What are the popular "budget" speakers for HT here?

[glen]

PSB Alphas?
SVS?

I am VERY pleased with my budget sub, recomended here:BIC America F12. Ironnicall, the rest of my speakers are froma compnay well known for their subs, SVS.

 

[Drako]

I have some Polk TSi series, which seem to be popular 😀

 

[alkemyst]

Budget is the 'variable', for some budget is $50 a channel and others $1500+.

 

[Anubis]

you need to define your budget like alky said

 

[glen]

Well, SVS has a 5.1 system for $1,200.
I suppose $800 to $1200,

 

[gar655]

Ascend Acoustics are some of the best you can get for the money.

 

[SithSolo1]

Well the 5.1 SVS system is pretty good for the price but note most of the money is for the subwoofer. Its a good sub though the PB12-NSD would be worth the extra $140 imo if bought separately with the standalone 5.0 set.


Just the 5.0 speakers from SVS are $570 shipped.

You could get 5.0 from HSU for ~$1000 shipped. HB-1 MK2 x4 with the HC-1 MK2 center.

Ascend Acoustics 5.0 would be around $980 shipped. CMB-170s front and rear with a CMT-340 center.

Aperion Audio would be roughly $1090 shipped for 5.0 Intimus B5s front and rear with the Intimus 5C center.

Vanns.com sells Energy's RC line for decent prices. RC-10s front and rear with the RCLCR center would $850 shipped.

With most of those you could add a 2nd F12 and still be in budget. It might not dig as deep but spl should be up there and with two you can smooth out the response across the entire room.

 

[glen]

I hear a lot about 2 subs.
At least in theory, that will cause problem with destructive interference.
http://www.nousaine.com/nousaine_tech_articles.html

 

[Howard]

I hear a lot about 2 subs.
At least in theory, that will cause problem with destructive interference.
http://www.nousaine.com/nousaine_tech_articles.html

No it won't. The wavelengths are so long the distance between the subs would have to be crazy in order to get cancellation.

EDIT: The more subs you have, the better. http://mehlau.net/audio/multisub_geddes/

 

[glen]

9.5 feet apart and you are killing 60hz

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[glen]

http://www.nousaine.com/pdfs/2 subs in Corner Beat 5 in the Round.pdf


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[Howard]

http://www.nousaine.com/pdfs/2 subs in Corner Beat 5 in the Round.pdf


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You should probably post when you're on your desktop because I know you can't read the whole thing.

"Changing from two subwoofers to three improved performance"

Also, he doesn't say anything at all about cancellation, and in fact the negative effects of having multiple subs in his testing was that sometimes the room modes would stack and make irregularities worse.

Third, he did not tune the multi-position-sub setup properly. He only adjusted level and polarity (not even phase!) for the stacked subs in ONE corner.

I still stand by the view that multiple subs, numbering at least 3, tuned properly, give the smoothest response in whatever area is tuned.

 

[Howard]

9.5 feet apart and you are killing 60hz

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Yes, but it's not the distance apart that means anything. The subs could be located 1 mile ahead and 1 mile behind you, and they would be in phase when the sound finally hits your ears. It's the difference in distance to listening position that counts.

Harman also found benefits in having multiple subs in a room. http://www.harman.com/EN-US/OurCompany/Technologyleadership/Documents/White Papers/multsubs.pdf

Two and four subwoofers at the wall midpoints are still the best configurations overall.

And again, http://mehlau.net/audio/multisub_geddes/

 

[alkemyst]

I hear a lot about 2 subs.
At least in theory, that will cause problem with destructive interference.
http://www.nousaine.com/nousaine_tech_articles.html

Two subs can work, the problem is many don't have the interior volume to begin with and go into sub overkill.

Plus spending the money of two subs on one good one is much better, but many pay as they go.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

I've been running a 4.2 Klipsch Promedia setup (2x 2.1s) for the last 7 years. No problems with destructive interference.

 

[sdifox]

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/get-good-bass/multiple-subwoofer-setup-calibration-1

I am on dual 15"

 

[kornphlake]

For the smallest budget I hear good things about the pioneer speakers sold at Best Buy. There's been more chatter about the bookshelf speakers than the towers, but they all seem to be good for their price.

 

[Exterous]

I suppose $800 to $1200

Floorstanding ok or bookshelf only? Depending on availability in your area you might be able to get a B stock PSB T5, B4, C40 setup for ~$1300. A bit above your price range but I am a big fan of their speakers. There are still some older T55s floating out there for even less.

Polk speakers are generally popular and seem to be on sale at newegg a lot if you wanted to keep thebudet in the $400-600 range

 

[uhohs]

if you have a fry's nearby, they have the infinity p363 on sale, $199 for a pair.

 

[SithSolo1]

if you have a fry's nearby, they have the infinity p363 on sale, $199 for a pair.

Slick deals link for you http://slickdeals.net/f/4639236-Frys-B-M-Infinity-P363-199-98-a-pair

Crutchfield has the Infinity PC350 center on sale for $149 http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108PC350BG/Infinity-PC350-Black-grille.html?tp=189 Acoustically its identical to the PC351, the matching center for the p363, but it has a silver face plate instead of black. The color is the only difference, if you leave the grilles on I doubt you'll notice the difference.

 

[Aikouka]

Polk speakers are generally popular and seem to be on sale at newegg a lot if you wanted to keep thebudet in the $400-600 range

This is what I use. Monitor 70s in front, 50s (same as 40s but floor standing) in back. I think my center is the CS20.

Newegg had a sale a week or two ago on some ridiculously fancy Polk speakers... I think the RTi A9s? They were only ~$400 down from the usual $900 price tag.

Actually, I just took a look, and it seems that Polk speakers are on sale at Newegg until 5/31. They probably aren't the best out of what's been mentioned here, but they're not too shabby.

 

[ultimatebob]

I like my EPOS ELS series speakers, but they aren't "popular" by any means. I got my set for around $800, which seems like a really good deal now.

 

[tyanni]

I have 2 x PSB Image T45s in the front, a C25, and 2 x B15s in the rear. Ran about 1100 including shipping, but they were close-outs at the time.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Throwing in my two cents-worth . . . many good observations in this discussion already . . . I started a thread which is still pretty current about integrating my HTPC and a standalone HT system.

After doing my casual window-shopping, I see that audio components are initially showcased at an MSRP and then marked down considerably. For instance, I picked a JBL Cinema 500 system that is still priced at the Egg for ~$800. Of course, I don't want to spend $800 for speakers, but I don't want to short myself in having to live with these components for a long, long time.

Turns out . . . . several resellers from J&R to Amazon/World-Wide-Stereo and others were offering this at a mark-down to between $323 and $350.

It just seems to me that showroom sales of audio components can vary widely, and resellers attempt to reap profits until the items become "last year's."

You can try and glean a sense of things from the reviews, but again -- much can be in the ear of the beholder. There's room for a lot of .. . . subjectivity. It's not like basic system components for a computer, in which you can get an idea of things like "over-clockability" and extra features. In those cases, there's not a lot of wiggle-room for price variability.

Sound systems -- receivers, speakers, other components -- that's different . . .