Home theatre system ?

Question

Budget CAD$1600:

Have, 52" sony lcd, silver

Need. 5.1 or 7.1, with receiver and amp.

whats my best bet.

Answer 1

It makes zero difference how big your room is for the receiver choice, that will be dependent on the size of the speakers and sub you choose. But with your good budget I would check out what Best Buy has to offer at one of their Magnolia shops. While Im not a big fan of the big blue box, they are running a good deal on a Denon receiver and Mirage speaker package. They are both audiophile grade brands and you will not be dissapointed. I have a Mirage speaker package with an Onkyo receiver. The Mirage nanostat speakers are sick, they have unreal highs and mids and the sub bangs for only being an 8". Take into account that you can spend whatever you want on equipment, but if its not adjusted properly its going to be factory flat. Find someone who knows what they are doing and make sure you get it tuned right.  You will have installation pushed on you at best buy if you choose to go there, but I would steer away their techs as most of them dont know what they're doing. Believe me I know, I was one before I started my own business. And very few go that extra step for their customers, either out lack of knowledge or sheer laziness. Other good brands for your  price range would be (receivers) Denon, Harmon Kardon, Onkyo, Yamaha (reference series), Sony (es series) and Pioneer Elite. (Speakers) MIrage, Definitive Technologies, Polk, Boston Acoustics, KEF, Klipsch and Wharfedale.

Answer 2

It depends how big your room is (for both space and the amount of sound to fill the room) and possibly where you live (apt, house etc don't want to p**s off your neighbors)

You'll want to get individual components for the amount you are spending to get the best bang for your buck.  You will want to select speakers of the same kind, so it will sound right.  No two speakers are the same selecting brand A rear speakers and brand B front speakers can ruin the sound, potentially brand A puts out more treble and brand B put out more bass.  Select a brand for center, front, rear speakers, the sub can be of a different brand.  

Be sure that the speakers can handle what the reciever is putting out.  You wil have to look at the amount of watts, basically the more watts the louder the sound.  600watts = 100watts per channel (speaker), the lower the ohms the better (8 is typical).

As to which specifically I really can't say, it depends what you are looking for, what sounds good to you.  Numbers (specs) can only tell you so much.