I think you'll do pretty well with the Axioms. They do offer the in-home trial period so you can try them out. Remember to leave some space between your mains and your front wall as they are rear ported speakers. If you don't, you end up with a real boomy sound. (I tried out one of the Axiom bookshelf models and that was its only downfall. I didn't have the space in the room to get it out from the wall far enough) Those QS8 surrounds have gotten some really great reviews. The only change would be that you might want to try out different subs before going with the Axiom version. It's a good sub, but more highly recommended ones do exist for about the same money. If you can do the package without the sub, you should be pretty well off. Look forward to hearing about your experiences....

Note: Don't forget about the room!! It's really that important to your overall experience. For example, if your room is nice and rectangular as you described it, watch out for those standing waves!!

Zdog:
I looked at the spec of Axiom’s subwoofers. They seem kind of weak compare to Adire Audio’s subwoofers like Shiva and Tempest which the kits can be bought for just about the same price. You may get all Axiom speakers but I’d recommend getting Adire’s sub and timbre match is not an issue for subwoofers. Check out the difference in the weight. It tells the quality of the enclosure which matters a lot for subwoofers.
http://www.adireaudio.com/home_audio/loudspeakers/exact_series/rava.htm

Standing Waves?? Oh damn another chapter to the sega... I see I need to attened room prep 101 Lil better idea of the room.. It is 11 x 17 with the door in the back right of the room. These screen will be on the other 11' wall there is no light in the room.. As it is a former 1 car garage... It has dry wall walls and popcorn ceiling ... Also, What other Subs would you recomend? Thanx Z

I use two Infinity subs as stereo in my setup. The IL100 and IL120 (10" and 12") have held their own in sound and vision testing against the other subs of similar price and they are available as refurbs with full warranties as new on ebay sold direct by Harman Audio, the manufacturer, here is one example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3073399485&category=3275

They end up going for $300-$450 when the bidding is done.

Zdog,

Welcome and just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. I am currently running the polk LSi 15's in front, and the LSi C for the center. These are great speakers, and I would Highly recomend them. The problem, they will set you back a little and may bust your budget. The other down side to the LSi series, is that they can be a little tough to find a place to audition them. If you can hear them near you, you should really go hear them. With speakers, you need to buy what sounds good to you, in your listening environment.

If you do end up going with the LSi's make sure that you get an amp / processor that will drive them. They are 4 ohm speakers. so....the 7100 or 770 will be more than enough.



[This message has been edited by Nemos2 (edited January 21, 2004).]

Your paralell walls will cause certain frequencies to compound themselves causing "standing waves." If nothing is done to treat them, it will sound either boomy or glaring or both in your room to the excess of these frequencies. The best way to treat this would be to put some type of material on your walls to either absorb or diffuse these "waves." Two pro companies that sell this type of product and also can give you much more information about acoustics are:

www.auralex.com
www.realtraps.com

Both these websites offer very useful information about setting up good listening rooms.

One other question on a semi-related topic. Have you thought about a screen for your projector? Good home theater screens can be really expensive. You can try the DIY route to save some money. Do a search on this website for more info and projects:

www.avsforum.com

Good luck!

Just thought I'd chime in on the discussion. Jason J threw out some budget numbers and the only thing I'd offer a differing opinion with is spending $500 on a DVD player right now.

The Pioneer all format player that Gonk mentioned earlier seems like a great choice to start out with, especially with Hi-Def DVD being about 2 years away. (Click HERE to read a good article about the competing formats.) The Pioneer is going for around $180 and then he can put the extra $320 into speakers. Actually, he may need to budget more than $200 for cables and such if he's going to have a projector, he may need longer runs of Component cables.

You can also go HERE and then click the link to 'Home Theater Design Guides' for some more info you may find useful.

My two cents for what they're worth.

[This message has been edited by kugumby (edited January 23, 2004).]

i do not like 5.25in woofers in my speakers, i notice that the center (and almost all the other speakers) is 5.25in. for the life of me i cannot understand why they put 5.25in in anything instead of just using 6.5in. i do not mind 5.25 in combo with 6.5, but still its pretty much a waste. the only sub i would buy is a velodyne, but i think they may be too much for your budget. i would not recommend those qs8s as the rear surround, those speakers should be a traditional bookshelf style instead of multi-polar, the sides are perfect for that though. those axioms are going to be a huge part of your budget (probably too much) if you dont get a package price, but that includes that sub. i havent shopped for speakers in a while, but those axioms are not the most impressive. however i cant offer any insight as to what would be better :-), i dont understand why so many websites do not show pricing...
oh, the best dvd player for the money is the denon dvd910, $300. however it does not offer sacd or dvd-audio support, so if you wanted that then youd have to get another model. denon seems to make about the best dvd players you can purchase these days. i would not spend too much on a dvd player as it will be obsolete pretty soon. that pioneer 563a is a piece of junk, and while i am a fan of pioneer elite they have NEVER made a good dvd player.

its exciting to put together a system, but its also nice to be content with what you have :-). like i said before i would not spend much of my inital $5000 on room decorating, you can always add stuff later and it is pretty overrated and overpriced anyway.

kugumby: Your suggestion sounds pretty good. I bought the cheapest SACD player of the day (Sony DVP-NS500V about $160) and it still serves my system very nicely. There are nicer players out there but it worked fine in my situation as a good intro to SACD plus a decent interlaced player.
The budget numbers I put out there were just a quick suggestion. There's no way that any of them shouldn't change at least a little bit one way or another.

cg: I continue to disagree with the way you state your opinions on room expenditures. Allotting some budget to acoustics should not be an afterthought, but really should be a priority. Especially in the room that was brought up to start this topic. Of course, the amount of money spent on room materials should correspond to the rest of the person's budget. If you read a little before jumping, you'll find that both sites I listed offer products that in the end won't break the budget and will certainly calm down a home theater. I would also love to hear the stories you have about overrated and overpriced acoustical treatments as I'm curious as to which products you speak of. Just like any marketable item, there are products out there that are more pychological than anything else. If it is these products you speak of, then I do agree with your comments.

Just one little aside. IMHO, I wouldn't put down any speaker system until I heard it with my own two ears. I've heard some amazing systems that down feature speakers with 6.5 inch drivers.