I'm looking for a simple 5.1 setup on a budget. I MIGHT have a sub that I can use, so lets just stick with getting the speakers. I have roughly $200. Obviously I'm not expecting anything amazing. The room will be fairly small (16x11) so I don't need extreme power. They will be hooked up to an Onkyo 605. I'm waiting to order the Onkyo from frys so I can save on shipping if I decide to buy speakers from there.

Any suggestions?

$200 is really-really low. You're basically looking at Wal-Mart/Best Buy Sony/Onkyo/Pioneer type speakers at that price range unless you find some internet blow out sale.

Here's a Sony bookshelf for $50 a pair so you could buy 3 pair and use one as a center:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8289167&type=product&id=1172277277943

Similar idea, 3 pairs of these Pioneer speakers that are 69.99:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8377838&type=product&id=1178925993629

Also keep an eye on Fry's to see if they get more of the Polk R150's in, they were 49.99, you could get 2 pair of those and then the CSR center which is sub $100:
http://shop4.frys.com/product/4965491?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=12100&i=107CSR&tp=189

What if I bumped into the $300 price range. Open up any more options?

My suggestion would be to not get the 605. You are putting to much money into your AVR. Speakers are much more important. I assume you are spending about $400ish on the 605. I am not sure what features you think you need but I think you will be ok with a receiver in the $150-$200 range. You could probably easily snag something used for $100. That will give you another $200-$300 to play with which would make a world of difference in your sound.

Then you can get something like he suggested above but with that extra couple of hundred you save on the AVR add a sub which will make a huge impact on your listening experience.

My suggestion would be to not get the 605. You are putting to much money into your AVR. Speakers are much more important. I assume you are spending about $400ish on the 605. I am not sure what features you think you need but I think you will be ok with a receiver in the $150-$200 range. You could probably easily snag something used for $100. That will give you another $200-$300 to play with which would make a world of difference in your sound.

Then you can get something like he suggested above but with that extra couple of hundred you save on the AVR add a sub which will make a huge impact on your listening experience.
I'm grabbing the 605 for just over $300. I need something with HDMI. It'll be hooked up to a PS3 for blu-ray, games, and music, as well as a comcast HD box. Video is a 1080p 42" LCD. The passthrough is a must.

What if I bumped into the $300 price range. Open up any more options?

Not really. At $200 you're looking at $40 per speaker, and $300 you're looking at $60 per speaker. The options are fairly limited in the $100 per pair speaker market.

Peruse these sites looking for deals. I'd look at both the "systems" and also see if you can find any good sales on bookshelf speakers that were once 150-200 a pair and now around 100 a pair. Some of the Polk, Harmon Kardon, Yamaha get the job done for an inexpensive HTIB, but be advised, this site is probably much better at recommending a pair of front towers for $2k than $100 :)

www.crutchfield.com
www.jr.com
www.vanns.com
www.frys.com
www.bestbuy.com
www.walmart.com

P.S. When I read your initial email I thought the same thing as Bruins. For an onkyo 605 that is a really small budget for speakers. On the other hand, it'd provide a relative amount of future proofing so that you could piece by piece upgrade your speakers and your 605 would continue serving you. For example, you could buy the $200 worth of speakers and decide next year that you're going to spend $250 alone on a sub, or $250 for 2 tower speakers for the front - and the 605 would continue serving you no prob.

P.S.S. You have to have a sub. It's very-very important for a HT.

http://www.soundadviceblog.com/?p=838

Look at a few of these, some of them are $200 or more off:

http://www.jr.com/category/audio/speakers/home-theater-speaker-kits/

http://www.soundadviceblog.com/?p=838

This looks like it might be a very good option. These speakers have respectable 5.25" or 6.5" woofers which handle the midrange much better than the tiny satellite speakers which typically have something around a 3" woofer.


If you can pair these with even a crap sub for a bit until you can save up say $250 and get a BIC H-100 sub, with your Onkyo 605, you'll have a pretty rockin' value home theatre.

This is why we always want this info. OK. Sounds like a $500 -$600 price range.

Club Onkyo has 505's for $179. It has HDMI pass through. The difference between just over $300 and $179 is just over $121.

That is just about the cost of a 10" 125 powered Dayton sub which will make a much bigger impact than a $3000 AVR.

That leves about $285 for speakers - keeping it all under $600.

Surrounds - http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2888551&cp=2032057.2032183&pg=1&searchSort=TRUE&y=6&retainProdsInSession=1&x=11&s=A-StorePrice-RSK&parentPage=family

255 left

Spend an extra $45 and you can have really nice LCR. Much better than anything you will have seen or heard out there.

http://emptek.com/EMPOn-linestore/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=30&osCsid=5e56c88eabd3c845bb46c74eb10ae261

P.S. When I read your initial email I thought the same thing as Bruins. For an onkyo 605 that is a really small budget for speakers. On the other hand, it'd provide a relative amount of future proofing so that you could piece by piece upgrade your speakers and your 605 would continue serving you. For example, you could buy the $200 worth of speakers and decide next year that you're going to spend $250 alone on a sub, or $250 for 2 tower speakers for the front - and the 605 would continue serving you no prob.

P.S.S. You have to have a sub. It's very-very important for a HT.

My exact intentions. I can't stand the poor quality of these built in speakers.


http://www.soundadviceblog.com/?p=838


Thanks for that review. Can anyone else say anything about these? If they have decent sound, I don't mind the brand. Like I said before, I'm not looking for anything to blow me away.

http://www.thespeakercompany.com/DRHM/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayProductDetailsPage&SiteID=speaker&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE&productID=94860000

+

http://www.thespeakercompany.com/DRHM/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayProductDetailsPage&SiteID=speaker&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE&productID=86148200

+ 2 Satellite for the back that I can hang on the wall. I'd like to look at the P5s for the back speakers, but they might be a bit too big to go on a wall...

would those little radioshack speakers that bruins suggested be okay for my rear wall speakers? I just need something that goes on the wall easily because there is no shelf space back there

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2888551&cp=2032057.2032183&pg=1&searchSort=TRUE&y=6&retainProdsInSession=1&x=11&s=A-StorePrice-RSK&parentPage=family

i actually just received the the speaker companys lineup, P5s, P6s and the center channel. For now i just have the P5s hooked up as my fronts with the center channel, i know the P6s should be the fronts, but i think i will be returning those and maybe just stayin with the fronts for now. they are paired up with my onkyo 505 i got from shoponkyo, $143 shipped, might be worth checking out. from first impression they sound pretty good, i'm definitely a noob with home theatre, and the only thing i can compare them to is the panny HTIB i had for a few weeks. a sub would definitely be recommended, but these speakers actually surprisingly put out a decent amount of bass, enough where if you had to u could wait a few weeks to pick up the sub u want.

i would say that any of these speakers would be tough to mount, or at least they dont have the keyhole to make mountin easy

based on using the p5s as fronts with the center channel, and i think coupled with a decent sub, you could have a real good starter home theatre system, i cant compare these speakers to high end speakers as i havent really heard any, but i think you could hold onto these for a few years and still be fine with the output

and they have a 30 day trial so u really dont have anything to lose, they pay shippin both ways also

If you haven't looked at Fluance yet, take a look. Got pretty decent review for their price range $300 for a 5.0 system is not bad.

http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html

I think I will stick with the 2 bookshelves + center from The Speaker Company, as they do offer the 30 day trial.

I'm just looking for affordable back speakers that are mountable now.

http://shop4.frys.com/product/5520730?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG