Best Surround Speaker System Under $1000 [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

PDA

View Full Version : Best Surround Speaker System Under $1000



avnovice
07-14-2004, 11:19 AM
Any thoughts on surround sound speaker packages? I have narrowed my
search down to the Polk Audio 6700 (w/psw 303 subwoofer) and the
Boston Acoustics 515 systems. The reviews I've read seem to give the
nod to the PA6700. I'm essentially looking for the best surround sound
speaker package for under $1000. Heard from PA that they are discontinuing
the 6700 line and will have a new model out in September. Any thoughts?
Thanks.

remmib
07-14-2004, 11:57 AM
Frys discounting the RM6700+PSW303 for $600...great deal.
You may want to check out the RM7600, it's bigger but
definitely sounds better. It's being discountinued and the price
is rock bottom at frys when it goes on sale. ($499 no sub)

Woochifer
07-14-2004, 01:46 PM
I guess my question to you is why you're in such a hurry to put your entire speaker setup together at once? Typically, these surround speaker packages piece together a group of smaller satellite speakers along with a bass unit. The crossover point for most home theater receivers is about 80 Hz, and most of these satellite speakers are not capable of going that low. Unless your room dictates that you must use very small speakers, you're usually better off looking at some good bookshelf speakers that can play back more of the frequency range. Also, the bass units that comes with these surround packages usually can't stretch too far down into the lower frequencies and make up for these deficiencies by boosting the midbass. A bona fide subwoofer that can play most of the bass range by itself will usually cost you at least $350 (for the Hsu STF-2).

Polk makes some very good bookshelf models. You should give those a listen and compare them to the home theater packages. The nice thing about home theater is that you don't have to buy the whole thing at once. You can start with the bookshelf speakers up front, and then add the center, add the surrounds, and add the sub anytime you want. That allows you to devote more of your initial budget to finding a much better set of mains and then adding on incrementally as funds become available.

For $1,000, I would actually aim towards getting a good pair of mains plus the center. This allows you to consider clearly higher performing options like the B&W 600 series, Paradigm Monitor series, Energy Connoisseur series, Klipsch RF series, etc. If you have enough left over, then you can add the surrounds. For the subwoofer you should save up a little bit more and try to get into the $500-$600 range, where you have a much wider range of viable options. I spent two years piecing together my surround system, and the performance is very much worthwhile. A little patience and a lot of listening will go a long way towards building a much better system down the road, as opposed to something with more compromises all at once.

If you're truly stuck with home theater packages as your only options, I would suggest that you add the Energy Encore series to your list of speaker to audition (and the Paradigm Cinema series, though I've yet to hear those myself). Among the home theater packages in your price range, those are probably the best ones I've heard.

walkman666
07-14-2004, 03:06 PM
I have a Mirage AVS-500 surround system with the LF-100 subwoofer. It's about 2-3 years old, so it may not be the most current Mirage surround offering, but it was under $1000 and it's very good.

- walkman

TinHere
07-14-2004, 03:26 PM
Any thoughts on surround sound speaker packages? I have narrowed my
search down to the Polk Audio 6700 (w/psw 303 subwoofer) and the
Boston Acoustics 515 systems. The reviews I've read seem to give the
nod to the PA6700. I'm essentially looking for the best surround sound
speaker package for under $1000. Heard from PA that they are discontinuing
the 6700 line and will have a new model out in September. Any thoughts?
Thanks.

Check out the Rocket by Onix Extremely Luscious Theater (ELT) at AV123.com. They are an internet direct company with an excellent reputation for products and customer service.

Here's a link to a review.

http://www.hometheatersound.com/equipment/rocket_elt.htm

Enjoy your choice.

stuartlittle
07-14-2004, 09:50 PM
Check out www.orbaudio.com, too. Another internet direct company with a good reputation and excellent prices.

Bryan
07-15-2004, 08:22 AM
The ELT is a package worthy of consideration. For mostly HT purposes, another one would my ceramic nOrh 4.0 package and VMPS Original Subwoofer that are up for sale (more detail at HTF).

Ultimately it depends upon what you want to accomplish and what your future goals are for the system. You can save some money if you buy with the intent of fulfilling that goal.

pwh03
07-15-2004, 11:07 AM
HSU makes a package too. with their sub it would still be under a 1000. They've gotten great reviews especiialy their subs. I have the hsu vtf-2 and I'm happy with the purchase

I think the package is called ventriliquest but I might be wron

http://www.hsuresearch.com/ heres there site there are plenty of reviews on there.

good luck
ph