Need 2.0 Speaker Suggestions

obobski said:
honestly if you're seeing $1300+, you're not looking hard enough, or you've ignored EVERYTHING that has been said in this thread, if thats the case, why bother asking for advice and wasting everyone's time?
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About the only thing people keep mentioning is refurb/used equipment. I'm sure if I do go refurb, it would cost much less, but I'm not all that interested in used or refurb. I'm also only looking at one manufacturer for the entire set so that (1) they match and (2) hopefully the equipment was designed to work together to give better sound. There's probably a few people that would laugh at that statement.

obobski said:
and yes, you need a receiver or some other form of decoder/processor, how else did you expect it to work?
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The motherboard for the computer I'm looking to build already has 8 analog output channels, so I assumed (maybe incorrectly) that the audio was already processed. All I though it would need is amplification before going to the speakers.

Did I mention I am a total n00b when it comes to audio equipment?

I estimate the computer I am planning to build to cost around $1000, and whatever TV I will get is around $800-$900. Personally, I think it's ridiculous if the speakers cost more than the TV or computer, so I've set myself a new budget of $800 or less. And since this includes the cost of the receiver (~$300), that leaves only $500 for speakers, which I doubt can be done with a matching set using the towers I've been looking at. I have all of the information I need to keep searching on my own so there's no need to keep wasting everybody's time.
 
a few people have suggested brand new equipment from The Speaker Company and Energy, as well as other solutions, how is this refurb?

as far as the audio being processed, YES, the receiver does *NOT* handle that, it however DOES provide pre-amplification and amplification, an external amplifier costs FAR more, because thats "enthusiast" level equipment (and if you're gonna complain "oh but its too complex it should work the way I originally thought of it", too bad, it is what it is)

as far as buying towers, there is no need if you're adding a subwoofer and similar, you can get away with a plenty nice setup with decent bookshelves and a sub (i.e: the TSC/Energy combos people keep handing you)
 
obobski said:
a few people have suggested brand new equipment from The Speaker Company and Energy, as well as other solutions, how is this refurb?

as far as the audio being processed, YES, the receiver does *NOT* handle that, it however DOES provide pre-amplification and amplification, an external amplifier costs FAR more, because thats "enthusiast" level equipment (and if you're gonna complain "oh but its too complex it should work the way I originally thought of it", too bad, it is what it is)

as far as buying towers, there is no need if you're adding a subwoofer and similar, you can get away with a plenty nice setup with decent bookshelves and a sub (i.e: the TSC/Energy combos people keep handing you)
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Hey obobski. There are two things I want to mention about what I said. First, I don't remember every suggestion that was given here, but I'm pretty sure every receiver people suggested was refurb. I also think a few of the speakers suggested were also used/refurb, but I could be thinking of other threads I've been reading lately. Second, per your comment about the cost and those Energy speakers, I was only looking at floorstanding speakers and systems at the time, not 5 satellite systems. If you want me make a list of the speaker systems I looked at to show they cost $1200 I can, but I think that would be a waste of my time and yours. Regardless of these comments, I am now looking at speaker systems very much like the Energy speakers that were suggested, however I'm not sure about the Energy speakers themselves. I've read online and they get great reviews, but if you look at their specs they only go down to 115Hz/110Hz. Instead, I've searched around and have a few sets I'm currently looking at. Oh, and thanks persisting1 for mentioning TSC. Spec and price-wise, the P100-HT speakers look great. I wouldn't have seen them if you hadn't suggested them.

1) TSC P100-HT 5.1 Speaker Set - $297.97
2) DT ProCinema 60 5.1 Speaker Set - $399
3) Onkyo HTS 6200 HTIB - $599
4) Fluance SXHTB+ 5.1 Speaker Set - $299

Personally, I think it's a toss-up between the DT ProCinema and the TSC P100-HT. I'm a little skeptical of the Onkyo HTIB as I've read that HTIB's generally are not that great. Lastly, I put the fluance set up simply because they were the only floorstanding speaker set I remember that were still in this price range and got good reviews. I'm curious to know if people agree with what I've selected here, or if they still think the Energy's are better.
 
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you'll have to get a subwoofer with those Energy sats, yes they do only go down to ~110 hz, so yes they do need a subwoofer if you want full range response
the same is true with any other full-sat setup, or HTIB that you're likely to buy (and I'd probably buy a speaker package before an HTIB)

and there is *NOTHING* wrong with refurb, it still has a return policy and warranty, its like certified pre-owned when buying a car, unless you're really that prissy and just can't stand the idea of someone ever having touched your devices before you (in which case, you can pay for that luxury)

although to give you an example of why $1200 is more than enough, you could build a full 5.1 setup with NS-777's for under $1200:

NS-777 - ~$450pr (newegg sometimes has free shipping promotion, amazon always if over $25)
NS-C444 - $120
NS-333 pair - $130
YST-SW315 - $210

that adds to $910
a basic receiver is around $100-$200 bringing you to $1000-$1100 finished and shipped (because amazon rocks)

if you switched out those fronts for NS-333's you'd save around $400, and if you switched out those fronts for NS-555's you'd save about $50

you could also replicate this with Polk or Klipsch or Mirage, $1000 or less isn't hard with a pair of towers up front

if you go with refurb equipment you'll get even better deals on the electronics

as far as "all the speakers have to be the same brand", no real reason overall, yeah theres probably some audiophile benefit to it, but as long as there isn't a huge difference in sensitivity or whatever else, there shouldn't be a dramatic difference once you've run the optimizer on your receiver (or done it by hand), especially since they're never going to be playing the exact same material at the exact same time for the exact same listening position, and I say this from experience and knowledge

honestly, if you want it all for under a grand, you're either gonna spend right up to $1000 or a little over, or you're gonna have to come down off it and accept a bit of mistmatched equipment (it will not have any compatability problems whatsoever (qualifier: if you're spectacular and hook 2 or 4 ohm speakers to an amplifier that can only drive 8-16 ohms, thats special of you, and the amp wont like you)) and/or refurbs/used gear, otherwise you're gonna sacrifice on quality somewhere to get the price into the $600-$700 range with only brand new cutesy equipment
 
Another suggested build (its what I am running in my Home Theater)

Fronts: Polk Audio Monitor 60's = 250

Center: Polk Audio CS2 (timbre matched to the Monitor series) = 120

Rears/Surrounds: Polk Audio Monitor 40's = 130

Sub (not what I would buy but it would work for a while) : Polk PSW110 = 200

total without receiver = 700

You could always buy a real cheap receiver to start with and then upgrade, but I would recommend against it personally. These speakers would last you quite some time and you could even add in better ones if you wanted for a little more (Monitor 70's for the fronts).
 
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