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Home Theater Suggestions for a Friend

team_tsp

team_tsp

Active Member
Hey everyone -

A friend of mine is wanting to put together a new home theater system, but he does have budget and space constraints. I've given him a few suggestions, but I wanted to see what suggestions you all had as well.

What my friend is looking for:
  • Either a 5 or 7 channel system (to be determined)
  • Doesn't like the idea of a sub since he lives in an apartment-style condo. I told him a small sub calibrated carefully shouldn't be an issue, but we'll see.
  • So either towers as front speakers + bookshelves for surround, or bookshelves all around with a small sub.
  • Total budget for all speakers is ~$700
  • To make things more challenging, he also wants the speakers to be as small as possible.
While he does appreciate good sound, he does have the above limitations. So I figured I'd try to give him some decent options instead of letting him buy a HTIB or buying generic speakers from Best Buy/Fry's etc.

I haven't heard any of these, but have suggested the following:
  • PSB Alpha B1 (I was a huge fan of the Image series, so hoping the Alpha is good also)
  • SVS Prime Satellite (Does SVS still make high value products?)
  • Pioneer Andrew Jones Designed Speakers (Popular with the masses, has anyone heard these?)
  • Elac Debut B6 (Another Andrew Jones Designed Speaker)

Does anyone else have suggestions for speakers?

Also, if he ends up wanting to get a sub, what's a good small sub to just fill in the bass? I remember there was a 10" Dayton Audio sub that was popular on these forums, does someone have the link for that?

Thanks!
 
I can vouch for the Ascend 340s. They are a tad bright but the clarity (likely due their brightness) is astounding. Dollar for dollar, a great sounding pair of speakers.
 
He lives in an apartment, has a $700 speaker budget, and has space restraints. I would abandon the subwoofer concept or attempts at surround sound and get a very good set of high quality bookshelf-sized speakers. A used set of Dynaudio or Focal speakers would be amazing in that situation. Or, perhaps a set of powered monitors like those from Dynaudio, Mackie, or similar.
 
Flint said:
He lives in an apartment, has a $700 speaker budget, and has space restraints. I would abandon the subwoofer concept or attempts at surround sound and get a very good set of high quality bookshelf-sized speakers. A used set of Dynaudio or Focal speakers would be amazing in that situation. Or, perhaps a set of powered monitors like those from Dynaudio, Mackie, or similar.
Click to expand...
THIS!

I am currently in an apartment and believe me a nice set of stereo speakers and a decent receiver will give you fantastic results.

John
 
Hi everyone, thanks for the replies so far.

I, myself, am a big fan of high quality 2 (or 2.1) bookshelf speaker setups.

But I double checked with my friend, and he is wanting 7 channel surround sound specifically. I think he will use the system 100% for movies and a few streaming shows, and really wants the surround effect.

Also, he is trying to maximize his screen size, so in this situation I think low cost and small size are the predominant factors for the speakers:expressionless:

I'll keep the links yall provided in mind, and will keep talking with him about the situation.
 
Good, clean, dynamic, and intelligible sound is VASTLY more important the surround. Getting a crappy surround setup will fulfill a fantasy, but not provide a better experience. It's like saying you want to die and get your 70 virgins only to find they are all 9 year old overweight boys. :)

That said, I would walk away and not help. He doesn't want a good sound experience. He wants to claim he has 7 speakers and sub.
 
So ... $700 for speakers.
What about a receiver? Does he have one? If not what's the budget or is that too coming out of the $700. If it is than I too would wish him good luck.

I'm also with the others in suggesting that he go 2.0 or 3.0 instead but if he's determined to go with a full surround system here is my speaker recommendation.

L/R - Polk TSi200 ($200/pr on Amazon)
C - PolK CS10 ($100 on Amazon)
Surrounds - Polk TSi100 ($130/pr on Amazon)

I don't think one can find a much better sounding speaker set for less. That's $430 for 5.0 or $560 for a 7.0 system. The TSi200s are a rear-ported MTM design and should do a decent job of handling bass frequencies without a sub. The TSi100 are smaller than the 200s but definitely bigger than any "micro" speaker I've heard but they aren't quite as capable in the bass department as the 200's. Since he's wanting the smallest speakers he may be tempted to go with the 100s but since he's going sub-less I'd advise sticking with the 200s

I'm very familiar with the speakers. In my living room I use the TSi200s and the larger CS20 along with an SVS 2039PC+ subwoofer. I'm not interested in surround sound in the livingroom so I'm only running a 3.1 system. I also have a CS10 brand new in the box that I was planning on using in a bedroom system but never did. PM me if interested.
 
Used route will be a good option with that budget, but doesn't really help unless he knows how certain brands will perform. if he's sticking to new, I agree with the others about sticking with stereo. A great 2.0 setup will outperform a mediocre 5.1/7.1 setup.

I have Klipsch speakers in my setup. They are from their old KG line back in the 90s that I bought used. I used to have a pair of towers from that line that I did buy new back then, so I knew how the bookshelfs would sound when I went back to them a few years ago. I have about $800 in my 7.1 setup.

So if the budget is $700, and there is space constraints, stick with the suggestions of a great 2.0 setup and HT receiver. Besides, you can always add on later which is what a lot of us have done with our systems.
 
I was a tad dismissive. People can get whatever they want and I hope they find great joy in whatever they buy and use.

My point was one of why ask for help if the help is not taken? If you explained the benefits of going with a higher quality stereo speaker pair in a 2.0 system and why it would be better for his situation and he says he'd rather ignore that advice so he can get a surround sound system with a subwoofer - at a low price point per speaker and with serious size and appearance limitations - then I would just say that Polk or Klipsch sells decent stuff for the money in most of the retail stores and online places and walk away.

I have dealt with that sort of request all my life - a guy hears my system, starts talking to me about the technical reasons it sounds so amazing, then asks for help with his HT design and purchase decisions, then ignores all of it and buys what the salesman told him to get. After the gear is in his home he calls and asks me to set it up so it sounds like my system, despite not aligning with any of the priorities I explained at great length when describing the reasons my setup sounds the way it does. What's the point?

Being a friend, I will politely help out without mentioning how he failed to heed a single piece of advice I gave. But they won't get what they wanted and they won't enjoy it nearly as much.
 
To answer a couple of the questions, my friend already has all the electronics he needs, so the $700 budget is for the speakers.

But anyways, yea, not many of my friends are into audio, especially not nearly to the extent I am.

As such, they rarely buy audio equipment, and in this situation I was kind of expecting the size/cost constraints. But I was kind of hoping to use the opportunity to encourage him to look at higher performing products that didn't stretch too far from his requirements.

I'll see where it goes...
 
I'd wait until after Christmas and start checking Craigslist. A few years ago, my dad was looking to add surround sound to a room upstairs and we were able to find an SVS 7.1 system for around $500. It was in amazing condition, but the guy had already bought new gear and just wanted it out of the house. I think you could probably piece together a very nice system with that money if he's willing to be patient and maybe just buy a pair at a time. This would be the route that I would personally go.

Without knowing roughly where you live, I just checked our local Criagslist (Greenville, SC) and found a full 7.1 Klipsch KG series surround setup for $900, which could be negotiated I'm sure.

This is past his budget, but I think it would probably make for a solid 5.1 system.
https://www.svsound.com/products/prime-satellite-5-1

I haven't listened to this setup before, so it could be terrible, but Best Buy has a 5.1 Def Tech system for $499.

Again, not sure how these sound, but possibly worth a listen. Focal Sib & Cub3 Speaker System.
 
I can vouch for the Elacs. Can get away with out a sub....and if he doesn't like them---I'll buy them!
 
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