[LazerBear]

(Following is a short intro, feel free to skip if not interested)
 
Hey all, since a couple of years ago I've been getting into audiophile gear, but mostly for portable use. I've got some decent lower mid-level phones (amperior, xba-a1), and a good understanding of the various related brands but absolutely no experience with speakers, AVRs etc. 
 
I'm now looking into upgrading the sound of my home theater setup, which right now consists simply of a Raspberry Pi (soon to be upgraded to a model 2) with XBMC + a samsung tv. I asked for suggestions to a couple of friends and had a look at a bunch of guides, and quickly decided that for now going the AVR + passive speakers route is going to be too expensive. I'd like not too spend too much for now since I might want to step up to a "real" hifi system later on.
 
(From here on is the meat of the post)
 
As such I'm looking mostly at powered speakers, possibly that can accept digital input (optical, HDMI), since I don't think the DAC in my tv is really good. I'm obviously super open to more creative suggestions, since as I said I'm a total beginner in this regard. The "backup" option is to use powered speakers with analog input and couple them with a DAC able to receive HDMI or optical. My budget is around the 300$, which I now is not a lot.
 
So far I haven't found many options, other than the Microlab Solo line of products (6c, 7c, 9c) for the speakers and the Fiio D3 as DAC. Any and all recommendations will be greatly appreciated!!

 

[cel4145]

For home theater, I would think you would want to work toward a surround setup of 5.1. AVR + passive speakers is generally the more cost effective way to do that. With a $300 budget, start off with an entry level 5.1 receiver from accessories4less, then a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22 speakers (these can often be found on sale for ~ $100). Then over time, you can build out the rest.

 

[billybob_jcv]

Do you plan on only a pair of speakers, or do you think you will be expanding to add a subwoofer or 5.1 surround speakers? If you are planning to eventually have a 2.1 or 5.1 system, then I think an AV receiver and passive speakers is still the right solution, and it's much easier to integrate all the speakers together, use multiple sources, a wider selection of speakers, remote control, etc.

Darn it - beat me again - I need to type faster...

 

[cel4145]

Darn it - beat me again - I need to type faster...

Well, I realized I mistyped the amount of the speakers and had to go back and edit. So technically, you WON

 

[LazerBear]

Well, I don't think I'm going to go for a 5.1 system anytime soon, due to the room being fairly small. Also, I listen to a good amount of music and I don't think many 2.1 or 5.1 systems are tailored for that as far as I know. I'll consider those pioneers though, I have heard good things about them.

 

[cel4145]

Also, I listen to a good amount of music and I don't think many 2.1 or 5.1 systems are tailored for that as far as I know.

Be wary of applying that misconception. Certainly, most music is not recorded in multichannel surround, so having 5.1 doesn't benefit (a notable exception being blu-ray live music). But 2.1 can be superior to 2.0 for music, or vice versa, depending on several factors.