Help finding 5.1 speakers for around 400

I JUST sold my energy takes 5.0 2 mos of used for $60.

i didnt skip on energy models, i still have energy speakers! bigger speakers for my 5.1 set up
Edited by caloyzki - 3/21/13 at 11:57am

So you want 5 speakers for $400? Do you already have a sub and receiver?

Sorry, I see it clearly says "5.1" system.

One important consideration...how big is your room? if your room is large, IMHO, you are wasting your money on a small sat system. Again, IF your room is large...I would got 2.0 for now and them get a sub later.
the Take Classic or the MLT-2 system are really designed for small apartment sized rooms and will struggle in bigger rooms.

that is my main budget too before i am palnning on starting a 5.1 setup to. ended up with these speakers but ofcourse all of them i got it with discounts.

you should be good for energy takes or martin logan with that budget. but sometimes energy takes you can buy them on sale too. just keep looking and and some patience. i bought my energy takes 5.0 for $169 on sale at newegg.

I beleive the Martin Logan ML-2 has slightly bigger woofers, but both would be considered Satellite speakers. And the subwoofers for both systems won't remind you of anything good.

why dont get these one instead? http://www.amazon.com/Jamo-426-HCS-WENGE-5-Piece/dp/B003GGXGU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363899035&sr=8-1&keywords=jamo

2 x Pioneer SP-BS22-LR = $127.50
1 x Pioneer SP-C22 = $97.50
2 x BIC DV32 = $50
1 x Dayton Audio SUB-1000 = $119
Total = $394

OR

2 x BIC DV62si = $110
1 x BIC DV62CLR-S = $100
2 x BIC DV32 = $50
1 x Dayton Audio SUB-1200 = $144
Total = $404

These are just examples--swap the subwoofers for a couple of additional options.

How do they sound? They seem to have gotten plenty of good reviews on Amazon, but what some of the bad reviews say does not inspire confidence. Maybe I should head down to Fry's and hear them for myself when I get a chance.
Edited by Robert Cook - 3/21/13 at 5:07pm

is dayton 1200 subwoofer are really good for his specs? it looks good.

I've helped people select and set up low-end systems that included slightly older versions of Dayton Audio subs (which reportedly haven't changed much), and have always had positive results and satisfied owners. They sound fine to me in the <$200 price range--no match for the Klipsch RW-12d, for example, but on the other hand I'm not 100% convinced that the BIC F12 is much better than the 12" Dayton sub.

Here are some reviews of the current version:
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1386049/dayton-audio-sub-1200/0_100
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1414577/dayton-sub-1200-review/0_100

One person even said that it's an upgrade from the Polk Audio PSW505, and if there is any merit to that statement, then the SUB-1200 would seem to be quite the bargain!

How big is your room

What will you be listening to and how much?

Thanks.

The newer Pioneer SP-BS22-LR that Robert listed have been under $100 in the past couple of months. If you set some price alerts on Amazon (use http://camelcamelcamel.com/) and slickdeals.net, you might catch 'em on sale again. Also, subscribe to the owners thread since someone will probably post if they go on sale again: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1278774/pioneers-speaker-genius-hits-low-price-point

I wonder if it hits harder (more output) or sounds better? I thought the PSW505 does a pretty good job for a $200 sub (when on sale), but if the Dayton is even close, certainly seems like the bargain.

Seems like dayton 12 has a good reviews! I just pull the trigger!

Yeah, I've seen them as low as $69/pair at Amazon.com and sometimes in-store-only at Fry's, which is an unbeatable deal.

The impression that I got from reading the reviews was that the Dayton hits harder and maybe could get louder. In my experience, the SUB-120 (very similar previous version) does fine in small rooms (even the little SUB-80 was pretty good); I haven't tested it in larger rooms. It digs pretty deep, albeit not quite as deep as the F12, come to think of it (much depends on the room, so who knows?). The PSW505 reportedly does not dig as deep as either of them.

Cool! I hope that you like it--keep the rest of us informed.