I'm hoping to get a surround sound speaker system for my birthday, and I need suggestions....as I'm not expert on the topic. The only real specs I need are that it be surround sound, and capable of playing DVD/CD/CDRW/MP3. Price range somewhere around $150...$200 at the very very most. Any suggestions sound pimps?

I would check out local electronics stores and see for yourself. Best Buy has a pretty good sound testing area. I just got a pair of Sony's from them, and they sound great.

Well what name brands should I be looking for?

You won't have any problem with speakers playing any of that, but you may have problems with what plugs/jacks are used. It all depends on whether they will be hooked to your PC or your stereo.
Either way, adapter plugs are made that are available.

Quote: Originally Posted by Psylariser Well what name brands should I be looking for?

This is more of a personal preference.. but I would suggest Panasonic branded anything. Pioneer is great too, but a tad expensive sometimes.

Sony is good, but you're mainly paying for the 4 letter name.

I would not pay for any speaker with Pioneer, Panasonic, or Sony labeled on them...... other audio components perhaps, but not speakers.
For home theatre (traditional style, not on your PC), I would probably go with Bose or JBL if you can afford them. With JBL though you would want the bipole or dipole satellites which will drive the cost up as well but they are head and shoulders above the rest of JBL's line, IMHO.

Edit: After reading your price requirements again, I might suggest giving a try to one of those home theatre kits that they sell at Wally-world for around $100-$200.

I know speakers can play anything you send to them, I meant the receiver (or whatever it's called) have the capabilities to read those kinds of files. And yes, my price range is a little low-but I also don't need anything super-high quality. I also like to buy from Ebay, which means you can get pretty good deals sometimes.

are you looking for surround sound for your comptuer or an actual entertainment system?
for some great computer speakrs that are cheap
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...5&sku=L23-6130
for the hole set up, capable of playin all of ur file types, plus video cd
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....0&type=product
both of these i have and am realy impressed with, more so on the logitech because they
r0x0r

Quote: Originally Posted by Psylariser I know speakers can play anything you send to them, I meant the receiver (or whatever it's called) have the capabilities to read those kinds of files. And yes, my price range is a little low-but I also don't need anything super-high quality.

In that case have a look at this:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...3A3987%3A77622

Quote: Originally Posted by godfoot I would not pay for any speaker with Pioneer, Panasonic, or Sony labeled on them...... other audio components perhaps, but not speakers. For home theatre (traditional style, not on your PC), I would probably go with Bose or JBL if you can afford them. With JBL though you would want the bipole or dipole satellites which will drive the cost up as well but they are head and shoulders above the rest of JBL's line, IMHO. Edit: After reading your price requirements again, I might suggest giving a try to one of those home theatre kits that they sell at Wally-world for around $100-$200.

Not only in price requirements, but sound requirements too. I know that Bose has this big name and all, but again, you're paying for a name. Their sound research is great, and they do have some nifty stereo gadgets, but there's a reason why 've got a nickname of "No Highs, No Lows, Bose." A buddy of mine has a 6.1 system from them and if you turn the volume down, it's nothing but bass. Turn it up, nothing but treble. It's really hard to find a good mid-point with their speakers.

Honestly, I've got a 5.1 set from Sony that sounds great, another big thing about speaker sound is wiring... don't use cheap thin cabling, make sure you spend a little on lower gauge-wiring. Not that I'm pimping Sony, just think that I got a hell of a deal on the speaker set I have, paid $200 for them at Best Buy (the root of all evil, but I'm a consumer whore, so.)

True enough, but they still are going to sound better than your average RCA from WalMart. But since he explained further that he wants a whole system including player/receiver, his only option is something akin to the link I posted.
Personally, I would only buy components and never "matched" sets for Home Theater but I cannot afford my taste in audio equipment currently as I am talking stuff like Cello amps, Rockport Antares or Audio Physic Kronos speakers (mains) , Faroudja front projection system and motorized, perforated 14 foot screen, etc.
I still have my lottery dream though.

You might wanna look at this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...704923353&rd=1

Or this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...704023490&rd=1

Quote: Originally Posted by godfoot True enough, but they still are going to sound better than your average RCA from WalMart. But since he explained further that he wants a whole system including player/receiver, his only option is something akin to the link I posted. Personally, I would only buy components and never "matched" sets for Home Theater but I cannot afford my taste in audio equipment currently as I am talking stuff like Cello amps, Rockport Antares or Audio Physic Kronos speakers (mains) , Faroudja front projection system and motorized, perforated 14 foot screen, etc. I still have my lottery dream though.

Oh, how I wish I could afford that stuff. My system at home is all components, I refuse to by most IC type receievers (Sony/Panasonic/Kenwood) and go for higher end pieces like Yamaha, Onkyo, that sort of thing. I've seen some great deals on ebay with people that're trying to get rid of the previous year's model of reciever/CD Player, and generally they're all very high-end things for Best Buy prices. My mistake for not paying attention to what he wanted... I'm still a component type of guy!