"I'm a believer"

I know that if I went out and spent $5K or $10K on speakers for my set-up, it wouldn’t be a wise investment. My listening room is an open-plan living room/kitchen with high ceilings and off-center listening positions. I can’t acoustically treat the room. As it it, my wife complains about the stand-mounted bookshelves I have now.

+1. Very wise! My experience is throwing money at gear to battle an acoustically challenged room is a losing proposition. The room is what it is for the most part and calls more than ever for making smart choices. Often less setup just right turns out to be more.

One thing for certain is how much speaker is needed to get the job done well relates mainly to room size and the cost to get the job done well in most people’s rooms at home is moderate on the grand scale of how much speakers can cost. Overall design and build quality does matter and powered subs are a great way to get the job done easier and for less cost. BEyond this the other things that matter are getting the right speakers for the room set up well and personal preferences.

On the overall cost scale, a pair of Vanatoo acitves alone can get most folks over teh finish line alone at least in a smaller room for well under $1000. Add a sub and you have a setup that is hard to fault in most rooms. These in particular are overachievers in a small package due to smart design including nicely applied DSP and built in amplification (each is bi-amped....no kidding!). Check them out! I would suggest any newcomers start with these and if you determine you need better from there go for it!