I have been a lurker for a while now and have decided to pull the trigger on some new speakers for my home theater setup. Here is what I have already: Hitachi Ultravision 53UDX10B, Denon AVR-1802, Xbox 360 Elite, LG Crapola DivX/DVD Player and SA 8300 HD PVR & Energy ES-8 SUB. Currently I have a POS set of AIWA speakers that were originally from an old Bookshelf system.

The set up is in our family room which is 17' x 16' and is open concept so it is open to the kitchen area in the back. I have narrowed my search to 3 options:

Axiom- M3 v.2 (4 speakers) & VP100 Center

SVS- SBS-01 (4 Speakers) & SCS-01 Center

Paradigm - Atom Monitors v.5 (4) & CC190 Center

I have the opportunity to try out the Paradigms at a local dealer and am doing so tomorrow. The others are mail order so I am going on some friends' recommendations and reviews. Of the 3 systems outlined they price out within $100- from highest to lowest. Any tips, comments or suggestions would be welcome. Thanks!

While your AVR-1802 is a good HTR, someday you may want to upgrade your HTR to Dolby TrueHD & DTS HD equipped. Think more ahead on the speakers.

Also consider Mirage NanoSat Prestige & NanoSat. For the Axiom, consider the Epic series.

Thanks for your response. I appreciate the advice. The idea for this system is to upgrade this particular room on a rather tight budget. We do have a plan in place that eventually finishes the basement and incorporates a dedicated Home Theatre room.

I ended up going to a local retailer of Paradigm and gave them a listen. I really liked the sound and fell prey to the classic..."If you like the Atoms.....wait till you hear the Mini Monitors...how about the Titans". :)

As a Audio neophyte even I could hear the differences. The local dealer is quite reputable and really took the time to explain the differences between several of the units I had in mine. When all was said and done I ended up buying a pair of Mini Monitors, a pair of ADP-190s and a cc-190 Center Channel for less than what I had been quoted for a cc-190 and 4 Atoms elsewhere. They also threw in 120' of decent speaker wire as well.

After hooking it up I am very pleased.