Sound bars and home-theater-in-a-box systems can sound "good enough," but if you want a home theater experience that's actually exciting, you need a bona fide 5.1 speaker system. And they're less expensive than you might think.
Energy Take Classic 5.1
- The good: The Energy Take Classic 5.1 offers outstanding sound quality for a compact surround-sound speaker system. All of the speakers feature a beautiful piano-black finish. Altogether, the system is one of the best home theater values available.
- The bad: Pioneer's SP-PK21BS sounds better for the same price, although it's a much larger system.
- The cost: $400. The bottom line: The Energy Take is the best budget speaker system we've reviewed, earning our Editors' Choice Award.
- [4 out of 4 stars]
Pioneer SP-PK21BS
- The good: The Pioneer SP-PK21BS is the best-sounding 5.1 speaker system we've tested at this price. It's sold direct from Pioneer with free shipping. The system offers the kind of solid performance on movies and music we generally find only on more expensive systems.
- The bad: It's a huge speaker system that will overwhelm many living rooms. The cost: $400.
- The bottom line: If you can handle its big and burly speakers, the Pioneer SP-PK21BS is the absolutely best-sounding speaker package anywhere near this price.
- [3.5 out of 4 stars]
Monoprice 8247
- The good: The Monoprice 8247 is one of the least expensive 5.1 speaker systems we've ever seen. The system includes four small two-way satellite speakers with swivel wall-mounts, a center channel and a compact powered 8-inch subwoofer. Most important, it sounds pretty good.
- The bad: The plastic speaker cabinets don't compare to the nicer finishes on more expensive systems. And if you can spend more money, the Energy Take Classic 5.1 and Pioneer SP-PK21BS are better in just about every way.
- The cost: $84.10. The bottom line: The Monoprice 8247 does the impossible by offering a competent 5.1 speaker system for less than $100.
- [3 out of 4 stars]
Boston Acoustics SoundWare XS 5.1 (black)
- The good: The Boston Acoustics SoundWare XS 5.1 speaker system is one of the most compact and stylish systems we've seen. It sounds much better than you'd expect given its size, and it's very affordable.
- The bad: The cramped speaker-wire connectors are difficult to use. And if you don't need extremely small speakers, you can find better-sounding ones for the same price. The cost: $360-$500.
- The bottom line: It's an exceptionally compact system and sounds great for its size. But larger systems sound even better.
- [3.5 out of 4 stars]
