Home Theater Noobie =(

Welcome

If you have a grand to spend, I think you should spend it wisely. First off, are you sure you really need 7.1? How big is your room? Do you have enough space behind the seating position to put rear speakers? Is so small that your seats are positioned against the wall? Look at Dolby’s site to understand the best arrangement of speakers: http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_e...ide/index.html

If your space is small I would stick with 5.1 as 7.1 could even be detrimental. I don’t care how much hype is built into why anyone should buy 7.1 speakers; it’s not worth it at all if you just don’t have the space. Besides, the more money you put into good, quality speakers, the better sound you’ll achieve. A good 5.1 system will sound a lot better than a 7.1 system with mediocre speakers.

That’s completely doable, most receivers available today are 7.1 and you don’t need to hook up all of the speakers. It makes no difference to connect 5.1 speakers to a 7.1 receiver.

The obvious HTiB choice is the Onkyo 9100. However, since you don't need the extra rear speakers right now (and Onkyo speakers aren't all that great) you can do a lot better buying 5.1 separate.

Can you live with floorstanding or bookshelf speakers or do you require something small?

Generally, no, Onkyo speakers aren’t very good. They are an electronics company and they do make good receivers though. You said you like Onkyo, so waiting for a good deal on an SR607 might be a good idea. Right now I think it goes for around $400. Check out other brands like Denon, Yamaha, Marantz, Harman Kardon, Pioneer... Besides, there aren’t any HTiB’s with floorstanding speakers so you’d have to buy separate if that’s really what you want. We can talk more about receivers if you want but it's usually best to get an idea of the speaker situation first, then pick the appropriate receiver to drive them.

By the way, your JVC receiver/DVD player is probably closer to 20 watts...or less. Don't get too hung up on power ratings, they're usually very misleading.

The two speaker lines to look at on a budget, if you want floorstanding speakers, are the Polk Monitor series and the Infinity Primus series.
Polk: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...n=polk+monitor
Infinity: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_5_1_4_.html

They both have surrounds you could mount on the wall.

The lower side of the Primus series, with floorstanding speakers, is like this:
P252: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_5_1_4_.html
and
P250: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_5_1_4_.html
and
P152: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ay_5_1_4_.html
-or-
P142: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._2_Way_4_.html

I actually only had a brief experience with the Infinity Primus series and haven't heard the Polks, but I've read they're pretty good too for the price. The Primus stuff above would come to about $500 so I would consider just getting the speakers and buying a quality subwoofer later when you have the extra money (with either the polk, infinity, or whatever). A respectable sub is only about $250, a little more if you want something great - and it doesn't have to come from the same MFG as the speakers. If the receiver is about $400 you're about at your max with either...but it would still blow away any HTiB and last a lot longer.

If you have lots of patience you can check the Harman Audio store on eBay for great deals on refurbished Infinity and JBL: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Harman-A...0Q2em14?_pgn=1
They don't have much at the moment but they update the availability quite often.


A Polk set up would look something like this:
Monitor 50: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290013
-or-
Monitor 60: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290017
And
CS1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290022
-or-
CS2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290024
And
Monitor 30: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290094

I believe you can get by cheaper with the Polk. As far as comparisons between Polk and Infinity…you’d have to figure that out yourself. I like Infinity but I’m biased.

It should be easy to find a store that carries either brand so you can look and listen, then compare the prices online. Either speaker is/has been popular so it *shouldn't* be a problem finding a pair to add in the future for 7.1 if you wanted, maybe.


If you want to get a little crazy and move up a level for just a bit more $ look at the KEF IQ series that has been on closeout for a while - good prices:
IQ5: http://www.accessories4less.com/make...ck-Pair/1.html
IQ1: http://www.accessories4less.com/make...air-NEW/1.html
IQ2C: http://www.accessories4less.com/make...ack-NEW/1.html

It's over your budget by a few hundred but, hey, it's not my money They are nicer (in other finishes too) and I can see them lasting good long time. The good news is that speakers don't obsolete like electronics. Think about it, read some of the reviews. If you actually decide to go that way there are other speakers in that price range to consider too, it never ends...


Really nice sounding, looking speaker - IMO: http://www.saturdayaudio.com/picturepages/kef_iq5.htm

Take this guy's advice. I've been in the a/v retail business for 30 years and he's telling you straight. Forget pre-packaged HTiB's...the long term value just isn't there and the speakers are almost always crap.

No, receivers aren't that specific. I just meant that some of those little speaker packages that you buy in a box wouldn't need very much power at all and some higher end speakers need a more powerful receiver or the ability to connect an external amp to make them loud in a large room. The speakers I listed above should all be fine with a receiver like the Onkyo 606 or 607, or a comparable receiver at the same level. I'm not really that familiar with where the good deals are, but some comparable receivers are Denon - 1909 or 1910, Yamaha - V663 or V665, Pioneer - 1018 or 1019, Harman Kardon 254 or 354...

The 606, 1909, V663, and 1018 are last year's model and might be a good value if you can still find one.

I have a coworker who's looking for something in about the same price range and I'm looking around for him, giving him ideas. I came across a Warfdale set and I thought I'd let you know too: http://www.tsto.com/cgi-bin/TSTO.sto...duct/View/3105

It's a 5.1 set for $700 and comes with a 10 subwoofer. The surrounds are bipole, meaningI'll just quote a definition because it's easier:

In a nutshell it means that you should mount them on a wall behind your couch or chair, if that's how your room is laid out. I think you can put them on a side wall too, it says so in the manual, but they might be best on a back wall. Anyway, the idea is that the two speakers in each surround are positioned to create a diffuse, more ambient sound.

I have experience with Warfdale Diamond bookshelf speakers and I think they're nice. The picture on the website don't do them justice. Here's the brochure for the Diamond series: http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/images/r...brochure_3.pdf

I hate to recommend stuff that would be difficult to find locally and only available online but they might be your thing.

Check them out