what can 500 bucks buy you?

[von bek]

have a budget of about $500 and would like thoughts and direction on where to go.


The part that I need help with is the speakers.
So far here is what I am leaning on based on scouring the web on reviews and owner experiences.
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I was thinking about the Energy RC micro 5.1 package but it may be a little more than I can spend or Mirage Nanostats.
The room is 18' X 20' and the ceilings are 18' w/ carpeting.
5.1 is the setup and maybe in a year or so I would go with 7.1 so please limit replies to a 5.1 speaker combination.
This is my first post to this forum so please forgive my naivete as this is my first HT setup.
I do want a decent audio experience. I have been to brick and mortars and have not been impressed with any of the HTiB's I've listened to.
Thanks to all for your insight.
At least I have the receiver that I want locked down.
ONKYO SR606 and a decent wireless speaker kit for the surround speakers. I heard they suck but I don't have the ability to hide speaker wire for the surround speakers I will be getting with your help.

Thanks.

[David Meek]

Hi von beck, welcome to The Guide. :welcome:

I'm not familiar with the Nanostats, but the Energy RCs and the Gallo Acoustics Nucleus line are both good systems to look into. The Nucleus units can be bought in pairs so you can start with a partial system and build into a full 5.1 operation as funds permit.

I'd avoid the wireless systems for now as the sound quality from the ones I've heard isn't great.

[von bek]

Thanks David.
Being that I'm on a limited budget until my finances get better I went ahead and purchased JBL CS6100 5.1 speaker package.
It got a lot of good reviews and should suffice in the short term untill I can afford a better system. Wireless is the only option for the surrounds for now since in the space there is no way to conceal wires. Besides rocketfish is there any other universal wireless speaker kits out there?

[Alaric]

I'd avoid the wireless systems for now as the sound quality from the ones I've heard isn't great.

:yesnod:

[von bek]

Update-
Believe it or not the speaker kit I got was surprisingly good. Maybe because I’-m only about 15 feet from the receiver. I don't need much wattage on my surrounds and it did the trick. The JBL's are great with movies. I cranked it up with transformers and it blew me away.
Overall on the limited budget it wasn't bad.
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Onkyo SR606
Rocketfish wireless rear speaker kit
JBL CS6100