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I'm kinda at a loss here. A lot of my "go to brands" don't seem to be heavily venturing into this category and I'm left with a sense of generally new territory. I just bought a 42" TV and need a good speaker system to go with it. I'm honestly not looking to spend more than $500, and I want to be able to have my HTPC and PS3 both play through them. Does anyone have any suggestions on what brands to look at first or what could fill my need? I was initially drawn to this:

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-HD-500-Co ... B001XURGT4

However, I'm not so eager to jump into one of the "new" Klipsch products until I have other peoples input into this area. Also, it looks like I would still need a receiver with the above set, meaning it would put me out of my price range.

Do you have a receiver? If not, you'll spend significantly more than $449 in order to get these speakers working. For $500 you're most likely going to be looking at a home-theater-in-a-box type of system, though I cant' really make a recommendation. Just wanted to keep you from dropping money only to find out you need to drop more money.

Take a look at Onkyo. They've got some really good receiver+speaker packages. Definitely go for that combination rather than most Home Theater in a Box solutions that don't have true receivers. Plus, prices start at $250:
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S3400-5- ... 787&sr=8-1

derFunkenstein wrote:

Do you have a receiver? If not, you'll spend significantly more than $449 in order to get these speakers working. For $500 you're most likely going to be looking at a home-theater-in-a-box type of system, though I cant' really make a recommendation. Just wanted to keep you from dropping money only to find out you need to drop more money.

Yea thanks, I had figured it needed a receiver. Maybe that will be an extra Christmas present to myself or something har har. :/

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

Take a look at Onkyo. They've got some really good receiver+speaker packages. Definitely go for that combination rather than most Home Theater in a Box solutions that don't have true receivers. Plus, prices start at $250:
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S3400-5- ... 787&sr=8-1

How about these?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6882120182

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6882115318

Granted that system you linked is nice and cheap, but I am willing to put out a bit more to get better sound.

Either of those would probably do you quite fine.

I would go with Energy Take 5.1 as HT is basically the best HT in a box for the price. They punch way above their price level.
http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/pr ... -overview/

I use an Onkyo receiver, but wouldn't hesitate to recommend Denon as well.
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX- ... ceiver&p=i

Comparison of 6 speaker sets <500.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-200 ... contentAux

--k wrote:

I would go with Energy Take 5.1 as HT is basically the best HT in a box for the price. They punch way above their price level.
http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/pr ... -overview/

I use an Onkyo receiver, but wouldn't hesitate to recommend Denon as well.
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX- ... ceiver&p=i

Comparison of 6 speaker sets <500.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-200 ... contentAux

Is that Energy company any good? I have seen good things about the HT in a Box but I have never heard of them before.

This is in one of the links I posted:

http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/pr ... 1-reviews/

I have them for almost 6 years and am very satisfied.

I would recommend going with bookshelf or tower Pioneer speakers. The entry level speakers linked to in the description here make for an excellent HT system (though I can't vouch for the sub). I picked up the slightly more expensive (from woot, so actually cheaper for me) SP-BS41-LR speakers for my front LR because I don't have room for towers. They are tied into an Onkyo HT-RC360 reciever. The sound quality of this set up will beat almost any HTIB, even that energy system. While I wouldn't call them full range speakers, the larger woofers on them let them go much lower than typical HT satellites. That makes a huge difference in sound quality and avoids the "boomy" nature of smaller satellite/sub setups. I haven't picked up a sub yet but when I do, I'll probably go with a BIC America model though if I am honest, I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would.

I've had good luck with refurbished equipment from the Onkyo site. You can join Club Onkyo for more discounts.

I would recommend Pioneer and Onkyo
this list http://topbestprice.com/top-20-best-selling-home-theater-systems/ might also be helpful

The Onkyo HTIB systems are very good for the money, and any of them should allow you to switch between your HTPC and PS3, as long as both have HDMI on them. All PS3's have HDMI on them. If you have anything else that you also want to connect, like a cable TV box or a Wii or a VCR, you need to look at them a little more carefully. Lower end HTIB's can only output the same thing you input to them video wise. A more capable HTIB can upscale all video connection types to a HDMI output, which makes switching a breeze.

So, did you make a decision? FYI, the Pioneer SP-BS41-LR speakers are on sale at sellout.woot for $90 a pair (Dec. 11 only). Regular $200, if you can find them.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

I've had good luck with refurbished equipment from the Onkyo site. You can join Club Onkyo for more discounts.

This is true. I bought a refurbished HTIB from them a long time ago. Very much worth the $250 I spent at the time. I've noticed that sale prices for recievers on amazon, or fry's if you're near one, have been better deals here lately.

Hey guys, I ended up going with this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SL ... 00_details

I had a lot of flip-flopping between what I really wanted. I came to order this because it is one of the only models that has consistently good reviews, has tweeters on its regular speakers for better mids/highs and Yamaha is rather known in the electronics world for good equipment. Also, it being on sale helped some too. Hopefully I made the right choice. X.X

Hey StuG,

Although I'm commenting a little late , but I suggest to go for 7.2 system, and not 5.1. Such can be the denon avr-2311ci but not only of course. I think the 2 additional speakers are for a second area in the house.
Well, maybe the next one will be as the one I suggested.

Good luck.