Can anyone recommend a good place/website where I might be able to acquire some reasonably priced speakers? I just bought a new 7.1 receiver and, even though I have the 5.1 speakers from my older system, I might want to upgrade at some point. Likewise, if you have something specific in mind, please let me know that, as well. I checked Crutchfield, but the prices are just a tad bit too steep for me at the moment. And, quite frankly, I'm not entirely sure what to look for. Video, not audio, has always been my stronger area. Thanks!

What price range are you looking for?
What type of speakers? (floorstanding Bookshelf)

AV123.com will give you a great bang for the buck in just about any budget range you have.

A budget is definitely required for anyone to be able to make recommendations. Also if you have any specifications in mind (size, etc). What will your listening habits be? % music vs. % HT?

Try JandR.com . I bought a pair of JBL E100 floorstanding speakers for a reasonable price.

Also, what speakers are you currently using?

Well, I bit the bullet and bought some Infinity Primus 150s for fronts and surrounds, and a Pioneer for the center channel. Both models had very good ratings, and they go along with the size of my room quite well. Besides, they were on clearance at Circuit Shitty, so I got a great deal. That never hurts. I'm using the same subwoofer, a Sony, which I'll probably replace a little later; it works well for now.

These new ones replaced some Sony micro-satellites that came with a home theater in a box system I got about 5 years ago. They worked pretty damn well for their size, but they were starting to sound a little muffled. A 5-year life is pretty good, though.

Thanks for the recommendations.

You really should get the Primus C25 center. One it is the same series so it is timbre matched. Second, it is actually a very good center speaker. I have it and really like it for the price.

That's a little frightening. I suppose at this level that may be acceptable, if you want to keep replacing stuff. My dad is still using his Wharfedale speakers and they sound great. He bought them used in 1969 or so.

Well considering they are speakers from a hometheater in a box, i think 5 years isn't bad as long as it wasn't a super expensive set in the first place. Once you get quality speakers they should last at least a decade or two unless you do something to them or blow them out.

Actually, the muffling of which I spoke was probably a psychosomatic thing. I think I just wanted newer, bigger, better quality speakers (HTIBs aren't known for being of very high quality, a fact I didn't know 5 years ago), so perhaps I fabricated a reason to justify getting new ones, convincing myself that it was the truth. And again, the clearance price didn't hurt.

Hell, I probably won't keep the new receiver I bought if it doesn't really dazzle me. The one it replaced, the one that came with the HTIB, was a damn good one, albeit a little outdated (no DD EX, DTS-ES, limited to 5.1). But those "low points" might not be too significant. I don't know enough about audio yet to know if they really matter. Either way, I have 25 days to make a decision on the new one, so we'll see what happens.

Muffling is a good description for what I often hear from small speakers like that. Usually means the tweeter is damaged. People like to play stuff loud, and many systems just can't actually do it. I had to get one of my Polk satellites fixed once upon a time for this problem. I had blown it out at a party, I believe. Taught me to be more cautious.

If you upgrade to good, solid speakers they should last a long time, as Kocheese99 said. Even small ones. And likely come with at least a 5 year warranty. The price scares many people off, but I think of it over the whole time period. I picked up my current speakers in the last 4 years and I expect them to last, at a bare minimum, 10 years. More likely double that.

This is absolutely the case - your sound isn't going to match between the fronts and the center speaker. I don't know these speakers, so you may have multiple options, but you definitely want to timbre match all along the front.

In my exerience a quality speaker can handle a lot of power. The issue is what is the quality of that power? I have heard fairly inexpensive speakers sound great at very high volume when hooked up to say Krell amps or something. But you hook these same speakers up to a crappy POS receiver and the minute you turn up the volume, it sounds...crappy. I also think many a speaker get "blown" by the cheap, high distortion, crappy receivers. The same speakers would have never "blown" with a quality amp even if much more powerful.

I totally agree with good speakers lasting a life time. In high school I worked in a very high end audio store. Since I worked there they let me buy stuff at cost. I bought what were at the time, a mid level nice set of KEF speakers. Now some 20+ years later, I would put them up against most any speaker on the market! To this day they sound awesome (with the right amp). In fact, even tho I'm currently not using the speakers, I can't bring myself to part with them. I'm mean I'm convienced that if I ever needed a nice set of speakers, it would be hard to beat these, so I'm hanging on to them.

Definitely true on the amp quality. Although it is certainly possible to blow a cheap speaker with too much good power. Probably doesn't come up much.

Oh I totally agree. There is a limit. However, I think that "limit" changes depending on the quality of the amp.

Ordered the C25 today and will be returning the Pioneer.

You will be happy.

Now I only wish I could decide whether to keep or return the new receiver I got. It's fully digital, and it sounds quite good. I watched Amadeus last night and noticed a lot of "new" audio details that my old receiver "covered" up. I LOVE detailed sound, but it's also something else that went on the credit card, which I'm really trying to get down. Decisions decisions...

Which receiver did you end up with?

Panasonic SA-XR57K. A lot of people on AVS seem to like it, and it has gotten some good reviews, from what I've seen. Additionally, it's one of very few sub-$500 receivers with HDMI connectivity that can handle multi-channel PCM. Plus, it's a fully digital receiver. I know it's nothing spectacular, but for the price, it offers a good deal.