Reddit mentions: The best bookshelf speakers

First of all, stay away from sonos. They sound like garbage.

Now that that is out of the way, we've got some discussing to do.

If you want the ease of Sonos, but good sound, a pair of KEF LSX is what you want. slightly over budget, but there isn't really anything else in your budget. 'All in one' stuff like that isn't very popular, and is pretty hard to find. KEF makes some of the only stuff like that, that actually sounds decent. Honestly, they sound really nice. I like them a lot, especially for all that they can do.

If you'd rather make a 'custom' setup with bluetooth, a receiver and a pair of bookshelf speakers will be great. Will they be better than those KEFs? Yeah, but a lot of people don't want to deal with the 'hassle' that comes with setting up a system (it really is pretty easy though. put stuff where you want it and run wires). Also, it won't particularly be loads better than the KEFs.

Here's the receiver you want. It has everything you could ever need. Don't worry that it's 'too many channels'. 2 channel receivers usually don't have as many options. This one has bluetooth, airplay, wifi for streaming, etc.

With that, you'll want two speakers. I prefer bookshelf speakers. You get more for your money with them. To expand on that a bit, bookshelf speakers are usually cheaper than tower speakers for what you get. Neither bookshelf speakers or tower speakers can go all the way down, and you'll get some help from a sub with either. For example, you can get a pair of 'budget' tower speakers for around $1000, or you can step up and get a pair of bookshelf speakers that are the next 'tier' in a line, so you'll get better sound.

This is where you have options to make (not like you didn't before, but now you really do). After that receiver, you have around $700. There are two options. The first is to get a pair of bookshelf speakers. The second is to get a pair of bookshelf speakers and a sub. I would prefer just the bookshelf speakers, because you can get something much better (the 'cheapest' sub I would get is around $400) and you can add the sub in later.

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Here are your bookshelf speaker options:

I really like Ascend Acoustics Sierras. They've got a really smooth response, that's pleasurable to listen to. The Dark Cherry color is beautiful by the way.

These KEFs are really nice as well. They have a less 'smooth' presentation and more of a 'detailed' presentation. They're accurate and revealing. Loads of fun to listen to IMO. (They make a bigger version as well, but they aren't any better, and they're more expensive. Too much to get into now, but I'd avoid them).

Now, I'm going to put this pair in here, but I've never heard them. Philharmonic Mini Monitor. I can't comment on them too much, but I can speculate as well as tell you what I've heard from reviews. These are supposed to be very nice. Ribbon tweeters are very 'open' and 'airy' sounding. It's hard to explain, but it makes the sound feel very transparent. Again, hard to explain. The ribbon tweeter they use is a spectacular ribbon tweeter, so I'm sure it sounds great. They'll have tons of detail but will never sound sharp or anything.

Bowers and Wilkins 607 are a very good option. The way their system works is this: The higher the first number, the better series (607, 707 are the same size but with different drivers). The lower the last number, the bigger the speaker (607 is the smallest, 606 is bigger, etc - I have no idea why it is backwards). We were discussing earlier with towers vs bookshelves and I feel this is a good time to explain. You can get a pair of 600 series towers for $1800. However, you can get a pair of 700 series bookshelves for the exact same price, therefore get better sound quality for the same money, if you're okay with having a bookshelf. Anyways, sorry about the side tangent. I think that the 607s are very good speakers (I bought a pair for my friend the other day but he said he couldn't accept them so I returned them :( - fair enough though). They are very fun and sweet sounding speakers. I like them a lot. They also hit to a decent frequency for their size. If WAF is a concern (wife acceptance factor) I feel like these are a very safe bet. They're also in your budget.

Alright, those are some of the best options. If you'll be doing a lot of music listening, I'd pick the Sierras or the B&W because they sound very sweet and they're fun to listen to. If you're doing a lot more tv/movie stuff, the detail of the KEFs or the Philharmonics will be great for vocals.

Also, if you do any of these, you probably won't feel like you need a sub, but it might be nice. This one is the one to get.

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Here are your bookshelf and subwoofer combos. You'll want this sub as well. It's the least expensive sub I feel good about recommending at this price point.

HSU also makes speakers. I don't know much about them, but I can speculate (mine show up monday). Horns are fun and dynamic, but also provide great vocals in my experience. These would be good for a tv/movie setup rather than a music setup, probably.

Here's another pair of horn speakers. Klipsch makes good tv/movie stuff.

These other Ascend Acoustic speakers are also very good. Not as good as the sierras, but they have a similar smoothness to them. Very good speaker for the budget.

These elacs are what you want if you'll be putting them directly against the wall. They have a front port that won't be choked off if you do that. Also, they are a very warm sounding speaker. I like them a lot.

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Whoops, looks like I shot myself in the foot with this one. I told you not to get towers. There is one pair of towers that I would recommend.

Tekton Mini Lore. I've never heard them, but look up reviews. Extremely sensitive, meaning they have awesome dynamics and sound effortless. Also, they get low enough where you won't need a sub. They get lower than a decent amount of subs actually.

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"But Poly, what would you do?

I'm glad you asked.

If I wanted something 'easy' and 'no fuss' the KEF LSX are the way to go.

If I want something for music and I can't fit towers, Sierras are what I would get.

If I want something for TV/Movies, the KEF Q150 is what I would get. Vocals on those things are crazy good.

If I could fit towers, the Tektons are what I would get. Unfortunately I haven't heard them, so I cant 100% tell you that they're perfect, but look up any review and you'll get the idea.

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How does this all look?

EDIT: I put main points in bold so that people can skim through this and get the gist of what I'm saying here. Very long post, so I thought it would be merciful to do so.
 

Alrighty, this may be long so buckle up and get ready for a journey.
 

I don't consider myself a hardcore audiophile or an expert in turntables/records, so I did some research when I was first looking to purchase one. I was originally looking at a Crosley record player but was soon warned about how notoriously evil they are -- by the way, DO NOT GET A CROSLEY, THEY ARE TERRIBLE!!! They are notorious for putting too much pressure on vinyls with their needles and end up scratching, carving, and ruining perfectly good records (for reference, ideal tracking force is two grams while the Crosley applies five grams tracking force). The parts are cheap and outdated and the player itself is extremely unstable and will skip if there's any sort of vibrational disturbance nearby. It's not good at all.
 

That said, I want to make sure you know what exactly you're getting into right now. When you buy a turntable, there are other things you need to buy along with it to make it function correctly. I don't know whether you're planning to get a turntable just as a gift that only your SO will use or if it's something you both will use, but it's important nonetheless to know what exactly a turntable requires to work properly. See, when people buy a turntable, a lot of people don't realize that there are three things that are needed alongside it: a pre-amp; an amplifier; and speakers. Speakers is obvious, sure, and of course you'll need something to control the volume, but a lot of people I've talked to only thought about that kind of stuff after purchasing their turntable.
 

The reason why these things are important is because most turntables rely on an electrical current in order to transmit vinyl to audio, but the current the turntable generates on its own doesn't matter if there's nothing to turn that current into sound. Think of it like a secret code. The vinyl is the coded message, and the turntable is the tool that deciphers the code. It can't decipher the code without the correct key, though; a preamp is like the key. It takes that current the turntable generates and amplifies it so that the signal is strong enough to be decoded by the amplifier. The amplifier is what actually turns it into the sound format, and is how you control volume as well. The speakers project the deciphered sound that you get to hear and enjoy. If you only plan on buying a turntable, then you don't need to worry about these things. Otherwise, keep reading; I'm finally getting to the point so please bear with me after this terrible analogy. :P
 

It's a lot to take into consideration when buying a turntable; when I did my research, I found that the Audio Technica LP series was pretty reliable. It's not exactly ultra high-end, but it's a great starting point for beginning collectors. There are two ATLP record players, the 60 and the 120, and some other variants that I'm not really aware of. I personally use the 120 because I thought it was funny being able to mess with the pitch settings on it, and I like the extended options the 120 has over the 60. This is just a comparison between both the 60 and 120 below if you're interested in the Audio Technica LP series:
 

In Favor of the 120:

• the LP60 is a belt-drive turntable which means that you'll be replacing a belt in the turn table if it breaks, whereas the LP120 is direct drive and there's no broken belts to worry about replacing
  
  
• the stylus is also a better quality in the 120, but I don't know from experience whether this is true in comparison to the 60
  
  
• the 120 is also sturdier than the 60 as well
   
  
  In Favor of the 60:
  
  
• the LP60 is smaller and more portable than the 120, as the 120 is kind of bulky and heavy
  
  
• the LP60 is cheaper than the 120 (Amazon says that the 60 is about $100 while the 120 is about $300. I recommend the 60 as the best way to start listening to vinyl over the 120 as it's less of a financial commitment than the 120 is, especially if you turn out not to like records. not meaning to be negative but it's something to consider, as well
  
  
• the LP60 has less options, but the options on the 120 don't usually matter to people who are just getting into vinyl so that's more of a personal preference
   
  
  Something in the favor of both players, though: they both come with built-in preamps, so you won't have to worry about buying one of those. Some people don't like the sound quality of the built-in preamp, but I think it's fine and it really isn't something to worry about as a beginner. The amp and speakers matter a bit more.
   
  
  When I went to go find a good amp, I made the mistake of going to Best Buy. Never go to Best Buy. It's a nightmare. The guy I talked to about amplifiers promptly directed us to home sound systems that cost over $1,000 in price. I found one on Amazon for $39. Not only does it work with my turntable, it's also bluetooth so you can stream from your phone if you want to as well (I'll link it right here so you can see it). I only set the amplifier up to half volume and it fills the entire room. I thought it was a miracle how I was seeing all of these huge ass home systems and then I get this little tiny ant of an amplifier and it does just as well.
   
  
  Now, onto speakers. You should think about the speakers the same way as I described the amp. The biggest, most ultra high-end stuff is just not worth it when you're starting out. I use Micca MB42 Bookshelf Speakers, which are amazing (the link is here). It's also $60 on Amazon, so you'll be saving money there, too. Oh, and you'll need speaker wire, which is $11 on Amazon as well.
   
  
  The total amount of money I spent on my system was $400 (it's really $399 but I rounded up), including the Audio Technica LP120, the mini amp, and the bookshelf speakers. If you get the LP60, you'd only be spending $200 ($199 but again rounded up). My setup and recommendations aren't the most top-of-the-line stuff, sure, but this is all I can recommend to you as this is all I've ever really used. It sounds great and I wouldn't really change it for anything.
   
  
  I'm so sorry this is such a long read, but I went through a lot figuring this out the hard way. I got my turntable as a gift along with those speakers, but then found out that I also needed to buy an amp to actually be able to make my whole setup work, and it spawned a two week-long horror show of trying to figure out what kind of amp to get. I feel like getting a turntable or really anything on such a scale as this should be a momentous and memorable occasion to cherish forever, and shouldn't be tainted by having to go through the ringer just to get one missing piece of the puzzle. I am also a music lover and feel your first foray into vinyl shouldn't be associated with high costs but rather being able to experience it for the first time and marveling in its strangely magical quality. It's a great gesture, especially towards an SO.
   
  
  Now I might be over-exaggerating a bit throughout this whole thing, but I think what you're trying to do is very sweet and I thought it would be good to take it seriously. Also, reading long posts like this can be exhausting, so I thought it'd be easier to get through if I did over-exaggerate and make it a more interesting read. Thanks for reading, and I hope your SO appreciates the gift. :)

Not OP but I can help you out here. Let's break this down by component:

1. Speakers - There are two types: active and passive. Active = amplifier built into each speaker (i.e. most dedicated "computer" speakers from the likes of Logitech, Creative, etc.). Passive = 90% of speakers out there, must be connected to an amplifier to work. Typically passive speakers will get you a better speaker for a given price for an active but you have to figure in the cost of an amplifier. For a passive speaker set up, the cheapest system recommended over at /r/audiophile is a SMSL SA-60 amp and Micca MB42X Bookshelf Speakers. If your budget is higher, ask in the daily purchase advice sticky there (read the rules/suggestions thoroughly). I don't mess around with active speakers so I can't recommend any.
   
   
2. Microphone - For simplicity's sake, I will recommend you look into USB connecting condenser microphones as they are affordable and have good sensitivity. Something like the Audio-Technica AT-2020 or Blue Yeti are popular mics for under $100. I have the Yeti and can attest that it is a very good and sensitive multi pattern mic. They can be hooked directly up to your PC or if you want to get really fancy, check out an audio interface like the Focusrite Scarlett Solo or Scarlett 2i2. The nice thing about an interface is it allows you get a nice mic with an XLR connector (generally better than a USB connection) and it will work with your PC.
   
   
3. Headphones - Don't waste your money on "gaming" headphones. A nice 2 channel pair of cans with a standalone mic like I listed above will hands down outperform the likes of Turtle Beach and Razr headsets. /r/headphones has a really good wiki with more info than I can provide here and headphones broken down by price range and characteristics. Plus, then you can use them both for gaming and general music listening and have a good experience, something you don't get with dedicated "gaming" headsets. The amp I listed in the speakers section is fine for headphones but Schiit makes absolutely fantastic headphone amps and DAC (digital to analog converters, check out both /r/audiophile and /r/headphones for more info on them and why they are good for your set up) with very respectable price tags.
   
   Hope this helps. Higher quality audio equipment can be confusing and daunting, what with all the technical details, wide price ranges, parsing through all the marketing bullshit and the sometimes snobby attitudes of some "audiophiles". I wish you luck and feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

[standard "audio is very, very subjective" disclaimer]

I was actually just helping someone out with this. I feel that while all parts of your computer are important in some way, the parts you actually interact with - Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Audio - are just as important, if not more important than the insides of your computer. Now I'm NOT saying go blow your budget on a 1440P monitor, mechanical KB, high quality mouse, and $300 in audio while running an HD5450. But I am saying you should ideally spend at least 1/3 of the cost of the tower into peripherals. A very blanket statement, and I don't necessarily mean do literally that, but I think it gets the point across.

I'm going to focus mainly on speakers here since headphones have been pretty well covered.

More to the point of audio, if you are spending less than $50 on speakers, any of the multitude of speakers labeled "computer speakers" will be just fine. If you are looking for physical surround, those 5.1 systems aren't too bad either, and get the job done since "real" 5.1 set ups can get costly.

BUT if you are venturing into the $60+, please DO strongly considering getting bookshelf speakers, or monitors (as in studio monitors, not displays). A real 2.0 setup with quality speakers and an inexpensive amp will sound loads better than all of the 2.1 "all-in-one" speaker setups (think Logitech cheapos). Because think about this: when a "real" subwoofer costs $90+, and you buy a pair of speakers and an sub for $40, corners are being cut.

They sound great, will have much better imaging, range, clarity, separation, fullness, tone, and just better sound quality.

You also get the awesome flexibility and "modularity" of putting together a system. Want to upgrade the speakers? No need to buy a new amp, just buy nicer speakers, and vice versa. Want to add a subwoofer? No problem, just add it to the chain! With the "all-in-one" systems you'd have to get a whole new system if you wanted to add a sub when your current one didn't come with one, or you want a better one.

Not to mention they look great sitting on a desk. If you care about aesthetics a set of speakers will look very nice compared to the dinky, cheap, plastic speakers in the sub $100 range.

/r/zeos has great guides he put together for all sorts of speaker systems, from 2.0 to 7.1. For most people on this subreddit, a good 2.0/2.1 system would be fitting.

If you are thinking about spending more than $50 but less than $100 consider this:

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
Speakers | Dayton Audio B652 Bookshelf Speakers | $51.99 @ Amazon
Amplifier | Lepai LP-2020A+ Class-T Digital Audio Amplifier | $21.59 @ Amazon
Speaker Wire | RCA 50FT 16 gauge Speaker Wire | $6.99 @ Amazon
Audio Cable | Startech 6FT 3.5mm Male to Male audio cable | $4.99 @ Amazon
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $84.56

This is a GREAT entry level 2.0 setup, and has everything you need. The Speakers are the best $50 speakers you can buy, and they are normally $39.99 but for some reason have seen a price hike. Still 39.99 direct from Parts-Express, but no free shipping. They sound great, look pretty decent, and get pretty loud. Great for music and games. The Amp is great little amp, all metal construction, good feeling knobs, 2 inputs, tonal controls/bypass, and will power these speakers sufficiently. If you have wire/cables lying around you wouldn't need to buy those, saving $10. An 3.5mm Male to RCA male would work too. Highly recommended for people who want to dabble with quality audio but don't want the "audiophile" price tag.

EDIT: Formatting

The Yamaha would need a separate 2ch amp ($100-$200) to be able to do 7.2.4, it can only do 5.2.4/7.2.2 on its own.

The Denon X6300 is a better reciever and can do 7.2.4 on its own, but it is $200 more.

The Denon X4300 is a better receiver and has the same speaker specs as the Yamaha, also a $100-$200 external amp is need, but it’s only $1500.

____

To answer your questions in the other thread:

> Is it worth it to go for martin logans motion40s or some real high quality front 2 speakers, subs, and center speaker, and then go average (~250) on rest of the 3.0.4?

That is a good route, surrounds and heights should be the cheapest part of your setup for home theater, the center and sub are way more important.

> Is 4k enhancement projector gimmick or worth the extra money?

It will give some reasonably noticeable boost in clarity. Not a must have, but welcomed.

> For 3k speaker budget (no receiver) what speakers would you recommend? I saw the buying guide from this subreddit, but was surprised to see so many unknown brands. I was wondering if PSA MT110 are really that good as they say? (even better than motion 40s and klipsch premium speakers?)

Can't help you compare to the MartinLogan, but they would be better than the RP one of Klipsch speakers.

Now, assuming you don't DIY your subs for under $1000 (or DIY speakers), here's what I'm thinking for $3K;

• Firstly, even if doing only an LCR of the PSA MT110/110C, that would be over $2K, not leaving a whole lot of room for great subs, so I don't know how I feel about this option.
  
  Main option:
  
  
• 3.1 package of HSU CCB-8's and VTF-2 MK5 for $1730 shipped.
  
  
• Second VTF-2 MK5. Gets well past 20Hz @ -3dB, and does so loud (over 100dB at 16Hz).
  
  
• Fluance Signature bookshelves, $400 for side and rear surrounds. Are you doing a raised second row of seating? If so, then you want dipole speakers for the side surrounds, in which I would get the FLuance XLBP, which is normally $200 but on sale for $120, so $340 total with the bookshelves as rears. If you don't want the mahogany color, just paint it.
  
  
• That leaves $265 for the heights on a $3K budget, but since the X4300 plus amp saves you a good amount, that bumps it up to over $500. Around $100 a speaker is what I recommend max for in-cielings used as heights. There are many options, but I like HTD as a company, so I would look to their 8" in-cielings for almost $400 shipped.
  
  If you DIY your subwoofers for say $800 max doing the VBSS like that other user, that would add about $200 to the budget (much less of a bundle deal with the HSU speakers). If you are worried about DIY'ing, just get the HSU 3.1 bundle plus second sub. THE VBSS sub is much better, but the HSU is already a great sub.
  
  I can put together other options, but unless I'm forgetting some options, those would likely be the best.
  
  ____
  
  Don't forget room treatment (even adding a rug to a non-carted floor can help a lot).
  
  The cheap way to go about it is to use foam panels. You can DIY panels made from Roxul, not sure the cost, but much cheaper than buying fiberglass panels or similar online. the roxul/fiberglass panels will be better, but more expensive. For foam, you can get 2 orders of 48pk of 12"x12"x3" wedge foam for about $200 and then a 4pk of corner bass traps for $50. This user spent about $300 (red is more expensive than black). The user who posted his setup hours ago used the GIK Gatsby Arches which look classy as hell, and ran him <$250 for the 4 pack of 2" narrow panels, I would consider looking the 4" ones though. SO that's actually not that bad of a price difference, but that is for 4 panels, you may want some foam behind the speaker like in the user photo I linked (mainly behind the port of the speakers). Their bass traps are expensive though, you could just use the foam ones for those, as the foam bass traps quite well.
  
  While it's a very echoey room to start with, here's a before/after sound test. No matter how good your speakers are, if the room has a noticeable echo, a treated room with cheaper speaker will sound better.

for $250 this would probably work great for you. its a little over your $200 budget but TEAC makes great amps & dacs (i have the big brother ud 501 DAC/Headphone amp and absolutely love it), and this deal is great as it would be both an amp and would also work as a DAC that should sound much better than from the motherboard.
https://smile.amazon.com/Teac-HR-S101-BB-High-Resolution-Micro-System/dp/B00UVTO5V0/ref=sr_1_11

there is even a subout on that so you could add a sub easily if you wanted. Plus it has a headphone amp that is wayyyy better than whats on the motherboard, so you would get improved sound from both speakers and headphones.


another option could be a little amp like this one for $74
https://smile.amazon.com/SMSL-SA-60-black-Digital-Amplifier/dp/B00PA3ECGK/ref=sr_1_4

and some speakers like these on sale for $90 (sales over in a few hours though). i have the tower version of these and they are amazingly good for the price. these speakers are way better than the ones that come with the TEAC above, but the smsl amp is nothing compared to the TEAC. the smsl will sound just fine, but its not in the same field as the teac.
https://smile.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-BS22-LR-Designed-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers/dp/B008NCD2LG/ref=sr_1_1


or if you are trying to keep it more simple, these would probably work just fine too. i had the z623's (just older version of these) for a long time and they actually sound pretty damn good for their size and price. plus you get the little sub, while it isnt going to impress all that much it helps add a little bass to the smaller speakers. should get plenty loud if needed though, and sound pretty good doing so.
https://smile.amazon.com/Logitech-Powerful-Speaker-Consoles-Computers/dp/B01JPOLLKE/ref=sr_1_2



tons of options really, if it were me i would go with the TEAC as the base amp is also a great DAC and headphone amp so it will do far more and do it better too. i love spending money on stereo stuff though so i may be a bit biased.

These have been getting some good user reviews lately and a nice price too, and a pretty small cabinet for a 6.5 inch woofer, 79.99 / pair: 2 Pack 6.5" Bookshelf Home Theater Speakers 100W RMS TP160S-CH DCM by MTX Audio

As for amp's I have two of these (on two different computer systems), Dayton Audio APA 150. This is a serious Class A/B design topology, but no frills, just a well built, serious, "old school" heavy amp. No remote, no DAC, no Bluetooth, but WOW, a really nice, serious, amp! Lots of good user reviews and recommendations all over the net.

A often recommended smaller digital amp S.M.S.L AD18. This one DOES have it all, remote, DAC, bluetooth, relatively small, great reviews all over the net.

If you are really on a budget, try something similar to Lepai LP-2020TI Digital Hi-Fi Audio Mini Class D Stereo Amplifier. Do some searches for tweaking this amp, a very simple way to improve this amp, is to buy a more powerful power brick. There are many versions of this type of amp, amazon, ebay, parts-express, look around.

The other two, often recommended, "great value" speakers that work well with a computer (but you will need an amp), are the Sony SSCS5 3-Way 3-Driver Bookshelf Speaker System (Pair). I have seen these on sale for well under 100/pair, from memory, in the 60's and 70's.

Another great value is the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Andrew Jones Designed Bookshelf Loudspeakers(7-1/8” x 12-9/16” x 8-7/16” & weighs 9 lbs 2 oz). Again, search around, these do go on sale for well under 100.00.

I have both the Pioneer and the Sony, and I currently am using the Sony SSCS5 with the Dayton Audio Amp. Was temped to buy the DCM, but I have to stop buying "great value" speakers. If I ever want to upgrade my computer speakers, I should save up and buy the Ascend Audio Luna Reference Ribbon Mini-Monitor.

Good luck, have fun, and Enjoy!

I agree that we need more info, but I'll suggest a pair of the Dayton Audio SUB-1500, added to some full range speakers and a used HT receiver. A good alternative would be to DIY the sub or subs - the VBSS (Value Buster Subwoofer System) is probably a good choice.

But others are correct, if not done carefully, the bass may be irritating to others, and if the venue is too large, these may even be insufficient.

Edit - I managed to skip a good chunk of your questions:

For a home sound system that will work for your party, you'll need:

• A 2 channel amplifier, or better yet a Home Theater receiver. Decent used receivers can be had for under $100. The advantage with a HT receiver is that it will have bass management, that is the ability to split the sound signal into upper frequencies for the main speakers, and bass frequencies for the subwoofers, which typically come with their own amplification. If you use a 2-channel amp, it can work ok, as nearly all subwoofer amps have filtering in place available to limit the signal range to only bass frequencies (for example below 80 Hz). But the other speakers will play these bass frequencies too, so there will be some overlap, and the main speakers could be more efficient if they were relieved of their bass duties as with an HT receiver.
  
• 2 or more speakers. Two are usually sufficient for music. Do you want small, medium, or large bookshelf speakers, or tower speakers. Size is not always related to how loud they play, but small speakers may have difficulty filling a venue, even when subwoofers are used.
  
• If you build your own subwoofer you'll also need an amplifier specifically for the subwoofer, either a plate amp to be part of the subwoofer, or another type.
  
• With a subwoofer, you'll need a hearing person to help tune the system a bit. There is a gain knob on the back of most subs that helps to balance the output with the rest of the music. You may wish it to be higher than normal, which is fine, but not by too much. In particular, you may wish it increased a bit more for your party, but back at the house, have it turned down some. Bass travels through floors, windows and walls too, to an extent. You probably don't want to bother neighbors.
  
  Edit 2: Without any knowledge of your specific room sizes (which would still be good to know!), I'll recommend the following setup:
  
  
• 2 Dayton Audio SUB-1500s, total $380. (Two subs will help provide sufficient output and even out the bass response over the area).
  
• 1 pair of the Dayton Audio B652-Air, $45
  
• 1 used 5.1 Home Theater Receiver, from Denon, Yamaha, or Onkyo for about $100. I'm partial to Denon, but the others can be fine.

Thanks man, I really appreciate you giving it a listen.

I do all my recording on a PC I built a few years back. I purposely went overboard on RAM when I did, because prior to that I'd had nothing but trouble with laggy, crashing audio software during marathon sessions. Beyond that, mine is a "budget" setup to the max, but it works for what I do.

The DAW I use is Reaper - I've experimented with several over the years but this is the most responsive one I've found yet, and even the "vanilla" plug-ins are awesome. I think it cost me $60, but in reality it's a Winrar type deal where you could use the free "trial" forever. In the end I really wanted to support the dev though, because it's a great tool for the price tag.

When I'm just looking to bang out a quick recording before an idea escapes me (most of the time), I literally just use a $50 Blue Snowball wired directly into the PC via USB. I never intend for those to be the final versions of my songs, but sometimes I just kind of fall in love with random happy accidents and can't bring myself to toss out tracks with "real" moments in them. Hence the poor quality on a lot of my stuff.

When I want to record something "for real," I use this six-channel USB mixer, this standalone compressor/gate (I'm a bit old school about that), and some combination of a Shure SM58, an MXL 990 and an MXL991 depending on the situation. I was gifted a pair of Sennheiser HD280 cans many years ago, and they have been my faithful monitoring headphones ever since. When I want to play back what I've recorded so far at unreasonable volumes, which I consider a mandatory part of the process, I use the time-honored pair of Dayton B652 bookshelf speakers with a Lepai LP-2020A digital amplifier.

The only thing I somewhat regret is the mixer. It's fine for what it is, but I wish I'd spent a little more money on something that had more channels and enough juice to support the unpowered speakers I use for live performances. Other than that, my setup won't hold a candle to a $5000 or $10,000 rig, but it gets the job done and it's something I'm proud to have built one piece at a time. I paid for all of it using money I've made on gigs at local bars and coffee shops over the years, so it has some sentimental value as well. One day when I have the money for a serious upgrade, I hope I get the chance to pass this stuff down to a random kid who's just getting started and make his fucking year. :)

As a rule of thumb, you should dump your money into the end points of the audio chain - in other words, have quality speakers and quality source material. The stuff in the middle of the chain - amplifier, CD player, cables, etc. - doesn't have as much of an effect on the audio quality, but you certainly don't want to cheap out.

Source material isn't as much of a concern as it was in years past, since so much of our music is delivered digitally - provided you stay away from low-bitrate MP3s and such. We don't have to deal with scratched records and worn-out cassette tapes anymore. I kind of feel like people sometimes mis-apply this guideline and sink crazy money into DACs, when they would of been better served with a speaker upgrade. You speakers, provided you're starting with high-fidelity music to begin with, have the most profound effect on audio quality.

I'd recommend a set of Pioneer BSR-22s for speakers and a decent Sony receiver.

I have the Pioneer speakers and love them. I bought them as a temporary solution while I was renting for a while, but enjoyed them so much that I never replaced them. They're wonderful, accurate yet kind of warm-sounding speakers. If you have the opportunity, listen to a variety of speaker and choose the ones that sound best to you. Sadly, this can be a bit of a chore since online shopping has shut down many hi fi shops. People really like those Micca and Dayton speakers, too, but I only have experience with these Pioneers.

I have the 7.1 version of that Sony in my home theater. Personally, I prefer Yamaha receivers that have a Burr-Brown DAC in them, but I needed a 4K switching receiver on a budget and ended up with the Sony. The one I linked to is a 5.1 receiver, so if you ever wanted to upgrade to surround sound, the possibility is there. Also it will do 4K video switching. A good stereo setup is fine for movies, however. If you know that stereo is all you'll ever need, you could find a good stereo receiver for a few bucks less.

Grab whatever budget Blu-ray player that suits your aesthetic.

Most importantly, have fun and don't stress out about your choices. Part of the fun of this hobby is enjoying the music while knob-dicking around with the equipment. You'll enjoy whatever you end up with.

I was in your position not too long ago. I really wanted to get into the hobby but didn't have enough money to buy anything decent. The first thing I did was look for a job. This is easier said than done but once I found one I was surprised as to how quickly I could make money. One of the first things I bought was a nice pair of headphones. I bought the Audio Technica ATH-M50xBT, but the cheaper version without bluetooth looks just as good. I also started to collect records. It did feel pointless at times with no way of listening to them but I still appreciated the artwork. After that I decided to buy some nice bookshelf speakers, the Edifier R1280T's. Although the price was cheap, I absolutely love these speakers. Even though I didn't have a turntable yet, it made listening to Spotify more enjoyable. Additionally, I knew that I would have a nice pair of speakers for whenever I could afford a turntable. These speakers have two inputs so I can have both my PC and turntable plugged in at the same time which is really nice. Once I had enough for a turntable I had a little trouble picking out the right one. I almost settled for a lp60 but I'm glad I didn't. For me, it was between a U-turn Orbit, AT lp120, and Fluance RT81. All of these are great turntables but I ended up choosing the Fluance model. The wood look, large number of features, and good reviews made this the best turntable under $300 for me. That's my story! Please don't buy anything cheaply made. It won't sound any better than Spotify will for you and will be a little disappointing. Also, don't give up on trying to sell the PS4. I gave up video games around 6 months ago and I've had so much more free time to work and enjoy other things! Good luck!

You'll need a record player, wether that is by means of free or purchase, you most likely need an amp also, and speakers.
I would recommend the Audio Technica AtLp60. It's cheap at 100 bucks but gets the job done. Next get an amp. For both of these, look to Amazon. Pick up a used or open box Sony Strdh190. If you don't have one, get an Amazon card, use the gift card to help defray the cost. You could get a beans new amp for less that 100. I recommend this one cause it has a phono input. The AT60 I recommend has a preamp I believe, so you'll actually want to hook it up to input 1. But, this allows you to upgrade your turntable if you come across something better at a thrift store or from a friend later. Not all turntables have preamps, if they don't, hook it to the phono input. If they do, line 1.
If you choose to get into cassettes or CD, you also have inputs for those decks as you come across them cheap.
Speakers. With this setup, you'll want speakers that can handle the newer power levels of a modern amp. 100watts. 6 or 8 ohms. Something like a pair of Klipsch bookshelf speakers. The RM 15 I believe is a affordable, new, good sounding speaker. Or some Polks of the same power.
All this, and your set. This isn't going to be everyone's setup, but it gets you started, listenable sound, and upgradable. All this can be had relatively affordable. 100 for the turntable, 125 for the speakers, and less than 150 for the amp if you buy it new. Until you understand more about turntables, avoid used is my suggestion, buy affordable new, nothing to do but follow the instructions.

Sony STRDH190 2-ch Stereo Receiver with Phono Inputs & Bluetooth https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078WFDR8D/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_hgWnDb8R2HGM2


Audio-Technica ATLP60 Fully Automatic Stereo Belt Drive Turntable - (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008872SIO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_hhWnDbN5KDF61


Polk Audio TSi100 Bookshelf Speakers (Pair, Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00192KF12/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CiWnDb6W6STNP


Klipsch R-15M Bookshelf Speaker (Pair) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LMF41IY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WjWnDbS7BKBQS


These are all direct to Amazon links. Look in the used sections to get a deal on some of these and save a few bucks.
Someone mentioned it already also. Do this to love the music. Don't collect records to collect records, it's a rabbit hole of money. Just but the bands you like. Listen to an album online before you buy it to see if you'll like it if you don't know who they are. About the elusive 1dollar bin at the record store. Those records may or may not be in great shape, and do you REALLY care about polkas greatest hits from 1963? All your dad or uncles what they listen to and look for some of those records to rock out to.
Good luck. Hope this helps.

PS, my prices mentioned and names of equipment were approximate, go with what's in the links.

I have suggested similar setups to a few friends working at deli's and pizzaria's, but no takers yet.

Grab a decent home theater receiver. Something with a good AM/FM tuner and capable of multiple channels running in 7 channel mono or split stereo (IE 5 and 7 channel stereo). THIS DENON should work perfectly. It has three preset keys on the face so you can setup three specific modes it remembers with Master Volume, channel volume, source and sound mode all remembered. In a restaurant situation it helps if things can stay simple. Having just three buttons on the face of the unit to set everything back to a predefined scene helps greatly in this. One can do the radio in mono very quiet. The other an ipod with party music in stereo a bit louder and the last you could have do anything, broadcast TV audio if you want.

Since this is a 7.1 receiver you can use up to seven speakers. You mentioned four but for better balance let's say you use SIX for now, all playing stereo (or mono depending on what sounds best when testing). You would wire the speakers to Front left/right, Surround left/right and Surround Back left/right. Placing the receiver into 7 channel stereo will have three of them play left and three right. And with the ability to adjust speaker gains you will be able to quiet or raise each speaker's individual volume to better level the sound throughout the restaurant.

As for speakers I would simply recommend my favorite budget speaker. The Dayton B652. An amazing speaker for the price and since you will be buying three pairs (six speakers total) it helps that the price is low.

My biggest concern however when I hear the word SPEAKER and RESTAURANT is "Whoops! That speaker fell on that child's head and now we are sued" To avoid this I must recommend the only speaker mounts I consider overkill. These HTD HD-brackets are rated for MUCH bigger speakers but help keep many minds at ease.

So just some Jacketed speaker wire (if you need to run it) and you are set.

I think your best bet is to use Chromecast Audios (CCA), as some others have recommended.

We bought our first CCA right when they came out, and we hooked it up to a pair of speakers in the kitchen. We quickly bought two more, eventually adding two Google Homes (which can also participate in speaker groups with CCAs), bringing us to five speakers spread throughout our apartment. So we've been using our Chromecast Audios for well over two years, now, and I can't make any significant complaints.

The synced multiroom audio works great, and the Google Home app lets you adjust the volume collectively (if there's a quieter song or album) as well as on each individual speaker. You can create multiple groups of speakers, and each speaker can be in as many groups as you like, so you could have, for example, All Speakers, Upstairs Speakers, and Downstairs Speakers if you wanted. You can cast separate audio to separate speakers, and even cast separate audio to separate speaker groups if you want. We regularly use our setup to put on music in the living room and kitchen when we have company, as well as to play podcasts in the whole apartment when we're doing chores in separate rooms or while moving room to room.

A big thing that I like about the CCA versus smart speakers is that it's easy to upgrade my sound quality without having to re-buy a whole speaker. When we got them, we were able to use them with whatever speakers we already had, basically getting a bunch of smart speakers for $35 a pop (or less if there's a sale on). Then, when one of the inputs on my (ancient, but still good-sounding) Altec Lansing computer speakers started to go bad, I got a nice new set of speakers for my computer and moved the old Altec Lansings to the bedroom, replacing a cheaper, lower-quality speaker set that also had only one input.

As far as quality goes, I'm wouldn't call myself an "audiophile", but I enjoy listening to music and I want good sound quality. I've been consistently pleased with the Chromecast Audio. Hooked up to a good quality set of speakers like my Edifier R1280T* that I have on my computer, the CCA sounds great. If you have (or acquire in the future) an analog HiFi stereo system, the CCA also offers the option of outputting full dynamic range audio. It also has optical output built into the stereo minijack, so you can hook it up to a newer A/V receiver that takes digital optical input, like equipment you might have as part of a surround sound system.

If you want to start with a sound bar, there are a number of manufacturers who actually ship speakers and soundbars that have Chromecast Audio functionality built-in. They will operate just like a regular speaker with a CCA attached to it. You can cast to them individually, add them to speaker groups or control them with a Google Home. Of course, you could also buy a soundbar without that feature and just hook a CCA into one of its inputs (most have multiple inputs, as far as I know).

Sorry if that got kind of long, but I wanted to answer all your separate questions and be fairly thorough.

----------------------------------

* These aren't super cheap speakers, but I'd give them a very good recommendation for a speaker with excellent sound quality at a non budget-breaking price. I also think they look good in a variety of different rooms and decor styles. There's another model, basically identical, but with more input options that I'm planning to buy to replace our aging Philips stereo system for our living room TV.

It's not 50% faster, it just has 8 GB VRAM versus 6 GB VRAM. Games today don't even use that much so you're really talking about future gaming. Yes, if you keep raising your budget, you will get a faster computer and GPU. If you want to spend the extra money, then go for it. It's really not that big of a jump from 6 GB VRAM to 8 and definitely not worth the extra $400 in my opinion, but that's up to you. Remember, the mobile versions of GPUs are slower than the regular ones in desktops. You're looking at a 1060M 6 GB and 1070M 8 GB. I would save the money for a larger SSD, more RAM, good speakers or a good headset instead, and get the Asus GL502VM-DB74.

If you game and want good sound and use a headset/headphones check out the Sennheiser PC 363D headset (Amazon link) or the other Sennheiser gaming headsets. If you use speakers, check out the Micca MB42X (Amazon link). Make sure you use a DAC like the Schiit Modi 2 or DAC/amp like the Schiit Fulla 2 to get the best sound possible. (Fulla 2 is very new and not yet on Amazon, but you can still get the original Fulla from Amazon and other retailers. It's better to just buy the Fulla 2 from the Schiit website.) Some other good options are: Micca OriGen+, FiiO E10K, AudioQuest DragonFly / AudioQuest Dragonfly v1.2, Audioengine D3, SMSL M2, etc. Check out /r/BudgetAudiophile /r/Audiophile /r/Audio and /r/Headphones if you want more info. The great people there taught me a lot about quality audio. You can also check out /r/AVexchange for good audio deals.

I'm not saying your Edifiers aren't fine, but that it's not what they were designed for so you'll need to be a bit unorthodox when adding a subwoofer. I'll give you 4 options:

1. Keep the Edifiers and pick up a Pioneer SW-8MK2. This will cost the same as the Yamaha sub you were looking at. Connect your current RCA cable to a volume knob like this one. Split your signal coming out of there with RCA to Dual RCA cables and You're good to go.
   
   
2. Spend your money on a great pair of speakers and forget a sub for now. This will offer the best sound by far and you can always add a sub down the line. Maybe you find a subwoofer for sale locally. A pair of JBL LSR305 speakers would fit the bill here. You can add a cheap mixer if you wanted more sources and convenient volume control.
   
   
3. Purchase a pair of powered speakers with a sub output like the Kanto YU4. These are super convenient since you just connect a sub through an RCA cable and you're good to go. You can still fit in a cheap sub within your budget like the cheapo monoprice or the Acoustic Audio RWSUB-10. If you wanted to spend the extra bit for the pioneer subwoofer, that's great too.
   
   
4. Purchase a passive system with a separate amplifier. Assuming you don't have infinite space on a desk or something then pick up an SMSL Q5. Pick up passive speakers like the Pioneer BS22 or Micca MB42X. Choose any of the aforementioned subs that fit in your budget. Pick up cheap speaker wire to connect your speakers to your amp, and use an RCA cable to have your amp send signal to your sub.

So, I'm new here. I do have a few questions that I'd like answered from this community as opposed to the more vinyl-based friends with whom I normally chat.

Right now, I have a slightly sad setup: AT-LP120 outputting through the on-board preamp > RCA into a pair of Bose Companion Series 2 multimedia speakers.

Ideally, for now at least, I'd like my setup to run like this: TT phono out > receiver (with two speaker lines if possible for future expansion) > new decent bookshelf speakers. I'll just leave these Bose ones through my DAC and leave it with my computer setup.

So, I have a few questions:

1. What is your opinion of these Dayton bookshelf speakers? They're pretty heavily recommended as a budget option in a lot of places. I only live in a small apartment, so I don't need a whole lot of sound, but evenly-dispersed frequency range is what I'm going for. I'm not looking to spend more than $50-60 on speakers. Space is also an issue.
   
   
2. I saw this Numark MA-4000 on /r/vinyl and I didn't know such things existed. It looks like it's gonna be a little hard to source, and, while I want it badly, I'm wondering if there are any more recently produced options that have a EQ like this but also have a phono in and act as a receiver. This unit is beautiful, but I don't really know if I want to pay 20 dollars shipping on it. $120 is the highest I'd be willing to go on a receiver. My vinyl collection contains indie rock, jazz, metal, and classic rock, but I may soon start collecting more classical and world music, so an equalizer like this would be great to adjust for each different type of music that I play. Is this worth it? Something better for the money?
   
   
3. However, if that's not an option, I'd just like a unit with a decent phono stage. I'd like something that's not huge, though I wouldn't be adverse to that. Is there something that looks like a DAC but actually has a phono stage on it? If not, is stalking Craigslist the best option for finding a decently priced, quality receiver?
   
   tl;dr Turntable setup: need new speakers and receiver for >$200.
   
   Thanks in advance for the help.

Let me see if I can't point you in the right direction.

1. I would get passive speakers. I'm a big fan of that route and have admitted my bias many times. I like being able to change out the speakers or use them with another system. So that's what I'll go for.
   
   
2. You want smaller speakers and that's cool but just realize the smaller the speaker the more work the sub has to do. This also make the sub more localized and putting a sub (that's worth your time/money) on a desk may not be the best idea.
   
   
3. Since space is an issue it sounds like you're going to need a mini amp. While they make some that are good I still like going for either a receiver or an AVR. That's just my preference.
   
   Here is a sample system I would consider.
   
   Amp - PICK ONE
   
   

• SMSL Q5 $140 - Remote, sub out and digital inputs.
  
  
• ORB Booster $160 - Like the above these both have digital and analog inputs so you can use them with a variety of sources and they will allow you to plug in a TV at some point if you wanted a 2.1 for a living space down the road.
  
  
• SMSL SA50 $70 - Basic analog amplifier so you won't get any digital inputs but you do get to save money.
  
  Speakers - Pick one there are a bunch you could choose I picked a few that might work.
  
  
• Cambridge Audio SX50 $140 - currently on sale. These are smaller bookshelf speakers that I would seriously consider.
  
  
• Micca MB42X $90 - The old go to cheap and small speakers. These do sound good on a desk and with sub to boost the low end you should be in good shape.
  
  
• BIC DV32 $55 - Super small two way speakers. These don't sound bad they just need a sub to take care of the low stuff. If you need small speakers these should be what you need.
  
  Sub - I'm going smaller on the sub for space reasons
  
  
• Polk PSW111 $180 - Small but high powered this guy is compact but should do nicely for a music setup.
  
  
• Pioneer SW-8Mk2 $160 - small downfiring sub that was on sale for $99 not long ago so if you can wait and watch it you could save some money.
  
  
• BIC V80 $135 - Another down firing offering that is affordable.
  
  
• Dayton Sub 800 $100 - A normal go to smaller sub it's out of stock but if you can wait this is also a very good option.
  
  Notes and thoughts
  
  
• I've given you some stuff to chew on. There are some different combinations you can do. Pick one that fits your budget and size requirements. Particularly the speaker size. If you can fit the Cambridge those would be my choice.
  
  
• To hook up the computer you'll need a simple 3.5mm to rca or 3.5mm cable depending the amp you choose. If you get the ones with digital inputs you can use an optical cable if you have that as an option on your computer.
  
  
• Most of the subs can have speaker level inputs and outputs. To hook them up simply come out of the amp into the terminals labeled input. Then run a second set of speaker wires to the speakers using the output terminal.
  
  
• If you go with the Orb or Q5 you can use the sub output on the amp to go to the sub with a sub cable. Most will be able to use a subwoofer y cable $10 but I think the BIC need just a single sub cable $10.
  

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor | $194.79 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $69.89 @ OutletPC
Memory | G.Skill Aegis 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $59.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Western Digital Blue SN500 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $64.98 @ Amazon
Storage | Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.99 @ Amazon
Video Card | XFX Radeon RX 5700 8 GB DD Ultra Video Card | $319.99 @ Amazon
Case | Deepcool MATREXX 50 ATX Mid Tower Case | $45.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply | Cooler Master MasterWatt 550 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | $54.79 @ Amazon
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $99.89 @ OutletPC
Custom| Lepy LP-2020A Class-D Hi-Fi Digital Amplifier with Power Supply Black| $21.90
Custom| Dayton Audio B452 4-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker Pair| $27.88
| Prices include shipping, rebates, and discounts, but not taxes |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1020.08
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| Total | $1010.08
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-29 05:35 EDT-0400 |

CPU: Easily the best performer in its price range. Comes with a respectable fan.
Motherboard: PCPartPicker warns about compatibility, but this motherboard is new enough that all units support Ryzen 3000 series CPUs out of the box. Has built-in WiFi.
RAM: Good value, fast enough that it won't hold back the CPU significantly.
Storage - SSD: Great performance that doesn't degrade heavily as it fills up. Some other SSDs, such as the Intel 660p, have this problem.
Storage - HDD: 7200 RPM and isn't a used and repackaged drive like many others sometimes are.
GPU: A beast. This should easily push 144 FPS at 1080p in most games. Hopefully your monitor has FreeSync!
Case: Looks pretty good with tempered glass windows; not sure how easy it is to build in.
PSU: Semi-modular for easier cable management. Tier B on the PSU tier list. Fully 200W over PCPartPicker's estimated wattage.
OS: You could save money short-term by not buying a license key and leaving your Windows unactivated, but you only get feature/security updates for a year and there's a watermark on the desktop.
Speakers/speaker amp: I don't know a lot about this stuff myself, but these seem to be about the minimum possible for a not-terrible system according to /r/BudgetAudiophile. You'll need a 3.5mm to 3.5mm or 3.5mm to RCA cord to get the amp hooked up to your PC, I think. Better speakers for more money are Dayton B652 ($31) - Micca COVO-S ($45) - Micca MB42X ($80).

I looked it up and you have dome tweeters so don't get anything with a horns such as Klipsch. However they are from a home theater in a box which generally speaking aren't great. My suggestion is you should get the center now but plan on buying the matching left and right as soon as you can. The issues you could run into with running miss matched from stage (LCR) is timber imbalance where sounds don't have the same volume or pitch so sounds traveling across your front stage could sound like aaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaa. My suggestion is listen to some bookshelf speakers and find ones you like then buy the center that matches them. Here are some options I found on Amazon but going to local shops to listen would be best:

• Fluance XL7C they are a Canadian company and make products that are great for what they cost this is $10 over budget though
  
  
• Sony Core Series center known to be a smidge bright I believe in store at best buy
  
  
• Pioneer SP-C22 Andrew Jones is a well regarded speaker designer and most of his products have a sound signature that's well liked
  
  
• Micca MB42X-C the cheapest you could go
  
  
• Polk CSR Polk is a good brand haven't heard anything about these however in store at best buy
  
  
• Paradigm Cinema 110 C heard good things about this brand don't know how their entry level stuff is
  
  I'd look up what the matching bookshelf speakers cost and factor that in as well.

Sidebar links are a great starting point. You've got a good grasp of the beginning points.

I would recommend going with a setup that consists of a Receiver/Amplifier, Passive Speakers, and a Turntable. Yes I left out Phono Stage Amplifier, but I would personally pick a receiver that has it built in.

For a receiver if you want to go for new my two cheap but very well featured options would be the Onkyo TX-8020 and the Onkyo TX-8220. These do have built in phono inputs. Compare the features for yourself to see what seems good to you.

If you want to go used, check out eBay and do a search for "stereo receiver", You can go with anything you think is good as well as looking into the reputation of the brands/models, though it becomes hard to find reviews of old hifi equipment. Almost anything from mid-90s and before will have a phono input that will save you the phono stage purchase.

For passive speakers a very cost effective and something I use in my setup are the Dayton Audio B652 bookshelf speakers. These are decently loud and have great sound.

For a turntable going with new ones will be more expensive and you should look at the recommended ones from the sidebar as they explain it there best. If you're going used, look on eBay for "turntable" and find something that is claimed as working well and is also a recommended brand from the sidebar links. In general something decent is 100% going to have an adjustable tonearm weight, all these new bad turntables always lack this.

One last thing you didn't explicitly ask for, but you should be knowledgeable about is cartridges. You will most likely want to buy a new one for a used turntable. I would say the most cost effective cartridges are found in the range of $50 to $150, do thorough research on installing cartridges and setting them up correctly and you should be on your way to great sound.

For 300 bucks personally I would go with decent Powered speakers. Make sure you pick up a phono preamp as well if you go this route as opposed to using an amp+passive speakers (which is much more expensive, unless you go used). That's the setup I did, minimalist, clean, decent value, but still relatively cheap. Here's my setup for example...

https://www.amazon.com/rolls-VP29-Phono-Preamp/dp/B0002BG2R2 - Rolls VP29 Phono Preamp

https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R1700BT-Bluetooth-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B016PATXSI - Edifier R1700BT Powered Speakers with Bluetooth - For the value these sound really awesome. Only downside is there are not great with lots of bass, they flubber. In retrospect I might have gotten something different, but most stuff I listen to isn't bass heavy so I'm not torn over it. I also wanted bluetooth in this room because it's a guest room.

https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Ject-Elemental-Gray-Turntable-Grey/dp/B01CZW826Y?th=1 - Pro-Ject Elemental Turntable - Great value turntable on the low-end if you buy new.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000513O4/ - Tripp Lite Isobar surge protector - Because I'm paranoid about this stuff and these are high end surge protectors that we use at work. They are bulletproof.

----------------------------------

So anyways... for 300 bucks you can pick up the same phono preamp and these...

https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R2000DB-Bluetooth-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B01CDU3IAI

I hear the R2000's don't have the same bass issue that the r1700 does, but they cost a lot more. Edifier is kind of one of the best in value right now, it's "Chi-Fi" good. The hardcore audiophile kiddos are often brand-whores, so take their allegiance with a grain of salt and try to remain objective, read reviews, technical analysis, etc..

https://www.amazon.com/Audioengine-A2-Powered-Speaker-System/

The A2's always get good reviews in this price range, I have no personal experience, but there are recent reviews that show problems with quality control, maybe the company is getting worse?

https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-2017-R-14PM-Powered-Monitor/dp/B075JRF295

A lot of people swear by the Klipsch powered monitors once you get into this price range, but I don't have any personal experience, maybe someone else can chime in, just showing it here because you might want to consider it, read about them more.

https://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-Signature-S20-Bookshelf/dp/B01LVWWXQG

These are just barely in the price range, definitely consider them, my friend has a Polk setup and he loves it. These seem to get good reviews from hip hop heads too, so the bass response must be good.

It really depend on your musical taste, the room, what kind of setup you are wanting to go with overall and for what purpose though. If you want to be able to handle everything, up the budget, or buy used honestly. If you stay on a small budget and buy new, you are going to have to have compromises. I was wiling to have that compromise, but others may not.

I would give it a try, just make sure you have a reasonable return option if it fails. This issue plagued us around November of 2014. (Plus or minus a month.) I would hope Vizio got their stuff in order and this was clearly a Vizio issue, not Sonos.

I just Googled the issue and found numerous references to the issue.

Oh and now that I am racking my brain about it, it only occurred when the AV source was external to the TV (via HDMI and in our case an AppleTV or Roku). If you watch Netflix or Amazon Prime via the internal app, there wasn't an issue. This made the whole thing a bit more obscure.

The issue was horribly obvious and would have affected Vizio sounds bars and any other device that connected via optical so I am sure it eventually got some attention.

If your TV is still affected you don't have many options since it will affect any sound bar / system connected via optical. My fall back was to go with a Marantz surround sound system. We were looking at the Marantz because they offered shallow system and we were bookshelf constrained. There are certainly other options out there.

And all of these will sit ahead of your TV and do the HDMI switching eliminating the audio delay. You can use the TV's HDMI ARC to supply the surround sound tuner when using internal apps on the TV.

http://www.us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=AVReceivers&ProductId=NR1403

or

http://www.us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=AVReceivers&ProductId=NR1506

and some low-end but well reviewed Andrew Jones Pioneer speakers:
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-BS22-LR-Designed-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers/dp/B008NCD2LG

I would have saved over the Sonos but we already had Sonos in the house and I didn't want to deal with running speaker wires to the rear surrounds.

I figured it would have cost about $1000 to go with this (or similar) non-Sonos solution and run cabling. In the end, we returned the Vizio for a full refund of about $900 and purchased a 1080 Sony for about twice the amount. Both 65" TVs. The Sony did not exhibit any audio delays out of the optical and had a superior image but nothing wrong with the Vizio and I would have never noticed the difference (and I realize returning the TV is not an option in your case).

And if by chance you do look at a different TV, be careful as many of them won't transcribe 5.1 surround from an external HDMI to the optical out. This is an entirely different issue. There is a 2014/15 CNET article on which TVs support transcribing in this case. I know Sony and Vizio are 2 of the 3 or 4 manufacturers that do. Samsung is the major exception and if you look at their sound bars and surround sound systems, none of them support 5.1 out of the optical because their TVs don't support it or at least didn't a year ago when we were looking.

Ultimately optical audio is really a dated technology and you will find lots of criticism of Sonos for going with this but I got it to work and will continue to buy Sonos equipment. What Sonos really needs is to either support ARC or a switching box that accepts HDMI sources and then feeds their various speakers, eliminating the optical and working more like other surround sound tuners. Guessing the ARC solution is ideal but ARC is relatively new and didn't see widespread implementation until around 2013 / 2014 (my guess). As more TVs support ARC, the need to support optical will decrease. And I would think your TV supports ARC. Mine did and they seem to be of similar vintage and specs.

Good luck. Let me know how it works out.

-Andy

JBL LSR305 are good studio monitors for pro recording and mixing however you will need to also add a studio monitor controller.

The C-notes are said to compare well to the JBLs but are tuned more for home audio and also go a bit lower.

A bit quicker DIY build with pre-built and painted cabinets is the Dayton Audio BR-1 6-1/2" 2-Way Bookshelf Monitor Speaker Kit Pair $199 which have a good low end if definitely not adding a subwoofer. A later upgrade is a better DIY crossover.

If you don't want to DIY, but still want a neutral sounding speaker with a flat frequency response tuned for home audio, get the Wavecrest Audio HVL-1s for around $190 shipped for the pair on sale. Then add a subwoofer when you can.

Or the larger Ascend CBM-170 SE which I have in my living room and are great for music. I have the smaller Ascend HTM-200 on my small desk with a subwoofer underneath my desk.

The Infinity Reference will be a bit brighter which can be better for home theater or if you have a hard time hearing high frequencies. Same for the JBL Studio 230 $199 $399 MSRP. They are also both good for music for the price but don't have as good of a mid-range that the Ascends or even the Wavecrests do.

Or the 5.25" Wharfedale Diamond 220 $249 or 6.5" Wharfedale Diamond 225 $349 have a good warm sound for mostly music. Same for the ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 $229 which are said to have a good low end if definitely not adding a subwoofer.

Amplification:

I use a Denon stereo receiver or a Pioneer Dolby Pro Logic AV receiver both of which I found for free, placed on an 18" end table either under or off to the side of my desk. Should be easy to find a used stereo or AV receiver for under $100. Look for one with SUB out if you want to add the R12. If not, you will need a subwoofer with speaker level speaker wire inputs or use a speaker level to RCA adapter. Speaker Wire Only Sub Hookup.

For compact class A/B power, Emotiva A-100 $249. Or the Dayton Audio APA150 $135 is a clone of the discontinued Emotiva BPA-1 that the Emotiva A-100 replaced. Then speaker wire to a sub with speaker level inputs or use a speaker level to RCA adapter with with the R12.

Or a PSA Sprout, NAD 3020, or DENON PMA60 are over $400.

Or down a step to a digital class T/D mini amp, Topping MX3 $129 has a subwoofer out jack to use with the R12.

First step: have you read noaudiophile's reviews? He does very thorough reviews on a lot of budget speakers, and has corrections for many of the popular options. His corrections for the Infinity P163s that I'm currently using made them sound like completely different speakers.

First let's start with powered options:

The Micca PB42X would be a good option. They are basically a powered version of the MB42X so you don't need to purchase a separate amp. Also in the similar realm that get recommended here a lot would be the Swans D1010 and the Edifier R1280T.

Personally I'm a bigger fan of passive speakers, as you get a lot more options to expand your system.

Pioneer BS22 bookshelf speakers are great and have gone on sale quite a bit lately for $70-80/pair.

Dayton B652 I am currently using as my surround speakers, but people rave about them as a budget desktop option

Micca MB42X also get great reviews.

You could also go used for your speakers, but sometimes it can be hard to parse through all the junk out there if you don't know what you're looking for.

Take any of those passive options and pair them up with an inexpensive amp like this SMSL or Lepai for a good budget setup.

I would also recommend checking your local Craigslist or Facebook marketplace for a used receiver, you could pick up a very decent one for just a few bucks and have a great starting setup. This will give you a lot more powerful amp, and the ability later to easily add a subwoofer or expand to surround sound. Personally I'm using an older Sony home theater receiver at my desk, it's old enough that it doesn't have HDMI or optical inputs, someone was just giving it away so I snagged it.

haha wow. Well, it would depend on a lot. But lets say you have a few bucks but not a lot to spend. I imagine you're interesting in keeping a clean look so definitely 2.0 for now (no sub). If you don't mind having a receiver I'd suggest the Elac B6 or B5 speakers. Amazing value. Pair that with a modest hdmi receiver by yamaha or denon....

Alternatively if you have headphone out you could get powered monitors. I'm a big fan of Emotiva's line. The Emotiva Airmotv 4s would be a great start....I really enjoy them for my desktop speakers. Could I always go bigger for better low end. With something like the 4s you may not get huge bass but you'll get solid lows but everything will be insanely clear and accurate. You'll never go back.

You'll want stands. I suggest Sanus...make sure whatever you get the tweeter is about head level while sitting.

Enjoy!

The LP-60 is considered the very bottom of entry-level turntables. It's not murder on vinyl like the BSR tables (though some here might disagree), but it isn't a "hi-fi" turntable by any means. But if you do decide to go that route, you will need speakers and a way for the sound to be amplified to those speakers.

There are generally two types of speakers: passive and powered. Passive speakers will need an amplifier (in the form of a receiver, integrated amplifier or separate pre-amp/amplifier) to send sound out to the speakers. Powered speakers will have their own built in amplifier.

In addition to speakers and amplifier, turntables need a specialized phono preamp. The phono preamp converts the signal from the turntable into a line-level signal that most audio equipment can handle. It also add equalization called the RIAA Curve to compensate for some of the limitations of the vinyl medium.

The LP-60 has a built-in phono preamp, so that part is taken care of. What you will need next is to decide on what type of speakers you want. There are good powered speakers, like Audio Engine, but they can be fairly spendy. Some people use powered monitors designed for mixing music, but I find that they aren't "musical" and can be fatiguing over long listens. You can also get a cheap 2.1 system, but the sound quality will be lacking.

I would recommend going the passive speaker route. If you have a local craigslist, your best bet is to find a decent '90s era receiver. Equipment from the '90s, especially older home-theater units, are the best value in audio gear right now. They aren't desired by collectors because of their plain look, but they were manufactured at a time when quality and power output standards were high.

If you get one of those receivers, I would then recommend getting a pair of these Pioneer BS-22-LR speakers:

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-BS22-LR-Designed-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers/dp/B008NCD2LG

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Speakers/Home+Theater+Speakers/SP-BS22-LR

http://www.stereophile.com/content/pioneer-sp-bs22-lr-loudspeaker

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/a-great-bookshelf-speaker/

http://www.budgetphile.com/2013/10/budget-speaker-review-pioneer-sp-bs22-lr.html

They routinely go on sale for $99 (and sometimes $89). Keep an eye out at the big retailers and usually within a month one of them will have them on sale and the other will follow suite suit.

If you don't want to go used, then I would recommend the Sherwood RX-4105. It's inexpensive and proven:

http://www.amazon.com/RX-4105-2-Channel-Remote-Controlled-Stereo-Receiver/dp/B0002EPWC0

Both the speakers and receiver are available at most big box and online retailers (Walmart, Best Buy, New Egg, Amazon, Target, etc.).

If you thin you are fairly serious about vinyl as a hobby, I would step up the turntable to a U-Turn Orbit and get the Sherwood RX-4109 receiver (with built-in phono preamp) instead:

http://uturnaudio.com

http://www.amazon.com/Sherwood-RX-4109-Stereo-Receiver-Black/dp/B000MBUSD6/

Those are great speakers!

They lack low end but paired with a nice small subwoofer they would we great!

However, I would personally recommend a good pair of 3-ways. 3-ways produce a more full sound without the added need of a subwoofer. You are not going to get the same earth shattering bass a dedicated sub would provide, but you will get true stereo bass that is more true to the mix engineers orignal intent, and often still quite dramatic.

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-SSCS5-3-Driver-Bookshelf-Speaker/dp/B00O8YLMVA

Other Peoples Opinion:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/sony-core-series-sscs5.694183/

The AT-LP120 is a great table but I would personally recommend swapping out the cartridge right away. I know a few people with this player and the Oftofon 2M red sounds great! Just a thought!

http://www.needledoctor.com/Ortofon-2M-Red-Phono-Cartridge

1. Budget

I don't have a budget since I'll be saving for each individual necessity for the long run, though I would not spend more than $1,000 for speakers. That being said, you can make a decision on what are price points for each respective item.

2. What are you looking for?

I'm essentially looking for a living room audiophile set up. I would not mind recommendations other than floor standing speakers, but that is what I have now and I'm very pleased with the way it looks. I do not know what I'm looking for since I'm not sure what should be upgraded and what is missing.

3. How will you typically be using the gear?

Mid-Field

4. What gear do you own?

Specifics, I have a Yamaha RX-V381BL Receiver with a pair of Andrew Jones's ELAC B6 speakers. For headphones, I only use an Audio Technica's ATH-M40X.

5. What do you intend on using for a source?

I'll be using a laptop connected via HDMI to the receiver (unless someone thinks I should opt for a different source if I get a dedicated stereo receiver.)

6. What material will you be using your gear for?

Dedicated for music. I would like it to connect this system with HDMI ports i/o, but if a dedicated stereo is necessary, i'll be glad to go through that route.

7. Are you willing to buy used?

Yes, I am willing to buy used, though craigslist, etc. is not preferred. Something like Amazon would be nice. Local: Los Angeles.

Thoughts:

I do not know anything about amplifiers, DACs, tubes, etc. so if you could inform me, that would be appreciated.

Note:

This was re-uploaded with updated information for further suggestions and aid. I'm not too new to audiophile but I never have owned my own full set up. Any information would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advanced.

Great!


Try these settings that Fairchild, a forum member, posted up on AVSforums. He calibrated it using professional tools for a darker room, so it might work for you. Otherwise, perusing/searching the forums should net you some more settings that worked for other people.

Best Buy has excellent deals on the Denon 1613/1713/1913 speakers right now. They’re all on clearance or in excellent condition as open box items. The Denon 1713, for example, I was able to buy for 199 before taxes (amazon still shows it as 378.99).


To check online stock, do the following:


Go to the store locator -> Enter zip/address -> click on the stores that are closest to you within the search results -> for each individual store website, click “Open Box and Clearance Items” on the left side -> Shop this store (in blue) -> Under “Shop Best Buy” (left side pane), click “Audio & MP3” -> Under Narrow your results, choose Denon as your brand.

Hopefully you’ll find some good sales.


Speakers.
I’ve thought about the Pioneer SP BS-22 and the Polk 30s. You really can’t go wrong with either, but you just missed a sale where the Pioneers were going for $70.


Depending on what L/Rs you go with, you’d get the matching center channel from their respective manufacturers.


Subs, for our budget, the consensus seems to be the Bic America F12, but others have stated that a better alternative may be the Polk Audio PSW505.

The gist, I think, was that the Polks would perform better if you listen to a lot of music.

Anyways, that’s where I am with my research. My goal is to save as much money as I can, but to spend when necessary to fulfill my needs. I hope that television works out for you. We’ve loved ours and the calibration went a long way. Happy shopping!

Oh sorry, it's hard to not go all jargon-crazy sometimes.

So studio monitors are designed for mixing audio, as such they're designed to be very very accurate. The flat response means if you plot a line representing all the audible frequencies from bass to the highest treble the line would be flat, so no boosted bass or lowered midrange or any of those things people usually fiddle with knobs to do. Just dead accurate, which lots of people think they want until they hear it, mids and highs can get a little tiring to listen to and is sometimes considered not a "warm" sound.

B&W is Bowers and Wilkins, a very good brand and I just meant find some from the 1980's because they crop up for sale used from time to time and sound great (check craigslist for B&W, Mission, Elac, Mirage, PSB and Wharfedale). Other options that aren't used would be Cambridge Audio SX50's, Elac B6.2's, and Wharfedale Diamond 210's. (Tons of reviews of all of those out there) As for an amp, the SMSL SA50 is plenty for most people for normal listening levels.

As for a DAC, you wouldn't necessarily need one for active monitors, but you would definitely need some interesting cables like these shitty ones. One of the advantages of pro-audio gear is they use balanced audio signals which makes long runs of cable safe from electromagnetic interference/noise/hum, most people don't have runs long enough for it to matter in their house but they look cool and "pro". Also to actually have a balanced signal going through those XLR cables you need a balanced output, which is where a DAC with balanced outputs or volume controller would come in. Here's a cheap ok controller.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk you out of studio monitors, speakers are super super super subjective and if I encountered a set of studio monitors that really blew my skirt up I'd probably buy all the balanced cables and some huge volume knob to be able to listen to them and be happy as a clam. Just hasn't happened yet.

Just my two cents, you could do the Best Buy $300 on speakers and like you said get whatever 5.1+ receiver elsewhere. Best Buy will price match Amazon if it's "shipped and sold" by Amazon. So for example you could get the Pioneer towers and center channel for around $300:

Pioneer SP-FS52 Andrew Jones Tower each $110 Amazon (x2 for $220) / $125 Best Buy (x2 for $250)

https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-FS52-Designed-standing-Loudspeaker/dp/B008NCD2S4/

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-5-1-4-floor-speaker-each-black/5086937.p?skuId=5086937

Pioneer SP-C22 Andrew Jones Center channel $85 Amazon / $95 Best Buy

https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-C22-Designed-Channel-Speaker/dp/B008NCD2EI/

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-dual-4-center-channel-speaker-black/5086891.p?skuId=5086891

Total if you Amazon price match = $305 before tax

EDIT: just be sure to factor in cables/speaker wire to total budget, and make sure everything will fit and has a proper place to be setup. and don't overlook a universal remote if that's an option/need. :)

EDIT 2: OK so this doesn't satisfy the need for surround. So you could throw in cheap surrounds for now as well. Top 100 Amazon satellite speakers, others on here may have cheap suggestions?:

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Electronics-Satellite-Speakers/zgbs/electronics/3236454011#1

EDIT 3: And here's the matching bookshelf speakers if you wanted to match them up for the surrounds, swap these in front as a cheaper alternative to the towers, or both... for pair $110 Amazon / $125 Best Buy:

https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-BS22-LR-Designed-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers/dp/B008NCD2LG/

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-4-bookshelf-speakers-pair-black/5086955.p?skuId=5086955

I was wrong on the speaker setup pricewise. It's about $150 which is quite a bit more than I mentioned. The setup would be MUSE M50 amp and Micca MB42XSpeakers. I love music and spent quite a bit more on my setup, but I feel most setups ignore peripherals so I made it a point to mention it :)

For keyboards, I like mechanicals. They tend to have a higher build quality and the clicky clack noise and feel they have is fantastic! I use the Corsair k95 as I play multiple MMO's as well as FPS, but would not reccomend at its current price ($130, I got mine for $90). The Razer keyboard I linked is one of the few products I like from them and would recommend. The Coolermaster Storm series are nice as well and anything Ducky or Das Keyboard are also good brands.

For a mouse, I actually don't mind the Razer Naga/Deathadder. They are pretty fairly priced and pretty durable. Their $100+ mice on the other hand, I don't like at all. Corsair, Coolermaster, Logitec, and Razer (within reason) are the brands I would suggest. I use a Corsair M95 mainly for the additional binds, and it's color matches my case.

I would budget, at the top end, $130 for a quality keyboard and $80 for a mouse.

for the price, the LSR305 and sub is the best value at the $500 mark

you used euro, so I'm gonna link german amazon. Klipsch R-15M is a decent speaker. there's probably better for €200, but you won't be disappointed. the Auna AV2 looks pretty nice, but I've never actually used or seen too much of it, but the reviews seem good and it looks pretty good. Pioneer A-10 is also a good option. those two plus tax will probably hit your budget (not sure how much tax is), but if you have some money, it might be worth grabbing a sub

you can also try a different pair of powered speakers. these Edifiers are pretty decent as well, and they're well within your budget if you don't actually want to spend the full 500

Hey!
So I'm looking to buy some speakers for home use, with a budget of around 100-170$. I'm kind of a speaker noob, so I can't really say anything that I'd actually wanna go for, but the Micca MB42X looked pretty attractive both money and performance wise (atlest with the little knowledge I have).

I want a mid-field speaker for my room, it doesn't need to be too loud cause I live in a flat with pretty thin walls, but every once in a while it would be nice to turn up the volume and blare loud music for a party or something.

I wanna play music from my computer mostly, so I guess I'll need an amp or a DAC, not sure.

I wanna use the speaker pretty much solely for playing music. I listen to electronic msuic, mainly trap and house, so bass is pretty important. I have smaller crappy speakers for normal usage, so I want these for the premium listening experience.

Well that's all, hope you guys can help me out! :)

Hey Zeos! I want to thank you so much for your guide. I just started looking at making a home theater setup yesterday for the very first time and it was pretty daunting at first. After reading through your posts and several others at /r/hometheater I have it narrowed down to a couple of options and would appreciate some advice on the selections I've made. I apologize for the long post but I want to make sure I make the most informed decisions for my first home theater purchase.

I just purchased the 65" Samsung JS8500 and I have an Xbox One that will be my main bluray player for now with a focus on movies / games.

Through my research last night and going through your suggestions at the top of this thread, I've chosen the Denon AVR-S510BT.

My question is in regards to speakers. Last night I had decided on the Micca MB42X Bookshelf Speakers with the accompanying Center since it's my first system and I was thinking of trying out something cheaper for an intro setup which would be better than just my TV speakers.

Whenever I get into a new hobby I tend to start thinking of an intro setup and get sucked into the nice expensive parts because I believe in "buy once cry once". I'd hate to get the Micca's and then a year later want to upgrade them to something nicer anyways when I could have just spent a bit more and got something that would have lasted me longer.

edit after more reading and watching your videos I see you recommending the Elacs quite a bit, I know you mentioned they would be great for music and I loved how they sounded, is this the case with movies and games as well? My budget is pretty open if it's for the right items and I can afford the Elac 6.5"s or something in that similar price range like the HTD Level3's (loved that sound demo too) if they would really make the whole setup shine and last me for years to come.

If I do end up choosing more expensive speakers and could only purchase one or the other to start with, would you recommend a Center speaker or a Subwoofer like the BIC America F12?

Thank you so much in advance, I appreciate all the time you've taken to write up these guides and answer questions.

I ended up tightening my budget quite a bit on this new home theater, so some of my choices aren't as nice as what I had before, but I'm very happy with what I got in the end. I want to thank everyone who gave me advice in my last post here. It was all very helpful!

I went with a 65" Samsung 120Hz smart TV. I decided against getting the 240Hz because I couldn't see a difference between the two when looking at it, and the 3D makes my wife sick in any case. That saved me almost $500.

For the receiver, I took everyone's advice and opted away from the all-in-one set I'd been looking at. Instead, I got a great price on a Pioneer VSX-824 that I've been very happy with.

I know the Denon reciever is what everyone recommended, and it's what I bought at first, but strangely enough my PS3 didn't work with it. It worked just fine connected to the TV directly, and other devices worked with that HDMI cable and port, but the PS3 just told me to go fuck myself. A quick google search told me that it's a flaw in the way the HDMI handshake works with Denon receivers, so back it went.

I went with Pioneer speakers as well, hooking up a
pair of tower speakers for front left and right, a pair of matching bookshelf speakers for the rear, and the matching center speaker.

The subwoofer will have to wait, for now, but the plan is to purchase the matching subwoofer when we're ready.

Instead of the Harmony Ultimate, which didn't seem to get any good remarks, I opted for the much cheaper Harmony 650, which has made my wife very happy. No more frayed tempers about what button does what on which remote. I'm even buying my parents one for Christmas.

I'm hugely pleased with the upgrade over my previous setup, even if it's not everything it could have been. What do you all think?

Think of a turntable as a lens on a camera. A good lens on a crappy body will help a lot but there is no benefit at all with a cheap lens on a good body. The turntable is the first thing in the signal chain, you are going to be limited with the LP60X so I would go with the following and save the rest of the money for a better turntable down the road as nothing is really going to make much of a difference until then.

These bookshelf speakers are great value. Not the nicest looking ones but do some research as they have great reviews. Best $100 speakers out there IMO.

I would look into getting a used vintage receiver with a phono stage on craigslist, should be able to find a very nice one for around $100-150 and combined with the speakers above I think you will be very pleased.

Start to build a system not limited to one format as that way your money will go a lot further as everything will be able to work together.

If it were me and you really want to upgrade your sound now, but also want to have the ability for a full 5.1 sound later I'd check out craigslist. You can probably find an older 5.1 receiver for under $70. A quick look in my area brought up a few. A few months ago I sold a 12 year old Pioneer that still was great, but I wanted the ability to get music via my network/internet. I sold it for $60. Then I would look for 2 decent book shelf speakers that you would use for fronts now and later use them for rears. These are as low as they go according to camelizer https://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-T15-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B002RJLHB8/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1510803743&sr=1-3&keywords=polk+bookshelf+speakers&dpID=31bhM1nV3tL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch Then I'd get a sub https://www.amazon.com/Polk-10-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer-Single/dp/B0002KVQBA/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1510803898&sr=1-3&keywords=polk+subwoofer&dpID=51JGYWW4N4L&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
That would get you started and would kick the shit out of any 2.1 soundbar. So you'd be looking at $140 for the 2 speakers and sub and then w/e you could find on craigslist for an a/v receiver. If you can stretch your budget to about $300 you could grab this which is certified refurbished https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/denavrs510bt/denon-avr-s510bt-5.2-ch-x-70-watts-bluetooth-a/v-receiver/1.html
None of this is going to be wireless. IF you can stretch out to $400 you could get this receiver which I really like for the price: https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/denavrx1300w/denon-avr-x1300w-7.2-ch-x-80-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

Keep in mind you'll have to buy some speaker wire and a crimping/cutting tool. But yeah about $400 will get you a decent setup like Mtown said.
The best way to go about buying home theater equipment is to buy stuff that you'll use later. So if you have a soundbar now, I'd just use it and save up until you have enough for a decent refurbed 5.1 av receiver ~$250 and some bookshelf speakers ~50-100.

If you absolutely need a 2.1 soundbar. I bought a refurbed lg sh4 2.1 for about $130 on amazon. I believe they are more now. It's enough for a small room. I use it for my office and it's decent.

You can probably get better advice about starting up a ht system by searching r/hometheater.

You have many many options! I would lurk around the sub for a while to get some ideas. The suggestions that come to mind:

For speakers, going from lowest to highest price, I'd check out the Micca MB42x's, the Fluance SX6's, and the ELAC B5's.

The SMSL SA50 is a nice budget amp but (if you have the space for it) a used receiver is the best bang for your buck and will likely be more powerful.

I have the MB42x's. They're quite capable and will do just fine for me for some time. Just remember that there are so many options out there. Do your best to find the right setup for you.

Just to get started, I'd check out Zoes' 2.0 Desktop Suggestions list from his suggestions sub. His influence as a youtuber is a bit of a controversial topic on this sub but I'd say he has some good suggestions. Good luck and have fun!

Edit: I should also mention that it's always useful to demo equipment if you can. Hit up a local audio shops and demo some gear if you have the time.

I haven't really heard much about Sony receivers so I can't really comment on that aspect of it but generally Denon or other manufactures are recommended around here. Might be worth looking into something like the Denon x1300 on acessories4less. It's a little more expensive but you get audyssey room correction which can be really helpful.

I'd skip the center channel for now and maybe even the subwoofer and go with some higher end speakers. Something in the $300 range would probably do you much better than skimping on the speakers and getting the center channel right now. The Elac Debut B6's are highly recommended (haven't heard them myself but have heard a lot of praise):

https://www.amazon.com/Debut-Bookshelf-Speakers-Andrew-Jones/dp/B014GSEQ06/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519671824&sr=8-3&keywords=elac+debut+b6&dpID=41zNEwhnFGL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

They're also about to announce the 2018 model lineup and they are front ported which is cool. Maybe some others can chime in on some good speakers in the $300 price range as well.

So the Denon receiver plus a pair of the Elac's would run you about $600, you could save the $100 and put it towards a nicer subwoofer. Something like an HSU, Rythmik, or SVS. I think you'd be MUCH happier going this route than skimping on the components now just to get started and then having to spend more money later on when you realize how much of a difference a quality setup will sound. I skimped out when starting my setup and I definitely have regretted it and spent more money than I otherwise would have had I just spent the money upfront.

If you want to go the passive route, a decent setup would probably be around $150-200. If you want something with a tuner, a receiver would be a good choice over an amp.

Right now, you can get this Yamaha R-S202BL Stereo Receiver on Amazon or Best Buy for $119 which is an excellent deal. Usually this receiver costs $149 or more and Yamaha makes some of the best budget stereo receivers. Sometimes you can find this Insignia Stereo Receiver for about $99, but right now it costs higher than the Yamaha and is not worth it. Those are probably your best deals on receivers right now that won't break the bank. Most other receivers will cost you about $150 to start.

You can find a lot of good speakers under $150 and a few under $100. What you need to do is sign up for Fry's Electronics newsletter. Just this last week they sent a coupon code in my email to get the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers for $58! Super good deal. Normally cost just over $100. They are sold out now, but this deal pops up quite often and they are well worth that price.

Here are more great speakers around $100 or less:

Micca MB42X speakers - $90.

Polk T15 - $100

Dayton Audio B652 - $30

Dayton Audio B652-AIR - $44

JBL Arena B15 - $79

Hello.

I have some questions regarding purchasing of speakers. This will be used for a TV and computer setup, I want to be able to switch between at least 3 inputs Computer, TV, Bluetooth (for phone)

I'm looking for a good set I want a hard-cap of about $400-500 (everything together) but if it's not to much more I might make some more exception

But generally aiming for the $200-250 range (At least on speakers alone), I looked at the recommended speaker sets in the post and I would like something more in-line with the $100 set but better quality.

I'm generally looking for a 2, 2.1 speaker setup (As I have a set of Logitech z506 5.1, but want better sound, not sure if I should go 2.1 or stick with 5.1) but this will be in my bed room as well

I was following this guide Which I found a couple months back but haven't bought anything yet (New PC build first then audio setup) and I liked the look of these speakers the best. but also thinking of possible wall mounting them as well, but I want to wait and see until everything is ordered and setup where Id like them to be.

Would this be a good guide to follow, or is there stuff you would change to make it a bit better, or just overall better, any ideas/recommendations for ease of convenience onto me? (I do want to have a clean setup so I'd prefer to have a slightly longer cable then a short cable.

Ideally, you want to spend the most money towards obtaining better speakers. You can't improve upon the sound of your source, but you can lose less detail; the speakers are the culprits that lose/alter/affect the most of your sound's detail/musicality/etc. So naturally, this is what you want to spend the most money on (cheap speakers with cheap components really dull down the music). The best NEW budget speakers you'll find are $80 Micca MB42X's.

As a rule of thumb: used audio equipment is usually cheaper and better than new items at the same price range.

As far as turntables go, the LP60 does need to be upgraded. When looking for a better turntable, you really want to have tracking weight adjustment, anti-skating adjustment, and the possibility to upgrade cartridges (the part that houses the needle and interprets grooves into analog audio signal). The LP60 has none of those. My go to recommendation would be to look for a used Rega Planar 3 or P3 on eBay (~$350), those are some quality tables with lots of room for upgradeability (installing upgrades to the Rega can make it come close to $3,000+ TTs).

For a phono preamplifier, on a tight budget, I'd recommend a Cambridge Audio Azur 540p, which can be found for ~$50-60.

Increasing your budget up to $500 would put you together a setup that would definitely sound FAR better than an AT-LP60!

Wish you two best of luck, and enjoy the music!

Long story short, my front left tower has a damaged tweeter and my google skills cannot find the replacement available for sale.

1. What is your budget?

I am open to spending up to $1500.

2. What are you looking for?

I want a new LCR and I think I am leaning towards floor speakers sa I have kids and bookshelves on stands seem WAY more likely to get knocked over. I COULD mount some speakers on the wall, but again... they might be likely to hang on to them. (Kids. Not Even Once.) Also I am NOT interested in ATMOS at this time.

All in I think I prefer the ease of use with the towers but I dont know if they are the best bang for the buck for me as my subwoofer handles the bottom end pretty well.

3. How will you typically be using the gear?

I use it for home theater (Movies and Games) 50% and music the other 50%.

4. What gear do you own?

• Denon AVR‑X2100W
  
• Pioneer SP-FS52 Andrew Jones x2
  
• Pioneer SP-C22 Andrew Jones
  
• Pioneer (AJs) SP-BS52 Andrew Jones x2 (as rear surrounds)
  
• HSU VTF-15H Subwoofer
  
  5. What do you intend on using for a source?
  
  I stream Spotify Premium or use my PS4 for BlueRay, Games, Netflix and Youtube (mostly kids).
  
  6. What material will you be using your gear for?
  
  In order of importance I think I want movies, music and gaming. Lately I have been listening to a lot of
  
  7. Are you willing to buy used?
  
  Yes. My problem with used research is there are SOOOO many brands and models for me to lookup on a price/sound ratio that I quickly get inundated.
  
  All in I have been thinking about updating my setup for a while, and this tweeter issue is a perfect excuse.
  I have a buddy using the HSU 5.1 and it sounds great. Otherwise I don't have much exposure to a lot of other brands (and there seem to be a LOT of them).
  
  As of right now the following combinations have caught my attention:
  
  
• HSU CCB-8 x 3 (so matching center on its side) (also these are not out yet... so minimal reviews)
  
• ELAC B6 pair with C5 Center
  
• ELAC UB5 pair with UC5 Center
  
• ELAC F6 with C5 Center
  
• ELAC UF5 pair with UC5 Center
  
  What other speakers should I consider? Or is there a clear winner?
  

Alright I had a build all ready for you but decided I want to discuss some things out further

Is response time the most important thing to you about monitors? Because if you relax your limit to say 4/5 ms you can get an IPS panel which will give you much nicer colors and generally look better.

Do you want the monitors to match or do you care if they are different? Is there a size you want?

As for speakers, you can buy the standard computer speakers and they will emit sound, but as you will be using this for movies as well I recommend you go the amp/bookshelf route.

I'd get This Amp and These Speakers

Now you either can do sound over HDMI to the monitors, and then a simple Head-Phone to RCA and this would work for both the Xbox and the computer OR you pick up Optical to analog converter and then just run them straight into the amp. You'd have to get a splitter as it only has 1 input

I know this is more complicated and you're probably thinking (Fuck this I should just get all in one speakers) But I promise this will sound A LOT better

As for the build its going to look something like this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $174.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $60.88 @ OutletPC
Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $27.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $84.88 @ OutletPC
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $49.98 @ OutletPC
Video Card | XFX Radeon R9 380 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card | $169.99 @ Newegg
Case | Fractal Design Core 1500 MicroATX Mini Tower Case | $58.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power Supply | SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $55.99 @ SuperBiiz
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $703.69
| Mail-in rebates | -$20.00
| Total | $683.69
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-04 13:44 EST-0500 |

At that price range the quality differential is negligible if you ask me, as none of those are going to sound spectacular. We've had the Z625 hooked up to a Chromecast TV in our apartment and it works just fine, sounds decent in a pretty large room but performance dips once you go beyond the 60-70% volume mark. The bass is surprisingly sufficient as well, although, again, not the best at higher volumes. It's actually a pretty solid all-round performer for the price.

My suggestion would be to go with your gut, as they're all going to perform similarly. Pick something with the right form factor for your setup or just what you think looks best, honestly, especially after looking at a couple reviews. If you want better quality I'd recommend spending a bit more and picking up some nice monitors like these ones for a better experience. But that's entirely dependent on you, just thought I'd give you options.

Excellent point...and pretty much why I decided on trying to get an AV installer...I'm completed baffled where to put them.

• I was considering the Polk Aurdio OWM3 in white or the Micca COVO-S compact bookshelves after seeing Zeo's review of them...they seemed like they would potentially could be slipped into an arm of some sort, mounted at G0 or L0, and angled down towards the main viewing area without being too obvious.
  
  
• Then I learned how important it was to be at ear level from a prior post. At the time I was so desperate that I was considering trying to do wireless surrounds as bookshelves that I could just move into place on movie night at positioned marked "Gx and Lx (near the middle of the wall)" since "G0 or L0 (Mounted on the upper wall)" didn't seem very reasonable since it was so off of ear level. I figured that on movie night I could just use a rocketfish setup to slide a surround into position @ Gx or Lx and plug one of them in for a few hours...and maybe keep one on a windowsill (@ Gx) ready to go to make it even easier.
  
  
  
• Completely confused, I had a local AV installer stop out and they suggested that perhaps mounting at G0-2 or L0-1 may actually be possible. They even thought that a bipole (or even a monopole) would be possible. Ultimately they suggested the Paradigms bipoles listed above.
  
  
• Honestly bipoles or monopoles (Eg Polk Aurdio OWM3 or Micca COVO-S) don't matter too much to me...as unobtrusive as possible would be preferred. Bipoles sound like perhaps they may be better for non-standard seating at a love seat, at the kitchen table watching TV, or just playing some music for the holidays...but I'm certainly open to suggestions!
  
  
• I was considering asking for an alternate surround from what the AV installer, but quite honestly, I don't know how to best compare them with my current layout, equipment and future plans. Could a ceiling speaker be added in or sliding a wireless speaker into Gx or Lx in the next 5-10 years? I have no idea...it sounds great in theory, but I have no clue what would be recommended or most flexible. But if there is an installer that can help out and provide guidance, Im more than willing to go with whatever they recommend

Pioneer Andrew Jones SP-BS22 bookshelves are great entry level units that regularly go for $60 shipped for the pair. The floorstanders are also great for about 80% more.

I picked up two of these for $49 each. If you need something with video input, I know there are many receivers in the $150-200 range with 5.1/7.1 output. They come and go in price and availability so often, i can't recommend a cheap one by model, specifically. Denon and Onkyo do well, and I really like Yamaha for basics. The receiver is generally the most difficult thing to swap in and out at a later time, so if a deal presents itself, or if budget allows to get closer to $300-400, you can gain a lot, and be able to support more mid-level gear.

Don't tell your audiophile friends you own it, but the original Monoprice Subwoofer goes on sale regularly. I bought one for a friend @ $70 plus some shipping.

A 2.1 setup like this is a dramatic change from any soundbar that isn't $400 or more (and some ~$1,000), generally speaking. Expand or exchange components as Craigslist, availability, and budget allows. I am not a baller that can afford ridiculous setups, but I have a variety of nice things. I have built budget setups of all kinds for clients and friends. I like my stuff, but I would enjoy a movie on a setup like this at a friend's house so much more than a TV over the fireplace with a soundbar on the mantle.

Well "best" is completely subjective. But getting passive speakers (un-powered) that require speaker wire and a separate amp will allow you to hand pick components and upgrade in the future. If you buy a powered set of speakers and they break or you want something different, you have to scrap the whole thing.

It's a bit more effort, but it's pretty damn fun and ultimately very rewarding. A simple passive speaker system will sound better than most pc speaker boxed sets that even cost 2x more. And you can add a subwoofer for the best bass quality possible.

But I understand convenience may matter more to some people.

It really depends on how much you have to spend. Start with a lepai amp if it is the strictest of budgets, but I would say spend a bit more on an amp from smsl or something for a bit more quality and power.

I started with micca mb42x which are very well regarded for the price. In the under $1-$200 price range spending or skimping even $20 will almost always provide a tangible difference in quality.

This sub's sidebar and the Zeos Guide have great speaker lists.

Hmm, not a lot to spend on speakers and headphones. Shooting from the hip, around that budget, I'd probably go one of two directions:

A pair of reasonable-ish entry-level speakers - something in the vein of the Micca [MB42] (https://www.amazon.com/Micca-PB42X-Powered-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B009IUIV4A) (which is passive, and so requires an amplifier, which can be [pretty cheap for a very budget option] (https://www.amazon.com/Lepy-LP-2020A-Class-D-Digital-Amplifier/dp/B01FZKA28Y/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=class+t+amplifier&qid=1573193876&s=electronics&sr=1-7))/[PB42X] (https://www.amazon.com/Micca-PB42X-Powered-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B00NXAEPDC) (which is powered and so requires no amplifier) - which will run something a little north of $100 unless you're down to buy used, plus a reasonable lower mid end closed headphone ([NVX's branding of the Yoga CD880] (https://www.amazon.com/NVX-Over-Ear-Headphones-ComfortMax-XPT100/dp/B0093PVTPS) is a pick I like a fair bit). These speakers will be pretty alright, albeit imperfect to be sure, and there are a few decent-to-good closed-back options in the ~$100 range.

Alternatively, if speaker quality is literally of no importance, you could go for something in the budget range of those Logitechs - there really are absolutely not options that cheap that are any good at all, but if you only use speakers to occasionally listen to youtube videos, it might be acceptable. That would leave more budget to allocate to the headphone side of things, where you'd have options like [AKG's] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svAmJheRxAg) K371, NAD'S HP50,or on the used side of the street [AKG's] (https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/akg/n700nc-wireless) N700NC, which are quite robust options in the closed-back world (particularly, in my opinion, the N700NC, which sounds fantastic to my ears with its digital signal processing active, and has quite good noise cancelling as well).

It's a bit of a tight squeeze regardless - if you're down with used gear, you can get a bit more for your dollar, but at very low price points you're in a space where shipping costs may dwarf savings, so even that might not help much, outside of headphones (which don't cost much to ship, and have a quite vibrant used market).

If you'd like more information or options, just let me know - I've thrown some links in above, but I'm pretty short of time today, so I figured I'd offer what I had from the top of my head rather than leaving you waiting.

Sorry for all the questions.. really appreciate your answers, you've given me more detail than anybody I've talked to at the audio/video stores I go into. Can I buy you a beer somehow? :)

I have one final question I think... my wife chose a TV Stand/Media Console to house all this stuff, and I only have 5.67" of height for the center speaker, so unfortunately that rules out the Dayton Audio set, as well as the Pioneer set I brought up earlier.

So I'm looking at one of two options, first this Micca setup:

Micca MB42X for Front L/R and Rear L/R
Micca MB42X-C for Center (5.3 inches tall, fits my needs)
~$330 CAD for the set of 5 speakers, not bad!
https://www.amazon.ca/Micca-MB42X-Bookshelf-Speakers-Tweeter/dp/B00HHFBEK6

(Instead of the MB42X, maybe the RB42? https://www.amazon.ca/Micca-RB42-Reference-Bookshelf-Speaker/dp/B07JC416LG/ Seems better reviewed, would add $120 to the price to do those front and back, or just $60 more to do those in the front and still have MB42X in the rear)

(Another option is just to get 5 MB42X-C's?... Or 3 for the front and 2 MB42X at rear)

or this Polk setup.. only other decently priced one I found with a small center.. but this center is much smaller than the Micca:

Polk Audio TL2 for Center
https://www.amazon.ca/Polk-Audio-Speaker-Center-Channel/dp/B0043M667M
Polk T15 for Front L/R and Rear L/R
https://www.amazon.ca/Polk-Audio-T15-Bookshelf-7-25-Inch/dp/B002RJLHB8
~$458 CAD for the set of 5 speakers

(Another option is the T300 set for $150/pair. Shaves $40 off the overall price, not sure if there's much difference there. https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/polk-audio-polk-audio-t300-100-watt-bookshelf-speakers-pair-t300/10166613 )

I'm not a big fan of the look of the TL2 Bookshelf speakers.. so went for the T15/T300 instead.

Curious if you have any opinions about which to pick.. I'm leaning towards the Micca because they fill the shelves better and the reviews online seem to be decent, and the tiny TL2 center from Polk is... tiny.

To pair with all this I have a Polk Audio PSW10 subwoofer.. which gets alot of hate around here but seems more than powerful enough for my needs. Got it last night and hooked it up and I'm running it at about 10% on the gain dial and it's more than enough for what I need.. will probably piss off my neighbours (semi-detached home) even at that level.

Again, thanks for your help, really appreciate folks like you that take the time to answer threads and help people out with their questions.

EDIT: All the above said.. after listening to a dozen reviews or so on the Micca line-up.. I think I'm leaning towards either:

1. RB-42 front and back, and MB42X-C center (really just because I can't get the RB-42C in Canada). This sounds like I'd have alot more bass in the RB-42, but they are weak at high volumes. Filling a large room like I'll have these in would be difficult, although most of the time I'm sitting fairly close to the speakers when watching TV, this would only be an issue while listening to music in the room somewhere other than the couch infront of it.
   
   
2. MB42X-C x 5 all around. More power and higher sensitivity and they seem to keep their clean sound at higher volumes. Less bass per speaker.. but I have the sub in the setup so hopefully that helps fill that gap (even though it's a PSW10).
   
   Long post, sorry... rambling a little as I go back and forth between options.

Get a basic 5.0 system, then add a sub. This should be good value for music and movies. I'm partial to Denon/Marantz for their musical audio quality, but some other folks on this sub may know a cheaper receiver that still sounds good. The speakers are definitely the best bang for your buck, but you could get higher quality speakers for music if you did a 2.1 instead of surround sound. Based on the 4K TV, I'm assuming you're going to be watching movies/tv more than you listen to music.

• AV Receiver ($280): https://www.amazon.com/Denon-Audio-Component-Receiver-AVRS530BT/dp/B06XYD1RZ3/
  
  
• L, R, Surround L, Surround R (2 x $90): https://www.amazon.com/Micca-MB42X-Bookshelf-Speakers-Tweeter/dp/B00E7H8GG2/
  
  
• Center Channel ($80): https://www.amazon.com/Micca-MB42X-C-Channel-Speaker-Tweeter/dp/B00HHFBEK6/
  
  
• Speaker Wire ($11): https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-16-Gauge-Speaker-Wire-Feet/dp/B006LW0W5Y/
  
  Boom! Slightly overbudget but you get a good 5.0 surround sound, 4K/HDR compatible receiver, and you can throw in a BIC F12 subwoofer for $200 or a Polk PSW10 for $100 when you save the cash

I'm new to the vinyl world. Still actually trying to build a 2.0 system as well.

I just read the guides (both the receivers and turntables under $500) and seeing that I need a pre-amp if there's none built in. I'm trying to have a bit of a budget with the entire set up (receiver, speakers, turntable). I was definitely considering the U-Turn because it's under $200 but I need a preamp.. so hopefully I could get some guidance on everything I need to get started.

• Speakers - ELAC B5 Bookshelf Speakers
  
  Any thoughts on Pro-Ject speaker box or Music Hall Mariamba 2-way passive speaker?
  
  
• Receiver - Yamaha RX-V381 5.1
  
  
• Turntable - Fluance RT-80, Marantz TT42P? Saw the Audiotechnica LP120 as well but would ideally like to be under $250. If it's better to just spend the extra money for reasons like quality, then I'm certainly not going to reject the option.
  
  I do see some turntable packages on TurnTableLab but are they going to suit my idea of converting my set up into a home theater system in the future?
  
  Ideally I'd like my entire set up to be around $700 or less.
  
  Anything maybe I should be changing or upgrading by spending a little more for some better features/quality?

Firstly, if you want a better sound than these go with the https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R1700BT-Bluetooth-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B016PATXSI. If you don’t need Bluetooth and want to save money get the R1280T. Having said that, the bass is excellent (not subwoofer excellent) but it’s great for a speaker of this size. The highs are crisp and clean. The construction/heft of the cabinet probably contributes to the warm sound. The remote is just a small membrane type. Response to button input from it is immediate. I thought I would use these with Bluetooth but after hearing the difference between the compressed sound caused by Bluetooth vs direct connection I decided to wire these. This guy https://youtu.be/ApdsaDkvoj8 does some awesome reviews on YouTube. He lets hear the actual difference in the sound between the types of speakers. Since I’m just going with the wired connection I could have purchased the R1280Ts and saved $29. Anyway I’m totally happy with the clear, room filling sound of these speakers.

At the bare minimum include the following things if you want help and/or advice choosing or setting up amplifiers, speakers, DACS, etc

• Budget: a little more or less than 100 u$s? I'm not sure
  
• Country: Argentina. If the product cost more than 50$, I have to pay 50% of the excedent as taxes
  
• I can buy from: Any amazon, b&h, I think almost everywhere
  
• Use: Audioslave, RHCP, Rock in general, series,
  
• Where: A desk in a Room
  
• Space: 3.67m x 3.88m, NOT really loud, I will be most of the time 1.5m away from the speakers and occasionally on my bed, or taking a bath or cooking in the next room.
  
  Optional but also helpful
  
  
• Powered, passive, or no preference: no preference, I've heard you can get a better quality with the same budget with passive speakers.
  
• Any size limitations for either speaker or amp: no
  
• To upgrade later?: not really
  
• Pref certain way of sounding (Bright/forward, smooth/laid back, neutral, etc): that immersive experience (everyone here would call it the commercial one?) but I'm not sure, I don't have any speaker to listen and compare.., I only have a HyperX Cloud 1 headsets and I won't be downloading FLAC at least for the moment, I only listen from Spotify (music) or Bluray (series and movies) most part of the time
  
  I've made my search but I have no idea about this so... I need speakers for the pc on the desk in my room. Mostly for series, music, games. I will not update the system soon after this purchase and I don't have anything right now besides my current headphones.
  
  I'm from Argentina so I have 2 disadvantages: I have absolutely no idea what I'm buying because there are no places near me to try any of these speakers. For every purchase, if I spend more than 50$ I will have to pay 50% of the excedent. That means, I can buy an amp of 30$ without paying taxes or if it exists the possibility to buy a pair of headphones by separate (1 and 1 making a pair) I will probably not pay taxes... Are there places willing to do that?
  
  This is my room: https://imgur.com/a6UVKYU
  
  Questions:
  
  - What would you recommend and why?
  
  - My motherboard doesn't have bluetooth. I want to connect my pc the 99% of the time and maybe my phone 4-5mts away. What is my best option?
  
  - I think I can buy from any amazon. I've found better prices for some of the products there. Editing..
  
  Active:
  
  Edifier R1280T 156$ - £89.99
  
  Edifier R980T 115$ - £59.99
  
  Swan Speakers - D1010-IVB (unavailable? the 2nd best option?)
  
  Passive:
  
  Micca PB42 60$
  
  Micca PB42X 110$
  
  Pioneer SP-BS22-LR 93$ (the best ones? 1st best option?)
  
  Dayton Audio B652 28$
  
  Dayton Audio B652-AIR 45$
  
  Amp:
  
  Lepy LP-2020A Class-D 23$ (I want to connect my phone occasionally without disconnecting my pc, should I get a bluetooth or wifi amp?)
  
  ​
  
  ps: sorry for the long post and thanks in advance

These are your best bet in my opinion. They will sound better than that logitech system, and probably last longer as well. With the logitech system you are tying yourself down to using their sub, which means that if you decide you want better bass in the future you will have to either scrap the whole system and start over with dedicated speakers, or try to reuse the Logitech speakers and end up with something sub-par. With the Miccas, you can just add an RCA splitter and a subwoofer and be good to go.

If you want even more flexibility, go with the unpowered Miccas and get an amp like the SMSL SA50, which will be more power than you would ever need for those speakers for near-field (close up) listening.

To save a little money now you could also go with the Micca MB42 instead of the MB42x. The MB42x come with an upgraded crossover and according to most reviewers it is very much worth it to get the upgraded version.

If you really want your system to last a long time, you are much better off separating your components. Get a pair of speakers, get an amp for the speakers, and get a sub all as separate components. That way, you can upgrade components individually in the future without needing to scrap the whole system like you would need to do with the Logitechs. This also applies if a component breaks; you can replace one thing at a time. And even without upgrading, you will still end up with a much, much better sounding system for not much more money.

Sorry this doesn't (directly) answer your question, but at your budget, I think you're better off starting off with a 2.0 system than 2.1. A decent pair of speakers will have better bass extension (goes lower frequency with better clarity) than a cheap subwoofer. It's kind of only worth getting a sub if you can spend more than ~$100 on it, which would put too much strain on your budget. Wait until you save up a little more and expand a 2.0 system to include a sub.

For equipment recommendations, I'll start with the amp, since that has the least amount of flexibility. The cheapest component worth recommending is the Muse M50, but it's not great and doesn't give you a lot of room to expand. The Audiosource AMP-100 is a very capable amp at around $100. A receiver would give you A/V control, but will cost significantly more. Fortunately, there are tons of decent receivers on Craiglist for ~$50 if you're interested in going the used route.

My recommendation to those on a budget is to buy a used receiver for the amplifier. A nice balance of Good Enough quality and low cost.

For speakers, you have a ton more options that really depends on how much budget you have left after the amp. Two suggestions to get started: Pioneer and BIC. The BIC's are more home theater speakers, rather than something for a desk. They get loud, but at a higher cost.

You could also go used again. I love older B&W stuff, and you can probably find some of their speakers used in your budget.

The TriTrix is popular because it can be built in different configurations. The sealed enclosure is good for a center channel, but you'll probably want the vented or transmission line enclosure for your main speakers, depending on what you have space for. I'm not sure what the frequency response of the sealed design is though, so it might be fine for LR when paired with a subwoofer.

I'd probably start with a pair of overnight sensations and then see where that gets you. They're pretty cheap and easy to build, so you're not really risking anything. You can then read about how they compare to other designs to get a better idea of what some of those other kits sound like.

But at that price it's hard to recommend anything other than the Pioneer BS22. They're excellent speakers, and no DIY kit can compete with Pioneer's economy of scale. There's also a tremendous number of used speakers you can get for under $100, and depending on your luck it's often the best option for a low budget.

You might want to consider Sonos Play 1. A pair would sound amazing, not as good as your KEF's, but then again, the KEF's aren't powered speakers either and you can't play music directly from your smart phone into them. The sound quality from the Play 1's is decidedly laid back (as opposed to being bright). You'd save some money, make your wife happy and would be able to enjoy the latest technologies in wireless audios. Plus, the Play 1's don't have to be on a stand, they are just as happy on the wall/ceiling.

On that tip, (saving money that is) consider Fluance bookshelves: https://www.amazon.com/Fluance-Signature-Bookshelf-Surround-HFS/dp/B01A5UB4JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527368481&sr=8-1&keywords=fluance+bookshelf&dpID=51uK8zZE4vL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Again, maybe not as fancy as the KEF's but Fluance is a Canadian speaker company. Support your local economy mate! KEF is part of a Chinese conglomerate.

I'm like you, OP. I also am philosophically opposed to spending more on audio than on screen. That being said, good speakers do last for a very long time: if new formats ever come out, you can always upgrade the receiver and you can keep your speakers forever.

I did a lot of searching and I ended up with a good compromise that allowed me to have a LG OLED 65 together with a set of solid speakers.

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Here's what you need to know:

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- The latest OLED TVs are pretty much the same as last year's. LG B7, C7, B8 or C8 are all the same TV pretty much. Get the cheapest you can find. I bought mine on greentoe.com. I offered 1900$ for a 65' B7 this past April and my offer got accepted. You can even try to price match it with your credit card, I think (search in this sub). This may save you a few dollars more. Bottom line is: you should be able to snatch a 65 OLED for ~1500-1900.

- You can order a refurbished sub for a fraction of the price. I have the Denon X1400H that u/robotdinofight recommended, and I also bought it from accessories4less.

- Atmos speakers are mostly marketing BS. There isn't much sound that comes from above you in movies. That Denon is compatible anyway, so you can always add them later. Before you do that, just go watch a movie in Atmos at a theater.

- Sorround speakers are not that important either. Your dialogue is coming from the center speaker, and music etc will be on the front channels, with just some in your sorrounds more for ambiance than anything else. You can go with *very cheap* speakers here. Source: Zeos's guide here. I ended up buying the cheapest speakers Zeos recommended: Micca Covo-s for 40$ the pair (a factor in my decision was also that I had the speaker stands I was using for the cheap Logitech 5.1 PC system I had. Speaker stands are expensive too so factor in that cost too). These speakers are honestly not great: I tried using a pair of ELAC B6 and yes, sorround was much better. But I like HDR and perfect blacks way more than better sorround, so I ended up returning the ELACs and kept the Miccas as my rear. Maybe I'll upgrade some other time.

- If you are like me and have neighbors and a wife who's not into loud explosion, you really don't need a crazy sub. I have the Elac S10 and that's *more* than enough for us, my wife wants me to keep it down. Get a cheap one! Mine was only about 100$. See Zeos's guide here: https://www.reddit.com/comments/5b1u99

- Invest in good fronts. I have the ELAC B6.2 and while I don't think they sound like the crazy expensive speakers that some friends have, they sound *much* better than a soundbar/integrated TV sound and are great for movies! Important: whatever you buy, you must buy a center channel that matches the left/right speakers. I have the ELAC Debut 2.0 C6.2 center, with the ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 Bookshelf Speakers as my L/R channels.

- Buy cheap speaker wire and strip it yourself!! I'm so bad with practical stuff that I was a bit intimidated by it, but honestly it's ridiculously simple. The guide that I liked before has a section on wires, read it. The sub has its own cable, remember to buy it (I bought the Amazon one).

- Buy cheap HDMI cables from AmazonBasics.

- I have these stands for my fronts: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PYV7LQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Compared to u/robotdinofight's guide, you lose some sound quality, but only where it matters least and you should save some 700$, enough money to go from the TCL to a LG OLED. Hope it helped!

All right guys, I just had to take a picture of the two speakers together because, as you can see, compared to the diminutive MK402 the Elacs are simply HUGE. I kept the mouse in the pic to give you an idea (sorry, I checked, I had no bananas!).

Their size is something you should be aware of, especially if you are going to keep em -like me- as monitors on a desk.

A little background on my system: I use mainly Tidal hi-res streaming as source. The PC is hooked via USB to an external dac, an AUNE X1S, line out of the DAC goes into a Dayton DTA-120 (the real hero of this story, spoilers!!!) that powers the speakers.

Right out of the box, I position the Elacs on the desk (on foam absorbers for studio monitors, you might notice em under the elacs in the pic), hook em up, and Im shocked. They sound exactly like the MK402... wtf?

Well the first lesson is, guys, believe in break-in. I had the same thing happening with the MK402. They sounded a bit crappy and harsh at first, but sloooooooooooowly the sound mellowed and became fuller. Fact is it happened so progressively I always had the doubt it was my ear/brain adjusting to their sound more than break-in.

This time around, though, it happened in a matter of just an hour and possibly less. Something definitely "loosened up" inside the ELACS, and oh boy... the poor daytons were blown out of the water.

First thing you will notice is the obvious one. The Elacs will go lower... and DEEPER. Please be aware that the MK402 go crazy low for their size. You can easily be shocked at the bass they can "magically" let out... but it definitely lacks that punch and that fullness that the ELACS will provide with an easiness that is honestly disarming. One of their strong points is that they sound (and they will go LOUD!) like they dont even care. You crank the volume and they just shrug and give you volume and power, never losing their composture, whereas the MK402 will totally break down and will start showing signs of ...suffering?

Second thing you'll notice is... despite their BIG size, they are muuuuuuuch easier to position. The Mk402 are extremely, extremely fussy. Push them one inch too close to the rear wall, the bass goes so muddy you wanna kill yourself, pull em one inch too far and the bass becomes anemic and the "magic" disappears. I guess Mr Andrew Jones did the right thing putting the reflex on the baffle instead of the more typical rear exhaust. But it doesnt end there. the biggest difference is the dispersion. The MK402 CAN sound awesome and "flat" but you must almost lock your head in a very precise and narrow position. Move sideways or a little back and forth and some frequencies will overwhelm others. with the Elacs... well, I'm flabbergasted. You can almost move around the room and you'll hear the frequencies pretty much the same way in every position.

Obviously the Elacs -I suspect for the same reason: dispersion- will give a much better holographic presentation, but Im still working on the placement and my room is really fussy so maybe I'll update you guys later when I finally manage to make the speakers "disappear", which was something simply impossible to achieve with the Daytons (believe me... I tried).

Third thing you'll notice (as they keep breaking in, becoming more and more transparent) is how comparatively analitic they are. Listening to Steely Dan's "I got the news" the infamous scratching/clicking around 2:17 made me jump on the seat, I litterally thought something was faulty and breaking!

After a while, though, the biggest and most shocking realization is how nonchalantly the little class-D amplifier from Dayton is driving the Elacs. The speakers are quite efficient, yes, but I was ALMOST sure I would need a better amplifier (my eyes are on the NAD326BEE, always been a big fan of NAD sound), but Im not so sure anymore. Volume knob is at hour ten/eleven (it will go as far as hour five) and the room is filled with a smooth, relaxed, full sound. Maybe the NAD can wait!

Okay, I'll shut up for now. I'll leave here a few links with all the aforementioned gear for reference, especially price-wise.

Aune DAC

Dayton D-Class Amp

Dayton MK402

Elac B6.2


*edited endless times for clarity and cause I do thousands of typos.

So, if you like the convenience of the Pill, but want more ooomph, I've gotta recommend the Logitech UE Boombox. It's been discontinued, but you can get new or practically new models on eBay for 70 bucks or so.

I've owned a lot of nice Bluetooth speakers, and some decent audio gear, and pound for pound nothing really touches the thing.

I would recommend heading up your local Goodwill or other thrift store for speakers and an old receiver. With a pretty minimal amount of footwork, you can grab something that probably cost $1000 back in the day for $100.

Skip Marantz as it's really over priced at this point, but brands like Realistic, Rotel, Sansui, and Pioneer are still affordable. They look cool as shit, and have a nice distinctive sound. You can probably get a low-end 20 or 30 W per channel Realistic off craigslist or at your local thrift shop for 30 bucks.

You can then get a nice set of Boston Acoustic or Polk audio speakers for another 50 bucks. Just make sure the foam around the subwoofers is fine, and that the tweeters aren't busted. Most people are happy to hook them up for you to listen to.

If you don't want to mess with older stuff, grab one of these :

ttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B017W13OR0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hg16xbX21C1NM

And a set of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E7H8GG2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Ih16xb227QN96

And two of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011LXUKE0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_5j16xb4JV5NZ5

Alternatively, grab the amp and wires new, and then get the speakers used off eBay or Craigslist or whatever. Speakers lose value at an alarming rate, but at the sub-$100 price point you're not really risking much.

For reference, I got a set of B+W CM2 speakers for $90 off Craigslist. They were almost $1000 new 12 years ago.

I'm not a guru, but to my understanding at 300$ price range you want to start looking at AMP + Bookshelf Speakers for music.

I came to that conclusion with couple days of looking at forums and threads.

Even more so in US and I'm from EU.

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and even before that price point some Active Studio Monitors or Active Bookshelf are better quality than Edifiers R series already.

More clarity, more depth and tighter bass, but I cannot speak for Edifier S series, they are supposedly good.

Adam, JBL, Mackie MRT, Klipsch, M-Audio, PreSonus, KRK and some more active brands I'm forgetting.

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But at that price you can be looking at some proper Amp + Passive Speakers combos.

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If you need Mini-amps for desk and on budget:

SMSL SA-50 68$

Dayton Audio DTA 2.1BT2 95$ - recommend this one for punchy bass and features

You could probably find some good new and used amps, if you can use bigger sized ones.

But like I said I'm no guru.

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Bookshelf speakers:

ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 275$

KEF Q100 357$

Q Acoustics 3020i 299$

Q3020 non i version which I tried with Dayton Audio DTA 2.1BT v1. lacked bit bass, decided to go for Mission LX-2 they still haven't arrived.

But they do not seem available in US.

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sorry i forgot to add, im canadian so getting deals from canada is pretty hard /:

i don't really have a budget, but i would prefer to not spend too much money. im looking for value, and i don't want to spend any more than 400 bucks(canadian), but preferable i would like to spend less than that. if you think value lies somewhere above 400, then i don't mind getting it if the sound quality is improved by a huge amount

i'm gonna be using this for a playstation 4 pro, so i kinda want the hdmi input rather than optical or whatever

i also don't want to wait until black friday, as i have alot of free time now and i wanna set it up now.

when i look at all of these on canadian amazon, its just below 1000 bucks

https://www.amazon.ca/Pioneer-SP-BS22-LR-Designed-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers/dp/B008NCD2LG
https://www.amazon.ca/Pioneer-SP-C22-Designed-Channel-Speaker/dp/B008NCD2EI
https://www.amazon.ca/Dayton-Audio-B652-Bookshelf-Speaker/dp/B002RMPHMU
https://www.amazon.ca/Dayton-Audio-SUB-1000-10-Inch-Subwoofer/dp/B0063NU3AA
https://www.amazon.ca/Yamaha-RX-V377-5-1-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B00HZE2WW8

again, thanks for your help, its the first time in this sub, and my first time posting things on reddit haha (:

I advocate using component bookshelves speakers with a mini amp unless space is at a big premium. They are better engineered, have better bang for your buck, and have a much cleaner sound.

You have the added bonus that the speakers are more flexible for other uses and, if you wanted to go from 2.0 to something else, it's a pretty easy upgrade, ala: you don't have to pitch the old system and get something new. I think you'd find a good 2.0 system to be much more impressive than a lot of the gamer sound systems out there.

Polk Audio T15 Bookshelf Speakers

Dayton Audio DTA-1 Digital Amplifier

Amazon Basics Speaker Cable

Another note: A system like this will sound way fuller without a boominess that you'd get from most gaming 2.1 sound systems. All of my friends that I have recommended go this route have loved it!

KC vinyl hunter reporting in :

Most of the cl postings linked here are over a month old and therefore are likely gone already. Here (like everywhere else I assume), about 80% of cl posts go unclosed even when they sell. It never hurts to check but just don't be surprised.

I also don't think any of the linked receivers would be much of a good deal, you could pick up a 90s receiver at one of the goodwill stores around town pretty easily (usually). The pioneer 780 is a good one, but I suspect it's no longer available. Not sure if its the same guy or not but I inquired about a SX780 in columbia a while back and just never got any response, might be worth trying.

In all honesty I'd consider taking a trip down to the hippy store "It's a Beautiful Day" by westport, in the back vinyl room they have a pretty significant selection of vintage audio stuff in solid condition. Most usually come with a replaced belt and a new cart, and I've seen some ok turntables there as low as $50 but they tend to have a few receivers in stock. The turntable guy isn't always there (Jason? I'm bad with names) but he has his name and number posted on the wall by the vintage equipment

If you want to go with a new turntable... Brothers music on Johnson drive had some (NIB) Uturn turntables last time I was there, you can get AT-LP120 at probably a few of the other stores in town if you want to go that route. Or obviously those can be ordered online.

Unfortunately we seem to be suffering pretty heavily from the vinyl boom here from a vintage equipment perspective as anything that's remotely a good deal on CL gets snapped up in less than an hour. For the love of everything that is holy, stay away from Vinyl Renaissance in westport... home of overpriced hipster bullshit.

For speakers the ole Andrew Jones Pioneers are pretty much a steal at their price of only $99


The store linked above in the West bottoms (this) might be a solid place to check, I've never been there. There's a few other similar small stores around but you can probably expect to overpay a little bit since they'll have done a little maintenance n the tables they have. There's one other store I knew about down there but I can't remember what the name was... I'll see if I can find it.

No worries, this just means a 2.1 or 3.1 is perfect for now, and then you can add on later.

Option 1:

2x RSL CG3 Bookshelf @ $135 = $270

1x RSL Speedwoofer 10s (sold out until Oct) @ $400

1x Denon AVR-X3500H 7.2-Ch x 105 Watts A/V Receiver from Accessories4Less @ $500

Total: $1170

Less of a budget stretcher, giving up a bit of performance. That receiver is realistically future proof (supports 7.2, 4k) and wouldn't need to upgrade for quite some time. More clear upgrade path however. In this scenario, when you want to upgrade, you get 3x RSL CG23s to be your new front speakers and move the CG3 you already own to the sides as your surrounds.

Option 2:

2x ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 Bookshelf Speakers @ $300 (comes in a pair)

1x Bic Acoustech PL-200 II Subwoofer @ $300

1x Denon AVR-X3500H 7.2-Ch x 105 Watts A/V Receiver from Accessories4Less @ $500

Total: $1100

About the same as option 1, and would come down to preference to RSL vs Elac (if you can demo Elac at a store, please do, RSL is internet direct only but does have in home trail). Similarly easy upgrade path, you'd just fill it out with the rest of the Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 lineup (ie center, they even have some on walls for surrounds).

Option 3:

2x RSL CG23 @ $200 = $400

1x RSL Speedwoofer 10s (sold out until Oct) @ $400

1x Denon AVR-X3500H 7.2-Ch x 105 Watts A/V Receiver from Accessories4Less @ $500

Total: $1300

This requires a budget stretch, but gets you great stereo performance with a clear upgrade path. For speaker upgrade, you add the 3rd RSL CG23 for your center (these can be used horizontally or vertically FYI), and then whatever you want for surrounds (either the RSL CG3 or an on wall, ect)

Based on these numbers you can see you have about $300 for the speakers, so any speakers you can get for $150 each would work here. Other options are Fluance Signature Series HiFi ($200 for pair), Jamo S 803 ($160 for pair), or Q Acoustics 3020i Bookshelf ($300 for pair). I haven't heard any of these, but they get good reviews (particularly the Q Acoustics).

You could always go less on the receiver, but then you might have to buy a new one later. Would be nearly impossible to go lower on the subwoofer, the BIC and the RSL Speedwoofer are about as good as it gets for that price.

Finally, since you are primarily music focused, you could always axe the subwoofer altogether (add it later) and spend ~$600 on 2 kickass (maybe tower) speakers as music doesn't need as much super low bass as movies do. Let me know if you want to see what that looks like.

Thanks! I really love the way the Orbit looks with the wood finish plinths as well, but I knew I was going to want a natural finish cabinet, so going for contrast made more sense to me. Plus they were like an extra 90 bucks.

The speakers are a great deal at $100. Knowing what they sound like, I might have even shelled out another 50 for them. If they cost $200, I would maybe start thinking about looking elsewhere. They don't have the epic clarity and separation that you can potentially get from something like the Audioengines that can run 4x-8x times the price, but I certainly wouldn't say they're murky, even at low volume. At around 40% volume, they start to reach their full sound quality. At around 75%, they have no problem filling the 300ish square foot space that mine live in. They are front-ported, and they also look pretty great with the front covers on:https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R1280T-Powered-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B016P9HJIA

Sorry for the delay.. I forgot to reply.

I'm sure you already got the adapter and cable. The adapter is perfect and the cable might be OK. I would look for one that is only for audio (red and white connectors only, not the yellow video cable.) This one would be good - https://www.amazon.com/Choseal-3-5mm-Audio-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00A7J1ANA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1483627337&sr=8-4&keywords=rca+audio+to+3.5mm

With your budget in mind I highly recommend the $180 U-Turn Orbit Basic turntable. I have one that I got with an upgraded cartridge (Grado Black) and it is a superb table. https://uturnaudio.com/collections/all

Speakers... hmmm... That's tougher. Used ones on Craiglist can be great. Just be sure that the foam surrounds are in good shape (this is the foam ring around each driver) and check some online reviews. For new speakers, I think these look like a great option for the price - https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-R-14M-Reference-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B00MGQAH2M/ref=sr_1_1?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1483627753&sr=1-1&keywords=bookshelf+speakers&refinements=p_89%3AKlipsch

I'm about to put together a surround sound setup for my room for about $850. I know it's well over $500 but for $500 you won't get much. Although I would recommend looking into the Sony SS CS5 Bookshelf Speakers they are outstanding for their price and you can get a quality AV Receiver for around $250 from Denon and Yamaha.

Also, the matching center for the Sony's performs really well. They're great speakers for the money. Of course you can always spend a couple hundred more and get something better, but the Sony speakers, price to performance is insane. I'd put them pretty close, sound quality wise, to the ELAC B5's. They don't have as much oomph as the ELAC does, but add a sub and you're golden ponyboy.

I have not heard or used the matching sub but I would assume it doesn't go low very well.