Please help a novice (1 Viewer)

[chrisf4729]

I'm building a theater room in my basement, everything is done and its time for AV side. I know little and that is saying a lot, so my question is this, I'm using a 5.1 system but I'm unsure of speakers, I saw the Polk audio TL1900 but I'm unsure those will fill the room. My room is 12x20 with 8' walls. I know that speakers can go from 50 bucks to 2000 a speaker so I'm a bit nervous. I'm not a audiophile I just want good sound. This room is used for nothing else. Please please please advise. Thanking all in advance.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Polk makes some decent speakers.

Have you listened to them? The only way to really evaluate speakers is to listen to them - everyone hears things differently, and it's not really helpful for us to tell you what speakers sound good to us - that won't necessarily translate to whether or not you will like them.

One way we can help is if you can provide us with a solid budget (one with a minimal range, preferrably) we can recommend some brands/models that fit into that budget that you can try to locate locally and audition for yourself.

When shopping for speakers, the only specs that really matter are impedance (you want 8 ohms, maybe 6, but avoid anything less than 6) and you want high sensitivity (measured in dB - anything at 90 and higher is sensitive/efficient and should be plenty loud enough with even modest power behind them).

What receiver do you have?

Also, while it's imperative in home theaters for the front three speakers to "match" (i.e. be from the same manufacturer/series) it is less crucial for the surrounds to match, and it's even less important for the subwoofer.

In fact, we often recommend getting a subwoofer from a company that specializes in subwoofers - most speaker manufacturers (Polk included) make decent speakers but average at best subwoofers. There are good subwoofers to be found from $150 on up. Some really good bang for the buck options at about $200.

Another reason it would be helpful to know your budget is so we can offer suggestions of how to split up the budget for the different speakers.

 

[Brainwasher]

Well said, just make sure you take into consideration the room size. It's pretty average to decent at 12 x 20. Don't make the mistake of "skimping". For example: I would recommend a decent set of towers rather than bookshelves for your main speakers. But I agree, listen to a few different types/brands of speaker. See what hits that sweet spot.
Welcome and good luck