5k speakers without sepparates a waste?

tough call, you planning on running those speakers full range? I wouldn't want to run the HT-3's with a cheap receiver, but then again I wouldn't want to pass up an opportunity to have them.
You have or planning on running a sub? Those HT-3's are kinda low sensitivity, and run full range will use lots of juice.

I wouldn't say you definitely need separates, but you'd probably need something more powerful.

I had an STRDG720 and it was pretty pathetic. I couldn't have it very loud without it clipping on my 7.1 setup. I upgraded to a Pioneer SC-07 and I'm pretty certain I'll tear my cones long before I'll get the receiver loud enough to clip.

7k is a lot of dough for an ht set up. you could get all svs mts set up with a killer sub and separates for a little more no more than 7k.

It's all in the Watt, not whether it's separates or integrated or receiver

For your budget I would definitely upgrade the receiver and get a sub.

If all of the money isn't there at once, get a good receiver you can resell (refurb Marantz sr8002 can be had for under $1200 at accessories4less) or use as a pre with a later purchased amp.

Look into a Rythmik F12SE to complement your speakers.

That would leave lots out of $7K to get either a pair of amazing new fronts, or something incredible used off of audiogon.

There are plenty of amps available for far less than $5k, that provide enough power and current to run speakers like the Aerials or Salks. That being said, I don't know why you would spend that much money on speakers, only to run them with a receiver that cannot provide enough current. Better to spend a little less on the speakers and obtain suitable amplification. You don't have to go crazy with the amplification though, if you prefer to put more into the speakers. But if you try to run a demanding speaker with an amp that cannot handle the load and push the volume, you can end up damaging the speaker.

I would at least get a receiver that will give an honest 100 watts a channel and not
run them full range at loud volumes also pay attention to what ever you buy how much
power it will have in a 4 ohm load.

Don't waste big bucks on exotic, high $$ power. If you have preamp outs, you can buy one of the amps on this thread. Skim throughout the thread for several different amp ideas from Behringer, Yamaha and others that cost from $300 to $800 which will provide plenty of power (hundreds of WPC). Wasting money on high dollar amps is a big mistake. Better throw the money into serious speakers like Revel F52's or PSB's or Paradigm Sigs. Here's an article to whet your appetite for Revel.

HT3's - excellent choice.

Any receiver - bad choice.

Monitors and subs - why bother!

Get the speakers and then upgrade the electronics later. But you will need at LEAST 250 wpc to drive the HT3's properly. This is not a bad thing and does not have to break the bank. I moved from a Pass Labs X350.5 to Wyred4Sounds SX1000 monos and never looked back. I have run the Salks with PS Audio, Moscode, Rowland, Belles, Pass, TAD, and Van Alstine. I now own 7 Wyred amps if that says anything.

I can honestly say that building a system around the HT3's will give you great joy. I'm happy to advise you offline anytime.

You can get excellent outboard amps for well under a grand, and some pro sound models are very capable for even less. If your receiver has preamp outs it is a no brainer. Buy the speakers you want, and if you feel they are underpowered, start shopping for an amp.

Spending 5 grand on separates is completely unnecessary (unless of course you want to).

I cannot remember the downside, but pro amps are not a great solution for an HT3 setup. Something a little more refined is in order. Don't forget, the HT3's are superior to the likes of B&W 802D's and others in that price range.

So, I agree, the $5000 is not recommended, it should be $10,000!! The speakers are THAT good.

No one has asked about the room - size, layout, seating distances, a schematic or picture, etc. - and recommendations are being offered? My word!

Nonsense. I am using a modified Behr EP1500 to drive 3 series Magnepans and it is a stellar choice. Driving HT3's is a walk in the park by comparison.

To the OP... there are a lot of tweaks here that are good at spending your money. And, to be fair, I've had my fair share of amps from Threshold, Levinson, Audio Research, Bryston, etc., all back in the days when that gear was designed and built by the guys that started those companies. But in this day and age, hand built amplifiers hardly can be considered a wise value; and hardly necessary as you will find very capable amp designs whose designers have them built in China for nickels on the dollar.

They may not provide you the Ferrari factor, with fancy blue meters and a half inch thick front panel machined from a solid block of T6061 (if you're looking for that kind of thing), but they'll drive your HT3's just fine and sound great.

Wow, I'm shocked that the Sony doesn't have pre-outs. What were they thinking?

They were thinking "budget". It's a $300 USD receiver. You can't expect many features at that price point.

From what I have heard from Salk (I heard the Songtower Ribbon tweeter).... no doubt those will be some spectacular speakers, and should be at the top of your list for speakers....

The HT3's would be an amazing choice.... Don't let people badger you with power, get some amazing speakers, and they will only get better when you are free to upgrade that part down the line.... I commend you on taking the steps to upgrade, and that is quite a step. Not everyone has gobs of money and has to take things one step at a time... The speakers are deserving of a better front end but you wont hurt them unless you try to crank the heck out of them...

Lower power will equate to more distortion at higher volumes... which is not good for speakers, that is why people buy external amps. Just be smart about it.

Get a good used amp like this one. Use your reciever as pre-amp. Or connect it directly to your source's analog outs using the gain knobs on the back to set the desired volume level - you won't be able to easily adjust volume while listening that way, but you will get the purest signal chain with great SQ.

Stick with your plan and go with HT3 imo. Do not spend half your budget on amps.
If I had extra $10k lying around I'd add it to the original budget and get some line arrays rather than spending them on barely audible difference a 10k amp brings over 1k used amp such as the one I linked to.

To be clear, I didn't say spend $10k on amps. I meant the supporting devices like amps, DAC, source, preamp, and cabling.

If going for SOngtowers then hook up with Jim for a SOngSub for about $1k more.

HT3 if it all feasable to get, should sound better than songtowers looking at the components used, and have a lot more output capability and dynamics for HT.
I personally trust very knowledgable people's experience and the scientific evidence, that electronics do not distort the signal as much, and are not nearly as varied in perforamnce as speakers, so get the best speakers you can and power them with whatever you can buy with money you scrape up afterwards, imho. Recievers might not suffice but cheap used amps should. Same for source - just search for whatever you can without spending a lot, imho.

+1......

Nuance lives right down the road from me and they are fantastic, but I like loud (but clear) and they gave out way before what my paradigm sig S4's could handle. Don't get me wrong the Ribbon Songtowers are spectacular in sound *seriously* but I would be looking for something that could handle more power for sure. If I was buying Salk speakers, and after hearing the ST's I wouldn't hesitate for a second (aside from the coffin look - i'd go custom like funkmonkey). It would be HT3's for me.

That "giving out" depends on the crossover to a certain degree I think. The lower the bass the more taxing it is to play loud for small midrange/woofer drivers. My own speakers are speced to 45hz f3 but can get much much louder without distortion with a 60hz crossover to a sub compared to running full-range.

I auditioned the Salk HT3 in October of last year. They are a hugely dynamic speaker and wonderful in almost every way. I am an audition-junky though so I still haven't picked my next speaker. Instead I continue shopping and listening without ever making a decision. IF you get them, will your 15' wall be the front wall? If so let me know how they work. I was afraid after my audition my room would be too narrow.

I will say this, I found the HT3 to be quite similar to the Monitor Audio PL300 and the B&W 802D. That is not meager company for a speaker to be listed amongst. I also thought it would do well against the Dynaudio Sapphire. The HT3 are amazing for their price. On high resolution recordings and well recorded vocals you would be very hard pressed to find a better speaker for 5K new or used. And classical is a revelation through them. Hmm, yeah I guess the HT3 are not off my interest list yet, lol.

-Michael

This would be a decent amp with lots of power. You could pick up a Yamaha 663, Pioneer 1018, or Harmon/Kardon 254 and use that as a pre-amp. This would be a decent total package for under/around $1000 that would be a great system to power almost anything. If you only need two channels of amplification this is even better

You could also pick up an Epik Castle sub for $1000. That would keep your budget intact and complete an awesome system.

Good Luck choosing. I would demo the crap out of anything in my price range to be sure I am happy with a very expensive choice. Maybe someone lives close to you who could let you demo their Salk's before you buy.

With your budget, and the speakers you are looking at, you owe it to yourself to have decent amplification. An Onkyo 705/805 ($400-600 from accessories4less.com) + Emotiva XPA-3 or XPA-5 (emotiva.com) would be my recommendation (or even their 2 channel amp if that's all you want the "real" power for). You'll have gobs of power, all the HDMI, HD audio codecs/HT goodness that you could ask for and it'll only set you back about $1k. IMO you are much-MUCH better off with a combo like that and then buying the $4k speakers that you want instead of spending $2500 on amp & $2500 on speakers. The behringer "pro" amps would probably work just fine but look at the pictures of those things, they're hideous. If you can hide it in the basement or closet then it's an ok choice but for the price of the emotiva's, and the fact that you have a "real" budget, I see no reason not to buy something powerful AND pretty like the emotiva's.

I don't have a lot to add here. I'll only mention the HT3 vs. the ST, since that's what I know about. The one thing I would not do is buy SongTowers without a sub, spend lots of money on an amp, and then expect lots of dynamic bass for HT. The ST's just can't shake the floor like I think you're going to want the floor to shake when the monsters start fighting. And they don't need much power to get up to their limit (The ST's not the monsters.) For HT, the ST's with a good powered sub and a decent amp (maybe even your Sony) will be very close to the HT3. For music, I personally would prefer the HT3 full range than the ST's (or other speakers lacking really deep bass) with a sub. So--how good an amp do the HT3's need for music? I would not break the bank. You need lots of power, and the amp has to be stable into 4 ohms. But there have to be lots of choices well within your budget.

racineboxer, I thought they (in the Emotiva thread) are currently talking about how Emotiva watt ratings are overrated. Though they seem to agree that they're still good deals even with the lower ratings.

Anyway to the OP, check out a Wyred 4 Sound or D-Sonic ICE based amp?