What features/specs should be in a sub $750 home av system?

keep that $40. you have a receiver already. just use optical.

or, just keep your system that you have I suppose. Its the speakers that matter. and the sub. Then where you place it all. Then where you sit. Receiver is way down the importance chain. I even think room treatments are more important than receiver choice.

there are many $1000+ speaker sets, but two Onkyo sets seem highly rated, too: SKS-HT240 and SKS-HT540 $340 and $230, respectively.) Both are a few years old, but are still rated highly. I have a highly limited knowledge of speakers, but I think I read that speaker technology hasn't really changed much. So, compared to speaker systems that cost thousands of dollars, are these reliable? Or are they only good in close relation to their pricetag? Thanks again for your input.

I want to paraphrase someone else's quote, yeah, it was getting a bit argumentative... but anyways

"Driver technology is advancing every year, and it's not guys like you who are doing it. By guys like you I mean people who think that it's all pretty much been done and everything is just a repackaging job now. Companies like Harman International are using world-class facilities and technology to drive the art and science of sound forward.

Many of these applications first show up in professional products like JBL Vertec or in high end consumer models like Revel Ultima2 or JBL Everest II. Eventually these technologies come down to mid and entry level products as the R&D and manufacturing cost are paid down.

Of course, at the same time newer, more advanced transducers are being modeled to be introduced in the top professional and consumer gear, so the cycle continues.

No matter how many times you write it, I don't believe you can recreate the resources and environment to do this. What has changed in the past 20 years?
-speaker cone composition
-speaker cone design
-speaker surround methods and materials
-spider construction
-magnet design
-magnet materials
-voice coil winding

to name some of the more obvious."

It's weakness is it's sub but I think that set is a steal for a small room. You can probably get it delivered from JR Music World for around 340.00 including shipping. I didn't read close enough to see your room size but I've got it in about a 14x14x10h room and love it. I recently listened to the more expensive Mirage Prestige set and it didn't sound nearly as good. The 240's aren't exactly big speakers but compared to the Mirage's and Bose's they are. I think it's a case of size matters.

Rusty

you can read my thoughts juci that I posted yesterday in a $400 thread. Every increase in $50 will help a lot.

I started all of this insanity with an Onkyo HTIB. I LOVED it . . . for about half a year. $430. Its at my brother's place now.

The best thing about it was that it gave me time to figure out what I was going to upgrade, and how. Because, yeah, center speaker was too distortive, too sibilant, and I came to realize the sub was a one-note farting machine, at least in my setup. Then again, if I never bought the thing, I wouldn't know how fun discrete surround sound is, and I'd be a lot richer now.

So, I think if I had a hard budget of $400, I would try:

- pair of Behringer Truths at $130-160 (alternative: pair of KRK ST6 monitors $200)

- something really cheap, and used from craigslist or ebay, for surrounds duty. $20-40

If shopping well, that would be about $160ish in so far, and I'd use the remaining budget on a DIY sub. I never built a speaker, only the riser for the HT, but that's what I would do if this was my hard limit at this point in time. Even if DIY is an impossibility, you can still afford a Dayton sub as it is. Perhaps even with money in pocket.

YMMV. The above setup is phantom. IMO, if you are sitting dead-on to display, phantom can often sound a lot better, especially given free space with less reflections and comb filtering that can occur when sitting shoved in a cabinet, or even top of shelf. JMO. Then again, if center is a must, Im pretty sure the KRKs are sold individually, and the upright bookshelf is much superior to 99% of horizontal MTM center speakers. That's $300, and $100 left over. Maybe you can find some used speakers for the rears at $15-20, and maybe its possible to build a decent DIY for $80.

Just some ideas to throw out. Well, its definitely what I would be thinking . . .

got the 805 as refurbed from shoponkyo last week for $425 !!!!!

it just arrived today.

man, that's a deal.

SHEESH.