Advice on New Speakers

[Al]

I want to get rid of my present speakers (too large) and at the same time upgrade quality.

Here are the details I want to go with 2 bookshelf speakers. I have an 18 x 20 ft room with a cathedral ceiling. My receiver is an older Pioneer Prologic 80W unit. I presently have 2 15" Pioneers and 2 Bose 6" in the rear. I'm hoping to do the job with just the 2 Bookshelf Speakers. I'm looking at decent quality. Current thoughts are Polk RTi6's, Klipsch RB 25 or 35, and Infinity Alpha 20's. I don't intend to use them for Home Theater or Video-strictly music. Thats why I'm thinking I can do with 2. If I need to, I will add a sub-but, I really don't think I need it.

Thoughts??

 

[shortyb]

I like the Polks. I've had home speakers and car speakers and was never disappointed. Great sound for such a small "box", very well made, and a great value. They also seem to offer something in every price range too. When they used to be made up the road in Baltimore, I got a short factory tour courtesy of a friend in the audio business. Spotless, well run place. And all the folks were very friendly to boot. My $.02.

Best to test them all with something you are familiar with musicwise, that should be the determining factor ultimately. Also give the Boston Acoustics a try, very impressive too.

 

[mikep]

Be sure to check into the Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble line. You get a lot of speaker and outstanding natural sound and clarity for the money. At least that has been my experience with the Ensemble II system (replaced by the Ensemble 206).

I too have an older integrated amp (80 watts rms)and component system. I had Hafler tower speakers which I loved but were always in the way and between my dumb goofy lab and my kids I feared the speakers would meet an unsightly demise. I hawked the Haflers on eBay and went with the Cambridge Soundworks speakers on the recommendation of a friend. I really didn't expect them to match the Haflers in tonal clarity but they did and they've performed flawlessly for about 7 years now. I'm pretty sure they still offer the 30 day trial.

Mikep

 

[Alan]

Klipsch makes some decent bookshelf speakers that are fairly sensitive(able to play louder with less power).Best Buy often runs sales on some of these.

Sony just recently released line of pretty nice speakers avalible at Circuit City that have a shape very similar to the B&W Nautilus line of speakers(oval shaped).A saw the reasonably sized bookshelf version on sale last week for 138 bucks a pair.These have the extended range tweeters and sound quite nice and balanced.I prefer these to the Klipsch models at Best Buy.They are model # SSK-10ED.Still on sale at CC.

I use a pair of Totem Mite speakers in my bedroom and like them alot.

[ April 05, 2004, 07:55 PM: Message edited by: Alan ]

 

[DockHoliday]

There are a number of excellent audio forums where you will get much better advice (I won't post any because the moderators here seem to think that is a bad thing, although I can't imagine why they would object to a link to an audio site).

I hear great things about the Totems.

NHT makes some very nice sounding bookshelf speakers at very reasonable prices.

Another brand that gets good press on the audio forums is ACI. These are mail order (interesting concept for audio equip), are 100% USA design and mfg. Their website is http://www.audioc.com/.

Keep in mind that speakers are very subjective, and each and every room is accoustically different, etc., etc, etc. Thus, what works for one person may not work for another.

Good luck and enjoy the process.

BTW - My audio set up is NAD and Magnepan. Not overly expensive, but you won't find this stuff at Best Buy.

 

[GSV]

In addition to the ones listed above look at PSBs.

http://www.psbspeakers.com/

I have the Alphas, now replaced by the Alpha Bs. I guarantee you will grin and think their sound cannot possibly come from a speaker their size.

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

AL

I own B&Ws and I am extremely satisfied... They are smooth and very accurate. If you want a loud piercing midrange go with the Klipsch. Sounds like a PA speaker to me. Bose is overrated. Keep in mind like oil you get what you pay for. Also don't bother with high end speakers without having a very clean amp etc.(toss the pioneer....) Might want to check ebay for some B&Ws...

look for something like this.....

 

[totttalled]

Speaker preference is so personal. Notice how just about everybody has a different suggestion?

Here's mine. Take your favorite CD's into the store just when it opens. Audition your speakers with a minimum of crowd interference and ambient noise. Take your time, play your favorite tune(s) on a variety of speakers in your budget. Go to different stores if needed.

Then realize that the speaker you choose will likely sound different in your home with your room characteristics coming in to play. Buy from a store with a "money back if not satisfied" deal.

I do however, second the idea of auditioning the stuff from Cambridge. They do market differently, and are worth checking out. When I sold HIFI, speakers were marked up at least 50% - the highest profit margin in the store, next to cartridges. Cambridge sells factory direct, so this is minimized. If you don't buy Cambridge, try to talk the guy down - there is room to move on speakers. A lot.

 

[keith]

Excellent values here:

AV123

I have a pair of Rocket RS750's and a pair of Onix Reference 1's. Also have a Perpetual Technology P1A running speaker correction software for the RS750's.

Keith.

 

[sprintman]

I've got an older pair of Proac's currently. All their speakers are good. Had Infinity Kappa 9's for a while too. Buy a copy of Stereophile or The Absolute Sound that has the ratings for tested gear every few months or so. Don't ignore good used gear as incredible savings can be made. Hi-Fi is a bit of a sickness hence I gave it away many moons back. Good luck...s

 

[Toy4x4]

I would do what totttaled said about taking your music in for a test.

You might consider Paradigms as they have won all types of awards. I like my 9SEs (now Monitor 9s), they play music very well and are awesome for movies (I have matched center and rears, also Paradigm).

 

[NThomas]

The Paradigm are good speakers. Look into the studio 40's, my parents have some and sound awesome.
I have the Polks Audio system LS90's, center rear, sunfire sub, etc. About 8k into home theater. My next speakers will be the Paradigm studio 40's for the living room.
Also as mentioned above the PSB's are really good, I had the alphas and 500's. Very good and out perform larger, more expensive speakers. I loved the alphas, nothing comes close for the size!!!