell you from experience that with its 500 dollar price tag, you would have to spend another thousand with it to get a better overall performer. Also it does have a real av receiver with hdmi, and component switching

 

[Xal-Shoota]

Here is the real like to the Onkyo reciever...
Shop Onkyo
and I am DEFINITELY looking at that JBL set that guy is selling, I already emailed him....how does selling and buying happen on these forums? are there any kind of seller or buyer ratings, or an order, or do I just make a deal and hope I don't get screwed?

 

[Kevin Stewart]

You can get the same receiver new (not refurbished) from Amazon for $4 more.

 

[Brent_S]

You need to register with ClubOnkyo and login to ShopOnkyo to see the "club" price. With the current 10% refurb deal this weekend, the difference is more like $40...or 20%, depending on how you want to look at it.

I'm currently "burning in" a refurb 506 I picked up for the system I'm putting together for my parents. While it doesn't have lossless decoding or HDMI audio processing, it's otherwise a very solid unit. Can't imagine anything better for the $155 delivered (Club price - (Club points from my 805 purchase + 10% Labor Day sale)).

Xal, speaker wise...take a look at these. You could get three pairs delivered for around $100. If you do a bit of research, you'll find that Spherex was a sister company of Mirage, who's omnisat engineering went into these speakers. The Audio Critic was quite taken with them...Google will turn up other pro reviews as well. With a refurb 506 and these, you'd still have $200ish left in the budget for a subwoofer.

For my dad's system, I actually went with this Spherex set. I already have a spare plate amp and ordered a different 8" driver to replace the Spherex unit as it depended heavily on EQ in the missing amp/processor.

We've been living with the Sphrex satellites/refurb 506 in our living room system for the past week. We're impressed enough that I'm going to order a set of the satellites for myself to replace my current Polk R150 setup. Do note that Audyssey picked a 150hz crossover for these guys, which seems to be consistent with the various reviewer measurements. You'll need to make sure your sub solution can play that high and you can place the sub somewhere between the L/R fronts for best integration.

-Brent

 

[Xal-Shoota]

Does registering with Club Onkyo require paying a fee, or getting a credit card or something lame like that? Or is it just free to sign up?

 

[Brent_S]

T&C...no requirements other than a pulse and email account.

 

[Xal-Shoota]

Well I ordered that JBL speaker set the dude had for sale, along with the Onkyo Reciever (thanks for the club onkyo tip, I snagged it for 150$ shipped!)...so now, what wires do I need to connect the receiver and speakers together? I apparently will get the subwoofer cable, but thats all. Onkyo says they don't give any cables with refurbished products, so I need to get cords for that as well. Any ideas?
Here is my setup:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...-pb10-sub.html
and
Shop Onkyo

 

[Xal-Shoota]

Oops, the link to the receiver is Shop Onkyo