Looking for some Recommendations

Ascend has a great "moving sale" for $under $1000.

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?p=32248

SVS is another option that comes with a sub.

http://www.svsound.com/products-sys-sbs_black.cfm

When you say wall-mountable, are you saying that you need all the speakers to be wall mountable - or just the surrounding satellites? The most popular option is to usually have two front towers and then wall mounted satellites/bookshelves as the surrounds. this way, when you listen to music in stereo (2.0 or 2.1) mode, it'll work better as opposed to listening to 2.1 in a large room with just satellites.

However, it's understandable if the woman of the house would like wall mounted, small speakers...so...

$1000 for "at least" at 6.1 isn't all that much (the Acoustimass 16's cost $1300), but if you're limited to $1000, and need all wall mountable, I'd get an Energy 5.0 Take Classic System ($200), a pair of Energy C-100 Speakers ($120), and then the biggest sub you can get with the remaining money =) Perhaps a HSU STF-2 MK3 ($610 shipped) or SVS PB12, or if you really don't want to spend all your money, you could get a pair of BIC F12 Subwoofers, or a TSC T300 Sub.

There might be some uniformity differences in using the C-100s as the fronts and then the Take Classic Center, but I don't think it's that bad of a pairing. Other members, what do you think?

Note that the recommendation that I gave is only if you need to wall mount everything. If you can have floorstanding fronts, let us know!

What are you using for your receiver?

You need to cross the Take Classics at 120-140hz, and the real heavy-hitting subs may have trouble with that. Also, they'll get swallowed up in that big space.

I'd get two of these and one of these. That will put you around $800 without a sub, but it'll sound a lot better than any small and wimpy wall-mount option -- particularly in your huge room. You can get somewhat better prices by buying refurbs direct from Harman Audio (the manufacturer) on Ebay.

edit -- oops, for 6.1 just get 3 pairs of the L820s instead of 2+center.

JBL L820 6-Inch 4-Way Wall-Mountable Bookshelf Loudspeakers is worth $260 in amazon. [IMG]http://www.*****************/trafficreport/img/3721/k08t1221bbuq/gdsmile.gif[/IMG]

not at all. the bose system is awful and will not sound one tenth as good as any of the aforementioned systems.

you know this, but the problem is the wife has to like the way the system looks. and ive got a solution. the el525 mini moniters and center channel from av 1 2 3. com

search their website and find that these moniters are listed for 175 per pair and the center is for 250. however, IF you call them, they will give you a much better package deal, they did for me. i would guess you can get that setup for around 600 dollars and they are a fantastic set of speakers.

MORE importantly for the wife, they look amazing and im sure she will love them.

spend the rest of your budget on the best sub you can get. i have a bic acoustech h100 sub that i think is awesome, but as you saw there are lots f great options around

this system looks great and will obliterate the bose.

and btw, im assuming you have a good powerful receiver right?

JBL, Triad, Speakercraft and others make some good in-wall/in-ceiling speakers too. Is that an option?

If you have to mount the fronts to the ceiling, I would just go with in-ceiling speakers as MLKstudios mentioned. At that point you are really not going to get any better sound quality and you might as well hide the speakers vs having a bookshelf speaker hanging from your ceiling. If you do go with in-ceiling make sure you get a speaker that allows you to adjust the tweeter. RBH and Speakercraft for sure make in-ceiling speakers that allow for tweeter adjustment. Good luck.

Truthfully, i'll actually say what others are thinking and save you some $$$. Since you enjoy good movie and music, forget mounting the fronts in the ceiling as it's impossible to develop a sounstage in that configuration. You'd be better of with in ceilings for surrounds and a soundbar for front left/right and center.

This is going to sound like ass. If you have to do it, just get in-ceiling speakers as MLKStudios suggests, but they're going to give you a crappy soundstage. Fronts need to be in front.


This is going to sound even worse. 83db inefficient speakers on an integrated receiver in a big room? Very bad idea. Not to mention ordering from a company that may go under any minute now.

i ordered from them recently with no problems at all with phenomenal customer service.

good point about efficiency, though i asked what type of receiver he had. if he had a powerful and good amp section in it, then it could be just fine.

As they say in investing, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

I don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll just point to my remarks here. Bottom line: you got a deal, but the fact that you got it is a bad sign, not a good one.

I'm using the ELT525M's as my desktop setup and absolutely love them, but I didn't recommend them because of the 83db sensitivity. The room's just too big..

I would have loved to point him in the direction of the Aperion Intimus 4Bs, but those are rated at a not-even-going-to-notice-it's-better 84db.

MLKStudios' recommendations are always very good and thorough. Listen to what he has to say =)

There are some battles worth fighting and this is clearly one of them. If you get smaller bookshelf speakers with attractive stands, they really do not look bad.

Good luck...

I personally ran these for a couple of years. It was my first system paired with a yammie receiver. Actually i still have a set of the Original Take 5 with two center channels .... i went to 6.1 later
NOt Bad for starters
http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Classic...3814799&sr=1-1
Then get the MFW-15 from av123 it is 499.00 right now plus shipping

Again, I already mentioned why Take Classics won't work above. His room is far too big. As for the MFW-15, no way. A model with known QC issues (there hasn't been a properly working one in months) from a company that may go under before they can fix any problems that may crop up? Absolutely not.

This company has excellent speakers....IW/IC also
http://www.aperionaudio.com/home.aspx

Three year warranty on the sub and the company IS Reputable.and they will be around . sorry about the Energy Suggestion

i agree with this. i just ordered from them, a b stock speaker pair and a center channel.

the deal was great, huge discount off the new center channel to match the b stock items. the customer service was the best ive ever had. they did EXACTLY what they said they would, everything was sent out very quickly, and the items were in better shape then described. both b stock speakers could pass off as brand new

they sound great, look great, and the service and reliablity was awesome. most importantly, the bang for your buck with the quality of the speakers compared to the price paid is incredible.

HIGHLY recommended