Need advice for a speaker system

[opera]

Hi all,
I'm a newbie here. I've been looking around for a speaker system, so looking for suggestions...
First of, budget! I'm trying to stay around $500, but willing to spend little more if I have to.
I've been looking at the Onkyo HT-S5200 and HT-S6200, but still struggling. The two main reasons that make me still thinking: 1) those speakers are big, I can't hang them on the wall. 2) Never had Onkyo before.
At some point, I was thinking of spending more to go with Bose Acoustimass, but seen many negative reviews about Bose.
This system is for a rectangular living room, so I prefer 7.1.

What you guys think about those two Onkyo sets or any better suggestions. Thanks

[JoeE SP9]

Hi all,
I'm a newbie here. I've been looking around for a speaker system, so looking for suggestions...
First of, budget! I'm trying to stay around $500, but willing to spend little more if I have to.
I've been looking at the Onkyo HT-S5200 and HT-S6200, but still struggling. The two main reasons that make me still thinking: 1) those speakers are big, I can't hang them on the wall. 2) Never had Onkyo before.
At some point, I was thinking of spending more to go with Bose Acoustimass, but seen many negative reviews about Bose.
This system is for a rectangular living room, so I prefer 7.1.

What you guys think about those two Onkyo sets or any better suggestions. Thanks

First off, welcome to AR. In order to give advice "we" need more information.
What receiver will you be using?
What is the primary use of the speakers to be?
If for music, what kind and how loud?
Must they hang on the wall? Most wall hanging speakers suck big time.
How large is the room and how is it furnished.
Onkyo while making fairly decent gear has never been known for making good speakers. Frankly, almost no Japanese manufacturer's have ever made decent speakers.
It's a good idea to stay away from "Blose" if sound quality is an issue. If you must have "invisible" speakers then sound is secondary and Bose will probably suffice.

This site and most of the posters here are mostly concerned with "good" sound. Little tiny cubes and shoebox sized woofers simply can't produce the kind of sound most posters here want.

I'm sure others will respond to your post. They may not be quite as blunt as I've been.

Is your budget for a full 7.1 speaker system? Eight decent speakers for ~$500 is asking a lot.

[02audionoob]

I'd rather have two speakers that cost $500 than eight, any day of the week.

[opera]

Thanks for the quick responses. I fully understand the price range of a "decent" (as you prefer) system is no way close to that budget... but again, as I'm not quite into audio stuffs and not looking for a set that produces spectacular sound quality. I just need a decent system on occasional basis. The living room is about 15x25 and I'm busy enough to enjoy the movie/music just once in a while... Just want to get something decent there, but still, I don't want to waste $500 for junks. so, I guess, to rephrase, as an audio dummy, with the budget of +-$500, what else out there can I think of.

[02audionoob]

Used equipment will usually get you more bang for your buck. Maybe you could find something on Cragislist. In new equipment that hangs on the wall, maybe an Axiom (link) setup, but of course not in the $500 budget.

[blackraven]

I would buy and Energy Take 5.1 system and a pair or rear speakers.
Personally, I would do a 5.1 system instead of a 7.1 for your budget. You wont be misssing much.

http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en...-5-1-overview/

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=ene...take&_osacat=0

http://shop.ebay.com/items/energy%20...&tt_encode=raw

[nightflier]

If you could stretch your budget to $750-ish (less if bought second-hand), then as on-wall systems go, a Magnepan MMG-W & MMGC setup would get you considerably more satisfaction than any box speaker + brackets. The only caveat is that you'll need a decent receiver or amp to drive them.

[blackraven]

Here's another buy for the Energy Take 5.0 system. Its a very good deal. All you would need to do would be to add a subwoofer for about $150-200.

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Take-Cl...p_ob_e_title_1

And here's a pair of Energy speakers that you could use to make it a 7.1 system.

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-C-100-B...xp_grid_pt_2_0

Here's a few sub woofers

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-KSW-10...363374&sr=1-26

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo...umber=ADPROSUP

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo...umber=ADPROEVI

[LeRoy]

Hi all,
I'm a newbie here. I've been looking around for a speaker system, so looking for suggestions...
First of, budget! I'm trying to stay around $500, but willing to spend little more if I have to.
I've been looking at the Onkyo HT-S5200 and HT-S6200, but still struggling. The two main reasons that make me still thinking: 1) those speakers are big, I can't hang them on the wall. 2) Never had Onkyo before.
At some point, I was thinking of spending more to go with Bose Acoustimass, but seen many negative reviews about Bose.
This system is for a rectangular living room, so I prefer 7.1.

What you guys think about those two Onkyo sets or any better suggestions. Thanks

I did a quick search for 7.1 HT speaker systems and all I could find were the Onkyo speaker systems. Of course you probably already know there are plenty of 5.1 systems in the price range you are looking to stay close to.

You simply may want to browse the sites already given to you by the other forum members and just let me add a couple of more sites to the list.

http://www.vanns.com/shop

http://www.accessories4less.com/index.php

http://www.onecall.com/

[opera]

Thank you all for the good information. Special thanks to blackraven with all those extra details.

[dpowell]

Definitely a good idea to browse Craigslist. craiglook.org is a great way to search multiple cities for gear. You'll do quite well if you are patient.