Our native mobile app has a new name: Fora Communities. Learn more.

First speaker upgrade in 10 years. Need some help

1346 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Ryan Statz, May 27, 2021

justice8965

Discussion Starter · May 26, 2021

Hey all. Finally got my own home and am working toward upgrading my HT setup to match. So far I'm set on the TV, receiver and sub. Now I need C/L/R and two surrounds. With so much to choose from, I have no idea what suits my needs at my budget.

My current setup:

Yamaha RX-V4A receiver
Sony 75" x900h TV
HSU VTF-15H MK2 Sub
2x Polk RTi8 towers for L/R
Polk CSi A6 for center

I'm looking to upgrade the C/L/R speakers. I'd prefer towers for the L/R speakers.
I'm also looking to add two surrounds now that I have the space for it to turn my 3.1 into a 5.1.

So that's 5 speakers. My budget is around ~$2k USD. They will be used for movies and gaming, very little music.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Reactions: 1

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

Zorba922

· #2 · May 26, 2021

justice8965 said:
Hey all. Finally got my own home and am working toward upgrading my HT setup to match. So far I'm set on the TV, receiver and sub. Now I need C/L/R and two surrounds. With so much to choose from, I have no idea what suits my needs at my budget.

My current setup:

Yamaha RX-V4A receiver
Sony 75" x900h TV
HSU VTF-15H MK2 Sub
2x Polk RTi8 towers for L/R
Polk CSi A6 for center

I'm looking to upgrade the C/L/R speakers. I'd prefer towers for the L/R speakers.
I'm also looking to add two surrounds now that I have the space for it to turn my 3.1 into a 5.1.

So that's 5 speakers. My budget is around ~$2k USD. They will be used for movies and gaming, very little music.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Your RTi8 towers aren't bad, it's the CSiA6 that most urgently needs replacement.
If you wanted to stay within the Polk family you could pick up the LSi 706C for $400 from the Polk Outlet online.

If you want the VISUAL uniformity of a "matching" front 3 then make a beeline to the Harman website and get a pair of the R263 towers on sale for $500/pr with the 3-way RC263 center for $350 and you'll be all set.

Infinity REFERENCE 263 | 6-1/2" 3-Way Floorstanding Speaker

Infinity's Reference R263 three way floorstanding home speaker offers detailed, spacious, room-filling sound that will bring your music and movies to life.

www.harmanaudio.com

Infinity REFERENCE RC263 | 3-Way Center Channel Speaker

Infinity REFERENCE RC263 dual three way center channel speaker accommodates with any home theater system & has crystal clear sound quality with low distortion.

www.harmanaudio.com

No need to spend more money unless you simply WANT to.

See less See more

Reactions: 2

sigpig

· #3 · May 26, 2021

Klipsch RP-280 towers and RP-450C from Crutchfield is $1200 with free shipping.
Emotiva T2+ and C2+
The above Infinity Reference.
Chane A5.5 and A2.5.
Heck, if you have the room for a third vertical tower for a centre, the JBL Studio 5xx series is on sale for half-off - three 590 towers would be $1500 (and proportionally less for the 580 and 570 towers).

Reactions: 3

justice8965

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 26, 2021

Zorba922 said:
Your RTi8 towers aren't bad, it's the CSiA6 that most urgently needs replacement.
If you wanted to stay within the Polk family you could pick up the LSi 706C for $400 from the Polk Outlet online.

If you want the VISUAL uniformity of a "matching" front 3 then make a beeline to the Harman website and get a pair of the R263 towers on sale for $500/pr with the 3-way RC263 center for $350 and you'll be all set.

Infinity REFERENCE 263 | 6-1/2" 3-Way Floorstanding Speaker

Infinity's Reference R263 three way floorstanding home speaker offers detailed, spacious, room-filling sound that will bring your music and movies to life.

www.harmanaudio.com

Infinity REFERENCE RC263 | 3-Way Center Channel Speaker

Infinity REFERENCE RC263 dual three way center channel speaker accommodates with any home theater system & has crystal clear sound quality with low distortion.

www.harmanaudio.com

No need to spend more money unless you simply WANT to.

No need to stay Polk. I don't mind spending more money for more quality. I want something that I can enjoy for another several years

Garet Jax

· #5 · May 26, 2021

As Zorba and sigpig said, your best options are the:

Infinity 263 Center and Towers
JBL Studio 590 + 520C
Emotiva T2+ + C2+

Reactions: 2

justice8965

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 26, 2021

sigpig said:
Klipsch RP-280 towers and RP-450C from Crutchfield is $1200 with free shipping.
Emotiva T2+ and C2+
The above Infinity Reference.
Chane A5.5 and A2.5.
Heck, if you have the room for a third vertical tower for a centre, the JBL Studio 5xx series is on sale for half-off - three 590 towers would be $1500 (and proportionally less for the 580 and 570 towers).

I was just doing lots of reading about the T2+/C2+/B1s. I can't find a negative comment about them anywhere. For 1.6k for the whole 5 speaker setup, that seems like a great value

Garet Jax

· #7 · May 26, 2021

justice8965 said:
No need to stay Polk. I don't mind spending more money for more quality. I want something that I can enjoy for another several years

What is your budget? There are some speakers for sale in the classifieds that I might look at very hard if I were you. JBL HDI 3600 + HDI 4500 or Polk LSiM 707 + 706 C + 703 + 702 or PSA MTM210s.

[EDIT] Just saw your $2000 budget. All the options I presented above are above that.

Zorba922

· #8 · May 26, 2021

justice8965 said:
I was just doing lots of reading about the T2+/C2+/B1s. I can't find a negative comment about them anywhere. For 1.6k for the whole 5 speaker setup, that seems like a great value

Yes, I think the Emotivas even at their regular pricing are the best deal around. Only the Infinity Reference when on deep discounts can beat them, or the JBL Stage A and Studio series though the JBLs lack a truly good 3-way center. The Emotivas only significant drawback is aesthetics, if that matters to you.

Reactions: 1

justice8965

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 26, 2021

Zorba922 said:
Yes, I think the Emotivas even at their regular pricing are the best deal around. Only the Infinity Reference when on deep discounts can beat them, or the JBL Stage A and Studio series though the JBLs lack a truly good 3-way center. The Emotivas only significant drawback is aesthetics, if that matters to you.

They're certainly not pretty haha. But they look good enough to me, my whole setup is black so they'll blend right in. Do they go on sale at any regular interval? If there's something coming up soon I might wait, otherwise I'm pulling the trigger next week

Reactions: 1

Zorba922

· #10 · May 26, 2021

justice8965 said:
They're certainly not pretty haha. But they look good enough to me, my whole setup is black so they'll blend right in. Do they go on sale at any regular interval? If there's something coming up soon I might wait, otherwise I'm pulling the trigger next week

I've only seen Emotiva go on sale whenever they're introducing a new model update and clearancing the old ones. Otherwise they might offer a bundle discount around Black Friday ("Emobucks") but that's about it. With the current pandemic shipping crunch that might not even happen this year. So yeah, I'd go ahead and order while the C2+ and B1+ are still in stock.

I suspect they make their real profits from their electronics not their passive speakers which likely have pretty thin margins.

Ryan Statz

· #11 · May 26, 2021

justice8965 said:
Hey all. Finally got my own home and am working toward upgrading my HT setup to match. So far I'm set on the TV, receiver and sub. Now I need C/L/R and two surrounds. With so much to choose from, I have no idea what suits my needs at my budget.

My current setup:

Yamaha RX-V4A receiver
Sony 75" x900h TV
HSU VTF-15H MK2 Sub
2x Polk RTi8 towers for L/R
Polk CSi A6 for center

I'm looking to upgrade the C/L/R speakers. I'd prefer towers for the L/R speakers.
I'm also looking to add two surrounds now that I have the space for it to turn my 3.1 into a 5.1.

So that's 5 speakers. My budget is around ~$2k USD. They will be used for movies and gaming, very little music.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

I'd go with Emotiva T2+ and the C2+, and you'd have plenty of money left in your pocket.

Reactions: 1

RayGuy

· #12 · May 26, 2021 (Edited)

Chane A5.5 L&R + A2.4 for the center. The A1.5 or 4.5 can do the surround duty.

Chane Music Cinema

These speakers get glowing reviews here and have won many a shoot-out.

Reactions: 1

justice8965

Discussion Starter · #13 · May 26, 2021

Thanks for the advice everyone. I pulled the trigger on the Emotiva set. Now to tell the wife the towers are 12"x12"

Reactions: 3

SteveCallas

· #14 · May 27, 2021

Speakers aren’t like a tv where there is a definitive best, they are more like ice cream where you prefer one flavor vs another. You need to go out and listen to speakers if you want the best sound for your money.

Reactions: 2

Ryan Statz

· #15 · May 27, 2021

justice8965 said:
Thanks for the advice everyone. I pulled the trigger on the Emotiva set. Now to tell the wife the towers are 12"x12"

As always, be sure to let us know your impressions once you have everything set up, and have had some time to listen.

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.