ola guys, simple question here.

my sister and brother-in-law came down to visit for the weekend, and they have been really digging my surround system. JB(brother-in-law) asked me what kind of system i could build for him for around $1000 bucks total(receiver, speakers, sub, cd/dvd, and cables).. i first told him, "not much of one", but after looking, i think maybe i can..

i found some good refurb receivers and dvd players cheap, and the dayton sub from parts express for $125.. but i am a little concerned with the rest of the speakers. well, here is my main concern.

i am lookin to get him the M3Ti's for fronts with the VP100 center. i was wondering everyones opinion in using the M2's or M3's as the side surrounds in a 5.1 set-up. the QS4's take us out of the price range, and the QS8's are OUT of the question, so i am looking to try and save some cash with the 2's or 3's. ?? tell me what ya'll think? will they be OK as surrounds?

keep in mind, this is for a guy who has NEVER even had a good stereo. they have been listening to tv and movies out of the TV speaker for years. any improvement will seem drastic to them.

all opinions are welcome, and keep in mind, we are on a STRICT $1000 dollar budget. now i gotta start lookin for some cheap cables.

bigjohn

First of all, I think you should use M2Tis for the front. If you have a subwoofer, the added bass of the M3ti bookshelves means nothing. And the M2tis use the same midrange woofer as the center, so it would match better.

The M2tis is also a more neutral speaker in comparison to the M3ti, so it would be a better match all around, and a bit cheaper. I'd recommend M3tis for surrounds if you _have_ to get that speaker as a front, yet I'd recommend M2tis all around since they'd blend better with the center, they'd be cheaper(40 bucks less), and more neutral.

This should be all the speaker wire you need. The cheapest digital coaxial cables at best buy should suffice to connect the DVD player to the receiver, and the cheapest component/svideo would too.

A cheap receiver and Axioms would sound a lot better than a good receiver and a cheap box system, so don't worry about it.

Now, for a receiver.. all of the solid state Panasonic models put out about the same wattage. The digital one is $300, the solid state one is $200. Go for that one. Into 8 ohms it puts out over 75 watts per channel with all channels driven. The digital one puts out over 80 per channel with all channels driven. I remember reading tests done on the wattage output of those receivers. The only fault found with these is that the lowest frequency for the crossover is at 100 Hz - but the M2tis are small bookshelves, so this crossover should blend in well with the setup. You can get the receiver for $150 new at Amazon, here.

Don't forget the Onkyo HT770 HTIB. I was going to grab it for $499 for my parents, but they just didn't seem at all excited about surround sound.
$499 = big sub, decent receiver, 3 good bookshelf speakers, and 3 crappy surrounds. $100 bucks more for a DVD player.

I would really try to push him towards the VP100/ M2s/QS4s even if you have to cut back on the receiver. Besides he really has to learn that nobody ever sticks to budgets.

Actually you could throw in a few bucks and call it an early Christmas present.

bigjohn,
I have a cheapy Pioneer receiver in a spare room. The lowest crossover setting is 100hz. That was too high for the sub and speakers I have in there. I took the sub out.

The mains in that Onkyo HTIB aren't bad. Obviously they lack the detail of the Axioms, but they will play deeper than the M2s or M3s (albeit with some colorations and boxiness). I doubt your friends will complain about the bassy colorations.

Good sub, good receiver. It's a pleasantly warm sounding, LOUD, cheap system. I just don't see how you can go wrong with it for your budget conscious, non-audiophile friends.

Try looking at the Hsu VT-12 system with the STF-1 sub too.This is a good sounding system for the price and size.The Onkyo system is also a good idea,my sister has that system and for the cost it will impress you.You can hear the Onkyo system at CC.I think they got it for $449.

If you were to go with 4 M2ti's the Vp100 center and the Panisonic reciever with the soundking wire,that would leave you roughly $100.00 to get a dvd player and a sub.Also don't forget about stands for the M2's.If on a STRICT $1000.00 budget you would be hard pressed to get a full blown Axiom set up.We all know the Axiom set up would be better than a box set but with that kind of budget it would be hard to do.

bigjohn - how big is the room that they would put it in? Also would this be mostly for HT, or are they heavy music listeners?

Assuming a small to medium sized room, I like Thasp's recommendation of the M2i's front and back, along with the VP100 for the center. Nothing wrong with starting them out on the right foot with a quality set of bookshelf speakers. The sub, receiver, dvd player, and cables are something you can go cheap on without the sound quality suffering so much that they would notice.

Again, this is assuming that they would be putting the M2's into a space that isn't going to be too big for them to handle.

I agree with wid, on a strict $1000 budget Axioms all around will be difficult.

How about getting the Onk HTIB I mentioned above, add a nice pair of front speakers that will blend well with the Onk bookshelves (maybe some Wharfedale Diamond 2.4s?) and scrap the 3 cheapy surrounds that Onkyo gives you? The weak link will be the center channel (pretty boxy from my brief in store demo), but the rest of it will be pretty damn good.

John, I'd suggest M2s all around(4 rather than 5, using a "phantom" center)plus the Parts Express sub. For a receiver the Denon 484 ecost refurb for $180. For a player ecost also has Panasonic F87 and Onkyo changers(don't saddle him with a single-disc player)in the $100 area. The player's included cables are fine and speaker wire shouldn't be more than about $10. I haven't considered stands for the mains.

i got your pm bigwill, thx..

well, this is certainly nothing they are looking to do right away, so i cant take advantage of the deals a found at the 'auction' sites, but more deals will come later..

i appreciate all the inputs. i have decided that the M2's would do them just fine, so i think i will head down that route. their living room is rather small, 10x15 maybe, and with a decent sub, i think the 2's will do fine.

my search will continue, and i appreciate all of your points of view. i will sure let ya'll know if and when they decide to do something.

i just hope he dont go get one of those el-cheapo box units from sony or pioneer. YUCK!!!

bigjohn