What 5.1 speakers and receiver to buy for $1300

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One of my parents friends is about to get a Bose setup for $2700. This one... http://www.bose.com/controller?url=...ems/component_systems/lifestyle_v30/index.jsp

I told him that it was possible to get a better setup for about half the money and still sound better. I'm not completely up to date as to what's hot right now in the HT world for this budget so I'd appreciate some help on this one! :D

Room is about 40' x 30' and 2 stories high. (It's the family/great room) There is a 52" Sony XBR LCD TV at the center of one of the walls. The house is pre-wired for sats on the walls.

They'd prefer the rears be easily mountable sats/bookshelf speakers and they dont care if the fronts are towers or sats.

The system will be used for 75% music and 25% movies. Their only source is a DVD player for now which they would like to use for CD playback as well. They plan to go to Blu-Ray soon though.

Any advice is appreciated! :)
 
Check out the speaker company for some good speakers. Make sure you get them some good speakers, but the biggest thing here actually is going to be the receiver you pick for them, so plan to spend the most on that because it sounds like they want something easy-to-use that sounds nice. I know some of the higher end Onkyo/Yamaha etc... systems will actually display settings on-screen. Plan on spending $500-700 for the receiver, $250-400 on the sub, and $100 per speaker.

Make sure it has all the Dolby HD/Master decoders, good auto-room correction, and sound enhancement for compressed music (mp3). The fact that they're only looking for a 5.1 system instead of 7.1 means you may be able to get a better receiver for cheaper, but I'd defer to others here for specific receivers to look at in this price range.

The really important things to keep in mind: DO NOT skimp on the receiver as that provides their primary interface to the speakers and should be doing most of the grunt work for them. Also, make sure you get them a good sub, as a poor quality one will pretty much ruin a HT setup. I would recommend you get 3 matching speakers for the L/R/C to ensure a smooth cross between them. In that regard Sats may be better because it'll be easier to stand the center up that way, although you could get a floorstander and put it behind the TV (if there's space). You may also consider looking at dual-subs, either for opposite ends of the room or have one deep-bass and one mid-bass. This is another place where quality of receiver and ability for multiple crossover becomes important.
 
You can get a lot of speaker on the used market for that amount of money.

I really like Usher's S 520. There are tons of favorable reviews on the net.

Check out audiogon. You'll find something above and beyond in that price range. You'll find those Ushers there too.

http://www.audiogon.com/index.html
 
Wow that sounds like a lot of money ...but then I guess as it is Bose, value is not their focus.

Audiogon always surprises me with their low prices on used equipment (sometimes barely used).

If new, you can go for a complete setup from a place like Ascend. You can go to their system configuration page. A nice 5.1 setup consisting of Sierra 1's for front, CMT 340 C for center and CBM 170 for rear surrounds can be had for $1400.00. This leaves about $1300 for sub and receiver. Even a $300 sub would blow away a Blose sub IMO. Something like a SVS sub or Outlaw sub or a pair of those Energy refurb subs that are on sale for like $250 each. So say we reserve $600 for a sub. This still would leave $700 for a decent receiver.

Since it is a very big room, if they would like to spend more on the sub, the Sierra 1s can be switched to CMT 340s as this will give more output and be less cost ($1200 for setup minus sub leaving $1500 for sub and receiver).

Just one possibility.
 
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There's always the used market, as others have suggested. If used isn't of interest, I'd suggest a Yamaha HTR receiver and JBL ES series speakers. I find that they combo works well and doesn'' break the bank. That's what I've got (well actually the older E series speakers) out in my living room. I'd recommend getting a receiver with YAPO since the auto configuration is real nice.

Shouldn't be hard to hit the target price range with that gear.
 
Well here's the issue. Its $1300 for receiver AND all the speakers. Also, they don't want used gear. So at this point I'm thinking $400 for a receiver, $300 for a subwoofer, and 250 for a center and 250 for 4 sats. Am I out of my mind?
 
Ah sorry for the misunderstanding.

Ok how about this for speaker set.

Energy sub for $250.
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=2ENS10.3

or Hsu STF - 1 for $300 (you probably can talk to sales for a slight deal

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/stf-1.html

I would choose the Energy since the room is so large and the STF 1 will probably be easily overwhelmed. The Energy probably will go lower and play harder with the larger driver. Also its cheaper.

For fronts

Behringer Truth B2030P (often described as diamond in the rough due to its price and sound quality) $150

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-TRUTH-B2030P-Passive-Monitor-Pair-600602-i1152844.gc

For rears

Edit: Whoops sorry, the Infinity was $99 each which is too expensive.
So then how about the Energy C100s for $110
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/details/542789938/energy-c100
(in fact you can put the Energy for all 4 speakers instead of the Behringers to save $50 and keep the components less scattered)

For center a bit more expensive at $300. Ascend Audio CMT 340 SEC.
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340c/cmt340c.html

This should help give more powerful sound in the fronts since the Behringers are kind of small.

With the receiver at $400, that would be about $1350 ($1300 if you chooe Energy for both fronts and backs). Its a bit of a Frankenstein build but I think it would sound decent. Not the prettiest setup of course but at $1350 new, you can only ask for so much.
 
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It's usually better if you matched the Center and L/R speakers together. I'd try and piece together a system using the same brand LCR speakers.
 
I think you can do that just fine with the Yamaha JBL combo. I'd go for a Yamaha HTR-6250 receiver, which is about $330 from Amazon.com.

For the speakers it kinda depends on how much you want to spend on the sub.

A minimal set would go like this:

1x JBL ES25C: $150
4x JBL ES10: $320

That would leave $500 for the sub and you could look at a nice one from SVS or HSU or something.

A larger set would go like this:

1x JBL ES25C: $150
4x JBL ES30: $500

That would leave you $300 or so for the sub, which would get you the JBL ES250P which is the sub that goes with that line of speakers.

Of course you can always mess with it further. For example you could get ES10s for the rear and L830s (their next line up) for the front or something.
 
Any of the past two suggestions would sound better than the Bose. That's what we're trying to accomplish right?
 
Are you trying to fill the whole 30'x40' room or just a smaller listening area?
If you want the whole room to be filled properly you'll need more than $1300, but if you just want to do a smaller seating area you should be fine. Filling that much volume (properly) will take much more power than a smaller space (21k cubic feet vs 9k ft^3 if your rear speakers are say 15' from the fronts in this room).

Also, don't forget to budget for speaker cables and such for the fronts if the house isn't wired for them, and if you do'nt mount the sats where the wires are you'll need new wires for them too.
 
Sophi said:
Energy - Home Theater Package with Veloyne Subwoofer system for $975 including Kimber Kable speaker cable (a fine brand).
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ENKC300VE
And use the balance for a Denon AVR.
Click to expand...

+1 vote

I'd go with Energy speakers and pick up a Denon AVR receiver.
My home theater has been using the Denon AVR 3801 and Energy's Veritas v2.2i (4x) & v2.0Ci with a Klipsch sub for close to 10 years now and it has always given superb results.

But you could pretty much go with anything and it'll sound better than Bose. Just be sure to match the speakers and get a good receiver that's user friendly.
 
You could go to your local Best Buy or newegg which ever you prefer and pick up a Polk audio and Klipsch sub Pioneer receiver combo for close to $1300.

Pioneer VSX-819H $299.99(I own this receiver and love it absolutely awesome sound)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...Id=abcat0202003&type=product&id=1218065494188
or
Onkyo TX-SR607 $494.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882120134

Polk Tsi100 bookshelf $203.99 at Best Buy $129.99 at Newegg.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...Id=abcat0205001&type=product&id=1207352527254

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290095

Polk CS10 center channel $179.99 at Best Buy and $109.99 at Newegg
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...Id=abcat0205002&type=product&id=1207352529064
(They carry the black one just not in stock)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290106

Klipsch SUB-10 $399.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...Id=abcat0205008&type=product&id=1099395911231
or
Polk PSW505B $279.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290130

Best Buy
Sub total $1,287.93 + Tax

Newegg
Total $1,140.99
 
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UPDATE: I told them about in-wall speakers and now they are going that route. :eek:

Thanks for all the ideas everyone.

EDIT: Are speakercraft in wall speakers any good?
 
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OK, rule number one for getting the best bang from a new audio setup...DO NOT spend more on your receiver than on your speakers. You can see the recommendation of usually spending twice or even three times more on the speakers than on the receiver.
Been there many times and unless you get a Walmart receiver or need huge power due to a big room, the order of best bang for your bucks is
Speakers first, Room Acoustic treatment second and Electronics third.
I like the ELT package from AV123 for $799 or you can get the bookshelves which I just got an email offer for the ELT bookshelves $175 shipped per pair. For a sub there was a BIC H100 I believe that used to be very popular and inexpensive.
For a receiver I like Harman Kardon as they are very honest with their power ratings and some times their receivers actually deliver more power than advertised...a rare thing indeed.
In any case, I would recommend spending as much on the speakers as you can...you will be glad you did.
Regards
 
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