[xlucent]

I'm shopping for some "entry-level home theater" speakers and have more or less narrowed my choices down to the following:


1) Athena Point 5 MKII System


2) Klipsch Synergy Series Quintet II


3) Cambridge Soundworks - 4 MC100 sats with an MC150 Center


I'll be using the speakers with a Marantz SR5200 receiver and, for the time being, an old Yamaha YST-SW100 sub. The room is 20X20X20 but floor space is kinda limited and two of the walls are mostly glass. I definitely need speakers with a fairly small footprint. I realize there are better speakers available but I'm pretty much limited to the $400 range for this at the moment. Any thoughts, advice or suggestions (other than divorce) would be appreciated.

 

[Kipp Jones]

You should do ok with any of the three. Do yourself a favor and go listen to each and choose what sounds best to you.

 

[xlucent]

I agree about checking them out in advance. Unfortunately, I don't live anywhere near Cambridge Soundworks and there are no dealers in my state. They're the ones that are the big unknown to me and I'm not sure how they'll sound in comparison to the Klipsch or Athena speakers.

 

[jseahawk]

I was in almost the same boat as you. After spending a month listening and reading, I decided to get Athena Point 5 speakers and Panasonic SA-XR25 receiver at Best Buy.


The speakers are broken in now and so far I love everything. I didn't listen to anything from Cambridge. I listened to several Klipsch speakers extensively at two different stores during my search. I wouldn't trade my Athena S.5 speakers straight across for the my favorite model of Klipsch speakers (RB-15).


I was just about ready to pull the trigger and buy Ascend CMB-170 speakers, but really wanted to try out something smaller first that I thought might come close. Why not when a local store has them with a 30 day return policy? Glad I did.

 

[NikePenguin]

I have owned a CSW system that seems comparable to the one you are looking at. I can't comment on how it sounds in comparison to the other two but I have never been disappointed in them.


Are you looking to buy the CSW speakers separately? They sell a system with those components plus a small passive sub for $400 - $20 less than just the five speakers. A much better deal if you can stretch it is the MovieWorks 108 which has an 8" powered sub. The powered sub makes a huge difference.

 

[xlucent]

I'd considered the Movieworks 108 system but I already own a powered sub (the Yamaha YST-SW100) and decided that I should use it rather than buy a new one. (Okay...my wife decided that but it does make sense.)


The Marantz SR5200 receiver has a pretty warm sound so I'm looking for fairly bright sounding speakers to balance it. The Klipsch, Athena and CSW speakers were all recommended to me by various people. I can go listen to the Klipsch and Athena's but the CSW's aren't available locally.


Based on the comments and replies, it doesn't seem like there is a hugely significant difference between the 3 options so I'll probably go listen to the Klipsch and Athenas and pick one of them.

 

[bmedude]

i put a set of athena point 5's long with the athena asp-300 sub in my living room and it blows me away whether i'm watching a dvd or just watching regular cable. You can't go wrong if you choose any of the speakers you listed, but i feel that the athenas are of much better quality than the quintets(they look better too).

 

[DooDoo]

If you are looking at CSW and dont live near one, the you should check their ebay site hifi.com (or something similar). They offer nice discounts on many B-stock speakers and have the same 10 year warranty

 

[xlucent]

Thanks for all the input and advice! After listening to both the Klipsch and the Athenas, I decided to go with the Athena MKII speakers. I think they'll work the best with the rest of my stuff. Now if I can just figure out how to run all this cable!


Thanks again. You guys are great.