Reddit mentions of Bic America FT-6T 400-Watt 6.5" 2-Way Tower Speaker (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Hey /u/ZeosPantera,

I first wanted to say you are the fucking man. This subreddit has been so incredibly helpful in figuring out my audio system. Additionally, I was wondering if you could provide your expertise for me.

My fraternity is currently getting our house back in a few weeks, and we have money to spend on home improvement (in this case, an audio system for the large common room). I'm looking for a system that can double as both a home theater sound system as well as speakers for a large, loud party. I assembled a list of components and was hoping you can recommend any changes. This is the list so far:

Receiver - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B7X2OV2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Center - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015A8Y3E/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Front speakers (tower) - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ISZEV2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Rear speakers - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CRMKJTQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1WPEQCN6WJKZG

Subwoofer - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015A8Y5M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

These are the ones you listed as being loud enough to play music on as well. Will these products fit the bill for my needs (home theater, large frat party)? Also, these extras to set up the system:

Banana plugs - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0090CVJZ4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

RCA cable - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FVX9FO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1DCPNQKKEISZB

Copper wire - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00APEG9MO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Is there anything I'm missing in order to set up the system? Thank you so much!!

I'd personally get a few of these and spread them out / put them up for parties. More speakers can play quieter than just two huge speakers and everyone gets better sound out of it.

Depending on how much of their use will be in a large party situation you'll want to find the most efficient speakers you can. But efficient and cheap doesn't often translate to hifi or audiophile, in the end that might not be a major concern or factor for you.

Klipsch would be a good place to start for loud. Also look into BIC Towers or any of the big loud Cerwin Vega stuff.

In commercial theaters with height channels, the speakers are pointed backwards a bit. It's hard to find images that illustrate this, but you'll see it in AMC's new Dolby Cinema theaters. Depending on the slope of your ceiling and the proximity of the speakers to the couch, it might not be ideal, but it's rare to have a 100% ideal theater room.

I read earlier today on this sub about Speakercraft's AIM series. If you have the money for it, then it might make sense to replace the JBLs with those. As far as alternatives for the other speakers, I'm not really sure. BIC America's Acoustec speakers are approximately the same color if you decide to run them without a grille (of that's really important to you), but they use horn tweeters, so they likely have the same level of brightness as Klipsch. I'll check the buying guide for another one that I don't remember the name of and report back.

Edit: Checked the guide.

On the slightly cheaper end, there's the Pioneer Andrew Jones series. Pioneer makes good speakers, but stay away from their receivers; Pioneer is owned by Onkyo now, and that brings Onkyo's build quality issues with it. Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, and Harman/Kardon are the companies that you should look at for receivers.

Bookshelf, Center, Tower

On the slightly more expensive end, there's the aforementioned BIC America speakers. Bookshelf, LCR (Left/Center/Right), Tower

That’s $280, of you want to spend almost $310, the Denon X1300 from Accessories4Less is much better.

Yamaha receiver from A4L. The 383 you linked to is the newer version of the 381, and all I can find that’s different is it hmcan upscale to 4K (instead of letting the tv do it, so not a major feature), you can get the 381 from A4L for less than $200.

If the future 3-seat sofa can be within the L/R (meaning L/R speakers spread wider than the arms of the couch), then a center is not fully needed (especially if it’s just the occasional guest in the side seats), if you can combine the 3.0 setup to 2.0 for now, you can get the speaker I have, the HTD Level Three’s (I actually have an olde gem I found off Craigslist, so mine have a regular tweeter and not the sweet new ribbon tweeter with a waveguide).

For towers in a 2.0, you can get these BIC speakers for $360.

Hey Zeos! Great guide! I built my 5.1 from this last year and have been very happy with it.

Quick question: I went with the BICs and just blew a front speaker. Thinking about going with towers in the living room. About to pick up some BIC FT-6T towers for $300, but I may be able to do BIC PL-89 II's for $450. Waiting on an ebay seller to accept or counter-offer.

Might be nice to start upgrading, but I'm concerned about the PL-89's not matching the sound signature of the center. What do you think?

• Receiver - Denon E400
  
• Center - BIC America FH6-LCR
  
• Woofer - BIC America F12
  
• Rears - Micca MB42x
  
  Use case: 70% listening to music. 30% home theater.

ok cool then, I just bought two tower speakers and this sub