# Best budget Floorstanding speaker for a 7.1 system under $300



## rrseth (Dec 26, 2015)

I'm looking at the Polk T50's, Pioneer SP-FS52, or the Sony SSCS3. They are all under $300 for the pair...any other recommendations, or thoughts on these?


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

The Pioneers have been out a while and are highly regarded for the price. The Polks are pretty new so there probably isn't much data on them yet. I'm not familiar with the Sony's so I can't really comment on those.

As far as other options... without knowing what you're looking to achieve, room size, electronics, usage, aesthetic requirements, etc. it will be difficult for anyone to provide choices suitable to task. Is the $300 you quoted your max budget? Are you only looking for a pair of towers?


----------



## rrseth (Dec 26, 2015)

Room size: 14 X 17, Onkyo TXNR646 receiver, main usage is as part of a surround sound system to be used mainly to watch movies. $300 is upper limit sadly...


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

In addition to the Pioneer's I'd suggest you may also want to consider Infinity Primus P363


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

rrseth said:


> Room size: 14 X 17, Onkyo TXNR646 receiver, main usage is as part of a surround sound system to be used mainly to watch movies. $300 is upper limit sadly...


So do you have a center already?


----------



## B- one (Jan 13, 2013)

You could go the used route maybe look for some deals on CL.


----------



## rrseth (Dec 26, 2015)

Yes, I do. Its whatever came with the Onkyo system 8 years ago


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

You'll probably have to rethink your strategy then. Having a mismatched LCR is never a good idea, and the fact your center - arguably the most important speaker in a HT system - is going to be a leftover from a HTiB that's almost a decade old is going to cause audible issues. Surrounds can be different, but the front 3 speakers really need to be a matched set.


----------



## rrseth (Dec 26, 2015)

theJman said:


> You'll probably have to rethink your strategy then. Having a mismatched LCR is never a good idea, and the fact your center - arguably the most important speaker in a HT system - is going to be a leftover from a HTiB that's almost a decade old is going to cause audible issues. Surrounds can be different, but the front 3 speakers really need to be a matched set.


Pardon my ignorance, what is LCR? The Center is the most important speaker in an HT? I appreciate you educating me, I would have always guessed it's the front 2. I will look at updating all 3.


----------



## rrseth (Dec 26, 2015)

does the powered sub need to be matched as well?


----------



## DqMcClain (Sep 16, 2015)

LCR= Left/Center/Right 

Having these three match each other is important for good imaging and blending across the front of the room. Blah blah blah psycho-acoustic stuff... the front side is way more important than the back, hence having mismatched rears being allowable. If you have L/C/R all from the same manufacturer and preferably the same model lines, that means the drivers will have very similar response characteristics and the crossovers will be designed not only to function within a single speaker but also to compliment the other channels. A mismatch means you're throwing a potentially important design consideration out the window. The center channel could have a radically different response than the L/R, and it might sound funny. 

The subwoofer is serving a different enough purpose in the system that matching it to the rest of the speakers is not a question of who built it, but of how it is integrated. There are critical features for this task, such as a variable crossover point, gain control, phase control, etc... but any well-made sub from any manufacturer can be well-integrated into your system, and it need not match its friends in branding.


----------



## rrseth (Dec 26, 2015)

Thanks for all the great advice!

So I went to a local store and found Energy CF-50's at $300 for a pair (open box - been on the floor 2 years per the rep-any issues with this?)...never heard of them, but they sounded great! Any thoughts?


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

The speakers might not be bad, but the deal certainly is. That isn't even 50% off for speakers that have lead a very rough life for 2 years (floor models are never cared for properly).


----------



## rrseth (Dec 26, 2015)

Thanks Jman! So I got the Energy's for $180 total, plus a matching center for $60. Also, got the Pioneer FS52's for $59 each, price matched at BestBuy from Frys.com. Frys didnt really have it in stock, but the guy was nice enough to do it anyway. What an upgrade from my lousy system, gonna use these for my rears! Frys.com link posted below, hope it helps someone...thanks to everyone that posted here, especially Jman, appreciate everyones time.

http://www.frys.com/product/7327244?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

rrseth said:


> Thanks Jman! So I got the Energy's for $180 total, plus a matching center for $60. Also, got the Pioneer FS52's for $59 each, price matched at BestBuy from Frys.com. Frys didnt really have it in stock, but the guy was nice enough to do it anyway. What an upgrade from my lousy system, gonna use these for my rears! Frys.com link posted below, hope it helps someone...thanks to everyone that posted here, especially Jman, appreciate everyones time.


Alright, now _that's_ a good deal! Congrats on your new toys - you got a lot of speaker for very little $$. Once you have everything setup and configured be sure to come back and post your thoughts.


----------



## rrseth (Dec 26, 2015)

Will do!


----------



## vidiot33 (Dec 12, 2013)

I'd look at Dayton also. I read somewhere they have unbeatable sound at their price point. Can't go wrong with the Pioneers either. Best of luck!

Sent from my iPhone using HTShack


----------

