looking for performance speaker recommendations


looking for recommendations for 7.1 speaker system. must excel at both theater and music. budget is low (roughly $1000 - $1500) but looking for very high performance. therefore, most likely looking for something that is in large supply on the used market (ebay / craigslist / audiogon).

do not want tower speakers in front. i want to mount all speakers high on the wall to maximize sweet spot in the room. will have multiple seating areas and do not want front right tweeter right in someone's ear. because speakers will be mounted close to ceiling around room perimiter, they will be mostly out of the way and it's okay for them to be somewhat large (but they don't have to be) such as 8"/10" 2-way or 6.5"/8" mtm.

here is only an example of the type of system I am looking for: mackie hr824's with bag end infrasub-18. mackie's can be found for $250/ea and have seen the sub for $400. that's an estimated $2150 ($1650 for 5.1), which is a little above budget, but this system saves on the amplifiers.

just looking for lots of opinions and recommendations.
grandpixel
First of all, wall mounting will count out most speakers. You need something designed to be against a wall. That means definitely no rear port. I'd go for a sealed box.

Secondly, mounting up high means that you will have to angle them downward. Awkward to say the least. You will never have good imaging for stereo listening.

Third, mounting the fronts up high creates a really weird phenomenon: you see the picture in front of you but the sound doesn't relate to what you see. ie car crash in front of you but the sound comes from up high some where.

Fourth, high performance is a relative term-do you want loud, efficient, musical or what?

I'd give 3 suggestions here:
If theater is the main choice find a set of Gallo micro's, mount them up high and angle them down. It will fill the room, sound good and won't be affected by the walls.

If Music is more important-Put your center, right and left all very close to the TV. When you are really listening to music, just pull a chair into the sweet spot (if you can find one).

Go buy one of the sound bars like a Boston Acoustics. They sound good, go right under the tv and fill the room. Add a sub if you like.
Tip, hang speakers upside down so that the tweeters are on the bottom, angled down towards you. The closer to the height of the TV for the fronts, the better as noted above.

Here are some good choices for complete systems:

Epos AVS 5.1 System - Wow!

Quad L-lite - WOW!!

KEF KHT2005.3 - either stunning or funny egg shapes, depending on your taste - but great sound.

Aperion Intimus 5B Harmony SD - great sounding two-way boxes from the Internet!

Mirage MX 5.1 - Omni present sound.

Definitive Technology ProCinema 800 - great for movies, not quite up with others for music

B&W MT20 - will look and sound good in your groovy modern pad (buy the MT30 if can find used for your price - has better sub)

ACOUSTIC ENERGY AEGO T - Best Buy in many comparos
thanks for the responses thus far. i will take as many as i can get. this will give me grounds to do some research.

Elevick, to answer your questions: speakers will not have to be completely against wall, so rear port should be okay, but something to consider so thanks for pointing that out. sorry i did not mention that i plan to use a projector for the display. because of the large screen, speakers mounted high will still be close to screen height. and by performance, i mean accurate, musical, dynamic, etc.
Yes, I assumed you would use some sort of mounting brackets with swivel to dial in the sound stage. (rear ports not a problem)

If you have a fairly large room, and want to go 7.1, the (Enthusiast 3) system at $1,599 should do great.

You need a good balance between picture size, and sound size. A small television with huge sound doesn't work...a huge picture with small sound equally doesn't work....in other words, the sound impact should match the picture impact.

Dave
these systems look great! keep 'em coming! i like the systems from epos, quad, aperion, hsu (though not a fan of horns)... and might add the svs s-series and the less expensive energy take classic series to the mix.

would really love to see some larger 2-way systems and larger subs though. looking for something a bit beyond home-theater-in-a-box, although I have not heard many of these and I'm sure they sound really great.

would like to see some systems that use something along the lines of higher-end monitors that are common on the used market and can be found affordably.