Speaker setup for HT in $2000 range

I use B&W DM603 S3 which are floor standing 2.5 way full range speakers, a B&W ASW600 10" sub, and some old Bang and Olfsen bookshelf's for the rears. I am running a Marantz 7300OSE receiver for a reference point... probably fairly close to your 3803.

For $2000 you can have the same floor standers, the same sub, and their larger LCR600 S3 center (The missing piece in my own HT setup which I am looking at getting next) You will be missing the rears but like others have said you can add them later.

Although most on this forum think that B&W (at this price point) is mid-fi (which it is) I am happy with the sound and I am still in the build stage at the moment and would honestly rather spend $10k on the car than on the home theater setup so hence the B&W's.

For bang for the buck I like these speakers allot and they do really well for home theater. Dynamics are great and they play cleanly up to an beyond the point at which my wife tells me to turn down the volume.

My $.02

I agree that B & W is not the "best" out there. It is pretty good though and I am very impressed with the 805s. I want to spend a maximum of $4000 on the whole system so I like your thoughts. What do you think of the B & W sub?

The sub is very nice and it seems well built. I was looking at a sub in the $500 range. I looked at velodyne, Def Tech, B&W, Paradigm and a few other brands at the local store I cannot rememer. I ended up with the B&W for a number of reasons.
1. The Paradigm PS1000 was too boomy for my taste. For HT that may be fine but if you want to listen to music at all (which I like to do about 30-40% of the time) Lots of grunt but it was a larger box than I want to deal with. I also think it had spring clip high level input which I think is tacky. (Even if I don't use them)

2. The Def Tech (PS-100 I think) sounded OK and the box was small but it felt cheeply made and the box was light as a feather IMHO. I want a sub to feel solid, like a tank.

3. The Velodyne was a slot loaded 10 (not sure of the model #) which sounded boomy like the Paradigm.

I went to a different shop and listened to the B&W ASW600 and the bass was much tighter and punchy w/o the boom and the flap I felt I hear with the other subs. The box is STOUT like all B&W enclosurs and it is a sealed unit which I have always been partial to from my car audio days. It may not have been as loud or had the *whump* of the others but I think it is a good mix of power and control. There is a larger 12" sub that goes for $700ish. It has all the qualities of the 600 but with greater output, unfortunately the wife gave that the line item veto.

My brother has a REL which I think trumps the ASW in all departments, and it is tiny. But I also think he paid $1500ish for it so it was a little out of my range:-)

Good Luck.

Your detailed response is very appreciated. I liked the "wife gave the line item veto" part best because I sure understand that. Thanks again.