2.1 Speaker suggestions

Hello,

If you don't have a lot of experience I suggest that you find a respected local dealer. Most internet only companies do promise more than they can deliver and even if they do give you a good product it makes a bigger difference to make sure the speaker is a good match with electronics and the speaker is a good match for your room.

Over 80% of the time a great dealer can put together a system for close to the same price as throwing a bunch of new equipment together from "good deal" companies and end up with twice the performance.

With all that said, I would look at a floor standing speaker with a wide foot print or a mounted speaker.

Great speakers that play well with electronics and have a wide range of good sounding solution for a child friendly install would be....

Paradigm
Energy
B&W
PSB
Epos
KEF
Warfedale

There may be a couple I forgot and the brand names would expand if you were looking at older used speakers because there are fewer good speakers today than there used to be.

A good way to tell a good dealer is if they carry a lot of brands you haven’t heard of before, are locally owned, and don't have systems running that are all one brand stacked up systems. A great dealer will match brand a receiver or amp with brand B CD player and will go to the trouble of having a line conditioner in the system and good cables.

Good Luck,
Duane

I would look seriously at the Gallo Dues for the 2 portion of the 2.1 There were a pair that *just* sold here on Audiogon for $700 Keep an eye out for similar future bargains...

-RW-

If you hide most of these speakers, they will sound lousy. You won't get any imaging or bass and the phantom center won't work very well. You need speakers designed for wall mount or bookshelf mount. These won't be nearly as affected by your trying to hide them. KEF, Vienna Acoustics, Soliloquy (defunct but great deals on Sat-5's) and Thiel are a small sample of companies that have done this.
I had gallos and they worked ok but had a very narrow "sweet spot" when trying to hide them. My best results were from Klipsch Cornwalls (indestructible and no sub needed) and from Realistic Pro LX5 (great sound stage but need a sub).

Hello Again,

All the brands I mentioned have on wall or in wall solutions designed for that application.

Thanks,
Duane

Excellent advice everyone - I'll start reading up on the recommendations.

BTW, given the choice, would you rather go with satellites and a sub, or a floor standing solution (w/o sub)? Keep in mind that this will mostly be for HT applications (split 80/20). Although, having said that, I'd like something that can give me options down the line (that is, moving into a bigger space, tube gear, etc.).

The Cornwalls seem *exactly* what I'm looking for. Used, it's right around my price point!

In wall.