No way to salvage the Wilson speakers? Hopefully insurance covered the damages.
Next is the projected £8000 for just
Speakers and
AV Receiver? Or ... are other things included in that budget.
Generally, speakers are 2 to 5 times the cost of the amp. So, if the AV Receiver is £1000, then the speakers are £2000/set to £5000/set.
In your case, given the money you have, I would recommend a AV Receiver in the £2000 to £2500 range and a 5.1 speaker set at about £4000/set to £6000/set. That gives you an idea of the price ranges you should be looking in.
So the speaker tend to break down like this -
1x = Front
1x = Sub
0.5x = Center
0.5x = Surround
So, let's assume about £2000 for the Front speakers, and it now breaks down like this -
£2000/pr = Front
£2000/ea = Sub
£1000/ea = Center
£1000/ea = Surrounds
------------------------
£6000 = Total
This is not etched in stone, I'm simply trying to add some perspective to the budget. Likely £2000 would buy you two very good Sub. You can also cut back in some areas to focus on other areas.
Looking at those prices, at the absolute top of my list would be
FOCAL Aria 900 speakers. Though they are not as common as many other speakers like B&W or Monitor Audio.
Based on my experience auditioning the Focal Chorus 800 series, the watchword of the Focal is
Stunning Clarity. Though in all honesty, I can't say how they stack up to the Wilsons.
£2350/pr = Focal Aria 936 (3x6.5") Floorstanding
£_530/ea = Focal Aria CC 900 Center
£_800/pr = Focal Aria 906 Bookshelf speakers
----------------------
£3680 = TOTAL
As you can see, when it comes to looking at specific speakers, the actually prices don't necessarily hold up to the estimate.
More on Subwoofers later.
There is one large
Focal Aria 900 speakers at
£2960/pr with 2x8" (200mm) each. Roughly 3x6.5" is the equivalent of 2x8" but the
Focal 948 goes a bit deeper, and obviously are a bit more expensive, but still well within your budget. The new total above would be
£4290/set.
(Remember you need to add £1000 to £2000 more for Subwoofers)
Focal Aria 906 Speakers (Pair)
Focal Aria CC 900 Centre Speaker
Focal Aria 936 Speakers (Pair)
Focal Aria 948 Speakers (Pair)
The new
Dali Rubicon Series would drive that budget up a bit, but most likely still within your presumed budget range.
Dali Rubicon 6, 2x6.5", 38hz@-3db - £3000/pr -
Dali Rubicon 6 Speakers (Pair)
Dali Rubicon 8, 2x6.5", 38hz@-3db - £4000/pr -
Dali Rubicon 8 Speakers (Pair)
Dali Rubicon 2 bookshelf, 1x6.5", 50hz@-3db - £1600/pr -
Dali Rubicon 2 Speakers (Pair)
In the Dali Rubicon series, they also make an LCR speakers that can serve as Surround or Center.
Dali Rubicon LCR, 1x6.5", 59hz@-3db - £875 each -
Dali Rubicon LCR (Centre Speaker)
You would have to make sure you have room to place it as a Center.
£3000/pr = Dali Rubicon 6 Floorstanding
£_875/ea = Dali Rubicon LCR Center
£1750/pr = Dali Rubicon LCR Surrounds
-------------------------
£5625 = Total
£6625 with the Dali Rubicon 8.
Other speakers in roughly the same price range -
Bowers Wilkins CM10-S2 Floorstanding, 3x6.5", 28hz@-6db - £3000/pr -
Superfi - B&W CM10 S2 Floorstanding Speakers (Pair)
Bowers Wilkins CMC2 Center - £800 each -
Superfi - B&W CMC2 S2 Centre Speaker
Monitor Audio Gold 300, 2x6.5", 30hz - £3000/pr -
Monitor Audio Gold 300 Speakers
The
Monitor Audio Gold have two options for a
Center speakers, one fairly standard, and one considerably large -
Monitor Audio Gold C150 Center - £650 each -
Monitor Audio Gold C150 Centre Speaker
Monitor Audio Gold C350 Center - £1000 each -
Monitor Audio Gold C350 Centre Speaker
Of course both lines have bookshelf speaker that could be used for Surrounds. However, the
Monitor Audio have speaker
FX speakers specifically design for Surround Speakers.
Monitor Audio Gold FX Surround - $700 each -
Monitor Audio Gold FX Rear Speaker (Each)
Perhaps just a bit under budget, but the
Wharfedale Jade 7 which were very highly reviewed, glowing reviews for both bookshelf and floorstanding, are certainly worth considering.
Wharfedale Jade 7 floorstanding, 2x8", 38hz@-3db - £2700/pr in Gloss -
Wharfedale Jade 7 Floor Stander
Wharfedale Jade 7 floorstanding, standard finish - $2200/pr -
Wharfedale Jade 7
Also, two sizes of Center speakers -
Wharfedale Jade C1 Center - £600 each -
Wharfedale Jade C1
Wharfedale Jade C2 Center - £800 each -
Wharfedale Jade C2
While the JADE series does have a couple of very good Bookshelf speakers, they also make a speaker specifically for Surround duties.
Wharfedale Jade SR Surround - £550 each(?) -
Wharfedale Jade SR
For Subwoofer, one or two from the
SVS Sound line. The link I'll use is to the USA, but
SVS are available in the UK/EU. Just find the model number you like and search
Google-UK-Shopping -
Best Sealed Box Subwoofer | Powered Home Theater Subs
Best Ported Box Subwoofer | Powered Home Theater Subs
Cylinder Subwoofers | Best Powered Home Theater Subs
Most will claim there is an advantage to using DUAL Subs -
SVS Dual Subwoofer Packages
Though it depends on the size of the room. In a large room, most certainly Dual Subs can give you more uniform coverage.
That only scratches the surface, and as you can see most of these options do knot consume your entire budget, leaving room for accessories like wire and cable.
As to
AV Receivers, given your budget, you can have pretty much the top of the line model in any common brand. Generally, you should have not trouble finding a top quality AV Receiver in the £2000 to £3000 price range.
One other option, though considerably more expensive, would be to get a
AV Pre-Amp/Processor and a combination of
Power Amps.
Marantz AV8802 Pre-Amp/Processor - £2720 each -
Marantz AV8802 AV Processor
Marantz MM8077 7-Channel Power Amp 150w/ch - £1800 each -
Marantz MM8077 AV 7 Channel Power Amplifier Black
Myself, I would prefer to have the
Parasound 2-channel amp driving the front speakers, and the
Parasound 3-channel driving the Center and Surrounds, but again we are pushing the price up considerably.
Though for the
Pre-amp/Processor front end, I would probably just go with the
Marantz linked above.
Parasound A21 2-channel, 250w/ch Power Amp -£2525 each -
Parasound HALO A21 2 Channel Power Amplifier
Parasound A31 3-channel, 250w/ch Power Amp - £3575 each -
Parasound A31 Power Amplifier
Like I said, the
Pre-Amp/Process and
Power Amps drive the price up considerably, but this would be the best absolute top of the line option.
Steve/bluewizard