Help me pick out a $2500 system!

How big is the room? Size and total volume. I'm asking because $400 isn't going to cut it for a sub for a space much larger than an average bedroom. I'd shift $400-500 of that speaker budget toward the sub.

I have B&W 683's, SVS PB12-NSD, Pioneer elite VSX-23txh.

This should fit into the budget if you shop around a bit and it sounds great to me.

Here's how I would spend your $2500

- go to your local Frys and pickup 2 KEF iQ70, $500

- get a Rythmik F12, $800

- get a Denon 3310, $550

Consider room treatments, movies and some of your other speakers with the rest (or upgrade to a F15 or F15HP; or depending on your room, get two F12s for more balanced bass across the room).

Here is what I would get in that budget:
receiver: Onkyo TX-SR708
speakers: EMPtek E55Ti tower speakers
subwoofer: Hsu Research VTF-15H

Absolutely killer, hi quality setup for under your budget. Your guests will love the ass kicking bass too.

That will do the job.

Looks like a winner to me. Those EMPtek have free 30 day return shipping if you don't like them, but I think you gonna like. I also agree with everyone on getting the best sub you can. I got the VTF and I am waiting for the December shootout results, but I think it will be the new HT King at $1018 shipped.

I am curious to what % split between a pair of mains and a sub is most popular. By some posts here, it seems to trend toward 50/50.

Coincidentally, I'm looking for a sub and am budgeting a hair above what I paid for my front speakers. I guess I'm glad to see a consensus.

It really depends a lot on deals you can find and your overall budget and goals.

Also, in order to get a good quality sub for both HT and music you'll be hard pressed to spend under $500 whereas you can get some amazing speaker deals in the $500 - $800 range.

I started with a $500 sub and quickly went up to a Rythmik F12 (as music played a greater role) for ~$750. I spent $700 on my entire 5.0 (I got great deals, to replace the front 2 today it would take $600ish).

But my goal is to replace my speakers someday with Salk HT2 monitors, $3700; and I'd keep the same sub.

So ratio today, $300:$750; in the future $3700;$750.

It all depends...

How do those Emptek speakers sound? They definitely look very pretty.

Looks like they sound pretty good according to this review.

Id spend just a little more-- and get a sho10 5.1 setup($2300).. Guys are reporting a huge sound stage and the sub works very well.. Then mix that with a pioneer 1120k or a vsx32 or 33(if you get a good price) and your set..

I own a pair. The relaxed high end can initially be unsettling, as most sub-$1000 commercial speakers have exaggerated tweeters but once you get used to a tweeter level matched to the woofer they're just great. They don't try to impress you by adding too much to the sound, they just try to give you the source material, clean and clear and under control (...).

Things just sound very natural and laid back, not a speaker that will try to steal the show at the cost of something like midrange clarity, rather just make the show itself outstanding. And they're easy to drive. Their best attritbute is possibly their ability to go from silent to loud and back... it sounds unsettlingly real.

Imaging and soundstaging are very precise... you can get away with no center speaker on these guys, altough for home theater it's recommended as it can move the center sound back a foot or two. The e5Ci center is also very nice and clear.

I do still wish they had a bit more treble extension but that's truly nitpicking at this price. I'd pit them against other more expensive speakers I've heard like Studio 60s and Totem Arros and feel confident in their ability to give the more natural sound. I wouldn't pit them against Salks or anything though... but who would!?

I would buy 2 of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/QSC-K-10-10-2-wa...item519655162e

They are self powered so you only need a receiver with pre outs ( and outlets near the speakers). Then get the new HSU UL15 or CHT 18.1. You would put most other systems to shame.

To go with the reccomended Onkyo receiver and Hsu sub - I would
reccomend that you look at the Boston VR3 towers at onecall.com
If you like loud - then all this, will be loud. How many people do you
fit in that 15x15 room for a house party?

I'm surprised no one mentioned getting a center if you plan to watch movies with it. You could end up with problems hearing dialog without one, especially as a lot of newer movies don't have a 2ch track.

There is a tower and center channel deal with the VR speakers
at Onecall.

I think any AVR sold these days has a setting for no center. If you are only concerned with one seat then not having a center is not a problem.

Hi, I thought it would be simple if I added to this post instead of adding a new topic
I have an average size basement living room and I want to have a surround sound option for home theater (7.1 or 7.2) and have the speakers sound great for music.
I have a 73" mitsuibishi tv now and I watch a lot of blu-ray movies and downloaded music videos on my ps3, so it would be nice to have something that sounds good.
I like ShadyJ's suggestion for the tower speakers/sub/reciever
but I have a really newbie-ish question
does the surround sound sound best with tower speakers that have all those speakers on them
If it works well should I get the e5ci center channel too?

what are some good surround speakers that I should get?

These are awesome speakers. Here's the bundle that includes the center and shipping.

Perhaps it's because my equipment is outdated, but when I watch any movie with a 5.1 soundtrack in stereo, it has the classic can't-hear-dialog problem. I have stereo out to stereo in to my receiver. It's got dolby surround, so I can turn that on to 3ch and the processing does just fine.

I'm not exactly sure what your first question is- are you asking if those tower speakers would make good surround sound speakers as well as fronts, or are you asking if they would work well as fronts in a surround sound system? Yes, they would work well as surround speakers, although they would be overkill in that role. And also, yes, they would work very well as a part of a surround sound system.

If you bought those for a surround sound system, the best center would be the E5Ci, as its sound characteristics would match the rest of the system. You generally want your front stage speakers to sound alike.

As for surround sound speakers, those are not so critical to match with the rest of the system, because their role is very different than that of the fronts. Any decent bookshelf speakers would make competent surround speakers. If you went with the E55Ti towers and E5Ci center, you might as well go for the E5Bi bookshelf speakers for surrounds to have a matching set. However I would stay away from the matching subwoofer in that series, it is very weak compared to the Hsu sub.

very weak? Maybe compared to the VTF-15H, but to stay away from it is an overstatement. It's a very well-priced budget subwoofer.

It's a sensitive, tight musical sub which can get reasonably loud. It'll outperform many subs in the same price for $300 (there's many a B-Stock of these in their clearance section. From my experience, these b-stocks have no cosmetic damage that I could find). To put it into perspective, the HSU 300 dollar offering is the STF-1. I wouldn't be surprised if the Emp Tek es10i outperforms the STF-1.

While I wouldn't recommend it, let's not act like this is some awful overpriced brick and mortar sub.

Especially when for 299, you can get the Emp Tek Sub (in the old box not the new curved one though) you could even get them throwing in a bunch of satelites.
http://www.emptek.com/special_cs100.php

It will not be in stereo. It will be played back in 5.1 with the mains simulating the center channel. AVR's have had this feature for a long time. Have you checked your speaker set up? If it allows you to select center or no center then it has this feature.

While I agree that the surrounds do not have to exactly match, you do not want a complete mismatch. You would not want to use low sensitivity speakers for surround duty paired with high sensitivity mains and center. If you use Audessey, it will base the performance on the weakest link.

My previous AVR, an old Pioneer that I bought in 2001, already had the ability to turn off center speaker, thus redirecting the center output to the front speakers. Never had any problem with hearing dialogue when playing 5.1 soundtracks. Same thing with my new Onkyo TX-SR308. In fact I've never even owned a center channel speaker, since I never needed one. 4.1, baby! (Not that I had surround at all for the last six years before buying the Onkyo 2-3 months ago)

that's what I was asking ShadyJ...I wanted to make sure if the tower speakers had so many little speakers, that it wouldn't throw off the surround sound if my surround speakers were cheaper...
since I asked a salesman before and he told me tower speakers like that were for listening to music, and not home theater

so those speakers will be good for both music and home theater.
thank you!

Reread my original statement, I said it was very weak compared to the VTF-15H, but that isn't so bad in itself because the Hsu is a beast, most subs are weak compared to it. That being said, to be honest the EMP sub doesn't look too hot going by the specs, even with respect to overpriced brick and mortar subs. I have not heard one, so this is just speculation, but it looks like it was created as an afterthought as an aesthetic match to the speakers rather than for performance gain. It's a 100 watt, sealed 10" design which is shy of 30 lbs, and it rolls off at 35 hz! I don't think it would sound bad within its limits, but those limits look awfully restricting. I would be very surprised if it could indeed outperform a Hsu STF1, but, like I said before, this is just guessing based on comparing the specs. I really don't mean to be slamming your purchase, but I have to say the E55Ti towers look like they deserve a better subwoofer, as the ES10i seem like it was made almost entirely for WAF.