Thread: Speakers On A Budget?

Ok I'm in the early stages of planning a home theater. Probably be months before I actually purchase, but I want to start planning now for later. One thing I know is I'm on a limited budget. $600 for only 2 or 3 speakers is the ballpark to start with. I know not a lot to work with, but if I upgrade later they'll be transferred to another room. For now we'll assume I have a minimum level receiver(mid level Onkyo e.g.) with enough power and the latest functions to keep things on topic.

First off how about some advice to start with. My thinking was to start with a matched L-C-R 3.0 or even just 2.0 ? A good center for dialog is important, a sub doesn't seem as important to me as decent fronts and center to get me by until ending at 5.1 even later down the line. Your thoughts?

And tower vs. bookshelf? I prefer the look of towers, although I know they cost more, but then I'd have to get stands. I could make some DIY stands if needed. Either style suggestions are ok.

Feel free to throw any thoughts out there to steer me down the right path. Thanks for any help you can give me. Love this place!

I'd roll with a mid level Denon or Pioneer personally for a receiver if you are buying another one. If not your all good with the Onkyo.

Here is your Left and Right

Polk Monitor 60's

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-206-_-Product

Center

Polk CS-1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-210-_-Product

Sub

Polk PSW 110

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290036


Matched 3.1 System for just a tad over your 600 bucks. It's personally what I own, and while I would love to upgrade these speakers are fantastic for the money spent and will keep you happy while you can sock some money away over time to move up a big daddy system.

If you move down to Monitor 50's for your left and right you could prob fit some money in for some cheap left and right surrounds.

Originally Posted by Disco Batman

..Matched 3.1 System for just a tad over your 600 bucks. It's personally what I own, and while I would love to upgrade these speakers are fantastic for the money spent and will keep you happy while you can sock some money away over time to move up a big daddy..

Hey thanks for the links. So you're saying I should go 3.1 instead of just focusing on the fronts and center? My line of thinking was that by skipping the sub I could throw more cash at the LCR first. Perhaps the quality of speaker for the few extra dollars spent wouldn't make much difference, and 3.1 would indeed hold me over for a bit.

Originally Posted by StoneD

Hey thanks for the links. So you're saying I should go 3.1 instead of just focusing on the fronts and center? My line of thinking was that by skipping the sub I could throw more cash at the LCR first. Perhaps the quality of speaker for the few extra dollars spent wouldn't make much difference, and 3.1 would indeed hold me over for a bit.

Gotta have the sub bro. You will go crazy without it.

Great. Love having a few options for both routes.

I hadn't heard about the Onkyo / Klipsch pairing thing. That's the kind of stuff I need to learn about.

Originally Posted by Disco Batman

Gotta have the sub bro. You will go crazy without it.

I disagree, Yes ultimately you will NEED a sub, but If you are building it one piece at a time I would start with the front sound stage as this is the most important part of your soon to be 5.1. Now if you plan on spending $600 for the first portion of your build I will say that there is not much that will beat these.
http://www.paradigm.com/products/par...s/atom-monitor
http://www.paradigm.com/products/par...-series/cc-190
This front sound stage can be had for roughly $600 give or take $50. I know you like the idea of towers and so do I, but I traded in my polk towers for these without blinking an eye. When auditioning IMO these blew some $900 towers out of the water. Now the atom's didn't have the mid bass that the towers did, but had far better transparency, imaging, and clarity. If your setup will consist of mainly movies, than the mid bass won't be missed as much as it will with a setup geared heavily towards music. I would also give these a look.
Scroll down and take a look at the Alpha b-1's and the Alpha c-1 center.
https://dmc-electronics.com/Default.htm
Try to remember that size isn't always everything. I must say you are in fact going about this the right way, so many people just want to spend like $600 on the whole get up instead of being patient and building it piece by piece, this is what I have done and am very happy. BTW make sure to spend some real money an a sub, you will need to spend at least $400 to get a REAL sub, I learned this the hard way and found out that spending $150-$200 on a sub was just a waste of time and money. If you end up going with book shelfs shoot me a pm I built some very nice stands. Here are some pics.
http://s1113.photobucket.com/albums/k507/caliberconst/

I also wanted to mention that going used can be a good way to go sometimes, keep you Eye on www.audiogon.com. check these out http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....tor7-Version-5
That price is roughly half of what they would cost new.

Originally Posted by caliberconst.

I also wanted to mention that going used can be a good way to go sometimes, keep you Eye on www.audiogon.com. check these out http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....tor7-Version-5
That price is roughly half of what they would cost new.

HA! I wanted to recommend those, but I just haven't had the pleasure of hearing Paradigm's.

Originally Posted by caliberconst.

I disagree, Yes ultimately you will NEED a sub, but If you are building it one piece at a time I would start with the front sound stage as this is the most important part of your soon to be 5.1. Now if you plan on spending $600 for the first portion of your build I will say that there is not much that will beat these.
http://www.paradigm.com/products/par...s/atom-monitor
http://www.paradigm.com/products/par...-series/cc-190
This front sound stage can be had for roughly $600 give or take $50. I know you like the idea of towers and so do I, but I traded in my polk towers for these without blinking an eye. When auditioning IMO these blew some $900 towers out of the water. Now the atom's didn't have the mid bass that the towers did, but had far better transparency, imaging, and clarity. If your setup will consist of mainly movies, than the mid bass won't be missed as much as it will with a setup geared heavily towards music. I would also give these a look.
Scroll down and take a look at the Alpha b-1's and the Alpha c-1 center.
https://dmc-electronics.com/Default.htm
Try to remember that size isn't always everything. I must say you are in fact going about this the right way, so many people just want to spend like $600 on the whole get up instead of being patient and building it piece by piece, this is what I have done and am very happy. BTW make sure to spend some real money an a sub, you will need to spend at least $400 to get a REAL sub, I learned this the hard way and found out that spending $150-$200 on a sub was just a waste of time and money. If you end up going with book shelfs shoot me a pm I built some very nice stands. Here are some pics.
http://s1113.photobucket.com/albums/k507/caliberconst/

Thanks Caliber. Yeah it'll be mainly movies. I had feeling i could get more bang for the buck with the bookshelves. It's mainly cosmetic reasons for wanting the towers. I'm not totally against the books by any means. I was actually already trying to think of a DIY stand that would make the books look kinda like they were towers to compensate.

Originally Posted by caliberconst.

I also wanted to mention that going used can be a good way to go sometimes, keep you Eye on www.audiogon.com. check these out http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....tor7-Version-5
That price is roughly half of what they would cost new.

Yep. Coming from wheeling and dealing musical instruments for the last decade, i'm all about finding deals on the used market. I usually only buy new if i have to.

Thanks everyone. I've got some local dealers that should carry a few of these suggestions, so I've got some listening to do.