adamstorch

I am a total newbie to the home stereo market, and counted on your advice and bought myself a Onkyo 595 to start my home stereo out strong. Now i need speakers.

I want high a high quality brand, but not too expensive. I would like either a nice size pair of front tower speakers or a nice sized pair of bookshelf speakers for the front. I know i should get a nice center speaker too, and i'd like to get decent back speakers for surrround action. I'm looking to spend something like $300 if possible, but keep in mind that I just bought a nice receiever and I'd like the speakers to use its high power and quality. If I get a pair of tower speakers with subs in them, do i need an additonal sub?

Can you guys throw out some suggesstions, i usually find all of your help very informative.

Neush

You're not really going to be able to get good speakers for $300. If that's really all you can budget then I'd look into getting realistic speakers from radio shack or perhaps one of those all in one surround packages. The geewhiz effect of a surround speaker set will still be there at this level but the audio quality will suffer tremendously, they won't image well, they'll sound tinny or muddy, etc. I set out to spend $700 on my speakers and ended up coming to the conclusion that $1000 is really the cheapest you can get away with spending that produces an accurate soundstage, good imaging and high quality. You don't need to spend $15,000 per on tannoy quality speakers but I think $300 for the whole shebang is a little extreme also. If you can come up with the money I personally think that Polk is the way to go. Get 4 RT25's for your front/rear left and rights, a CT175 for your center and a $200 sub and you'll have truly mind blowing sound for ~$900. Always looking to save money myself you might also consider used equipment. If you get it from a reputable dealer (Crutchfield still sells this instore I believe) then you can usually shave a couple hundred bucks off your expense and still get the same quality. Hope this all helps, and let us know what you end up getting.

palebluedot

I agree...$700 is about the going rate for a decent surround/sub package. I would go with something like the Energy Take 5.2(under $600) and a sub like the Sony SAWM40(under $200).

adamstorch

I just spoke to Brian from Home Theater Direct and I'm thinking about getting the Home Theater Direct Level Two 5.1.

Link to level two system

I know its a little more than budget, but does anyone else have any other ideas on other systems that offer better value?

Thanks for all of your help guys!

palebluedot

Nerver heard them but that's a good price for a 5.1 system. It may be perfect for what you want. I would take a guess to say that it's not going to be very good for music but fine for movies.

As far as buying speakers are concerned the most important thing is to buy what sounds good to you and if you are going to be ordering them on-line(or buying from a B&M for that matter) make sure they have a good return policy. You don't want to be stuck with something you don't like.

wiz

Well if you want good sound...

PSB Alpha A/V - $169 http://www.soundcity.com/bin/product...roduct_id=1122

One set for front, one for back, or you could get some cheaper back speakers if you wanted to.

PSB Alpha Center - $129 http://www.soundcity.com/bin/product.php?product_id=418

And grab a cheap sup (under $100) from http://www.ubid.com/

You'll have a great sounding system then for a little over the price you wanted to pay.

skar

I second the PSB speakers.

Remember that you can start by buying just the front speakers or fronts + center and then upgrade when you have the money. Great speakers will last for decades if you take care of them. High quality speakers DO NOT get outdated. My bookshelf speakers have been produced since the 1970's and still sound wonderful compared to high end modern bookshelf speakers.

A nice receiver like the Onkyo 595 deserves a great set of speakers. I usually recommend spending about twice the cost of your receiver on a 5.1 set of speakers. Since you can't spend that much right now, I would buy as many quality speakers as you can afford. The PSB Alpha series are an incredible deal right now. If you try to go much cheaper I think you will be worse off in the long run.

Beeeil

HTD speakers generally receive high praises for their sound quality as well as low prices. I recall there were some discussion on AVSForum a few weeks back on them.

Congrads on your Onkyo 595 purchase - it's a great receiver.

Beeeil

nekobus

Another vote for PSB. You would not be cheating your new 595 by using them. They sound great with an Onkyo. Here's a couple of reviews to get you started:

http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?241
http://www.psbspeakers.com/ReviewsAlpha.html