5.1 under 4k?

There may have been some confusion in my last post. I was under the impression that the OP was getting these speakers for theater only, not music. My Deftec recommendation was meant to be taken in that context. If the amp is going to be a Marantz receiver, I think the system would benefit greatly from having the built in subs.

As far as MA goes, I think they're great. I've owned both brands in the past and much prefer the MA. However, given the application and the OP's current equipment, the Deftec is just another option he may want to consider. Also, when it comes to 3d imaging, every piece in the system contributes. If any one piece is not good with 3d, you won't get it; even if all the other ones are. It's really just a matter of what is important to the OP. He has to listen to it, not us.

It is very simple to know what is 2 or 3-dimensional. I am in audio since 1998. I did listen to many many stuff. I Always test first to know what the properties of the equipment is you test. Wenn you have speakers and an amp which can give a deep stage both. You can test many sources to know if they also can give a deep and wide stage. Wenn a source cannot give a deep and wide stage, the depth and wide is gone. And you have a 2-dimensional image again. It is that simple. Use a source and amp which can give both a deep and wide stage. Then you test many differend speakers, and again you know which can give a deep and wide stage en which can't. I have done these tests hundreds of times. The audio shows with Deftec I never heard a deep and wide stage. Most shops here in Holland demonstrate Monitor Audio with 2-dimensional amps. Most do not understand well how to get it. They also do not know the amps and speakers who can give a deep and wide stage. Even distributers have less knowledge to understand this. At the end it is not difficult to explain what the difference is. I do this comparance now for about 6 years. It works extremly well.

Based on some advice here I traveled an hour to listen to some Monitor Audio silver series speakers. I loved what I heard and ended up taking some speakers home.

I purchased a pair of rx8s, gx150, and a pair of rx1s for surround. I cound not justify the $1200 or afford for that matter for the sub. Can anyone recommend a good sub to match this system?

I like the Paradigm Monitor subs at $600 to $800. Front firing, which I personally like, especially for a carpeted room. Surprising sound in a small package.

Since you are used to Polk, you'd probably like GoldenEar, which is one of Polk's co-founder's current company. At your budget, you could get three SuperSat 60s for L-C-R ($2400), a pair of SuperSat 50s for the surrounds ($1K) and their Forcefield 5 subwoofer ($999). This all comes in around $4400. I've heard their sats with their sub (as well as the Triton 2 towers and Aon 3 monitors), and their products have a *great* folded ribbon tweeter and their satellites with sub sound really good for both music and theater.