Home Theater Speaker Challenge-1990s calling

Fun speakers yes but up against the best of today's not even close

If I ever get my own place that is FOR REAL and not someone else's fantasy.. I'm getting a pair of Klipsch Reference. The brown ones that cost.. wait let me link it.

Whatever the price is on these,
somebody is really going to have to school me on what is what in "modern sound" because:

1. I never liked Bose. Always OK. Never the best. (Last Bose I heard was an Acoustimass 7.)
2. Cerwin Vega.. Are they even. Still around? Thought about putting them in my car. Keep looking at Memphis Audio.
3. We had JBL Bookshelf speakers. I feel like "there were better options" but the bookshelves we're downstairs and the Vegas upstairs.

Listen to a full Beethoven symphony on Cerwin Vega D9s.. fairly LOUD (for a medium size hardwood room, adjusted on the units) and I think your opinion will change. And your jaw just may be on the floor.
 
If I ever get my own place that is FOR REAL and not someone else's fantasy.. I'm getting a pair of Klipsch Reference. The brown ones that cost.. wait let me link it.

Whatever the price is on these,
somebody is really going to have to school me on what is what in "modern sound" because:

1. I never liked Bose. Always OK. Never the best. (Last Bose I heard was an Acoustimass 7.)
2. Cerwin Vega.. Are they even. Still around? Thought about putting them in my car. Keep looking at Memphis Audio.
3. We had JBL Bookshelf speakers. I feel like "there were better options" but the bookshelves we're downstairs and the Vegas upstairs.

Listen to a full Beethoven symphony on Cerwin Vega D9s.. fairly LOUD (for a medium size hardwood room, adjusted on the units) and I think your opinion will change. And your jaw just may be on the floor.
Nope it wouldn't
 
Fun speakers yes but up against the best of today's not even close
CV's were never aimed at accurate sound reproduction, they had that "California" sound, heavy on the bass with accuracy an afterthought. I've owned a set and listened to quite a few and they are very pleasing to the ear in their own right if aiming for what was heard in the studio is of little concern. Basically the perfect speaker for livening up a large living room when drinks are being served and you have some rock as your background noise.

I own a set of B&W 802 S3s, which, while old, are still an expensive speaker and of course current iterations cost more than a small car. They have spectacular clarity, surprising range, but are, well, not "warm". They are beautiful speakers, but my Paradigms, which are arguably less accurate, are an easier listen. The B&W's are also extremely power hungry if you want to listen to them at any volume.
 
CV's were never aimed at accurate sound reproduction, they had that "California" sound, heavy on the bass with accuracy an afterthought. I've owned a set and listened to quite a few and they are very pleasing to the ear in their own right if aiming for what was heard in the studio is of little concern. Basically the perfect speaker for livening up a large living room when drinks are being served and you have some rock as your background noise.

I own a set of B&W 802 S3s, which, while old, are still an expensive speaker and of course current iterations cost more than a small car. They have spectacular clarity, surprising range, but are, well, not "warm". They are beautiful speakers, but my Paradigms, which are arguably less accurate, are an easier listen. The B&W's are also extremely power hungry if you want to listen to them at any volume.
Like I said fun speakers yes but to go up against best it's not close. I mean we can start at a 10k speaker and go to 100k come on
 
Nope it wouldn't
I wouldn't either, unless one likes the typical ear-piercing bright Klipsch horn sound signature. OK for movies, but fatiguing for music, but some people do enjoy it that way. The older we get, the more HF sound loss we experience, so brighter speakers may not always be bad.

From the Klipsch lineup, I think only the Premier models have somewhat less bright tweeters.
 
I been a fan of Sony and Yamaha receivers while Polk has always impressed me with their 5.1 channel speaker/sub packages.
 
You want a center speaker that can comfortably hit 80 Hz before it starts rolling off in order to fully reproduce male vocals. Most speakers with just two 4" drivers, like the OP's Canton AV500, struggle to do so, IME. Then there is an issue of efficiency - a speaker with small drivers is not very efficient, so it may not be able to play loud enough and dynamically enough before it starts distorting. But how loud the OP needs it to play depends on the size of his listening area as well as how far away from the speaker he sits.

But at the end of the day, if it sounds good to the OP, then there is no reason to replace it with anything else.
I do have another center channel, it's big. It's an Altec-Lansing Model 20. I believe the drivers are at least 5" possibly 6"....but like I said, it's big. I'm considering the Canton L/R/C first. Pinnacle 5.2s and Yamaha NSC225 second. I'm not sure about the Klipsch. I just completed making two speaker stands for the front bookshelfs.
 

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When I bought my Sony 75" 4K HDTV I got rid of my 7.1 Surround sound and went with a JBL bar 5.1 soundbar with 10" sub. No regrets, old system was a JBL Studio series S38's for the front and JBL S26's for sides and rears, all driven by a Pioneer Elite VSX-47TX 7.1 receiver, sub was a SVS 20-39PC+. Sold the speakers and have someone interested in the receiver, keeping the sub to put in the garage with my stereo setup. Wife is happy as it cleared up the living room of speakers. Getting old and love the soundbar. ;)
 
My current front mains I enjoy a ton of jazz music are they perfect for everything no but wow they can make your hair stand up. SALK Audio Song 3 Encore BE View attachment 35264

Very nice!

I've been keeping my eye out for a set of Bryston Model T's to perhaps swap into the living room. They sometimes go for a good price on AudioMart, so I've been watching. Missed a set for $3,800 a few years ago when I was in BC for work and trying to arrange a deposit for him to hold them until I got back didn't work out. Not being a big name in speakers, they don't hold their value like more well-known brands, but they do in fact sound amazing.
 
Well in the process of setting things up, I discovered that the movers broke the knob and shaft off the crossover control on my Klipsch KSW-200. Its landfill bound. I just ordered both a BIC America PL200-II...which I have requested a cancelation as I also ordered a Klipsch
R-112SW...$317 delivered. The Klipsch R-112SW will suit my setup just fine. The BIC likely would too but the Klipsch is a lot more sub for not much more money.
 
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