Home Theater Gurus: best 5.1s speaker set for under $500

 
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gng930
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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 10:00 am    Post subject: Home Theater Gurus: best 5.1s speaker set for under $500

I'm looking to pair them up with an Onkyo SR605, any suggestions? It's mostly for movies/TV with occasional gameplay.
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Tark the Shark
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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 11:08 am    Post subject:

Occasionally, there's a great deal on speakers from some guys driving around parking lots.
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brutella
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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 11:20 am    Post subject:

Tark the Shark wrote:
Occasionally, there's a great deal on speakers from some guys driving around parking lots.


I hope you're kidding, most of those are knock-offs or crappy brands. Go to different Best Buys, once in a while they'll get rid of the older models to bring in the newer stuff. So they'll sell whatever they left at a low price, and if you don't mind buying the display, it would be at an even lower price. I got my Sony DAV-HDX500 for only $130, works great.
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999
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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 1:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Home Theater Gurus: best 5.1s speaker set for under $500

gng930 wrote:
I'm looking to pair them up with an Onkyo SR605, any suggestions? It's mostly for movies/TV with occasional gameplay.



one word my friend

COSTCO



go there and u will find helluva deals
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shnjb
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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 2:46 pm    Post subject:

Go to slickdeals.net
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LakerFan4L
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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 8:19 pm    Post subject:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K7ZWVK/ref=pd_cp_etk_ce_av__1?pf_rd_p=250314601&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0015PBUTO&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=04HFH3BBEHAVYPAHEA0Z

I'd get those without hesitation.. fantastic speakers for the price. Very sleek and stylish, and really great sound.
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DaMuleRules
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PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2008 9:01 pm    Post subject:

Tark the Shark wrote:
Occasionally, there's a great deal on speakers from some guys driving around parking lots.


Yep . . . because nothing truly reproduces dynamic sound like bricks in a box.
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gng930
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PostPosted: Wed May 14, 2008 11:36 pm    Post subject:

LakerFan4L wrote:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K7ZWVK/ref=pd_cp_etk_ce_av__1?pf_rd_p=250314601&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0015PBUTO&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=04HFH3BBEHAVYPAHEA0Z

I'd get those without hesitation.. fantastic speakers for the price. Very sleek and stylish, and really great sound.


Thanks for the suggestion, I really like what I'm reading about these.
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calnbs
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PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:13 am    Post subject:

GnG,

I am new here so take what my .02cents is worth. I spent a very long time looking for my HT speakers. Took over almost 2 years for me to settle into a good set of speaker.

I am assuming that the $500 is not including receiver and is just for speakers?

First thing is you need to avoid those so called "white van" speakers, its exactly what it sounds....someone driving around parking area, telling you their speakers are worth $3K but willing to part it for $500. Those speakers are worth just about $50. They are also sold in Ebay and Craigslist. Avoid these name brand:


* Audiofile
* Acoustic Lab Technology
* Acoustic Monitor
* Acoustic Response (not to be confused with the company Acoustic Research, which involved the famous and respected Henry Kloss, who went on to found KLH and Cambridge Soundworks), Acoustic Image, Acoustic Lab Technology
* Blue Ridge Sound Engineering
* Canyon Audio (not to confused with Canary, these are basically the same as Theater Research)
* Denmark (not to be confused with Denon)
* Dogg Digital, Digital Dogg Audio (reportedly very popular on eBay)
* DCS Digital Audio (Logo looks similar the the DTS logo)
* Dahlton
* Dynalab (not to be confused with Dynamat)
* Divinci
* Divinci Audio

* Elite Audio (another Theater Research brand, less common)* Epiphany
* Grafdale
* Digital Pro Audio, Pro Audio, Digital Audio, Digital Audio Professional Speaker Systems, Digital Audio Skyline Digital Research
* Epiphany Audio
* Kirsch (not to confused with Klipsch)* Omni Audio
* Protecsound
* Pro Dynamics
* Paradyme (not to be confused with Paradigm)
* PCS
* PSD (jokingly referred to as Paid Scam Drivers). Not to be confused with PSB.
* Theater Research (has many other names)* Samaurai
* SDAT(Super Dumb Audio Theme)
* Sinclair Audio
* Streem

* Audio Wood Products
* Advance Engineering Research
* Century Distributors PTY LTD
* Dynalab
* Global Audio Network
* JAM Entertainment/JAM Enterprises, now known as Kelfi Distributors
* Millennium Speakers
* Omni Audio or Omni Audio Products
* Orca Distributors
* Republic Distributors, Inc. (parent of Omni and Dynalab) or Republic Distributors Of Canada or Republic Distribution GmbH
* Sound Illusion Production

Now that these are out of the way. There are two good websites that you can do research on speakers:

www.audioholics.com and www.avsforum.com

Are you looking for satilites, book shelf, or floor standing speakers as you main fronts? Home Theater in a Box are not worth the money. You can get a lot more for your money. Usually, with your budget, most would recommend that you slowly build your system and start with just your two front main speakers. And then build along the way as you more money. If you are heading that direction, the sky is the limit. Most decent system starts around $1,000. Yeah, a lot of money. My budget went from $1k to $3K for just speaker alone after a lot of research. And my speaker are consider lower end. LOL.

Keep an eye on affordable speakers:
Polk: Frys always have them on sale.
BIC Acoustech, BIC Venturi: You can buy at amazon.com but a little over your budget if you buy floorstands.
Elemental Design: buy directly from them http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=2_42
Hsu:http://hsuresearch.com/packages.html

Biggest budget speaker: Will sound better than almost any HTiB.
http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html

For more info, head to those 2 sites.
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2008 11:15 pm    Post subject:

calnbs - Welcome to the site. Great info.
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lakers0505
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PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2008 2:31 pm    Post subject:

calnbs wrote:
GnG,

I am new here so take what my .02cents is worth. I spent a very long time looking for my HT speakers. Took over almost 2 years for me to settle into a good set of speaker.

I am assuming that the $500 is not including receiver and is just for speakers?

First thing is you need to avoid those so called "white van" speakers, its exactly what it sounds....someone driving around parking area, telling you their speakers are worth $3K but willing to part it for $500. Those speakers are worth just about $50. They are also sold in Ebay and Craigslist. Avoid these name brand:


* Audiofile
* Acoustic Lab Technology
* Acoustic Monitor
* Acoustic Response (not to be confused with the company Acoustic Research, which involved the famous and respected Henry Kloss, who went on to found KLH and Cambridge Soundworks), Acoustic Image, Acoustic Lab Technology
* Blue Ridge Sound Engineering
* Canyon Audio (not to confused with Canary, these are basically the same as Theater Research)
* Denmark (not to be confused with Denon)
* Dogg Digital, Digital Dogg Audio (reportedly very popular on eBay)
* DCS Digital Audio (Logo looks similar the the DTS logo)
* Dahlton
* Dynalab (not to be confused with Dynamat)
* Divinci
* Divinci Audio

* Elite Audio (another Theater Research brand, less common)* Epiphany
* Grafdale
* Digital Pro Audio, Pro Audio, Digital Audio, Digital Audio Professional Speaker Systems, Digital Audio Skyline Digital Research
* Epiphany Audio
* Kirsch (not to confused with Klipsch)* Omni Audio
* Protecsound
* Pro Dynamics
* Paradyme (not to be confused with Paradigm)
* PCS
* PSD (jokingly referred to as Paid Scam Drivers). Not to be confused with PSB.
* Theater Research (has many other names)* Samaurai
* SDAT(Super Dumb Audio Theme)
* Sinclair Audio
* Streem

* Audio Wood Products
* Advance Engineering Research
* Century Distributors PTY LTD
* Dynalab
* Global Audio Network
* JAM Entertainment/JAM Enterprises, now known as Kelfi Distributors
* Millennium Speakers
* Omni Audio or Omni Audio Products
* Orca Distributors
* Republic Distributors, Inc. (parent of Omni and Dynalab) or Republic Distributors Of Canada or Republic Distribution GmbH
* Sound Illusion Production

Now that these are out of the way. There are two good websites that you can do research on speakers:

www.audioholics.com and www.avsforum.com

Are you looking for satilites, book shelf, or floor standing speakers as you main fronts? Home Theater in a Box are not worth the money. You can get a lot more for your money. Usually, with your budget, most would recommend that you slowly build your system and start with just your two front main speakers. And then build along the way as you more money. If you are heading that direction, the sky is the limit. Most decent system starts around $1,000. Yeah, a lot of money. My budget went from $1k to $3K for just speaker alone after a lot of research. And my speaker are consider lower end. LOL.

Keep an eye on affordable speakers:
Polk: Frys always have them on sale.
BIC Acoustech, BIC Venturi: You can buy at amazon.com but a little over your budget if you buy floorstands.
Elemental Design: buy directly from them http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=2_42
Hsu:http://hsuresearch.com/packages.html

Biggest budget speaker: Will sound better than almost any HTiB.
http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html

For more info, head to those 2 sites.


I can vouch for Elemental Designs, i bought a 5 speaker setup for them recently and damn are they amazing. Im not at home right now or i could post some pictures of them, but they are good. I havnt been home much recently so i havnt had an extensive listening on them but i put in my Batman Begins HD DVD through my xbox 360 add on and it was stunning. Taking into account that the xbox 360 cant take advantage of Dolby Tru HD audio. When im able to pickup some blu rays and listen to them in full loseless audio ill be able to really comment on this but the speakers are damn good full range speakers. You should check out the avs forum to find out more, the elemental thread their has probably 30 plus pages of postive feedback. I picked up the Song DG720 reciever along with these speakers. I was looking into the Onkoyo 605 but since the PS3 decodes HD audio internally i only needed a reciever that di that did PCM audio. If you have a blu ray player that doesnt decode HD audio internally ide go for the onkyo 605. Like was said above, if you are willing to spend 500 i wouldnt recomended burning it on a HTIB setup. The best bet is to look into build your own system even if you have to do it slowly.
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gng930
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PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2008 4:58 pm    Post subject:

Thanks for the tips guys.

It's not that I only have $500 to spend, it's just that it's ALL I want to spend. Otherwise it's simply a matter of time available to do research over an extended period as I'll be much too busy to really dedicate that amount of effort.. Call me impatient but I'd rather just get the best value right now for the money and enjoy it on the side while I tend the other matters in my life.

Does anybody else have any opinions on the HKTS-18?
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JD
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PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2008 5:13 pm    Post subject:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002WTK4S/ref=pd_cp_e_2?pf_rd_p=250314601&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000K7ZWVK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0R8JVK2ZF48SE78N3YJ3

Polk Audio ftw
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calnbs
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PostPosted: Sun May 18, 2008 8:27 pm    Post subject:

gng930 wrote:
Thanks for the tips guys.

It's not that I only have $500 to spend, it's just that it's ALL I want to spend. Otherwise it's simply a matter of time available to do research over an extended period as I'll be much too busy to really dedicate that amount of effort.. Call me impatient but I'd rather just get the best value right now for the money and enjoy it on the side while I tend the other matters in my life.

Does anybody else have any opinions on the HKTS-18?


If $500 is all you want to spend, thats fine too. If it was my money, I still take the bookshelf speakers from HSU Research and Elemental Design over the HK TS any day. HK is well known for the reciever but I dont think the are well known for their speakers. Just like Onkyo, great receiver company but crappy speakers.

It seems that for the average user, it will get by. It got great reviews from the general public at Amazon. If you can find it locally, I suggest you go there and audition the speakers. Everyone have different taste when it comes to sound. Speakers are NOT created equal or the same so only your ears can tell you if you like it. Good Luck.
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