I have tasted the forbidden fruit...

and it was wonderful!

I'm the first to admit that I'm a total noob at all things on this forum. I stumbled across it a few years back and it inspired me to build a home theater. (still under construction)

The thought of building new speakers when the theater is done has been floating around in my head for a while. Mainly because my current speakers are some Yamahas I purchased at Best Buy for about $200 bucks 10+ years ago. I always wondered if I really needed something new. Would I be able to tell the difference between a crappy speaker and a "high end" speaker? I figured probably not, but I liked projects and building things. I was wrong.

Recently I was able to listen to some quality speakers at a listening session in my area thanks to Rick Craig from Selah Audio. Like I said in my title, I have tasted the forbidden fruit. It really stuck out to me today when I was working in my theater listening to music. I listened for about 5 minutes before I turned it off in disgust. It was painful to listening to at high volume. So needless to say, I can't wait to finish up my room and get to making dust on some new speakers.

***end of random thought thread***

The 4pi's are my first choice as of now since my room will be about 75% moveis / 25% music. My room is only 11ft wide, so I was thinking of running a pair with a "phantom center". I already have the plans, plus plans for the 1pi for possible surrounds.

I am trying to make my room the best it can be, but also on a very limited budget. It has taken me over 2 and a half years to get where I am in the rooms construction. To save cash I've been doing everything by myself except for the carpet install and taping the drywall. This is why I'm looking at building my own speakers eventually, but I can't see that happening anytime in the next year. As far as power goes, my plan is to pick up a Onkyo TX-NR1007 receiver to power my speakers.

The purpose of this thread was just say what a difference quality speakers really make and how hard it will be go back to my old ones. Craig's speakers sounded amazing, particularly the ones with the RAAL ribbon tweeter and the Scan-Speak Illuminator mids. It was my first taste at "audiophile" type speakers. I was amazed how loud you could listen to them without it straining your ears. They were so clean sounding, not harsh in the least. That was the biggest difference with my old Yamahas, I could only have the volume turned up for a little bit before my ears were fatigued. If I was doing a strictly 2 channel set-up, Craig would be the first person I'd talk to. I'd love to pick up one of his DIY kits for my living room. For my HT, I'm still in the air, but leaning towards the upgraded 4pi, when the time comes.

For the record, I work at a jail, I'm not a resident.