Kerborus

You guys really sent me in the right direction last time for my HD projector. I'm hoping you can assist with this one too:

I already have a SONY STR-DH800 reciever in house. The speakers attached to it are literally 20 years old and one is blown but it has been getting me by.

I would like to have a 7.1 speaker system but I have a very limited budget ($300 or under) and I want the speakers to be small cubes that I can mount on the wall to keep away from the kids who currently like to stack things on top of the existing speakers.

I came across a Panasonic SC-BT200 Home Theatre Package on clearance at Best Buy for $275.00. One of the issues is that it has a Blu/ray/Reciever combo inside of it. Since I already have a blu-ray player and a clearly better reciever, I'm wondering if I can hook the speakers to the current reciever and maybe use the Blu-ray reciever elsewhere. Another thought was just using the Blu/ray players as a blu-ray player and hooking it to the existing reciever.

My main concern is whether or not the speakers are any good or good enough at least to not be blown up when they attach to the current reciever. I really have no clue about watts or audio quality and I don't need the absolute best speaker system to start off with but I also don't want to spend $300 if the speakers will blow when turned up to 50. Help?

Current Reciever:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665793060

Potential Speaker/Reciever Package:
http://reviews.cnet.com/home-theater...-33662246.html

JimRochester

With your budget you don't have a lot of options. Any HTIB speakers are going to be limited but should get you by. I had a SONY HTIB and the speakers weren't all that bad. Regardless of the reciever I wouldn't crank them too much

pmreed

Yes, you can use the speakers in the Panny package with your current receiver. Could you blow them up? Quite possibly. The amp in the TIB has specs that quote 125 Watts per channel, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Take a look at these. My first 5.1 system included 5 of these and an unpowered subwoofer. Sounded very good, and these little guys can play pretty loud. Just a note; you absolutely will want a sub of some kind.
Poke around Cambridge's site, they've got a 5.1 system with a sub for $300

Kerborus

Thanks guys. I picked them up today and they are installed. So far, they sound great! Even got the spare blu-ray out of it for my bedroom.