# Surround Speaker suggestions



## joshr (Dec 9, 2011)

Hello all. It's been a while since i put together an audio video system for myself...
My last system was based around a Sony STR-DE805G, which was great. (in my opinion) I liked it so much that I paid Sony to fix it twice. But it broke again.. and its 15 years old.... and it doesnt do component video, let alone HDMI (it doenst even have s-video) so it's time to move on.

My new system, so far, is:
reciever: Onkyo HT-RC360
front speakers : JBL Venue / Stage
center speaker: JBL CL505
subwoofer : Polk PSW-110

Im still undecided as to speakers for my side and rear surrounds. So far my choice is the Bose 161, but there are a few things I don't like about that choice, so I'm here to see if anyone has suggestions for different speakers I could investigate.

I know that lot's of serious home theater people hate Bose with a passion so first let me tell you what is attractive to me about the 161 speakers, and what I'd be looking for in an alternate speaker:
-Size. Theyre small they look nice....I know that in a speaker this size there will be almost no bass, but I dont need it. The front speakers are full range towers and the sub is 200 watts so I'm willing to sacrifice some bass in the surrounds for asthetic approval from the wife.
-Wall mounting brackets are included. Ideally whatever speakers I decide on will just bolt right to the wall instead of putting up shelves for them to sit on
-Price. $300 for 4 speakers makes my wallet smile. I'm sure you can tell by looking at my other components that I'm not putting together a world class sytem here, just something that looks and sounds good. Also, my home theater area (basement) doubles as my kids playroom, so there's a very real chance of some of my equipment getting broken before it reaches the end of its useful lifespan.

Now for the things I don't like about the 161 speakers:
-I can't find out the frequency response of these speakers anywhere. Even after a phone call to Bose. To me frequency response is one of the major specifications to consider in choosing a speaker, but Bose disagrees with me. The 2 people I spoke with at Bose told me the information is unavailable and theres no way to find out what the frequency response is for any Bose product. Which is kind of an unbelieveable statement. Obviously the engineer who designed these speakers knows exactly what the frequency response is, but for some reason chooses not to make that information public.
-The wire connection on the back of the speakers is the push spring kind, and Bose tells me that 14 gauge wire is the thickest wire these speakers will accept. I was planning on using 12 gauge becasue the runs to the rear surrounds will be 75 feet or so
-There are just so many negative reviews out there for Bose products. Although I haven't found too many negative reviews about this particular speaker, just about Bose in general. With so many hundreds/ thousands of people hating on a company it makes me want to investigate other options.

Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated. Please keep in mind the following:
-the speakers have to be 8 ohm
-the speakers have to be at least 100 watts
-the speakers have to cost less then $250 per pair
-it would be nice if the speakers came with a wall mount
-it would be nice if the speakers were small

Thanks for your time
-Josh


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Hello Josh, welcome to the Shack.

First of all I know that Bose get alot of advertising time and they seem good but they are not by any means good quality. 
Have a look at these Beringer monitors At $108 each it keeps the price within your budget and you get really good quality. They are not really small but its not a good idea to go small as that sacrifices sound quality.
Another option is to go with this JBL speaker.


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## joshr (Dec 9, 2011)

thanks for responding so quickly....those JBLs seem perfect for me...... i'll have to go give them a listen

-josh


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Given you have JBLs already it seems like the right choice.


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## joshr (Dec 9, 2011)

Sooooo, my lovely wife after hearing me talk about how much I wanted more speakers for our basement surround sound set up, bough tme a gift certificate to Best Buy. Unfortunatley, Best Buy doesnt carry the JBL speakers we discussed earlier in this thread.

any opinions on a polk audio OWM3? It seems to fit all my requirements, and gets good reviews....
If anyone has another suggestion (from best buy's assortment) I'd like to hear about it as well

any feedback would be appriciated.

thanks

-josh


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Or, you could use the Best Buy gift card to get HER a present and then spend the money on the JL's! :bigsmile: Win win I say......


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## monykaram (Dec 23, 2011)

ALMFamily said:


> Or, you could use the Best Buy gift card to get HER a present and then spend the money on the JL's! :bigsmile: Win win I say......


ur lucky man :wave:


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## haree (Jan 11, 2012)

Hmm thanks for sharing this wonderful post, I really like to your thread.It is quite helpful discussion according to me, thank you so much for the impressive post......


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## natescriven (Jan 12, 2011)

joshr said:


> any opinions on a polk audio OWM3? It seems to fit all my requirements, and gets good reviews....
> If anyone has another suggestion (from best buy's assortment) I'd like to hear about it as well


Those might work just fine. Can you return them if they don't sound good enough?

How about the Pioneer 4" 2-way bookshelf. Too big?


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