Ok, I've been scouring this board the last week or so and finally decided I needed to post a thread to get some advice.
My current setup is about 10-12 years old (except for the receiver which is only about 2 years old). We moved 6 months ago and are finishing our basement and here is where I'm going to place my home theater. I currently have a smaller 5.1 setup, I'm going to make it a 7.1 and slowly replace all the speakers (can't afford to do it all at once). This is primarily for movies, tv, games, a little bit of music but not much. Here is the current setup:
Receiver -- Yamaha HTR-5960
Center -- BOSE VCS-10
Fronts -- BOSE 301 Series II
Rears -- BOSE 141
Sub -- Sony, unsure of the model, nothing special
(I got a deal on a BOSE package at SAM's club in college... don't laugh too hard... and until now haven't had a room large enough to warrant the upgrade)
Attached is a mock up of our floor plan with the essential info, along with where I EXPECT the speakers should go (correct if I'm wrong). Keep in mind that to the left of the chair their is actually more to the room, but the ceiling will drop about 7" lower and there will be a section there for mounting a speaker (where the right surround speaker is marked). The rear and surround speakers will be wall mounted about 7 feet up (I can't make them any lower due to doors / open space).
I want to replace my current rears and add another set for surrounds to complete the 7.1 right away, and then over the next few months replace the fronts, center, and sub.
My research is pointing me toward Polk Monitor 30's for the rear 4 (~ $100 per pair), 60's or 70's (if I can get them on sale like the newegg deals of late) (~$150-175 per speaker), a CS1 for center (~$100) and PSW10 (~$120) for sub. Does this sound right? Does anyone have any counter setups I should be looking at? This is the max of my price I can go with, so suggestions need to stay at or less than this.
One of my potential issues is that where the rear speakers are going I only have about 11" (the actual height of the monitor 30's) of height to work with, if I have to set them horizontally and build a shelf, does that affect the sound quality at all?
The right surround will actually be dangling slightly below the section of wall I have to work with (about 3-4 inches) but should be high enough not to have anyone bump their head... are there any smaller speakers I should be considering for the rears and surrounds?
I will be purchasing the 30's right away, then was planning on doing the center in a month or two, the fronts another month or so after that, then the sub.
I think I have a lot of this figured out (hence the novel above), but this is a larger investment for me and I want to make sure I do it right and you guys are the experts.
Any advice is appreciated!
Chris

My current setup is about 10-12 years old (except for the receiver which is only about 2 years old). We moved 6 months ago and are finishing our basement and here is where I'm going to place my home theater. I currently have a smaller 5.1 setup, I'm going to make it a 7.1 and slowly replace all the speakers (can't afford to do it all at once). This is primarily for movies, tv, games, a little bit of music but not much. Here is the current setup:
Receiver -- Yamaha HTR-5960
Center -- BOSE VCS-10
Fronts -- BOSE 301 Series II
Rears -- BOSE 141
Sub -- Sony, unsure of the model, nothing special
(I got a deal on a BOSE package at SAM's club in college... don't laugh too hard... and until now haven't had a room large enough to warrant the upgrade)
Attached is a mock up of our floor plan with the essential info, along with where I EXPECT the speakers should go (correct if I'm wrong). Keep in mind that to the left of the chair their is actually more to the room, but the ceiling will drop about 7" lower and there will be a section there for mounting a speaker (where the right surround speaker is marked). The rear and surround speakers will be wall mounted about 7 feet up (I can't make them any lower due to doors / open space).
I want to replace my current rears and add another set for surrounds to complete the 7.1 right away, and then over the next few months replace the fronts, center, and sub.
My research is pointing me toward Polk Monitor 30's for the rear 4 (~ $100 per pair), 60's or 70's (if I can get them on sale like the newegg deals of late) (~$150-175 per speaker), a CS1 for center (~$100) and PSW10 (~$120) for sub. Does this sound right? Does anyone have any counter setups I should be looking at? This is the max of my price I can go with, so suggestions need to stay at or less than this.
One of my potential issues is that where the rear speakers are going I only have about 11" (the actual height of the monitor 30's) of height to work with, if I have to set them horizontally and build a shelf, does that affect the sound quality at all?
The right surround will actually be dangling slightly below the section of wall I have to work with (about 3-4 inches) but should be high enough not to have anyone bump their head... are there any smaller speakers I should be considering for the rears and surrounds?
I will be purchasing the 30's right away, then was planning on doing the center in a month or two, the fronts another month or so after that, then the sub.
I think I have a lot of this figured out (hence the novel above), but this is a larger investment for me and I want to make sure I do it right and you guys are the experts.
Any advice is appreciated!
Chris
