Please let me know what you think is the best package for under $400. I do not need a subwoofer but the speakers have to be small (like satellites) and black in color. Thanks
What about Athena's (a Canadian speaker company) cheaper line? They're very good sounding, well constructed, low in price from on-line vendors, and come in black. My 0.02 cents...
I like the Klipsch Quintets. From everything I have heard they are much more comparable to bigger bookshelf speakers and have a much fuller sound I feel. To each his own, they can be found for about $300-350 for the 5 speakers without subwoofer.
Check out the Wharfedale Diamond 8 line at Buy.com .
You can get the 8.1's for fronts and surrounds and Diamond center for a grand total of $320.10. They're small and come in black too. Without a doubt the best deal anywhere.
I bought the Atlantic Technolgy T-70 Sat pack from soundcity.com open box for $400. 5 speaker system that is small and black. They are new but without the sub. These speakers are amazing, but really need a sub.
I second J. Fo. A coworker of mine got a set of the Tykes and the build quality and sound are pretty darn good for the money. For a complete system in the $400 range, they'd be my choice.
Let me put a word in for another Canadian speaker set, the Orbit 5.1A from Dahlquist. The sats are about the size of a pound of butter, black and aren't as forward in the treble as a lot of tiny sat speakers are. I think they are fantastic for the price, well made and very nice sound IMHO. They come with a sub and a pretty good one too for a small one but you could always sell that or using two subs is definitely not a bad thing