If you had $800 to spend on speakers, sub, and receiver what would you get? - Page 2

Interesting. I don't have time to read up on the 1611, but the 591 looks pretty sweet! Thanks.

Thanks DCM88

thanks bladerunner6, I'll check it out.

so bladerunner6 how do you like you inifinities? I think they might be a tad over my budget, and did you ever get a chance to listen to the Pios at BB? I'm going to try and listen to them in the next day or so. Wondering your thoughts if you did listen to them.

I am in southern CA on a business trip and had the chance to go to best buy and frys to audition speakers. Specifically pioneer, klipsch, Polk, and infinity.

First off I do not like klipsch sound. I now understand what people say about them being bright in the highs. They are actually quite harsh and it would be tiring to listen to them for very long.

I really loved the infinitys. I am at the airport so I can't remember what ones they were other than they are in a 5.1 package and there were 2 sets of them (1200 & 700 maybe). I need to see how much they are online but at box store prices they are a bit outside my budget. I believe it included the sub, which was ok but not great.

I like the infinity size and sound. I also like that they are not rear ported which may be a deal breaker for the pios.

I listened to a velodyn impact 12 (sub) which sounded a lot better than the infinity sub. Any thoughts on this sub vs a bic?

I really liked the Polk speakers as well but didn't give them the attention I should have for a proper audition. I was paying too much attention to the pios.

I really like the pios. They are pretty big though and I didn't like the fact that they were rear ported since I need two of them to be in a book shelf and the other two to be against the back wall (or close to it). They were quite a bit quieter than the polks and klipsch i compared them to, so I had to turn them up to really get am idea of how they compared. Which was very good. I really like the sound and they seem pretty crisp and clean. Especially considering the price.

So now I need to see what kinds of prices I can get these (infinity, Polk, & pios) and go from there. Thanks for all the help so far. I'm really glad I got audition the speakers since it really helped. I will never buy without an audition if I can help it.

Probably the biggest reason is that I know nothing about them, but I'll check them out. I'm leaning toward the infinity TSS-1200 due to finding some reasonable prices.

Are those BG tweeters similar in sound to the Martin logans? I did not like thy sound at all. Even at those steep discounts I'm at ~1050 before a sub and receiver which is over my budget already.

Thanks for the info. I'm always open to different options/opinions

They are the ones that BB sells.

I didn't pay that much attention to models for the Polks since the price really wasn't in my range. I did really like them though. Much better than Klipsch and louder, but similar quality to the Pios.

The bookshelf I believe were the TSI100.

The center was the CS10

The towers were the TSI300

Ahh, thank you! I may have just found my solution!!!

Ok, so I did some measuring and discovered that despite my desire for floor standing speakers, they won't fit in the allotted space I have next to my TV + Entertainment system (yet to be purchased because they didn't have it in stock, but will be purchased as soon as it's in stock). I have 18" to spare (9" on each side) before I run into a door (on both sides). Soooo...

I also discovered that the Monitor 30's are rear ported Which for the front channel is not going to work since these unfortunately will sit on a shelf in an actual book shelf (part of the entertainment center).

I am heading back to the Infinity setup again... (front ported and I did like the sound a lot).

Now those do look nice. hmm, I wish that price was for a pair. The more I look and the more I learn the more I'm leaning toward just building the system over time.

Start with 2 front (L/R), a Center, a good sub + Good AVR.

I'm thinking of going with the following:

Front L/R: 2 x Infinity P162
Center: Infinity PC350 (looked at the PC250, but for the $50 more it has more speakers and probably sounds better too?)
Sub: YtbD (Yet to be Determined)

Later add the rears.

I also really like the behringer B2030P and can get it for a pretty dang good price (I think for a set) $109.

My questions about the behringer is what would I use as the center channel? And what about the 100w power? I would really like to get 100w P/C AVR, maybe more (110w). Won't that be too much for those speakers?

I think I've about narrowed it down. Once that's done I can work on what sub and AVR. Thanks again for everyone's help.


I do really like that Onkyo you posted. Great price too.

Thank you sholling, that is good information.

I have spent the better part of the afternoon reading reviews and I think I am going to stick with infinity since I've heard they are a little more Musical than the behringers, which to me is a big plus though music may only be a small part of what these are used for.

I just looked at the size difference between the pc250 and pc350 and the only difference is the width (pc350 being wider). Both are quite tall. Isn't it suggested to put these just below or just above the TV (though my TV is quite large)? I would need to lift the TV quite a bit for these to fit.... dang that sucks. Just when I get excited, I get kicked in the nuts... reality sometimes sucks.

Suggestions...

Thank you. That looks pretty good for a home-made job. palehorse did a nice job.

Ok, now I've got options. I think I'm going to start ordering before I find something else and change my mind...

Then I'll spend some time on subs.

Ok, I'm doing it.

I talked to the boss and she has agreed to spend $1000 which gives me a little more wiggle room.

I am going to get the following for a 5.1 setup.

Front L&R
Infinity Primus P162 x 2 (http://store.audioholics.com/product/2019/0/)

Rear L&R
Infinity Primus P162 x 2 (http://store.audioholics.com/product/2019/0/) -- unless anyone can give me a compelling reason to use the P152 or P142 instead -- Are the surrounds really not that important? The P142's are $20 less per speaker.

Center
Infinity Primus PC350 x 1 (http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108PC35...le.html?tp=189) -- I will make this work somehow...

$540 Total for the 5 in the 5.1.

I am still undecided on the sub, but will start looking at HSU and BIC subs shortly, but I'm open to suggestions of course. I have also found quite a few locally that are used... just not sure about going that route.

Still not sure what AVR, but that's going to end up being decided by how much money I have left over...

Let me know what any of you think about that speaker setup as I would like to buy them in the next 24 hours so I can stop obsession about speakers (and can move onto subs )

Thanks again for all of your help.

I'm afraid it won't leave much for the receiver I am going to try and squeeze a little more for a receiver when I get to that point.

The 162 vs 152 size wise:

P162: 8-3/16"W x 14-7/8"H x 11-1/16"D
P152: 7-3/8"W x 12-15/16"H x 10-1/2"D

Which turns out to be ~3/4" wider, ~2" taller, & ~1/2" deeper

Not much difference, though the 152's weight a few pounds less too and cost $20 less as a pair. I'm just not sure the $20 less and smaller (though not much) is worth it for a lesser speaker. When it's close, I usually err on the side of better.

Ok, never mind. I did it.

Front L&R: Infinity Primus P162 x 2

Rear L&R: Infinity Primus P152 x 2

Center: Infinity Primus PC350 x 1

I looked around for the best deals possible and found a discount code for using a visa (good for $20 off) and got that order down to a tad (very tad) below $500, with no tax or shipping!!! I went though crutchfield, so if anyone knows of a better place to buy, speak now or forever hold your peace since I would guess it will ship in the morning.

Now the Search for a 5.1 AVR and a good sub for my room size begins.

AVR Wants:

HDMI 1.4a (w/ARC)
4+ HDMI inputs
2+ Component/Composite inputs
100+ Watts per channel output
iPod/iPhone dock or USB compatible iPhone/iPod connection
HD Radio would be a huge plus, but not required.

I think for the $500 I have to spend I'm going to be pretty hard pressed to find something that fits this bill. I'm going to go back over some of the stuff that's already suggested and see if I can come up with something that will work.