buying new speakers, advice requested.

[ceczar]

i recently moved into a new apartment and have been in the process of significantly upgrading my entertainment system.

what i have so far:
recently bought the new panasonic new panasonic 50" 1080p plasma, a sony blu-ray disc player, and a denon a/v receiver. and now i need speakers to justify spending that much money on the receiver.

what i need:
i plan on spending $1k<x<$2k, and <$1.5k for the whole thing would be preferable. the room is ~14' wide and goes ~27' long (17' to an open kitchen area), with the TV in the corner and the main sitting area a couch across the short wall. i will be using the speakers >95% for tv/movies so while i care about music performance, it's much less important.

what i tentatively plan on getting:
Cambridge SoundWorks MC400s. it's the right price point, and i've had good results with computer speakers from CSW before, and a couple audiophile relatives have recommended them, and i've seen some pretty positive reviews (of at least the MC300s and MC500s). i plan on getting a surround system and want L/R/C instead of two towers. haven't decided to set it up as 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1

major questions:
1)in my research so far it seems like there are a lot more brands to pick from and there's less agreement about what's the best (compared to my experience researchging plasma tvs and <$1k receivers at least), so please share either positive experiences with brands/speaker sets or acquired convention wisdom re: which brands are good.
2) any bad/good experiences with Cambridge SoudnWorks/ thoughts on the MC400s i've been looking at?
3) advice on how much is gained from having the 2 back surround speakers as opposed to just the 1 of the 6.1 config. also recommendations for surround speakers. is it important they are matched with the main speakers?
4) advice on a subwoofer. i have a crappy sony sub leftover from the home-theater-in-a-box i had from my previous setup. how important is it to get a comparable quality sub to go with nicer main speakers?
5) advice on layout for the surround and/or back speakers given my setup (my mspaint living room)?

appreciate any nuggets of speaker wisdom you can share. thanks.

[nsdjoe]

Check craigslist. A year ago I got several pairs of really nice, hardly-used speakers for like 90% off retail, that people were just looking to get rid of.

[captZEEbo]

[ QUOTE ]
1)in my research so far it seems like there are a lot more brands to pick from and there's less agreement about what's the best (compared to my experience researchging plasma tvs and <$1k receivers at least), so please share either positive experiences with brands/speaker sets or acquired convention wisdom re: which brands are good.

[/ QUOTE ]I really like my onkyo speakers and have read nothing but good about them. They might be a little under your $ amount, but not sure.

[ QUOTE ]
3) advice on how much is gained from having the 2 back surround speakers as opposed to just the 1 of the 6.1 config. also recommendations for surround speakers. is it important they are matched with the main speakers?

[/ QUOTE ]I'm not sure how many blu-ray dvds actually use 7.1 channels or whatever, but I know with just my dvds I never get use out of the 7.1 channels, only the 5.1 channels. I just recently moved and didn't even bother plugging in the back 2 surround channels. I'm not sure if blu-ray is much different or not, but with dvds it's pointless.

[ QUOTE ]
5) advice on layout for the surround and/or back speakers given my setup (my mspaint living room)?

[/ QUOTE ]if you follow the recommendations it should be fine (they'll tell you approximately where to put your speakers) then you can set it up to tell the receiver how far away your speakers are (at least with my onkyo).

[ceczar]

craigslist advice is good. hadn't thought of that. but what i really need first is advice on what to get before i figure out how/where to get them.

zeebo, which model onkyo do you have? (and cheaper is better than more expensive, appreciate the suggestion)

[jws43yale]

I would try to look at some of the internet only sellers. I have bought some incredible stuff from AV123.com. If you e-mail or call them, they can help you pick out a system that pairs well with your reciever and is in your budget. Also check AVSforum. They will have lots of recs for other internet sellers and will give you a good idea of what works with your reciever.

[hamsamich]

Here is my suggestion.....but I don't understand what that has to with all the stuff you put in the post?




ohhh....nvrmind.

[Zameus]

1) I have the old CSW towers. They're big but I like the sound. IMHO nothing small and under $1000 will sound as good as what you will get out of a decent twr speaker. Used you can probably get them under $300. Just make sure to listen to them first to make sure they're in solid condition.

2)I've listened to the ones you linked to in the showroom, not impressed. Probably more than adequate for rear surrounds though.

3) I wired my living room to handle 6.1 but only have 5.1 currently (R,L,C, RR, RL, sub). It sounds great. Really not motivated to add the center rear speaker. After a while with a good 5.1 setup I predict you really won't give a crap about 6.1 or 7.1

4)Get a good sub. That's what adds the shake and depth that defines a good sound system to most people. I'd say 10" min with built in a amp. Again, I have the old CSW sub (I got a decent discount through a friend and honestly like them a lot for the money I spent- well under 1K for all). There are plenty of great subs out there but the one left over from your Sony HT in a box is probably not one of them. Spend the money, it's worth it.

For rear surrounds I bought in-ceilings. The do the job quite nicely. Can't remember the brand but check out the site URL I'll add to this post. This is where you should really be asking these questions. The people there know their [censored].
5) Center that TV a bit so you can get speakers on the left and right of it as equidistant from the TV as possible. You can compensate for a less than adequate setup with settings on your receiver but the less you do that the better.


Now go here and ask questions:

http://www.avsforum.com

[z28dreams]

I personally haven't invested in a great stereo yet, but have been reading a little here and there.

Some of the better 'bang for the buck' speaker companies that always seem to be mentioned are Paradigm, Definitive Technologies ("Deftech"), PSB, JBL, Energy (for HTIB), some Polk speakers, Monitor Audio, and more.

Two general notes that I would follow:

(1) Start with high quality front left / front right speakers. These will be heavily used with just music and should be your core speakers. You can always add to the system later.

(2) I'd get at least 6.5" woofers on the front speakers. Anything like 3", 4", or 5.25" all seem to lack heavily in the mid-bass region. (even with a sub I find this noticeable).

[Zameus]

[ QUOTE ]
(1) Start with high quality front left / front right speakers. These will be heavily used with just music and should be your core speakers. You can always add to the system later.

(2) I'd get at least 6.5" woofers on the front speakers. Anything like 3", 4", or 5.25" all seem to lack heavily in the mid-bass region. (even with a sub I find this noticeable).

[/ QUOTE ]

This is solid advice. Your fronts do all the heavy lifting. They should sound killer on their own. The sub is meant to hit only a very low range. Your fronts should sound full and produce bass well enough on their own to get by without a sub when it comes to most types of music.

One thing to note that I didn't mention. I think a great center channel is second in line to fronts. Most dialogue will be piped through them so for TV watching and movies they are way more important than surrounds that are producing mostly fill and the occasional special effect.

[Taso]

[ QUOTE ]
Here is my suggestion.....but I don't understand what that has to with all the stuff you put in the post?




ohhh....nvrmind.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers, you'll get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers" - Billy Joel FTW