i just bought the pioneer VSX-1016TXV receiver to replace my crappy HTIB Kenwood receiver.

i currently have a 5.1 speaker setup using the HTIB speakers and sub. they all suck obviously. the system is about 6 years old. im now trying to piece together my home theater for the first time. i have a very limited budget, but dont mind piecing things together over time if necessary.

the home theater room i have is a rec room thats 24'x24'. however, my sectional couch and tv and stuff is not directly center in the room if that makes a difference. there is room to walk around the home theater section.

so first of all, i was looking at the sony ss-f5000 tower speakers for the fronts, as i can get them off vanns.com for $100 for two! that sounds too good to be true, so thats why im posting here. the other sony speakers are cheap as well and i thought about just going with an entire sony budget speaker setup.

i am NOT an audiophile so i wont be looking at getting the best. here is the layout of my home theater use:

games: 30%
tv: 40%
movies: 30%

i really dont listen to music much on my home theater stereo. please give advice!!

How much are you able to spend now, versus over the next couple of years on the speakers? You might start with left/right speakers, then add the centre and finally surrounds and a sub. If you will be in a better financial position in a year or two, consider buying what will become your surrounds first and using them as your left/rights until you have the money for the larger left/rights. If you do this, don't buy speakers that are discontinued or soon to be, because you want the centre to be from the same series as the front left & right speaker. You could use your current speakers as the surrounds to save $$ because they don't have to match unless you listen to 5 channel music.

Not trying to sound unrealistic but your speakers should equal 50% of your HT budget. A $100 will not get you much of an improvement in sound over what you have.

Not trying to sound unrealistic but your speakers should equal 50% of your HT budget. A $100 will not get you much of an improvement in sound over what you have.

well...$100 for the front two. $100 for the center, $100 for the back 2, and $100 or so for the sub. so around $400 total for my speakers. my receiver was $400, so thats 50% :D my tv was $800 though.

but to answer the budget question, my wife is pregnant and the baby is due in march. sooooo, im trying to get all my toys purchased now, because for the next 5 years or so, i get zippo, zilch, nada when it comes to electronics and such...unless its christmas presents or something. i mean, i guess i could just use what i have now (HTIB speakers) but i figured spending $100 on the front two, and $100 on the center channel would be a good start. but you are saying thats not the case?

Sorry, but as was previously mentioned...what you are looking to spend on speakers will not give you much more than what you're already using. IMO a decent budget to get started with speakers is about $1500.00 for a 5.1 setup. In fact, if you want really good sound then you can expect to pay nearly $1000.00 just on the front left and right..depending on the size of your room.

okay well...$1500 on speakers just aint gonna happen.

soooo...is it not even worth upgrading to the sony speakers i mentioned before? i should just stay with my 6 year old HTIB speakers? there will be no noticeable difference if i buy the sony speakers?

im just wanting to make sure. i might be able to get a speaker or so every christmas/birthday/job bonus, but that will take several years. if i cant get any better performance buy spending $400 on a 5.1 speaker setup, then ill just use what i got.

its just weird that i see reviews/impressions from people who are buying the sony speakers and how they talk about how great they sound. obviously a $5000 setup is going to sound tons better, but i just assumed that spending $400 on sperate speakers is better than my 6 year old HTIB speakers. so im to believe that there will be zero to very little improvement?

okay well...$1500 on speakers just aint gonna happen.

soooo...is it not even worth upgrading to the sony speakers i mentioned before? i should just stay with my 6 year old HTIB speakers? there will be no noticeable difference if i buy the sony speakers?

im just wanting to make sure. i might be able to get a speaker or so every christmas/birthday/job bonus, but that will take several years. if i cant get any better performance buy spending $400 on a 5.1 speaker setup, then ill just use what i got.

its just weird that i see reviews/impressions from people who are buying the sony speakers and how they talk about how great they sound. obviously a $5000 setup is going to sound tons better, but i just assumed that spending $400 on sperate speakers is better than my 6 year old HTIB speakers. so im to believe that there will be zero to very little improvement?
Everyone has to live within their own budget hulkster. My advice, look into some of the lesser expensive bookshelf type speakers and use your HTIB sub for now. I am an Infinity fan and run the Beta series speakers myself; the Beta 10s can be found for $150ish/pair and the Beta 20s can be found for $175ish.

Will they sound as good as towers fom Swan or B&W or Definitive? Probably not, but you are not paying that premium. The Beta's will most likely smoke any 6 year old HTiB system. The problem or perhaps bonus is they are discontinued now, so get in on the close out deals you can find, but don't wait to long. Can always find them on Harman Direct's ebay store if you are patient enough.

PS Congrats on the impending bundle of poop and joy.

You may want to consider only adding front and center speakers. You can use your current speakers for rears. Add a sub when you get a chance.

Also look at post # 25 in this thread. This a great deal from a very respected member of the forum. You may want to get in touch with him.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=919375


Here is a quality option if you want to buy decent new front speakers.
http://www.theaudioinsider.com/products_new.php?cPath=21_32&osCsid=2fd5ddb074e63c7f44e0786d268f25b6

As to whether $400.00 will get you anything better... you have to compare frequency ranges in what you have compared to what you are interested in. I understand your financial pain but like everything else "we" buy... you get what you pay for. Sometimes it's just better to pay a little more and be happy than to throw good money on bad merchandise. I'm not saying the Sony speakers are bad because I used some Sony el-cheapo's for surrounds for a few years and they sounded pretty good. The real question here is: Will spending $400.00 hard earned dollars on replacement speakers give you better sound than you already have??? Without a point-by-point comparison of what you currently have with what you are looking at, it's hard to tell.