speaker advice

[LupinIX]

OK, the speakers-in-a-box have been banished to the kid's Playstation in the bedroom

the TV is in a small room off the main living area so it would be easy to over engineer this I think

I'm going for the cheapest listenable option (rather put the $ into DVDs) and have decided that the Yamaha RX-V550 is the way to go

for speakers , after looking / listening around the Aaron Minimax set seems acceptable ($899 RRP) but the Loudpeaker Kit DIY option (@ $799 for a base 5.1 set ) also seems interesting - real MDF and even I can handle a bottle of PVA glue

anyone have any views?

[drosophila]

Meh, too much bass for a teeny room?

I'm not sure what the dimensions are of the small room, but personally, I would find it somewhat overkill to have a subwoofer in a small side room.

If price is the ultimate factor, you could always grab something like a set of 4 Athena Technologies AS-B1 nearfields and the AS-C1 center channel for about $480 total. Plenty of cash leftover if you later find the bass lacking and do want to add a sub. They pair nicely with the sort of laid-back "Yamaha sound", too. The price is low, but they deliver plenty of warmth and detail for such cheap speakers.

Plenty of other brands fill that price niche, too, but i've heard the Yamaha + Athena pairing personally, so that's my .02.

[gd]

Disagree there...

A sub is a must if you want any kind of full-range performance... even in a 'small' room.

Here is a compact little over-achiever @ $120... well-reviewed by just about everyone on the various forums:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&PartNumber=300-632&DID=7

[murphy3414]

you can't go wrong with some def tech pro cinemas. the pro 60 package lists for less than 700, also the 80's can be had for less than $1k. with some negotiation could be less.

They sound great too!

[rick c]

I'll second the def.tech. setups other than the 60's you can mix and match the 80's,100's and 200's.

[David Meek]

Hmmph, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. . . . If you have access to them, audition the Energy Take 5 series sets - Take 5.1 and Take 5.2 (better subs). They are a sonically impressive set of speakers, especially for the price - $700 or so (US dollars).