Newbie speaker choices

Hello all,

I'm a newbie to the a/v world, but been wanting to start building up a home theatre system. I was planning to start out buying a pair of bookshelf speakers and placing them in the rear when I move later this summer and getting better speakers for the front. I was hoping to stay under $500 for the pair. Any suggestions? I was looking at some Polk speakers- LSi7-sounds like I can get under $500 online or one of those in the RTi line? Any suggestions would be helpful since I'm not familiar with most of the brands. By the way, I would like to eventually set up a surround sound system, but would also use to listen to music-mostly jazz,blues,hip-hop. thanks in advance.

Speakers are the most subjective part of the entire audio chain. My advice is to grab some of your favorite well recorded cd's and visit as many dealers as you can. Real audio stores are far better than B&M stores like Circuit City, Best Buy, Tweeter, et.al., and manytimes will let you borrow the speakers to hear them in your home with your equipment. This is key because your room will have a dramatic effect on how good a speaker sounds. Also, space limitations could rule out some very good bi-bolar speaker that simply require space to operate correctly. Buy what sounds best to you and don't worry about other people's opinions. It's your money.

Brands that I'd consider in your price range would be Paradigm, B&W, Epos, Polk, Wharfedale, Magnepan, Focal, Definitive Technology, Energy, and Monitor Audio. There are others of course, so audition as much as you can until one pushes the right buttons. You'll know it when you hear it so take your time and enjoy the journey.

Hope this helps.

I'd look into some of the Definitive Technology Floor Standing units, they have fairly good bass extension (My BP10Bs don't really need a sub until around 30hz .. in my house at least) and I think they have 2 models that you should be able to get in that price range. I listen to a wide range of music on my system and have been happy with the results. If you audition the DefTech speakers though make sure that the place has the speakers set to LARGE (and that you have room.. they need about 10 inches or so of room behind them but they don't take up that much floor space). I've noticed that most retailers just have the speakers set to whatever and don't really pay much mind to it. Try to get around 20% off if you go that route.

I would also give the Axiom M22s a listen, if you can find someone in your area willing to audition theirs. Go to the Axiom message boards and find the thread "Auditioning Axioms in your area" under the "Question Comments" section.

The Cambridge Soundworks Newton Series might be worth checking out. The Newton M80's might be a good option (499.99), although they are pretty big for bookshelf speakers. If size is a concern, the M60's (399.99) could be an option as well. They are much smaller than the m80's.

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Originally Posted by Mark111867

The Cambridge Soundworks Newton Series might be worth checking out. The Newton M80's might be a good option (499.99), although they are pretty big for bookshelf speakers. If size is a concern, the M60's (399.99) could be an option as well. They are much smaller than the m80's.

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The MC500 I use for a center is an outstanding speaker for it's size. You could pick them up under your budget if you buy them from CSW on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...759436924&rd=1

Or even a pair of M80's

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...759436959&rd=1
.
I bought my IW300's & S300's off of Ebay this way. Full 10 year warrentee applies too