I just purchased the HK-430 and am now looking for some nice speakers to hook up to it. I'll probably purchase them over time (left, right and center first, followed by 2 rears and perhaps a sub, then 2 sides for 7.1 eventually).

I've listened to some Polk Audio's at Tweeter/Sound Advice and Circuit City and have been pretty happy with the quality they put out (at least to my ears).

Is there anything I should be listening for/paying particular attention to when buying speakers? Also, what other speakers should I check out? I don't really want to spend more than $900-$1000 for both the front L/R speakers, so keeping them within that price range would be ideal.

which polks? i have the r50's and they're not that good but, as long as i don't listen to anything better, they suffice.

R50's left/right
R15's rear
CSi30

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a $1000 buys a lot of speakers! tons of choices. definitely checkout AVSForum for more speaker recommendations.

if you're bold, you could try the magneplanar eletrostatic speakers:
http://www.magnepan.com/

I was checking out the RTi10's at Sound Advice. They had the pair for $960 and sounded very nice. Those magnepan's look pretty good too. I think I'll probably stick with the more traditional feel though

Check out the usual suspects,

KEF
Celestion
B&W
Magnapan's
Boston Accoustic

Don't be afraid to check out some internet-direct retailers either.

Rocket by Onix

Axiom Loudspeakers

Ascend Acoustics

I guess I'll keep an eye on this thread

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=206349

for those internet-direct retailers and see how they turn out also

The people on Home Theater Forum are much more civil when it comes to discussing speakers than their counterparts on AVS Forum are.

Another usual suspect -- NHT. The SuperOnes are great for both music & HT with a subwoofer. They have great, clean imaging. You could get 2 SuperOnes, a SuperCenter and a killer sub for within your budget. Add SuperZeros or SuperOnes for the rears/sides (the XU models come with brackets) and you're golden.

OneCall has great deals on the NHTs, generally.

Thanks for all of the helpful hints, but I ended up going with the Polk Audio RTi10's and CSi3 center. I was pretty happy with the audio I heard in store and Crutchfield has a good deal going on for Polk Audio speakers, so hopefully they'll last me a while.

Had Polk and was not too happy with them. Klipsch speakers are the way to go. Crisp, tight sound.

I have been very satisfied with my Paradigm speakers and you get good bang for your buck.

Anthony Gallo Micros are very good sound with a high SAF