I have a grand total of two speakers, a pair of M80s. I am indescribably happy with the way they sound and how they have brought me back in touch with my music collection.

But, of course, I am planning to upgrade to 5.1 eventually. I am thinking of doing it in steps for budget reasons.

My first instinct for the next step is to go to 4.0 with a pair of QS8 surrounds.

My neighbour, a movie nut with his own rather expensive dedicated home theater, disagrees and says I should get the best center money can buy. I think my M80s produce a pretty darn good phantom center.

An "audiophile" co-worker says I should get a subwoofer next. He has PSB Imagine T's and two REL subwoofers (I forget the model). I think my M80s produce superb bass down to at least 30 Hz, so I am not sure that a subwoofer will give me much extra for the money.

Looking forward to plenty of awesome and conflicting advice from everyone here too.

I'd say go with your instincts. The addition that will add the largest change to your current experience, will be some surround speakers.

If you, singularly, are the primary listener, then a phantom center will serve you well. So I'd go with a sub after the surrounds, and take the center as your final upgrade step. (Unless you want to go to 7.1, then I'd add the rears after the center.)

Henry, in my view your "first instinct" is absolutely right. Go with the QS8s for a 4.0 setup as the next step. Although a sub would be desirable, the M80s have good enough bass so that it isn't a crucial matter at this point. As you've learned, although a separate center speaker has certain advantages, a "phantom" center can be quite satisfactory, and doesn't need an immediate change.

On the other hand, there's no substitute for surround speakers and without them you don't really have a home theater. Both 2-channel(using a mode such as DPLII)and 5-channel source material benefit greatly from the surrounds and make the listening experience more enjoyable.

Go with the QS8s first. They will make the most difference from what you have now.

QS8s.

Okay, Henry; so there you have it: a very diverse selection of opinions. Although it'll be tough, it's now up to you to sort them out.

Center­>Subwoofer>surround.

QS8s, then center, then subwoofer.

Your co-worker says "subwoofer" first because the PSB Imagine Ts don't have as extended bass output as the M80s.

Cheers,
Alan

I echo the recommendation of Alan: Qs8s, then center, then sub.
I'll warn you, you'll want to travel that route really fast, perhaps all the way to 7.1 if your receiver accommodates the config.

In my case, I am re-deiscovering the sweetness of 2-channel sound since I switched to Axiom speakers, although I also have the 7.1 setup.

If you are happy with the phantom center, take that off the list.

If you watch mostly action movies and love rumble, go for a good sub.

Personally I would go with the QS8 as it adds something none of the other speakers can. The first time people walked overhead during a scene was soooo cool!

I would have said to get the sub first but after having the QS4s I now have to agree, get the QS*s.

I went with center first, then QS8s and don't have a sub yet. If I would do it all over again, I would probably do QS8s, then sub, then center.

... and he probably doesn't know how good the QS8s are

I have always preferred the progression of mains, receiver/amp, subwoofer, centre and finally surrounds.

Know what, I bought my first floor standers, Fisher 3-ways with 12" woofers, and 12" passive radiators before I had anything to drive them with. I just connected them to the speaker out on my MediaVision Pro Audio Spectrum 16 soundcard. It was rated for 15 Watts, and actually sounded really good, but not very loud.

Thanks everyone! Excellent food for thought.

Let me echo the sentiments above. I'd progress: QS8, Center, Sub Rears.

Your M80s are going to give you great bass throughout the experience. Assuming your amp can drive that low bass sound, you will gain, maybe, a little more "oomph" when the bass hits you in the chest, but not much. It certainly won't blow you away.

Same with a phantom center in the meantime. Although VERY important for movie soundtracks, the sound from a phantom center channel will still appear to be coming from the correct place with the twin M80s.

Not so with surround speakers. It's very Very VERY hard for digital sound processors to fool your ear into believing a sound is coming from the sides or behind you by using delay, phase and volume cues. Better to remove the algorythmic mumbo-jumbo and go with the real thing: surrounds. This will actually blow your mind. I think it's the single most impressive aspect of home theater that really draws you into the experience. Without good surrounds, you're really just making the TV speaker experience louder and maybe crisper. This is the best way to get more expansive sound.

As you are happy with the phantom center I think there is no point in adding one at the momment. The M80s will give you good rumble so the logical choice is a set of QS8's

I did the same.

1) M22s and reciever
2) QS8s
3) Sub six months later
4) Centre as a Christmas gift

snazzed