Can't make up my mind for a budget 5.1 plan! Polk? Infinity? Other?!

With that budget you are limited. At the moment, I've got a 7.1 system from a HTIB HT-S9100THX, which I bought 4 years ago. It was great when I lived in a 3 bedroom apartment, but now I live in a 3 bedroom house with open floor living room and kitchen. Furthermore, my son and daughter (3 and 6 years old) have put holes, spilled soda and shipped several of my speakers.

I ended up getting the JAMO S426 towers for Front left / right, and I had a Klipsch C1, which I am using for centers. I've got Pioneers 21's for surround and surround back. The sub is still the same that came with the HTIB, which is an onkyo 10". So, after doing a lot of reading, waiting on sales, and going to stores to listen to speakers....I made my mind to buy the Pioneers FS51, and 22. Since it was going to cost me a little over $300.00 for that set up.

However, after listening to them several times at Best Buy...I found them to sound too low, and I had to crank up the volume to make them sound loud enough. My Jamo S426's are louder and have more bass then the Pioneers. However, the Pioneers were detailed and clear.

I tested the Polk Audios and Klipsch as well. Both of them sounded louder at lowered volume, and they too sounded clear and detailed. I cranked up the volume just as I did with the Pioneers, and they both sounded good. However, the price for the Pioneers was just right. I decided to sleep it off for a day or so.

The next day at 2 AM, I received a sales add from newegg.com, which had the Polk Audio Monitor 70 on sale for $149.99 each. Approximately, 2 minutes later I had ordered 2 Monitor 70's. For $149.99 is hard to beat, and I like the way the Polk Audio sound better than the Pioneers.

My parents have the Infinity 5.0 set up with a Valodyne sub. It sounds really nice. All I can recommend is for you to go to the stores and listen to those speakers. Only you can decide, which one SOUNDS BETTER TO YOU! You will be able to make your decision after that.

Another thing is that the Polk Audio Monitor 70's come with a 5 yr. warranty. The Pioneers only have 1 yr.

I went with the Infinity 363's and I am happy with their performance so far. I just ordered the pc351 to finish the LCR. Paid $200 for the towers & a little over $200 for the center. I have the Klipsch RW12 which was $300 and the rear speakers will only cost $100 for the pair so I will be right at $800 for the entire 5.1

Very subjective question that is not easy to answer. However the way I look at is to go by the available purchase price vs the stated MSRP. In the case of the monitor 70's, they are available right now for $149 each, so a little over $300 for a pair including taxes and shipping. The suggested MSRP from polk states these speakers should cost $499 each or a little over $1000 a pair. If one were to spend in the neighborhood of $1000 for a pair of speakers, it stands to reason to expect a noticeable upgrade in sound and build quality over the monitor 70's...at least that is what I tell myself.

Have you listened to any speakers at all? Do you know what characteristics you like in a speaker? Is that $500-800 budget supposed to be for 2 or 5 speakers?

You need some kind of reference point. What are you comparing these potentially awesome speakers to?

Sent an email or call the people at HTD or HSU. They will tell you what you need and steer you at the right direction according to your budget.

I would look at those HSU bookshelves. Good speaker for a great price

I agree as well. I wish they made towers rather than just bookshelves. Once we get our new house (hopefully next year), I will buy a new surround sound from HTD.

How big a room? What do you think will be your budget for a receiver? Sub? Just to see the whole picture so to speak.

For speakers the cubic measure of a room is more helpful, and if the room is sealed or open to others. Makes a big difference as to the space the speakers have to fill. Just between an 8' ceiling and a 10' ceiling would be a significant difference for your floor dimensions, let alone how much more if open to other rooms.

You might also think about starting 3.0 with the same speaker budget, or putting a little more towards a better sub. Personally I'd steer you to Ascend's 170SE/200SEs for your 5 speakers, but 340SEs for just front 3. Both a little more than your budget but nice stuff. Can't listen to them until in home but they do offer 30 days trial if you'll pay return shipping...unless you can find someone to demo them in home (have you checked out the threads for folk here on the speaker and sub forums willing to demo their setups?).

There is no need for towers if you have good subwoofers. Let the sub take care of the bass range. I think Hsu's speakers are really meant to compliment their subs, not vice versa the way it is with most speaker companies.

While HTD does make tower speakers, do not under-estimate something like the Level Three bookshelf.
With a nice sub, it can produce some big loud sound, and handle a nice size room.

I had read very good reviews about the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1

That enclosure design looks awfully familiar:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117405


My vote is you can have your incredible sound and your cash. Go down to your local Best Buy and compare the Pioneers to anything else they offer. You won't be disappointed.

look familiar but build quality?

Pioneer SP-BS21-LR










Wharfedale Diamond 10.1

There is a lot of better options than the pioneer out there, Like the speakers already mentioned here or the one you listed.

So we base speaker quality on dissections now? Have you heard them?

If you're willing to go two bookshelf speakers, try www.ascendacoustics.com sierra-1's; they receive excellent reviews and don't come up on the used market very often at all--which is a great sign of quality and owner satisfaction

This is an issue for me since I do not like bookshelf speakers. I like tower speakers better because of looks and do not need a stand. It would do in-wall speakers rather than bookshelf. Thats the reason why I am buying all around towers now .

How did you take the grills off? I need to fix one of the grills from my BS21 since my son dropped it a week ago.

Ascend is an internet-direct speaker company, so you wouldn't find them in a brick and mortar store. However, if you head over to the Ascend forum, you may be able to find someone who owns them near you and test them out. Inasmuch as surround sound is concerned, people often find it desirable to use the same speaker all the way around--which is what you can do with the Sierra's. I see you're not exactly interested in bookshelves, however--so that answers that

www.aperionaudio.com has some towers - they're in your price range, and Aperion offers free two-way shipping and has an excellent reputation.

http://www.aperionaudio.com/speakers/intimus-family/intimus-4t-tower-speaker

yes the Hsu have a very impressive sound for the price .
Edited by losservatore - 11/12/12 at 11:17am

Those towers would not be very good for anything loud. Not home theater speakers, IMO.

I've got infinity Primus 360s here. They are excellent speakers.
I've not given them a listen: but the word far and wide is that the current crop of Pioneers is even better for the price.

I've listened to the HSU bookshelves. Impressive presence and volume; and there's a return policy (so you can try them at home).
If you wanted to go tower in this price: EMP also deserves consideration (and again, home trial).

For HT: I think I'd go HSU in this price range. For music it's a harder call.

I didn't know that UPS delivered during the Holiday. They came at about 5 PM and delievered my Monitor 70 towers YAY

Update: It's 2 AM, and I just unboxed both towers. I AM SO GLAD I WENT WITH THE POLKS. THEY LOOK AWESOME. Anyway, the speakers weren't damage at all, but the screen are cracked. The screen still usable, and you can't see the crack, but I know they are there and it is bugging the hell out of me. I've contacted newegg.com about it, and they told me what I knew already, which was to contact Polk Audio to replace the grills. I'll give them a call tomorrow.
Edited by GusGus748s - 11/13/12 at 2:02am