speakers for $300 (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Goslee]

Hello. I am currently setting up a ht for my girlfriend as a Christmas present. She already has a tv and dvd player. I will be purchasing a reciever and speakers seperatly. I have a $500 budget. I've read that I should spend the majority of my money on good speakers. So my question is are there some good quality speakers for $300 or less. Thanks for all replies.

 

[Dick Knisely]

How many speakers? How big a room? What receiver?

 

[Jesse Goslee]

It's a small room. Maybe 10' x 10'. I havent bought the reciever yet. I was going to buy the speakers first. Eventually I want a 5.1 but I am willing to start with a 2.1 and then upgrade later.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

I think this is what your budget might allow:

- Receiver: Yamaha HTR-5860, approximately $325 from on-line vendors.

- Speakers: A pair of Infinity Primus 60 (bookshelf) speakers. Approximately $170 from on-line vendors.

 

[Jesse Goslee]

I think I'm set on just getting a decent reciever and a pair of good quality bookshelf speakers for now and then getting the center and woofer later. I found the Yamaha HTR5850 6.1 reciever for $299. I also found these speakers Yamaha NS333 bookshelf and Polk Audio T20EB Bookshelf for $129. This was at the local tweeter. Are these speakers worth getting and trying to build a system around or should I be looking somewhere else?

 

[Nhan_H]

You can try for a Panasonic XR55 for about $250 shipped. They can be found on Amazon or JR.com.

Also, these HTD bookshelves are on clearance for $300:

http://www.htd.com/clitcastsp.html

Or if you can, wait for these from AV123 ($200/pair). They'll be shipping around the first or second week of the new year:

http://av123forum.com/showthread.php...&highlight=xls

AV123's Ref 0.5s for $299/pair:

http://www.av123.com/products_produc...s&product=80.1

Also, they'll be some Ascend 170s (original version) availavailable, as the newer SE versions are shipping.

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages...70/cbm170.html

All the afore-mentioned speakers definitely would outperform the yamaha. I'm not familiar with that particular Polk model, however.

 

[Jesse Goslee]

Nhan thanks for the links. I think I'm all set. I've decided to go with a yamaha htr 5850 reciever and a pair of polk RTi4 bookshelf speakers. I found the speakers for $250 which will keep me close to my budget. I do have one final question. This might sound dumb but I really don't know. What kind of cables do I need to hook the speakers up to the reciever? I've never bought speakers before so Im not sure if they come with cables.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Jesse,

For speaker cables, head to Home Depot and pick up some of their 12 gauge speaker wire. It is sold by the foot. You don't need to invest in multi-buck cables. The 12 gauge cable is very adequate.

 

[Jesse Goslee]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Matt Rohr]

I would look at some lightly used speakers also on Ebay. You would be surprised what you can find. Buddy of mine purchase some B&W speakers for half of retail!

 

[John Garcia]

It's not uncommon to find "known" name brand speakers for 50% off on the used market. Some brands may hold more value due to market pricing, but if you pay much more than 50% for something like Paradigm or B&W, you're not really getting a deal.

I would have said the Micra 6 package for $299, but they're sold out at Best Buy. Next would be the Dayton 10 from www.partsexpress.com for $99 and the Athena Point 5 from www.onecall.com for $199.

 

[Mark M. Smith]

I highly suggest Axiom's M3ti speakers. They frequently get excellent reviews and are known for a significant bang for your buck at $300/pair. I have a set myself and am very impressed.