Focal 700V series for 5.1 home theater or ???

One final thought, I actually don't use a center channel because I simply don't have room in my cabinet and I'd suspect that I could convince a lot of people that I do have one anyways. In my opinion, as long as you're listening position is between the main speakers the center channel isn't nearly as important.

My rears are Infinity TSS800 speakers that are not nearly as nice as my Focal mains and I have yet to notice, while watching a movie, that they didn't sound up to the task.

My personal preference is to maximize your budget on the mains and subwoofer, skip the center channel and use very affortable rears. I know that it's possible to get a better sound, but there's always something better so this is how I choose to spend my money.

I'm all about maximizing budget! Am hoping to re-listen to the Focals and probably the ML's in a week or so.

I have not heard much of the Martin Logan products beyond being very happy with their subwoofer.

Another option might be Monitor Audio if there is a dealer locally. I've only heard one of their very affordable bookshelf models, but was really impressed with its sound for the price. You might get a sound that you like for less money that the Focal's would cost.

Well ... made the BIG move ... re-listened to a bunch of things yesterday and pulled the trigger on the Focal 836V with 800 series center and sub. ( OF COURSE it was more than I had planned/budgeted for! ;) ) We have a pretty big listeneing area so ... we hope to fill it! Should be starting to set up things in a couple of weeks. Thanks for your input.

Congrats! I can't imagine that you won't be happy with your purchase once you've forgetten about the bill.

You'll find two things with the 836v speakers. First, when they are new the tweeters can sound fairly harsh. I'd suggest putting on some music with some good highs and let it run and a low to medium volume for a couple of days. It doesn't take too long to get 95% of the harshness to go away. I've heard enough of the speakers that were new and broken in that I can immediately tell if the speaker in the store is new out of the box. Second, as the speakers break in the bass response gets much stronger. This aspect isn't really a negative in the short term, but you'll likely notice a change/improvement over the long term.

What do you have for a receiver/amplification?