OK so I did a search but all of it was quite old now so I'll give you the general lay of the land....

Time to upgrade from the home theatre in a box business to get some decent sound.

Ideally I want 5.1 surround, sattelite speakers (because I can't be farked running cabling but can be done)

Ability to have some speakers outside for music and TV

The current setup without Home theatre in a box includes;

Samsung 50inch 1080p HD Plasma
Beyonwiz HDD twin tuners
Samsung DVD player - Part of current HT
Foxtel IQ2
Apple TV
PS3
Dell Laptop

All components connected via a HDMI switcher with optical for each channel - only 4 channels with 1 HDMI to the TV

Logitech Harmony oine remote

All the gear is inside a cabinet with and IR repeater

So I am happy using the switcher even though I am lacking 2 inputs required as the TV and AV gear are not in the same cabinet and I do not want to run another HDMI to the TV under the floor.

What I would like is the next step up in quality for speakers and amp - I have small children so the hope of having the sound level extremely high is limited to pissy nights - IE it doesn't need to blow the windows out but still be good for a party and bad 80s/90's music.

Happy to buy online and want quality gear.

Really don't want to spend more than $2.5k......

ok go

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RS RA
The more people I meet the more I like my Dog!

12.463 1/4 mile, not bad for an old school Liberty [DECEASED]

MY08 Liberty Tuned by STi

In my opinion, decent sound and satellite speakers don't go together. Unless you mean bookshelf speakers?

You say you can't be fucked running speaker cable... are you looking for wireless rear speakers? The only wireless speakers I have seen come in cheap and nasty all-in-one packages... essentially just another home theatre in a box-slash-package. Personally I would double your budget.

If you want decent sound, visit places where you can actually audition the speakers. (West Coast Hifi, Frank Prowse, Sound Advice, Audio Synergy, Surround Sounds). Though I don't think you're going to find anything in your budget at those stores except maybe a PSB speaker package from West Coast. Good luck!

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[I]trolololol[/I]

2.5k will get you close to a entry level bose system, From memory they're about 2900, installation however is minimum 700 bucks.

Wireless anything = contents of a porta potty

Two years ago i was an installer for Bose Australia, mainly commercial.
Feel free to PM for contacts, HOWEVER do not fuck them around and be honest with yourself and them about the budget.

Ok so wireless = shit

I can deal with that its not that hard to run the cable for the rear speakers.

However I am smart enough to know that going and listening to a setup in a shop where they have a better sound stage and play an obscure piece of shit with lots of base to sell you on the woofer is not the best move.

So to pose the question another way, what is a decent brand of amplifier and what are good speakers? Or where can I go that I won't be bent over? Anyone who says west coast hi if can dowse themselves in petrol and grab a match imo

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RS RA
The more people I meet the more I like my Dog!

12.463 1/4 mile, not bad for an old school Liberty [DECEASED]

MY08 Liberty Tuned by STi

Nothing wrong with West Coast Hifi if you know what you're after and they can do a decent price for you. I wouldn't listen to much of their advice, but really people should be doing their homework before entering the shops anyhow so that they can take opinions with a pinch of salt and/or ignore the bullshit. I got my $1700 amp from them for $1400 not long after its release and got a $900 sub off them for $550. Nothing wrong with shopping there if you know what you need.

I'll throw some brand names at you, even though some of them may be out of budget (your ears may sway you to increase it).

West Coast Hifi: B&W and Focal. PSB if you really have to stick to your budget. I also wouldn't touch Bose (sorry Steve) unless you lived in an inner-city apartment where space is at an absolute premium. Overpriced & over-hyped. They're pretty much the Apple of the hifi world.

Douglas Hifi: if you can find an M&K package in your budget, you'll do well. Great speakers and they have plenty of options with satellite/small footprint speakers.

Frank Prowse: Check out Monitor speakers (British), superb value for money. Also super value, awesome looking and some of the most natural speakers I have ever heard are Paradigm (Canadian). Probably well outside the budget but you will do yourself a favour by auditioning these brands just to give you an idea of what is out there for a little bit more money without going overboard.

Yamaha, Onkyo and Pioneer all make a huge range of amps from $500-$2000+
Personally I wouldn't spend less than 1k on an amp. Then see if you can get a nice 5.1 package deal for ~2.5k

Let us know how you go, as it's always interesting to see a) what people try to flog you and b) what other people's ears like.

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[I]trolololol[/I]

Aaron speakers ( Australian Company) - Bang for buck they are excellent. I use them in my system and my fronts are 15 years old odd. See Aaron Speakers. Try to keep speakers consistent through the room, regardless of brand, it will provide a better more consistent sound. centre speakers are used much more often now 5.1 is the norm so have the biggest centre channel speaker you can afford or fit. Speaker stands will make an average speaker sound so much better by isolating the speaker from resonating the walls / floor.

Amps - ensure you have enough headroom in the amp for the speakers. IE - 50% or greater then the speakers nominal wattage rating. So a 60W speaker should have 90W or greater amp.

Subwoofer - Velodyne

Personally I'd double your budget and you'll never look back.

I wouldn't go to West Coast Hifi. They're just one step up from Hardly Normal. Frank Prowse or Surround Sound BUT SS really like selling over the top systems.

In the end also remember that decent speaker cabling shouldn't be over looked. However, that doesn't go for HDMI cabling. Digital is digital - it's either there or it isn't and any loss/jitter/noise is simply unperceivable without an analyser.

Finally, if an amp meets the specs you want and is being superseded and being sold cheaper all the better. Try to get an amp with a pre-out and return so that you could run power amps/ valve amps/ valve processing for the Left and Right front stage when listening to stereo sources only.

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[COLOR=Black]Liberty GT Spec B tuned 240 HP & 372 Nm at the hubs.[/COLOR] "Instead of banning high performance cars - ban low performance drivers"

Shane,

Dan Carson hooked me up a while ago when I did my first home theatre, kept on a moderate budget for good quality gimmick free gear. As follows:

Energy speakers (canadian made, have been running them for 8 years so far and sound nice and warm for my ears, great flexability for music and movies - I've actually been using it alot for editing notes on my bands new album, well impressed)

Integra DTR 50.4 receivers. Plenty of hdmi inputs, suits all current technological requirements, learning remote so you can put it all into one, and very well priced hi quality amp. I've been using a DTR 5.3 for the last 8 years and its still fantastic, but lacks hdmi so will be upgrading to the 50.4 soon. Also have seperate zone so you can run your outdoor speakers and have the home theatre inside at the same time.

Im not a tech head, just like easy interactive gear that works well and the above do that for me.

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www.racewars.com.au

Go to Whirlpool home theatre forums. Buy a decent amp for around a $1000, buy Jay car floor standing speakers for the fronts ($700 - look here http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1944805#) and then look for bookshelf speakers for the rear and find a matching centre speaker. This will probably cost around $3000 and I wouldn't buy a sub straight away as the floor standing should produce enough base for 80s/90s music and movies.

Adi

Integra are modified Onkyo amps designed to be less top end orientated for the US market. An excellent amp. I went the Denon over the Integra as it had better features.

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[COLOR=Black]Liberty GT Spec B tuned 240 HP & 372 Nm at the hubs.[/COLOR] "Instead of banning high performance cars - ban low performance drivers"

Sonos that is all..no speaker cables, run as many as you want totally wireless using their bridge also wireless. Bonus is all the content of music libraries you have available to you. simply brilliant for non-audio files like me. Use your smart phone or iphone as the remote control, very portable and exceptionally good sound.

http://www.sonos.com/
harvey norman, jbs

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Funny looking German Subaru