So you’re shopping for a home theater speaker system and you’ve got between one and two grand to spend. Welcome to the jungle. This is one of the most densely populated and competitive price ranges in all of speakerland. The good news is that there’s lots to choose from. With so many systems competing for your dollars, Darwinian logic says that the best of them will be very good indeed—and a great value, too. The bad news is that with all those systems calling to your credit card, finding the right one can be daunting.

Fear not—this shopping guide will help point you in the right direction. Every system listed was selected by the manufacturer as a standout in this price range. All of them are 5.1-channel systems with five satellite speakers and a subwoofer, and all were expected to be available in stores by the time you read this.

What should you expect from a speaker system in the $1,000 to $2,000 range? Just about everything you would demand from far costlier ones. The best of these systems can give you excellent bass reach and punch even if some can’t get down to the very lowest frequencies. Assuming your amp or receiver is up to the job, they’ll sound clean at all but the highest volumes—which means you won’t be able to achieve full-bore rock-concert levels or the absolute peak impact of movie sound effects, but you won’t want anything that loud anyway unless you have a really big room.

Many of the speakers in this price range display a strong sense of style, too. True, they’re usually finished in woodgrain vinyl rather than wood veneer, but many of today’s vinyl finishes are so good it can be hard to tell the difference. Besides, a speaker’s “skin” doesn’t have any impact on its performance. Under that top layer, nearly all speakers are made of the same stuff—medium-density fiberboard (MDF).


Polk Audio RM7200 system

Now you know that if you choose wisely, you can get excellent speakers at a good price. But how should you choose? It’s easy: just take the time to listen.

Even though they’re considered home theater systems, the truth is that most people use their speakers more than half the time to listen to music. If that applies to you, then you should audition speakers as critically with music recordings as with movie soundtracks. And if you’re like most of us, you do plenty of your music listening in plain ol’ stereo, so be sure to give any system a rigorous two-channel workout. How well it reproduces voices, instruments, and the width and depth of the soundstage, and whether it creates natural and stable stereo images, are just as important as cinematic slam and whiz-bang surround effects.

When you check out a system’s surround sound prowess, pay particular attention to the center speaker, which delivers almost all movie dialogue plus important musical elements and effects. It should match the left and right front speakers closely, in both tonal character and coverage, so voices will sound open and natural—even if you’re sitting off to one side. Also listen carefully to sounds that pan across the screen, like the speeding muscle cars in The Fast and Furious: they should move through the front three speakers without “jumping” in and out of the center speaker.

And think about placement. If your front speakers are destined to reside on a bookshelf, make sure they’re designed to perform well there. Many speakers sound best on stands placed a couple of feet away from the wall. If you find yourself drawn to such a model, consider whether your room layout can accommodate the stands. Speaker placement and room acoustics have at least as big an impact on the sound of your home theater as the quality of the speakers themselves.

Make sure the center speaker will fit right smack in the middle of the space between the left and right front speakers. (You’d be amazed how many people cheat on this.) If you have a rear-projection TV with a slim front “lip,” be sure the speaker will be stable sitting on top of it. And try to place the three front speakers so their tweeters are at about the same height. Plan ahead for subwoofer placement, too. Most subs sound best in, or near, a corner on the front wall—but there are plenty of exceptions, so be prepared to experiment.

And don’t forget the surround speakers. Many systems in this price range use four identical satellites for the front L/R and surround pairs, or even five identical satellites, while others have three distinct models, each designed specifically for its position. Because it’s the most cost-effective way to go, you’ll often come across direct-radiating (or “monopole”) surrounds that are similar or identical to the front speakers. But many people prefer dipole or bipole surround speakers for movie sound because—by radiating toward the front and back of the room, rather than directly toward the listener—they create a more diffuse effect. On the other hand, people who listen to a lot of multichannel music tend to prefer direct-radiating surrounds.

One last thing: don’t forget that most of us spend as much time simply living with our speakers as listening to them. And since you’re probably going to share your space with them for many years, don’t hesitate to award points for looks, design elegance, and cabinetry fit and finish. Sure, the sound’s the thing, but in the real world it’s not the only thing.

PDF: SYSTEMS FROM $1,000 TO $2,000

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