When I was piecing together a system on approximately the same budget several years ago I ended up with HSU Ventriloquist VST-12 speakers, a HSU STF-2 sub, and whatever Onkyo receiver I could afford with what was left. It’s a great setup. Not loud enough if your room is huge, but it works wonderfully in the space I use it in.
EDIT: Here’s the package deal for that setup: http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/performance2.html
Since it’s starting to look like I’ll buy a used TV, I’ve been looking into getting some decent speakers, and damn, is it difficult to find larger resellers of most brands mentioned here :(
Yeah, the one sucky thing about specialty brands is you have to go to specialty retailers. That’s one of the reasons I recommend PSB – they actually do mail-order, which most speaker companies don’t.
Although if you get past the sometimes-pretentiousness of those shops, they’re actually good places to audition speakers.
It’s not outside the realm of reason. That’s an awesome price on a fantastic sub. A viable option would be to skip the rears altogether–start out with a 2.1 setup and add surround at a later date–and get that sub.
Polk makes good speakers (I have some), but I’d avoid their subs.
Problem with being in Sweden is that they’re even more specialty here, and thus are not likely to have deals, and are not very likely to have many of the brands mentioned here. The PSB Alpha B1s I can find in two stores in Sweden, for about $400 a pair. In Stockholm I’m probably limited to these lineups:
http://www.referenceaudio.se/hogtalare/stativ/sma/
This is a really good point, and I’ll add that, for the same reason, you can also sometimes save some money by buying discontinued speakers on closeout.
Thanks for the Bic recommendation. I had passed that over when initially browsing because I didn’t recognize the brand, but when looking for opinions on the Polk I found several people saying the Bic is better for movies and games (though not quite as good for music), and since those are my priorities, it’s become my new front-runner. I was also considering the Energy S 10.3 which just went on sale for $220 at Newegg, but they charge sales tax and Amazon doesn’t, so the Bic still seems like the right choice.
After reading more reviews and threads of the Primus, they do seem like the way to go at my budget, being tagged as one of the best list $300/pair speakers (roughly on par with the PSBs), but currently down to $170/pair.
I wound up cross-posting at AVS to get as broad a range of opinions as possible; they liked all the main components I was leaning toward and their consensus was very much in favor of getting the center channel, even if it requires sacrificing the surrounds.
So here’s my new tentative build:
-Onkyo HT-RC360 for $250
-2x Infinity Primus 162 or 163 for $170
-Bic America F12 Sub for $183
-Infinity Primus PC-251 for $150 or PC-350 for $200 – still trying to decide if it’s worth the upgrade or not.
-No rear speakers. I’ll try out my Logitech and Klipsch in that role, and if I like them, great. If not, I can get a pair of Primus P143s for $120.
That puts me at $753 or $803.
You can find a lot of feedback about the Bic F12 on the AVS forum, where many folks consider it the first and last choice for a budget sub. I have one in my home theater setup, and like it a lot.
Try http://www.nubert.de/ – they ship throughout the EU via UPS, shipping costs are €66 per order max.
That’s an audiophile speaker factory that does mail order business exclusively. I have the nuLine 102 speakers, they are fantastic. Unlike most audiophile outfits, Nubert is not afraid to improve the sound with careful post-processing. The ATM module extends low bass very cleanly, without introducing that indistinct thumping and droning that cheap bass-heavy speakers have. I love the 102 & ATM combo, the sound is as clear and precise as with any Linn speakers I had, but unlike those actually has proper bass loudness.
This page shows some frequency response charts with and without the ATM module; here’s the one for the 102 speakers with the extender in “linear” position:
You can also set both bass and mid/high lower or higher than linear, as desired to accommodate your living room conditions.
The 102 speakers are a pair of stereo speakers for music reproduction, by the way, but Nubert also does surround sound for home cinema.
Stereo stuff definitely has an emphasis on purity, and in fixing your environment to make the sound perfect. But home theater, even in the audiophile world, is all about the post-processing, taking your room into account and everything.