Best 5.1 options under $5k

Boy, those 2ch guys dont give up Lol, their gonna go down with the 2ch ship :0)

i believe you need to concider your goal for stereo listening, if you listen occationally then a HT rig will do you fine, if you sit and listen to music and really want to recreate the atmosphere the recording and the instruments then we will need to reevaluate your system.

HT is fun, watching movies is a wonderful experience, the right system will translate the director’s intentions. Do you want to feel the bombs going off or watch them. Are you a quiet movie family or fo you wanna feel like BumbleBee is really shooting off crazy alien guns. Good thought ls ahead of time about your expectations will make this fun, hold off on the equipment list till you first figure out what you are looking for.

BMW 5 series stock will handle corners better than a stock Honda civic, i added “stock” because someone would argue that too hahaha

Build what you want. I am a 2ch guy for music and have 5.1 in our living room for family entertainment and lo level listening during parties.

SVS makes nice stuff as do Klipsch for a 5.1.

It will primarily be a surround sound setup but I don't want to neglect a great 2ch experience either as we will have a Pro-Ject turntable connected among others

I guess in a perfect world I'd be looking for a nice compromise of the two with a slight lean towards Home theater

I was thinking about checking out the Focal Chora 826 towers in addition to the previously mentioned SVS.  I've heard good things about the Klipsch RP-8000f as well and they're certainly within budget

Personally, if you are strictly 5.1 I would seek out the best front 3 you can find, the one that sounds best for music. Same with sub. Most everything translates well for movies. I no longer think surrounds have to be from same family, although if you can pull it off it can’t hurt. For example I used a B&W surround because it afforded easier mounting and fit my room better than anything else.  What gear is in front of said speakers?  That's a factor especially on the music side.  

I was thinking something like the Denon x3700 or 4700 but I have not decided on that yet.  At this time I am heavily leaning towards spending most of the budget in the front speakers and adding surrounds at some point in the future