Best Home Theater Speakers Under 500$ in 2022 – The Expert Rundown

Polk Audio T50 (Best Tower Speakers)

Polk Audio T50 Tower home theater speaker will win your heart in a heartbeat. For what reason? The beauty of this home theater system lies in startling simplicity, which, aligning with Polk’s technological secrets, has been helping it stand the test of time for more than 6 years now!

This speaker reminds large, heavy, and, therefore, completely unmovable speakers from the previous century. But nothing the same goes for T50: down to the speaker’s weight is only 3kg. It is liftable by anyone.

T50 is known for top-of-the-range sound, thanks to the complex Dynamic Balance Technology. In structure, the tower comprises one tweeter, one driver, and two bass radiators – this brilliant relation sets us on the new notion of sharp sound with nice highs and solid mids.

However, just like Goldwin’s home theater speakers, T50 isn’t impeccable: no matter how low-frequency tracks you are going to launch, the overall sound from this speaker is a bit tinny. As a result, if you possess this speaker system and desire clear sound, you are bound to order an extra subwoofer.

The speaker can project sound over vast areas so you can hear from other rooms or outside the house.

Besides, the speaker supports Dolby Atmos and DTS coding systems, which reduce countless noises and crystalize high components. And it connects to all possible receivers, amplifiers, and stereo systems. People ask how many channels this home theater speaker has 5.1 channel set up, 7.1, and 9.1 theatre processors (except for Yamaha). Besides, provided that your TV has speaker outputs, T50 can be hooked up directly to the screen! Finally, Polk’s entire T-series accepts tracks from computers and mobile phones via Bluetooth.

Surprisingly, the price of Polk’s creation is meager – under 150 USD.

Since Polk gives a 3-year warranty on every element in the speaker, you shouldn’t lose sleep over its ostensibly covered-up defects!

If you are on the lookout for revolutionary enhancements seen never before, Tower 50 will never draw your attention. But there’s almost nothing to dislike about T50 except that they might require an extra amplifier which mostly requires remote control: they are just regular budget-friendly speakers for everyday purposes. No more, no less.

Klipsch R-41M (Best Bookshelf Speakers)

There is nothing but sheer delight when Klipsch R-41M is turned on and lights up your leisure with pleasant vibes.

But before diving into the matters of tweeters and woofers, let’s turn our eyes to their unconventional cabinet design. These devices can stay silent all day and night, but they will be giving off raw enigmatic energy. What’s more intriguing, so as not to clutter living space, they can be placed on speaker stands – the height is adjustable.

Recently, Klipsch has developed the exclusive Tractrix Horn technology, which comes as a defensive 90×90º setting around a high-frequency speaker, minimizing filtering and artificial reverberation caused by sounds that “reflect” off walls.

In other words, those quadratic hollows you see above bass woofers don’t allow sound to get distorted. Also, each speaker is equipped with top-notch aluminum tweeters and spun-copper woofers, which provide a remarkably excellent bass response that you must have never caught earlier from home theater systems without external amplifiers.

There is no slightest difference between whether you will deploy them for the front of your theater or the back – stunning sound will in no time encircle you and uplift on cloud nine.

Unfortunately, despite these trump cards, R-41M are not as versatile as they are advertised – the speakers don’t have a wireless connection thence. They can operate only with input wires and banana connectors. On the contrary, I think that nowadays, as the progress moves on, Klipsch ought to embrace new approaches and include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to their specifications.

LG SL5Y 2.1 (Best Home Soundbar)

With unsophisticated form and four intuitive buttons in the menu, there’s no coincidence that SL5Y 2.1 is an embodiment of minimalistic aesthetics. It has a 2.1 rather than a 5.1 channel. This plainness proceeds into the lucidness of its sound. Though this LG’s feat wasn’t created to produce relentlessly loud “party” tones, the soundbar performs phenomenal sound, augmented with an active subwoofer and the Dolby Atmos Digital home theater system.

Under LG’s ultimate openness to experiments, the bar holds lightning-fast 4.2 Bluetooth, which can link it to various gadgets and download audio files from their memories. What formats can be decoded? There are plenty of them: not to mention MP3, it is compatible with WMA, FLAC, WAV, and DTS soundtracks. Besides this application, Bluetooth can unite the bar with an LG receiver and then – with any home speakers.

There are two ways this modern speaker can be placed in a living room: the first is to mount it on a wall; the second one implies buying a stand on which a bar could be displayed.

SL5Y 2.1 is the material evidence that LG puts their customers’ satisfaction above everything. It doesn’t mean that I am biased in favor of LG, but it isn’t the truth – I haven’t got my hands on their electronics yet. Instead, I took into account my friend’s experience.

In-ceiling speakers CSic84-5S by Goldwin (Best in-ceiling speakers)

No doubt, your home life will be filled with a great surround sound speaker system with acoustic in-ceiling speakers by Goldwin. They’re at the top of this list because they don’t require any space for installation.

What about the sound quality of CSic84?

According to my nephew’s sound experience, with these classic home theater systems up a few months ago, they are the golden ratio of excellent bass, mids, highs, and low price. So you’re getting excellent sound quality with this great sound system. Also, he said that his speakers unfold so incredible three-dimensional surround sound that he frequently couldn’t help but keep immersing himself in quality sound. Plus, they’re great for playing video games and watching tv.

However, being determined to hear the low-frequency rumble, he added a down-firing subwoofer amplifier – but that isn’t a must unless you are into music professionally. So you could get a wireless subwoofer. High rigidity cone woofers, mylar tweeters plus midranges, and several passive crossovers ensure smooth melodies, electrifying beats, deep bass, and crisp movie effects. Given that the speaker system boasts Dolby atmos coding technique, they will become the crowning glory of your home theater system.

When it comes to compatibility with different av receivers, the home theater system can integrate with a wide range of 5.1 channel or 7.1 audio systems and start with 10 – 350 Watts per channel.

One more marvelous thing is that the installation process takes no more than an hour. The speaker set should be mounted flush, which means you will need a hole saw to make circular 9.5’ holes and a screw to turn the tabs and pass through into your ceiling. More interesting, although these five speakers constitute one package, there are no rear speakers or center speakers – they all can be used as single points.

So, would I recommend them? Absolutely yes! I bet you will never look at Bose and other expensive surround speakers the same way again after experiencing a high dynamic range of refreshing sound technologies.

Bang & Olufsen Beolit 20 (Best Portable Speakers)

Cannot conceive a minute without streaming music? This portable Bang & Olufsen Beolit 20 speaker system will leave you rooted to the spot with excitement.

Its urban design offers a luxurious cubic anthracite aluminum corpus with rubber elements. The violet grill surrounding all four facets enchantingly glitters in the light. And – unexpectedly – this speaker set has a strong leather strap so that its owners can replace it whenever they want.

Notwithstanding this portability, the home theater speaker remains in the “home” segment of electronics. Its weight is approximately 3 kg, so you won’t be able to carry it for a long time.

Coming from one of the best home theater systems, the sound cannot be overstated. Its perfectness is guaranteed by True360° Technology, which, in simpler terms, disperses sound waves in four directions, creating an energizing atmosphere around. So you can be sure to get excellent sound quality due to the fantastic surround sound it disperses. What’s the most exhilarating, the existing surround sound system replicates a superb frequency range from 37 to 20,000Hz.

Inside the home theater speaker are three tweeters, two bass drivers, and a long-stroke woofer, which in gross bring in bold tunes. By installing Bang & Olufsen’s support application on your smart devices, you will receive a chance to adjust sound in harmony with what you are listening to. They are great for watching movies, especially blu ray movies, and streaming music. They will turn your home into a virtual cinema.

Incidentally, at a local electronic store, I learned that sometimes Beolit devotees purchase two speakers at once (Beolit 17, in particular), pair them, and then take pleasure from outstanding stereo reproduction.

The additional speakers consequently give an impression of attending a concert or falling into a film/game realm. This home theater system has a million reasons to smile on your face.

Firstly, its battery is so powerful that the playtime on a single charge can last 8 hours. Thus, Beolit 20 home theater is the best option for everyone who likes to throw all-night parties with more speakers.

The second innovative Bang & Olufsen feature is a built-in charging station. Whenever you have to power up a smartphone or earbuds, you can always place them in the center of the speaker system top tray and connect gadgets via the Qi wireless system.

Charging the speaker systems is ultraconvenient: a USB-C port can also derive electricity from a socket and a C-type power bank. So power output isn’t much of an issue.

Discover a cherry on top – its 4.2 Bluetooth capacity. Beolit 20 renders seamless connections with any audio sources and other sources such as av receivers, TVs, laptops, and tablets.

Nevertheless, Beolit 20 home theater speaker has several weak points. The fullest potential for fidelity is reachable, no higher than 50% volume. The louder the sound is, the less accurate notes and fewer different effects you will hear. The second drawback lies in the app’s settings, even though it doesn’t require an internet connection.

From my point of view, the last thing that should be improved is the lack of Wi-Fi. The speed of sound transfer through a Bluetooth receiver is much slower than through the internet, making it a less powerful system.