What is that makes a good home theater?

Question

Specifically the speakers. what do i need to look for to get a good system, with good sound, at a decent price.

Answer 1

I have a slightly different opinion than Ryan (but he gave great advice for a music system).

Home Theater is about IMPACT.  This comes from the subwoofer.  You can have a great HT sound in your home with 5, less expensive monitor style speakers and a good sub in the corner.

While towers with woofers are traditional - the placement for the L/R speakers are never the best spot in the room for low-frequency.  And having multiple woofers in a room create a horriably complex bass interaction.  Move you head a few inches and the sound is rough/boomy. Move the other direction and it is smooth or reduced. ugg

I have dual 500 watt subwoofers in my towers right now (I bought them before I knew what I was doing). These are both turned off in favor of a single SVS sub in the corner.

Two good brands of subwoofers that are sold through the internet are SVS and HSU Research.  They also sell 5 speakers to create systems, but you dont have to buy the sub and speakers from the same company. (Often the better sub makers are paired with speakers from another company even for high-end music systems.

A good sub runs $500-$800 and I believe both companies sell over-stock and B stock units for less.

You can also look into subwoofer kits which are about 1/3 the price of the retail versions for the same performance.  PartsExpress sells several different Dayton kits.

Answer 2

For your two large speakers, look for a pair with a good set of subwoofers in them...ten- to twelve-inch subs in your main speakers. Your surround speakers should be able to produce good midrange sound and there should be a high-range tweeter in there somewhere. You also want a speaker setup that doesn't lag the sound too bad; you want enough delay coming from your front to your rear speakers so that it sounds coherent to you no matter where you're sitting.