I am getting so overwhelmed with all of the different speaker options for my home theater!! I have been reading review after review, page after page on speakers... If anybody has any suggestions on what I should do I would I would appreciate it more than you know.

I have a room that is 26x17 with the tv centered on the far end on the 17ft wall. The tv is a 58 inch Panasonic plasma (th-58px600u) and the receiver I have is a Denon AVR-2807.

Originally I was thinking about getting only wall mount speakers for convenience, but now I am considering floor, so that I can get more of a full range. I want to make sure that I have speakers that I can crank up for movies and get the full effect of explosions and such, but also be able to listen to some music and hear it the way it was meant to be heard.

As for timber matching...do all speakers need to be timber matched? or just fronts and center? What exactly is timber matching?

What about power? The receiver puts out 110w per channel...what's the minimum db I should look for in the speakers? Can fronts be different from center and rears? or should they all be the same?

The couch sits about 14 feet from the tv, so should I go with a 5.1, or 7.1 because of the lenght of the room and location of the couch? If I go 7.1, should the back and mid be the same?

As for the sub...I'm leaning towards the Outlaw LFM-1 Plus. Is 350 w enough for a room that size? Any other suggestions?

Aside from the sub, I don't want to go over 2k - 2.5k max.

Again, thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me. Let me know if you need any more info.

Have you auditioned anything yet? A listening test will help you narrow down quite a bit. Any local AV specialist worth its salt (with a listening room) should indulge you if you show you are serious.

Go out and listen to speakers. Reviews and advertising cannot help at all.

I've been to Best Buy and listened to Definitive Technology, Klipsch, and a few others. What other place have sound rooms to preview?

Also, I'm also worried that if I hear the speakers in the store, it will not sound the same as in my home because of different receivers, wall structure, size, furniture, etc.. Will these things really make that big of a difference?

Thanks for the replies.

For a sub, I recommend checking out the SVS subs. The price is good and the subs deliver oomph as well as control.

As someone else suggested, try a true Hi-Fi specialist. These stores tend to be regional, so I can't really tell you where to go, but you usually won't find these guys selling refrigerators in the same store. Similarly powered recievers, in today's market, sound very similar, so I would not worry about that aspect much. SOME Hi-Fi stores will let you "demo" a speaker set in your home, but beside that, there is no real way to simulate your room acoustics. Many people may laugh, but I've set up a 6-channel system using Magnepan MMG speakers (3 pairs, centers oriented horizontally) for 1.5K + sub.

Only your ears will be able to tell you what you like. What I find fabulous you may find underwhelming. You have to audition speakers, there's just no other way.


Whether you get floorstanders or bookshelves, a properly set up home theatre system will run your speakers as small and cross them over around 80Hz. Anything below that should be handled by the subwoofer which can be placed in the best spot in the room for reproducing bass. You can easily find bookshelf speakers that will extend below 80Hz so selecting floorstanders doesn't necessarily add anything to your range. The "full-range-ness" of your system will be defined by your subwoofer, not your speakers. I would consider floorstanders just because your room is so big.


Again, "explosions and such" is the domain of the subwoofer... not really the mains. Bookshelves and Floorstanders should both be fine selections. Properly blending the subwoofer (an easy task with the 2807) will allow for wonderful music reproduction.


Any normal speakers will be fine. Normal home listening is lucky to use an entire watt of power.


Get a good sub. SVS, HSU, even a Velodyne. Make it at least 12" for your room.

I have been to BestBuy too and they have some displays where you press a button and hear one set of speakers. And then keep on switching among them. I didn't like the Klipsch sound. i like more the JBL they have. At home I have Polk Audio 5.1 HT (small room) as well as Paradigm mini monitor pair for stereo. I am quite satisfied with them. Specially the Paradigm.

Yes. It will sound different at your place but if you still don't like them anymore after switching places and tweaking around you can always return them! Assuming you will buy them at BestBuy.