I don't know much about speakers and to say I don't really trust my ears to detect excellence or improvement or distinctions is an understatement. But recently I decided that I wanted to build a compact home theater system (for a small townhouse family room). I consulted with a friend who is a budding audiophile and likes to spend phat cash on these things and read everything out there.
I want something for movies obviously, but music is also very very important to me. I first considered HTIB's in the $500-$700 range and then decided that I could, and maybe should, fork out more cash. I wanted something nice and that sounded good. I was hoping that the extra expenditure would pay off in sound and listening experience. My friend suggested I look at Def Tech's Pro Cinema 60, with a retail of about $700 for a 5.1 system. I couldn't find much on the internet on that package. Saw more on Energy Take 5.2 (very good reviews). And I could have picked up the Athena equivalent at Best Buy.
I went to see the Def Techs and listened, but I couldn't tell much. I decided to get them because they looked nice, because of my friend's advice, and because I really wasn't sure going around testing various speaker packages was going to enlighten me at all.
Here are my questions. Do you think these speakers are good for music as well as HT? I've heard now that maybe they are not. Is there something better in this price range? Am I getting something that will be noticeably better and of greater quality then had I bought the $700 HTIB and gotten those speakers?
Finally, give me suggestions on receivers for these (if I keep them). Not sure what "level" receiver is appropriate for these speakers. I don't want overkill or underkill. I can get a discounted Marantz 5300, but it doesn't appear to have a component input which I think maybe I should have???