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Hi Everyone! Since you're checking out this thread, hopefully with the idea of offering me some advice, I want to say thank you in advance. Also, I know that offering subjective speaker recommendations over the internet is ... well, subjective.
But what I'm really looking for are suggestions about speakers setups that will fit my price range that I can hopefully go out and listen to.
I'm in the process of having a 20' x 15' dedicated home theater built in my home. We are still in the design phase, but I've reached that point where I need to start making some equipment choices because it will affect other decisions. As for my speaker setup preferences, I plan on using a 7.1 setup utilizing an acoustically transparent screen for the LCRs; and dipoles for surrounds in columns against the wall to maximize the sound isolation of the room. I'm not really concerned with the rear speakers or subwoofer(s) yet. I'm primarily interested in LCR and dipole surround speakers $5k ballpark.
One of the main reasons I'm coming to this forum looking for advice is that most of the stores in my area don't have a room set up to A/B different speakers. I hate to say it, but my local Magnolia/Best Buy seems to be the only retailer I've found so far that gets it right: one source, one amplifier, and every speaker they sell on tap to listen to. That being said, the best sounding speakers they had (to my ear) were the B&W CM8s. Nothing else came close while watching the final sinking scene of Titanic on Bluray. That was compared to Klipsch, DefTech, Energy and Martin Logan. The company building my theater added Paradigm and Revel to the mix, but no way of comparing the two equally in the same room. Of the two, I am partial to Paradigm because I have a set of Mini Monitors and a CC-370 in my den/living room. So the B&Ws and the Paradigms are my front runners right now, but I have no way to compare them side by side.
So what other speakers should I be looking at before I buy? My budget is around $5k for the left, right, center, and a pair of dipole surrounds.

I'm in the process of having a 20' x 15' dedicated home theater built in my home. We are still in the design phase, but I've reached that point where I need to start making some equipment choices because it will affect other decisions. As for my speaker setup preferences, I plan on using a 7.1 setup utilizing an acoustically transparent screen for the LCRs; and dipoles for surrounds in columns against the wall to maximize the sound isolation of the room. I'm not really concerned with the rear speakers or subwoofer(s) yet. I'm primarily interested in LCR and dipole surround speakers $5k ballpark.
One of the main reasons I'm coming to this forum looking for advice is that most of the stores in my area don't have a room set up to A/B different speakers. I hate to say it, but my local Magnolia/Best Buy seems to be the only retailer I've found so far that gets it right: one source, one amplifier, and every speaker they sell on tap to listen to. That being said, the best sounding speakers they had (to my ear) were the B&W CM8s. Nothing else came close while watching the final sinking scene of Titanic on Bluray. That was compared to Klipsch, DefTech, Energy and Martin Logan. The company building my theater added Paradigm and Revel to the mix, but no way of comparing the two equally in the same room. Of the two, I am partial to Paradigm because I have a set of Mini Monitors and a CC-370 in my den/living room. So the B&Ws and the Paradigms are my front runners right now, but I have no way to compare them side by side.
So what other speakers should I be looking at before I buy? My budget is around $5k for the left, right, center, and a pair of dipole surrounds.