csvencer

I am looking at buying a surround sound receiver and a set of front speakers. I am going to add on to make it a complete surround setup later on. My question is should I go with two nicer front towers with a full range of frequencies or go with two cheaper speakers and a powered sub? Thanks for the help.
Svence

Brian Shannon

I am not sure I would use the word cheap.

At the $500 price point any floorstanding speaker you get will still benefit from having a subwoofer.

I would not overlook high quality bookshelf speakers such as B&W or PSB.

Trust your ears and listen to a wide variety and take your time!

Good luck!

Jin E

You can get some pretty nice speakers in the $500 range... there is a lot of competition at this price point. I, myself have been looking for a set of floor standers in the $500 range... and here is my short list of speeakers I can remember off the top of my head:

Acoustic Research S50 ($398 + S&H)
Acoustic Research AR-11 ($380 + S&H)
Axion Audio Millennia M40ti ($465 shipped)
Home Theater Direct Level3 towers ($439 + S&H)
PSB Image 4T ($429 + S&H)
Phase Tech Teatro 7.5vdt ($407 shipped)

I really wanted the Phase Tech teatro's... but unless I got them in rosewood (The $407 shipped price from onecall) they were out of my price range. The rosewood clashed HORRIBLY with my souther pine hardwood floors. There are so many good speaker in this price range it really is hard to decide. I suggest trying them out and buy the one that sounds the best to you. Take source material you are VERY familiar with... and demo away. I ended up with the Acoustic Research S50's.

I wanted towers because I mainly listen to two channel music... but my bookshelf system does a hell of a job with two channel stuff. Don't discount a great set of bookshelvers... there are some awsome ones in this price range too (B&W 602ss's at the top of that list!).

If you get a chance to listen to Phase Tech I suggest you do... they have a WONDERFUL mellow sound... warm and inviting. I could listen to that soft dome tweeter of their's all day without fatigue.

csvencer

Thank you very much for all the info you guys have given me. I still have two more questions if you don't mind. First, Jin where did you find those AR and Phase Tech speakers for that price? And second, if I do decide to go with two single towers instead of smaller speakers with a sub, will I still get a good sound when a deep bass note hits, or will I lose some of it for a much better midrange sound? Once again thanks for the help.
Svence

Brian Shannon

IMHO you will not be able to find a floor standing speaker within your budget that can reproduce lfe type frequencies.

Jin E

Phase Techs: http://www.onecall.com
AR's: http://www.ac4l.com