What are the best $150 bookshelf speakers I can buy for Home Theater (not music)?

Question

I am looking for the best home theater speakers for $150 or less.  Strictly Home Theater.  My den is smaller, maybe medium, not large.  Not a dorm room though.  A "normal" sized family room / den.  I sit  about eight to ten feet away from the tv screen, center, and speakers.  Please don't ask me to "bump up my budget" or "save up some more."  I'm hoping for answers in this context.  I do not expect B&W speakers for $150 but I don't know that I want Sony or KLH speakers either.  Hoping for clarity like when a glass breaks, you can hear the shards.  Sub will provide the bass at 80Hz crossover.

Used or new is fine.  I also figure I can get speakers that cost more than $150 initially on the showroom floor but may now be gotten for $150 or less on Craigslist or somewhere like that.

Thank you.

mark_hensley@sbcglobal.net · Accepted Answer

Atlantic Bookshelf Speakers $99 
Excellent brand and excellent pair of speakers for and excellent price.

http://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-Technology-2200LR-BLK-Speakers-Channel/dp/B001P05N6A/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1358394956&sr=1-2&keywords=atlantic+bookshelf+speakers

Best

Melv H · Answer

I would rank them in this order: the Infinity speakers first, the Pioneer speakers second, the Polk speakers third.

Infinity Primus P153, $150/pair free shipping,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370680840649

Pioneer Andrew Jones SP-BS22-LR (these should appear as $90/pair in the cart),

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3381565

Polk Audio New Monitor 35B (these should go on sale, regularly, for $120/pair; you may need to wait a week for the next sale price to appear),

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290268

I think the Pioneer speakers are about as good as the Infinity Primus, though I think the 4" driver may reduce dynamics to some extent. (The sensitivity is improved, compared to the SP-BS21-LR, but still only 85dB.)

If the similarly-constructed Monitor 30's are an indication, the Polk Monitor 35B's probably play loudly well, but are also skewed toward being excessively bright (characteristics common to speakers that have been tweaked to sound more exciting in appliance store demos).

Maniac · Answer

Doesn't quite make the $150 limit but for $159 these will give you $300/pr quality.  Catch is you have to assemble the kit.   http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-640

If you don't mind a little more work you can stay under $150...  http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-706  

If you don't mind used go on e-bay and search "Minimus 7".  You can usually get these pretty cheap, I found a pair in good condition recently, I think I paid around $70/pr.   These are smaller however and would be better suited if you also had a subwoofer.

mk

Troich53 · Answer

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? · Answer

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What are the best $150 bookshelf speakers I can buy for Home Theater (not music)?

5 Answers