$500 to $800
CAD, does that mean Canadian Dollars? If not what country is the currency associated with?
The Polk Audio A7 and A9 should be very good speakers.
RTiA7 - Floorstanding | Polk Audio®
RTiA9 - Floorstanding | Polk Audio®
The Polk RTi-A7 have a rated response of 35hz at -3dB. You can estimate the still usable -6dB response by subtracting 5hz to 8hz from the -3dB rated response. That takes you down to a very impressive 30hz or just a bit less. The Polk A7 have TWO 6.5" bass drivers each.
The Polk RTi-A9 have a rated response of 30hz at -3dB, that means the -6dB bass goes very deep, close to 25hz or less. That is subwoofer territory. The Polk A9 have THREE 7" bass drivers each, and of course are larger cabinets. The A7 are 42 inches high and the A9 are 48 inches high.
The Polk A9 seem to be in your working budget range (depending on currency). So, what matters is the size of room they will be placed in, and whether this is a closed room or an open floor plan. If an open floor plan, you can count all the space. For example, my listening area is about 16 ft x 17 ft, but it is open floor plan so the entire space that the speaker play into is more like 17ft x 36 ft, so my speakers with TWIN 8" bass drivers each are not a problem.
On general principle, you go for the largest speakers you can afford. But, again, that is tempered by the room size and the room acoustics. I would be reluctant to put the Polk A9 into a 10 ft x 12ft or smaller bedroom. Though if that were a temporary short term arrangement, you could probably get by until you could move to a bigger place.
When you say
move to surround sound later, are you implying that you will start with an AV Receiver, and add more speakers later? If so what AV Surround Receiver did you have in mind?
Also, when you buy certain front speakers, at bare minimum you are committing to buying the brand and series matching Center speakers. That would imply one of these -
CSiA6 - Center Channel | Polk Audio®
CSiA4 - Center Channel | Polk Audio®
I would suggest the largest Polk CSIA6 Center assuming you can accommodate it in your room. With large floorstanding, it is best to get the largest Center speaker.
For Side/Rear you have a bit more flexibility, and what you choose will depend on your circumstances, but here are the offerings in the RTi series -
FXiA6 - Surrounds | Polk Audio®
F/XiA4 - Surrounds | Polk Audio®
Again, somewhat circumstance dependent, but likely either of these would work. The point is, when you pick the Front speakers, you need to expand them into a full Surround system to you see the overall price and know you ultimate goal, and further know whether that ultimate goal is consistent with your available budget.
Using the Suggested Retail Prices, and the largest speakers, it breaks down like this -
US$1500/pr = Polk RTi-A9 Floorstanding speakers
US$_400/ea = Polk CSiA6 Center speaker
US$_500/pr = Polk FXiA6 Surround Speakers
US$_650/ea = Polk PRO 660 wi Subwoofer (
workable range $500 to $1500)
-------------------------
US$3050 = Total
Are you OK with over $3000 being your eventual goal?
Next with a US$3000 speakers system, I would suggest that the AV Surround Receiver be in the US$1000 to US$2500 range.
Making the system total (3000 + 2000) roughly US$5000 or a bit more. Are you OK with that being to total cost?
But that assumes you are actually looking for an AV Surround System. You will get much higher quality in a Stereo system. Though at your budget, Surround or Stereo, you will have a nice system.
For example, in the USA, the
Rotel RA-1570 Stereo Integrated Amp is selling for about US$1600 - 120w/ch, DAC-2xoptical, 2xcoaxial, 1xUSB-PC; PHONO, Bluetooth, etc...
Home Theater System Surround Sound Amplifier DVD Player - Rotel PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS
That is a very fine amp, but no, it is not surround sound.
So, you need to sort out your priorities.
Which speaker you choose will depend on your room size. For myself, for a 5.1 Surround system, I think I would pick the A6, that is still going to give very good performance for music, and for movies, you will have a subwoofer. For a pure stereo system, definitely the Polk A9, though in reality, the Polk A7 in any normal sized room is going to be more than enough.
Hopefully I've given you a bit to think about, and that can lead us to narrowing down your equpment requirements.
Steve/bluewizard