Big sound from small speakers

Q. What would you recommend for a 5.1-channel surround sound system using very small, wall-mountable speakers and a receiver?

I would like to spend up to $1,000 and the most important factor is to get the best sound quality I can for the money.

A. You can get very good sound with your budget, though extremely small speakers do have sound quality limitations. This is because their very small woofers cannot move enough air to produce the midrange fullness and depth you hear in larger speakers. It is most noticeable when you listen to music.

If you want very tiny speakers, a combination that has never failed to please me or Sound Advice readers is the $499 Definitive Technology ProCinema 400 speaker system paired with a Marantz 5.1-channel receiver. I have seen the Marantz NR1504 on clearance on Amazon for $299 and the NR1506 is $499. The sound quality is identical and the difference is primarily in wireless features. I’d get the NR1504 for $299 and add a $20 Bluetooth module, saving $180 in the process. The ProCinema 400 includes a subwoofer, so all you need is speaker wire and a subwoofer cable and you are good to go.

If you can stretch your budget a bit, get the Marantz and upgrade the speakers to the $999 SVS Prime Satellite 5.1 system. This will take performance up several orders of magnitude for both movies and music.