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Speakers to match my center (1st setup)

post #1 of 8
Thread Starter 
I'm working on building a home theater setup and buying components piece by piece. I had a few questions regarding multiple topics, but my main inquiry is about my speakers. First off I live in an apt 11x18 (noise is no issue because my upstairs neighbors spend most of their time fighting each other and don't complain about anything). I wanted to figure out what a good setup was and my price range is 200-700 per component, but i'm willing to go above that if necessary. I have a CS2 center channel speaker from polk and was wondering if i should match those with the recommended series of tsi500's or the rti-a7's for my fronts. Is timbre matching that important that there would be a significant issue whether i use the 500's or the a7's with my current central channel? I was originally going to use the satellite RM8's all around but I keep hearing that satellites just don't cut it for mains so I was interested in something bigger. Are the rm8's a good idea for my surrounds because I was still considering getting those for that purpose? I also wanted to get a nice sub and I was reading a lot about SVS and Epik on these forums which are both brands I've never heard of. I was thinking about an Epik phoenix, but it may not be necessary regarding whichever speakers I get for my mains. If I were to order an Epik sub, does anyone know how good their customer service is should something go wrong?

Also I was wondering what is a good option for a receiver, my price range is a bit flexible but I don't want to spend more than $2000 on a receiver. I was looking at the yamaha line and I was trying to figure out wheter i should go with the rx-v2065 or the rx-v3900 model. I know there are other good brands like onkyo and denon I just don't know enough about their models and performance to judge how good they are. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
post #2 of 8
Polk Monitor are really cheap at newegg, you can buy them to pair up with your CS2 Center and be done with it.

What is the max you willing to spend on 5 speakers? If you can spend more, IMO, you should go ahead and skip Polk and go elsewhere. I see Polk as nothing but entry level speakers for someone with a tight budget (except for their LSi series). From other people's comment that the TSI are nothing but rebrand of Monitor series in a nicer cabinet...if that is the case, not worth the money unless its on sale like the Monitor series.

As far as Epik goes, read good things about them. As with any retail operation, make sure the item is in stock and pay with credit card.

As far as Polk goes, I wouldn't waste anymore money than $500 on a receiver unless its the LSi model (which needs a lot of power). You are better off using that money and buy yourself a better speaker brand than Polk....My .02 cents.
post #3 of 8
Thread Starter 
Haha nice, I don't want to spend more than 2-400 for the 2 rear surrounds (5.1 setup) but i'm willing to go up to a max of 1000 for a pair of floorstanders. It looks like paradigm might be a good brand but do you have any other suggestions? Keep in mind that I'm very new at this sort of thing so any advice would be helpful. Additionally, should I stick with the center I already have and just add on to that?
post #4 of 8
Quote:
Originally Posted by kypdjk View Post

Haha nice, I don't want to spend more than 2-400 for the 2 rear surrounds (5.1 setup) but i'm willing to go up to a max of 1000 for a pair of floorstanders. It looks like paradigm might be a good brand but do you have any other suggestions? Keep in mind that I'm very new at this sort of thing so any advice would be helpful. Additionally, should I stick with the center I already have and just add on to that?

I wonder if getting a 2nd CS2 and using them vertically for your surrounds might be a good option? Not familiar with Polks center so someone may be along to say it's a bad idea.

For your front three, Paradigm, Monitor Audio, PSB, B&W would all be worth auditioning at this price point.

Ron
post #5 of 8
Whatever brand you decide to buy other than Polk, make sure you also buy a matching center. Your Polk center might not match well with different brands. Here is a link to PSB deal:

http://saturdayaudio.com/picturepage...07-29-2009.htm

Good deals on the Monitor Audio as well:

http://saturdayaudio.com/

IMHO, these are better brands than Polk. If you can find it locally, please audition them to see if you like them.

Paradigm are nice but expensive if you go towards their higher end. Another option is you might want to look at what ID brands might offer as well. Go around your town and see what they have to offer and listen to as many speakers as you can to get a feel of what you like.
post #6 of 8
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the suggestions calnbs, those psbs look really nice. I haven't had the opportunity to actually have a good listen to a lot of different speakers, I probably have to find more stores but i've really only listened to polk. I forget the model I was listening to but i was underwhelmed by them and also the paired subwoofer they had but I'm guessing that it was just low end equipment. Do you have any ideas as far as other brands that are worth taking a look at? Where do you typically go to listen to speakers, I would figure something like best buy, but their demo room was lackluster in that there were no dedicated setups so that I could actually get a feel of what a good system should sound like. I'll admit I don't have a full understanding of ohms but I know that a mismatch isn't a good thing, will the fact that those psbs are rated for 6 ohms be a problem with a decent receiver?
post #7 of 8
Your overall budget is a bit confusing from your posts...

...what is your total budget for AVR + 5.1?
post #8 of 8
Thread Starter 
2-3k at most.
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