blued888

1. Your budget. $325, includes shipping and taxes.

2. Room dimensions. 940 cubic foot or 3660 cubic foot. (More consideration on the 3660 cubic foot room)

3. Primary uses. 90% HT / 10% Music

4. Listening habits. Will be listening at moderate volume. (With the occasional urge to listen at moderately high volume)

5. Appearance requirements. Needs to be black.

6. Timeframe. To be ordered within the next 45 days.

Will be used with this receiver:

Yamaha HTR-5540 (click for link)

Current considerations:

Yamaha NS-AP480 (5 Identical Satellites with dual 3" drivers + 1/2" mylar tweeters) @ $70

2 pairs of Pioneer S-HF21-LR 5-1/4" 2-Way Bookshelf + Pioneer S-HF11C 5-1/4" MTM Center Channel @ around $154 shipped total

My questions:

1. Is the Pioneer speaker set worth the $83 dollar difference from the Yamaha?

2. Are there any other bookshelf speaker sets which will fall within my budget? Recommended from another forum are the following brands: (Anybody ever heard of these brands?)

a. Fluance
b. The Speaker Company

3. How do I properly match wattage per channel from the receiver with that of my choice of speakers? I mean, the receiver outputs 75 x 5. Does that mean the 75w per channel capability of the receiver should fall between the minimum and maximum wattage ratings for the speakers?

4. For the L, R, Surrounds, would it be better to go for the 6 1/2" Pioneer bookshelf instead of the one with 5 1/4" drivers? Is there a big difference between the sizes?

5. Is it better to have identical LCR speakers? (All with dual drivers + tweeter)

pat00139

I would avoid companies not known for their speakers (i.e. Pioneer, Samsung, Panasonic and many other companies making HTiBs). Their TVs/receivers/whatever are MUCH, MUCH better than their speakers. Their HTiBs are nothing special. They don't spend the money for R&D on speakers that many other companies do, and get cheaper parts.

For $150, you're not going to find anything very good, especially for music. The most basic speakers I would recommend for movie viewing would be these. They're more than what you want to pay for a pair, but they have good value and have very good sound.

As long as the wattage of the receiver falls in the recommended wattage for the speakers, you're fine. It just means that the speakers will work optimally within that range. Having the same L and R speakers is recommended, but having the matching centre speaker from the same company is also recommended. Having the same speaker for the three front speakers isn't very recommended, because centre speakers are made differently. There's nothing wrong with getting another speaker, but the centre speaker is recommended.

Spiky

Only one piece of advice has ever been useful for speaker shopping:

Listen.

(for a 3000+ cf room, $150 is about enough for half a speaker)

blued888

I am not exactly looking for a great set of speakers.

I am looking for something better than my previous ones which are speakers from a Yamaha HTIB which had 4 identical satellites with 3" drivers + 3/4" tweeter, 1 center channel satellite with dual 3" drivers + 3/4" tweeter, + 6.5" subwoofer.

I was originally looking to get a set of 5 identical satellites with dual 3" drivers + 3/4" tweeter for $70 but decided to stretch my budget to $150 to $250 to possibly accommodate entry-level bookshelf type speakers.

Spiky

I don't think you will improve the sound with that price range. All the speakers you've described are in the same audio quality range as the original Yamaha stuff. Are they broken or something?

You might be able to find a deal on something slightly better:
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=90622
But you won't get much bass with this set since there is no sub.

Fluance is often suggested as a decent low-end speaker.

blued888

I currently am looking at speakers from BIC America and The Speaker Company. Will not be going the Pioneer route. Budget up from $250 to $325 (for a BIC America speaker set with 6.5" drivers)

Sdallnct

This is my standard "budget" recommendation. These are good sounding speakers so long as it is driven by a decent amp (I know nothing about the receiver you noted).

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...Package/1.html

If you are not familar with KEF they are long time British speaker maker with an excellent reputation for accurate, quality speakers.

ivelostr2

can I add 2 more for 7.1? didn't see them anywhere on that site

Sdallnct

Sure they are occasionally available individually. Or in pairs.

blued888

How are center speakers made differently? Can you explain a bit on this? The things I've noticed that are different with the center/bookshelf I am looking at are the following:

1. The center channel has dual 5 1/4" drivers and a 3/4" tweeter, while the bookshelf has a single 6 1/2" driver and a 3/4" tweeter.

2. The center channel weighs lighter (6.53 lbs) than the bookshelf (11.56 lbs)

3. The bookshelf goes 5Hz lower than the center channel.

I might have to go with The Speaker Company for now. This HT setup is just gonna be entry level.

Another question, is the size factor between the 5 1/4" and 6 1/2" drivers still very much important if I will be using a subwoofer for the setup?

I can go one of the following routes since the price difference is only $20 or less.

Here is a link to the bookshelves/center I am looking at.

http://www.thespeakercompany.com/DRH...uctID=94859900

1) 5 identical speakers using centers for all of them. $250 total.

2) 3 identical speakers for LCR, bookshelves for surrounds. $240 total.

3) 1 center speaker, 4 identical bookshelves. $230 total.

Below is a link to a review by someone regarding the speaker manufacturer I mentioned.
http://www.soundadviceblog.com/?p=838

Sdallnct

Often CC speakers are designed to be placed horizontal rather then vertical like typical speakers. Also CC speakers are often (but not always) shielded so their magnets don't interfere with your display.

I 100% agree. Try to get matching speakers all around.

Meh, I wouldn't worry about "driver size". You can't judge sound quality by driver size.

And no offense, but I'm starting to get tired of folks saying "I just want an entry system". I wish people would understand that audio is just as important as video. If you spent a lot of money and carefully picked your video system, you are doing it a dis-service by not getting a comparable audio set up. The audio draws you into the movie. sporting event, etc as much as the video does. No one is saying you need to spend tens of thousands of dollars. But spending $300 for audio after spending what? $2,000...$3,000 or more on video just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. IMO a quality audio system IMPROVES the video by drawing you in, making it a more realistic "theater experience", having you want to watch your system more, etc, etc.

gimmepilotwings

In my modest setup

805, Polk RTi10's, CSi5, R50 setup, my sound is more important than my video.