Revel Concerta M12 - Eliminated my urge to upgrade. I actually lost interest in HTF after I purchased the speakers (from once a day to about once a month). PSB speakers are very good. In general, North American-designed speakers are well engineered.
The Paradigm Cinema 110 CT package is excellent. I recommended the system to a friend. Exhibits the clean, neutral sound that Paradigm is known for, and works well with a budget receiver. I cannot comment on the sub, as I had given him a replacement in advance, so he never bothered to try it out...
To actually answer your question, James, there are two options that immediately come to mind. Harman Kardon offers two stereo receivers that have subwoofer preouts, the 3380 and 3480. Alternatively, if you prefer to retain use of the NAD's amplification, the Anthem TLP 1 stereo preamp also...
I think there may be two noise components, a boom and a crack. :D For example, a suppressed rifle may reduce the boom factor, but does not mitigate the supersonic crack.
For a stand-mounted speaker in that fairly wide price range, my recommendation is the B&W 705. It will be a significant improvement. However, the 705 is a tad lean when it comes to upper-bass output, so depending on how you like your bass tuning, the 705s may not be right for you.
This will not sound pleasant since you use a projector, but I would suggest raising the speaker (to ear level or higher) to see if the situation improves at all. Just temporarily of course, as I imagine it would get in the way of your screen. This will help to determine whether it is merely a...
I feel this is irresponsible advice. When a typical center channel speaker that exhibits neutral frequency response is placed on top of a television, there will tend to be an excess around 300Hz. This is due to the placement of the speaker, not the speaker itself. Fortunately, many of the...
Let us know if you were able to get a discount. I have been a very good Myer-Emco customer, but only once have I been able to get a discount, a pathetically weak $10 off of a discontinued item that was priced above MSRP. I know this region is extremely affluent, so perhaps few bother to...
Agreed. Paradigm is always an excellent choice. Since you like both Paradigm and Revel, you would probably also like PSB. I would recommend listening to their Image line.
Tony, Good to hear that you were able to listen to them. Around my area (N.VA/DC/MD), Revel's market penetration seems to be nonexistant. A lot of dealers, but no speakers on display. I haven't received mine yet. The speaker stands are out of stock with an indefinite ETA.
The Infinity Primus line currently seems to represent the best mass-market speakers. I would say that you cannot do better at that price. The measured performance as documented by Stereophile (150, 360) is excellent.
David, It's not really that much of a problem. I suggest stand-mounted dipoles with the nulls pointed at the listening area. This will help reduce the localization of nearfield surrounds. A friend of mine has a very similar setup.
Wayne,
Agreed. I apologize for the misunderstanding. Michael, Unless Speaker Workshop has changed significantly within the past few years, it is not the easiest program to use. So I was wondering, would you be willing to measure one of John's speakers if he sent it to you? You could even...
Mr. Pflughaupt, Unless my eyesight (or web browser) is failing me, you only made one post in the referenced Home Theater Talk thread. You recalled a bad experience with a modified passive crossover from Genesis Physics, and read about the efficiency advantage of active speakers. You then...
You can use your ears and blindly assume your home theater is okay, or actually measure its performance, take care of any issues, and verify that it is indeed awesome.
It just means that you prefer your own EQ settings. That certainly doesn't invalidate the auto-EQ feature. I don't consider blind equalization to be very accurate. Sam, The calibration routine is probably picking up on a room mode. As a result, the sub level is set low. There are two...
Mr. Pflughaupt, There is a rather significant difference between the endeavor discussed on Home Theater Talk and the situation presented here. Michael P. obviously has several advantages. He designed and built his own active crossovers, demonstrating a level of competency far greater than...
A nice retail option is the Infinity Primus line available at Circuit City. Two pairs of 150's and a C25 comes to $540. Leaves a bit of change leftover for tax or speaker stands if you need them.
The problem is that many Internet-direct companies simply do not have the resources to compete with the research and development efforts of larger, well-established companies. This also applies to many of the small, esoteric, "high-end" retail brands. Paradigm is especially difficult to beat...
Nick, You may want to examine this part of a paper submitted to the Audio Engineering Society by John Atkinson of Stereophile. About halfway down the page, he discusses the issue of cabinet resonance and what audible effects it may have on loudspeaker performance.
A critical aspect of using active crossovers that the article barely touches on is frequency response. Many drivers do not exhibit ideal (flat) frequency response above and below the typical crossover region. A passive crossover is a unique, versatile solution to a particular combination of...
Adrian, Bi-amping will most likely result in degraded performance. Why? Off-the-shelf active crossovers with generic slopes are unable to match the versatility of custom passive solutions. It actually sounds like you are asking about bi-wiring. For the average enthusiast, I feel this would...
I have no doubt that the Klipsch will be extremely loud, but I am skeptical of its low frequency extension. Of the two retail choices, I feel the Velodyne would be the safer buy. However, the performance disparity between the SVS and the other two contenders is significant. As implied by Mr...
I'm in the market for a new CD player and am a little perplexed by the XX-bit specification. I noticed that some 18-bit players are more expensive than some 20-bit and 24-bit players. Choosing among 18, 20, and 24-bit players, is this something I need to concern myself with? Or does it not...
Well, after reading that member Aaron_Mum had heard the speakers at a dealer, I figured that the Concerta line was finally available. I moseyed on over to a dealer in an adjacent state and placed an order for a pair of M12's with the matching stands. I should have them next week. Revel is one of...
Back in college, if I saw someone walking back to campus from the university mall, I would give them a ride. Obviously, it's not prudent to do such a thing in real life. Instead, if I see a person standing at an uncovered bus stop in the rain, I give them one of my car umbrellas.