Best 5.1 options under $5k

Sealed subs generally sound more clean, but they do have somewhat of an artificial sound to them (a very slight slant) where it almost sounds like a sine wave.  

Uh, what?  What the hell does that even mean?  Have you been drinking tonight?  Jeez. 

I've listened to a lot of subs and I've also listened to both SVS speakers and ELAC speakers on the same system.  That is my basis for my opinions. 

Boy, those 2ch guys dont give up Lol, their gonna go down with the 2ch ship :0)

i believe you need to concider your goal for stereo listening, if you listen occationally then a HT rig will do you fine, if you sit and listen to music and really want to recreate the atmosphere the recording and the instruments then we will need to reevaluate your system.

HT is fun, watching movies is a wonderful experience, the right system will translate the director’s intentions. Do you want to feel the bombs going off or watch them. Are you a quiet movie family or fo you wanna feel like BumbleBee is really shooting off crazy alien guns. Good thought ls ahead of time about your expectations will make this fun, hold off on the equipment list till you first figure out what you are looking for.

BMW 5 series stock will handle corners better than a stock Honda civic, i added “stock” because someone would argue that too hahaha

Build what you want. I am a 2ch guy for music and have 5.1 in our living room for family entertainment and lo level listening during parties.

SVS makes nice stuff as do Klipsch for a 5.1.

It will primarily be a surround sound setup but I don't want to neglect a great 2ch experience either as we will have a Pro-Ject turntable connected among others

I guess in a perfect world I'd be looking for a nice compromise of the two with a slight lean towards Home theater

I was thinking about checking out the Focal Chora 826 towers in addition to the previously mentioned SVS.  I've heard good things about the Klipsch RP-8000f as well and they're certainly within budget