5.1 speaker recommendation for small living room

Hello all,

I'm looking for recommendations on a 5.1 speaker setup for a small living room. Below is my meticulously created floorplan (I'm kidding, it's terrible) to give you an idea of what I'm working with.


click to see a larger version

The living room is roughly 16' x 9.5' with the TV mounted on the wall (blue rectangle) above a TV stand (black recentangle) and there is about 4 feet in between the couch (brown rectangle) and the front of the TV stand. The red circles are roughly where the previous tenant had speakers mounted on the ceiling. The ceiling is kind of cathedral-like. They peak at the wall the TV is mounted on at about 11' high and then angle down to the wall the futon is against at about 8' though he had all 4 speakers mounted at about 7' all around. I'm assuming he used bookshelf speakers. They were kind of corner mounted. The previous tenant is my landlord, so I could ask him what kind of brackets/mounts he used, but I figured I would get some advice here first.

I'm looking at buying a Denon AVR-1913 to drive the speakers. The TV is used for cable TV, bluray movies, and video games (Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii).

I was thinking maybe a set of Energy Take Classic 5.1's or maybe MLT-2's. I'm a HT noob, so if I left out anything, let me know.

Thanks!

Ah sorry about that - The receiver I've already priced out, so no worries on that.

The speakers, I'm thinking around $300-$400. Preferably from Amazon if possible, because I have some gift cards to burn. Sorry, I thought that was obvious from the two choices of speakers I gave above.

Yes, I would prefer getting them all at once. I figure I can always upgrade later, but I'd rather have a full set. So that's a +1 for the MLT-2's. Good to know. I'm surprised you haven't heard of the Energy's - I *only* heard about them here and people seem to love them, and others think they're just "okay."

As far as towers go, I can't fit them. There just isn't the space for it. That's probably why the landlord had his speakers mounted in all 4 corners. There just isn't enough space in between the door to the sewing room and the door to the office with the TV there. If I had a smaller TV and no stand there, maybe, but that's not the case.

When people refer to Energy speakers, they are usually talking about the Take ones. At least in every case I've seen here.

$500 is way over budget. The bottom one is no good either because it's a tower, and I can't fit tower speakers in the room.

Also neither option is from Amazon, so I can't apply my gift cards. Having $150 off is a big difference.

Thanks, guys. I don't want to break the bank. I'm not an audiophile, so the Energy's or the MLT-2's may be all I want for years. I would rather spend $300-$400 on "decent" speakers that will last me rather than $300-$400 on the "best" fronts and then have to save for 6 months before I can get surrounds/sub. Why gimp my system by only using 2 out of 6 speakers (including sub)?

p3orion - $400 fronts means you only have to spend $250 or so on a sub and you're done. $400 fronts for me means I have another $650 to go before my setup is done. Eh, to each their own but I see no point in even owning an AVR in that case. Why bother spending $400-$500 on a receiver that you're not going to use? I would rather get a soundbar for $150 and use the TV speakers and you achieve almost the same thing. Again, to each their own, that's just not a choice I would make.

bitterwaste - so the MLT-2's are good? How do they stack up against the Energy's? I know the MLT-2's are actually rebranded Paradigm Cinema 90's, but I'm not familiar with how good they are. I do know many have been happy with the Energy's, though. And both are sold on Amazon. Actually all 3, but the "true" Paradigm 5.1 set is $700.

*EDIT* As an aside, I don't have the option of selling the Amazon cards because I already applied them to my account. It never even crossed my mind to do so because I've never NOT found a use for them. The reason I got them as a gift to begin with is because I shop on Amazon often.

*EDIT AGAIN* Actually I forgot about Center. So $400 now, then I'd have to buy another pair at $400, plus a center, plus a sub. So we're talking probably another $400 so $800 more on top of the $400 for $1200 total. I have absolutely no need for $1200 5.1 setup in a 16x9 living room. Again, I'm not an audiophile. I just want something that sounds nice that I can play my bluray movies and video games on. That's overkill :P
Edited by DJLittleMike - 12/28/12 at 2:57pm

Jim - Thanks for the suggestions. How do those two stack up against the other two? Or are all four comparable?

p3orion - Wow, great find on the 1712! Yea, unfortunately I have not caught any great sales, but AC4L has a great price on the receivers I was looking at. I'm glad you see my point. I wasn't trying to be mean about it, just personally it's not a decision I would make. Especially because the 1913 is 7.1. I'd feel like I wasted money doing it that way. :P And yes, they would definitely be a step-up no matter which ones I get.

Uncola - Are there any other 5.1 sets that are close to that range? Or beyond the MLT-2's is it more a matter of buying separates? I'd rather buy the MLT-2's if that's the case. If I decide I've outgrown them, I can consider separates. For now, I want a one-stop solution, so to speak without going cheap. Inexpensive if I can help it, but not cheap

Gotcha. I appreciate it. I was hoping there would be more choices without going separates, but it looks like in my price range, that's about it. I know at least 2 of those 4 are top-rated for their class, at least. I am leaning towards the MLT-2's as that seems to be a favorite.

Okay, to throw another monkey wrench in the mix - NewEgg has the MLT-2's on sale for $299. If I bought those and bought the 1913 on Amazon as opposed to buying it refurb from AC4L, it would cost almost the same (about $50 more) but I would have a brand new receiver and get the speakers for a decent price. Decisions, decisions!

I'm a little confused. So are you saying DON'T go for the MLT-2's? Honestly, I can't fit towers in this room, unfortunately. If we ever decide to redo the living room, I might, but that's an if and when kind of deal. If you mean that the MLT's are good but just have a crappy sub, I can always trade that out when I get more cash and keep the rest of them, right?

Oh, okay, good. Just when I think I've narrowed down the speaker choice, then I thought I had to rethink everything. *whew* Haha you have all been very helpful, thank you. So picking up the MLT-2's at $299 is a good idea?

Gotcha. So good for the price, but not going to sound like a more expensive setup. Sounds perfectly reasonable.

You're right - I do see an awful lot of "I had this, now I'm getting this" around here. I will probably be doing the same in the future

And no, I haven't heard them yet. I don't know of anywhere local that carries them that I can go in and demo them. I figured I would kind of fly blind on this one and take a chance based on how many good recommendations they have.

I don't like the xx12 series. I want the 1913 because it has 7.1, video upsampling (that's very good from what I understand), networking, and a bunch of other features I'm looking for. You're right - everyone here says to go with the cheapest receiver that has the features you want - the 1913 is it. ACL has it for $379 refurb. I was seriously considering picking it up there and then picking up the Energy Take 5's or MTL-2's from Amazon. With the $150 gift cards I have, it would be $630 bucks or so. If I go with the MTL-2's, NewEgg has them on sale for $299. If I buy them there and then get the 1913 brand new at Amazon, minus my $150, it winds up being like $675 or something. So in other words, for an extra $50 I get a brand new 1913. That's worth the small difference in price.

I understand you think I should get better speakers, but why would I get a receiver I don't want just to get good speakers? The speakers are the easiest to upgrade, so realistically spending more on the receiver makes more sense at first, then upgrade the speakers (and spend more on them) when you have the money to upgrade. This way you get both a receiver you want, AND the speakers you want. If you have to get cheaper speakers to get by on before you can afford the ones you really want (because you SHOULD be spending more money on them) then that's all the better because you can still use the great receiver you went with. Follow my logic on that?

Congrats on getting the Take's for so cheap. That's a good deal. Hopefully I will be joining you in the near future in being able to enjoy a new HT system

Here are the numbers in all possible combinations of stores:

Buying the 1913:
AC4L - 379
Amazon - 529 (or 379 with the gift cards)

Buying the Energy's:
399 everywhere

Buying the MLT-2's:
Amazon - 379 (or 229 with the gift cards)
NewEgg - 299

The cheapest option is the MLT-2's. So Let's say I buy them at NewEgg. That's 299. For the 1913, let's say I buy it at AC4L, that's 379. Together, that's $628.

The other option is one or both at Amazon. So let's say I go with AC4L for the 1913. That's 379. Then I buy the MLT2's at Amazon. That's 379 - 150 = 229.
379 (AVR) + 229 (MLT2's) = 608. You can argue that it is a worse deal doing it that way because I'll be getting a refurb 1913. For $20 more, I get a brand new 1913 and the same speakers.

Having an extra $150 isn't going to change the price on anything so I'll be spending the same amount of money. The only thing it would do is give me a bigger budget on speakers. So let's take the cheapest combination and add on $150 to the budget:

1913 at AC4L - $379
Cheapest price on the AC4L - $299
Sell the gift cards for $150 - +$150
Speaker budget is now $449

What am I going to get in a 5.1 setup for $449? Either MLT2's or Energy Takes because the only other option is to go separates and as we already figured out, that's going to be over $600 (lowballing it here at $100 a speaker) which puts it over budget. Let's say bookshelf speakers are *minimum* $200/pair. That's 2 fronts 2 surrounds = $400. Then a center, let's go with $150. Now we're up to $550 and I still haven't even bought a sub.

The point is, as much as I appreciate your help, the extra $150 does not allow me to get anything better in a 5.1 setup. If I want to get a kickass set of just fronts and nothing else, sure, $449 will get me that, but that defeats the whole purpose of buying the AVR to begin with, like I said earlier.