Fluance Elite High Definition Surround Sound Home Theater 5.0 Channel Speaker System Including Floorstanding Towers, Center Channel and Rear Surround Speakers - Black Ash (SXHTB-BK)

I ordered these speakers sight unseen from Amazon, based on user reviews. I had these speakers delivered to my disabled brother in NH, so I flew out from Colorado (with a sub woofer in tow) and setup his new surround sound. I was replacing components for him as well so the setup for me took about 3 hours.Boxing: The folks at Fluance are serious about protecting their speakers in shipment, all of them were double boxed and they also floated in foam inserts within the boxes. A note of caution, the two floor standing speakers come in one BIG box that's a little unweilding and heavy, you need two people to get it to the room your going to set it up in.Setup: This is your normal setup for a surround system. Their speaker wire connectors are the industry standard red and black with an ample receiving hole for a serious gauge monster cable. Because of my brothers room configuration we had to place the floor speakers in the back of his room, more about that later.Look/Finish: We really liked the oak look of the speakers, it lends a modern look to my brothers entertainment room. There was no damage to the corners of the speakers from shipping, they were in great condition. The two floor standing speakers come with 4ea screw-in type levelers/isolaters that screw into the bottom of the speaker. These were particularly handy as I could get each speaker level on an old New England wooden floor.Sound: So we spent a good part of the afternoon setting up, went out to dinner, then came back and watched War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise version). I was truly amazed at the sound quality of these speakers. At one point during the movie, my sister who was also in attendance, turned around to me and said she'd never heard surround speaks sound so good. The crispness of the cataclysmic events that occur during this movie was incredible, absolutely no distortion even at high volume. This brings me back to the unusual configuration we had to go with for the surround system. We'd put the large speakers in the back of the room in the corners and the center and what were supposed to be the surround speakers I'd ended placing within an in-wall entertainment/bookshelf setup where the TV was. Even the surround speakers acting as the primary L/R speakers sounded great.For the money I'd say you can't go wrong with this setup. I'm very pleased with the system that I purchased for my brother, and he's been calling me daily to let me know what songs he's listened to and how good it sounds!

Sound Qualtiy: 8 of 10Power to fill the Room: 8 of 10Durability: 10 of 10Beak-in period: 9 of 10Bang for buck: 10 of 10Appearance: 10 of 10 (to each their own here)I bought a 5.q set of these as "place holders" at my house for Elacs or KEFs down the line. That was 4 years ago and since then I bought a second 5.1 set of Flaunce Elites for a second room and am toying with buying a third set for a third room.They do a great job filling a fairy large room with crisp clear sound. Over four years they have been put to the test with some loud events and they have stood the test of time. I bought the white elites and the white is a stark white pop in the room (I never imagined I'd like white speakers. If you have a fairly bright white trim in your house these will go well).The first set I got was handled poorly during the shipping process but the company was very responsive and replaced the damaged speakers quickly. They can take the rough and tumble abuse of children, which I am amazed at considering the price point. I have had my child slam into them, once im particular with a set of drums that sliced up one of the speaker, and although I am looking to replace it because of the look of the gash the sound pumping from the damaged speaker hasn't been effected.Please note they do need a break in period. For me I beleive it was about a week for the sound to come to life. If you buy the set don't be shy with adjusting the center speaker's prest volume by raising preset volume level a little more then the front left/right speakers. You will also want to find the sweet spot for your sub's crossover adjustment. But once you've tuned them in just right to your taste they'll be hard to part ways with.In the past I have had various models of speakers including: Mirage, Technics, Kenwood, Sony, Klipsch, Polk, and a few others at a considerably higher price point. Something about these blow the others away.Everyone is going to experience speakers a little diferently but I would highly recommend these; especially if the purchase of these are part of a larger project and your looking for great quality at low price point. Look no further and spend your have funds elsewhere. If you're in any way in the above described boat definitely consider these speakers!

I didnt know much about Fluance when I started looking for a set of replacement home theater speakers. Initially it just looked like anyone who made anything remotely good was really into their own product more than the value the product actually gave. I took a chance on Fluance after researching a lot of different offerings. Coming from a background in employment in setting up very high end audio, I know about quality, but am not very picky myself when it comes to my own costs involved. What I mean is that I value good audio, but not at some diminishing returns area where stellar is great, but largely wont justify the costs unless you have money to burn. In comes the Fluance. I am very impressed for the money at the quality of the build and sound. Very full sound, easy to setup and packaging that made sure it arrived safely, but not overly engineered to cause a lot of waste. I loved the surround package so much, I ended up adding 2 more bipolar surround rears, which also arrived and did not disappoint.Overall appearance is well above this price range.Output companioned with the Yamaha RX-V685 is phenomenal. After a few hours of break-in the speakers were very full sounding and clear of any distortion.Added a pair of Polk 10 Inch subs for better stage feel up front and working with a 150 inch projection 4K setup.I would certainly buy again and would recommend to others. For that great sound, but not a lot of unjustified costs that seem to be pervasive in home audio and prosumer choices.