soloz2

My point was that 1 pair of x-ls at $300 would be a better investment than 3 pairs of Insignias, by all means get a pair of insignias to use as rear surrounds no matter what you choose, but you'll get much better sound and more for your money by spending (all things considered) slightly more for your mains and center.

The PSB Alpha b1 and Paradigm atom are both great speakers and can compete with most speakers costing double their price range, but the x-ls encores are in every way a step up. They can compete with speakers costing $600 or less and with a bit of modding they can compete with anything in the $1k range.
give this a read:
http://www.stereomojo.com/Small%20Sp...t2007Part1.htm

Also, take a look at all the awards the x-ls has been awarded on the bottom of the product page
http://av123.com/index.php?page=shop...mart&Itemid=37

Now, after reading the reviews and seeing how good they are... keep in mind that the speakers reviewed down there are the old model of x-ls. The current x-ls encore has an upgraded crossover and a much better tweeter.

call me a fanboy if you want, but I have personally heard x-ls, paradigm atom, mini monitor, titan monitor and several floor standing models, psb alpha b1, b25 and several floor stanging models in the alpha and image series, some epos, and b&w's as well as some martin logans and others. I have also listened to several other av123 products and am extremely satisfied with the av123 products I have in both my living room and office, have two subs on order from them and have two friends with av123 products. All are very satisfied with their purchase and feel they got much more for their money, as do I.

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Current Sound: Auzen X-Fi Prelude > Soloz Audio Reference IC > TCA Gizmo > Onix Reference 1 MKII speakers

Selling:Lots of Great Stuff!

Feedback: Heatware Ebay

Mikecdm

Most of these brands of speakers are only available B&M, with the exception of a few. They generally offer discounts to new customers and better discounts to returning customers. MSRP is usually the price listed but 10% off is usually the starting point. Some places will tell you straight off the bat what the discounts will be and some times you'll have to work at it. Just do some research on brands and speakers first to get an idea of whats within your budget and the type of speaker that you are looking for.

Paradigm doesn't have any authorized online dealers and most of the high end brands don't either. I almost ended up with some Paradigm Mini-monitors a few years ago but bought B&W instead. I think the paradigms offer a good value in any of their price brackets.

I still think that you should audition some speakers first before you try to buy online. If you want to buy online audioadvisor has some speakers and sometimes has good discounts. Accessories4less has some decent prices on open box speakers and Audiogon is a good place to find used speakers and equipment. As mentioned av123 also has good speakers.

triggerc

Trust me, I know better than to doubt your knowledge on this stuff, and I understand that the X-LS and the Atom are worth their weight in gold. But I've got to ask why do college students like us need to spend $300 on a pair of speakers as our first home theater purchase. IMHO, from a purely entertainment standpoint, the Insignias look very nice, and they sound pretty good. I understand that the Atom, B1, and the X-LS blow the Insignias away in terms of sound quality, but I find it hard to believe that simulated surround sound with a pair of X-LS will be more entertaining than a 5.1/6.1 setup with Insignias. When it comes time to upgrade, you can still keep a pair of the Insignias in the rear, and the rest of them can be put to use as a decent desktop speaker system or a casual listening set up in the future house.

Once again, that's just all my opinion as a college student.

tofunater

If you're going for that Onkyo 505, and still able to spend an additional $800 on speakers, I'd say buy 2 really nice left and right speakers, and a good sub, you will be infinitely more pleased with your purchase than if you try and piece together a full surround system.

I've heard that these are very good, especially for the price, get 2.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...TOKEN=96485728
And then get 1 of these, I have personal experience with these, and they are the most musical subs I have ever heard, The $450 one is up there with Velodyne >$2000 offerings. This setup will more than please you, and when you get out of college they will be a great stepping stone towards a full system...
IMO

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Mikecdm

I think that a nice pair of speakers and a sub will be better than a 5.1 with half decent speakers. For this to work I feel that a sub is absolutely necessary. With say a $300-$500 budget on speakers I would look only at bookshelf speakers, even a little higher I would only look at bookshelf's but thats beyond the point.

Two good speakers with proper placement can have very good imaging and give the impression of a center speaker without it being there. I can get by with out rears since they only add a little bit of "fill" to a movie and I really don't need to hear a bullet whizzing by. I really doubt the capabilities of only two speakers to simulate surround but I do believe in a phantom center. It would be nice to have all the speakers but I wouldn't settle for mediocre speakers having the opportunity to buy better ones. The reason I feel that the sub is necessary for this to work is that I don't think a bookshelf can come close to what a movie soundtrack requires. If it were for music alone I think that the pair by themselves would be fine, but the OP wants it for movies and games, never mentioning music.

In general, I would say that a vast majority of people are more impressed by explosions than they are with accuracy. The sub will help close the gap between the two. I feel that an inexpensive sub paired with a some nice bookshelf speakers would yield the best overall results. Even if I were to miss out on some of the effects of a 5.1, I still would have some of that LFE and I would have great imaging, accuracy, and detail. I have never heard any of the av123 speakers, but I have not one doubt that they are good and worth the money. The rockets are supposed to be great speakers and I can only imagine that their other speakers live up to the reputation. Paradigms are good, and the last time I heard PSB i was really impressed. I listened to there flagship speakers and it felt like the artist was performing right there in front of me with no speaker or electronics in between.

Overall, its a decision that he would have to make. Most of the advice here is good and with good intentions but the OP's priorities have to be looked at. He might not be an audio purist who values the detail and precision of high quality speakers. Personally I would buy the best pair that I could afford and upgrade down the line, but the OP might be happy with less.

soloz2

Because speakers are an investment. They can and will last you the next 20-30 years if you take care of them. If you want to upgrade speakers like x-ls will net you more than Insignias.

My father still has the speakers he bought in college. until recently I still had the speakers I bought in high school. Speakers aren't like computers that are out-dated the day you buy them.

__________________
Current Sound: Auzen X-Fi Prelude > Soloz Audio Reference IC > TCA Gizmo > Onix Reference 1 MKII speakers

Selling:Lots of Great Stuff!

Feedback: Heatware Ebay

Kamakazi

Wow, I go to sleep and this happens. A few things have become quite apparent to me after reading all of that.

1. I am going to have to find a good B&M store in the Des Moines area.
2. Going to have to decide if I want to just get a 2 speaker (plus sub?) set up now and go 5.1 later.
3. If I need to get a sub, there hasn't been much discussed about them, are they just all about watts?
4. A remaining question from the beginning, my Audigy ZS2 doesn't have an optical out port, but my mobo does, so can I just run the sound through on board to the receiver?

You guys are ridiculously helpful.

Oh, and I think soloz has some sort of like mind control drug, he is slowly bending my mind to those x-ls speakers.

Mikecdm

Subs aren't all about whats, it's all about the design. The growing trend is to have small enclosures, but they usually require a lot more power to have equal output and tend to not sound as good as a larger enclosure. That x-sub or what ever is called is probably your best but at an inexpensive good quality sub. There are some that can get louder, but they generally sound bloated and boomy. A poor quality sub would be harder to integrate with the other speakers and would be easy to pin point. A good sub will seamlessly blend in with your other speakers and one should not know it's there, almost if your front speakers were producing all that bass.

I would try to visit both of these stores as they carry paradigm, psb, B&W, and probably some other brands. Audiolabs and Audio-Video logic are both located in des moines.

On a side note, I never knew that paradigm did away with there performance series and now just focus on the monitor series. Those atoms look damn nice btw.

BugBash

Wattage isnt really that much of an issue with subs, frequency response is the MOST important! a sub that doesnt hit 30Hz or below ISNT a Sub!!

1. Active
2. Respected Brand
3. Frequency Response (The closer to 20Hz the better!)
4. Frequency cutoff and phase switching (These REALLY help you to integrate with your mains)
5. Maximum output (db, make sure this is higher than the max output of your mains)
6. Cone size (10" minimum! larger cones produce deeper notes more easily, smaller than 10" just adds Thump, no real Rumble)

Hope that helps a little, check out ebay too!
I recently bought a Sub from ebay, 10" cone ect. the Amplifier dont work yet but I am running the cone from another SubAmp. Bargin at £12

triggerc

I was pretty sure that the Audigy 2 ZS had at least a Mini SPDIF port, so you should be able to connect to the receiver with a Toslink to Mini Optical adaptor like http://www.amazon.com/TOSLINK-TO-OPTICAL-MINI-ADAPTER/dp/B0002MQGRM.