A question on two systems... (1 Viewer)

[ThomasC]

Get another pair of x-ls speakers for your rears and the x-cs for your center. AV123 is coming out with more speakers in the x-line, so don't go on this recommendation if it's going to be a while before you can afford them.

 

[LanceJ]

If you don't mind exchanging some accuracy for a more punchy/live sound, go with the brand guaranteed to irritate the people at Stereophile magazine :

Cerwin-Vega VE Series

Two of their satellites w/5.25" woofers cost $70 at J&R Music (where I've bought several pieces of gear and never had any problems), and the dual 8" sub goes for $219 at the same place. It doesn't go quite as low as some of the other subs listed previously but I'm 99% sure the bass it does have will have more kick to it. All Cerwins are very efficient so they don't need expensive/large receivers to power them properly. CV has been around since the late 50s so despite all the bashing from audiophiles, *someone* is buying them.

Or get really nutty and buy a pair of their VE12s, an old-skool but proven design with a 12" woofer. Pretty cheap at $320 per pair, since "big" doesn't sell well these days. Unless you absolutely have to have the loooooowest bass frequencies below 30Hz (not present in all movies and certainly not in most music), you don't really need a subwoofer when using these, since they can knock pictures off the wall all by themselves with the right receiver.

MTX's home speakers are similar to CV in sound, but IMO not quite as clean sounding, but they do cost less. Their thin styling looks pretty nice I think. Circuit City sells their SW2 sub in their stores, which for only $160 sounded pretty decent and was built well, but at that price cannot get all that loud, say, in a large living room.

 

[frogpond]

I've got to say that for being a fourteen year old you demonstrate far better language skills than many older posters on the A/V forums. You also demonstrate patience and a willingness to listen and learn far better than many others on A/V sites. The recommendations and knowledge above are all good, the av123 x-series is a good place to start. One other tidbit is that often times music and movie may not sound the same from the same speakers. In other words you may hear people say that one particular system is better for music and another is better for movies.

 

[El_Colombiano]

Thanks man, I have been told that I'm mature for my age plus I hate people who type in some weird language trying to sound "hard" with their keyboards...

 

[MaxL]

yeah there are a lot of those "hard" types in the HT world. between posting here and watching finding nemo, many of us hit the gin and juice and get inked with our latest ht purchase model nubers.

BOO-yakasha!

 

[LanceJ]

Yep - the link points directly to all the CV speakers they sell. J&R Music has a huge store in Manhattan and I've never heard anyone talk badly about them.

Reminder: these speakers are heavy - 51lbs each! - and unless you go there & pick them up yourself, shipping is going to add just a bit to their final price.

When I used to sell CVs (along with Advent, JBL, Bose, KLH, Cambridge Soundworks and Infinity) I would tell customers they are the equivalent of that wacky uncle everyone seems to have, the one who wears Hawaiian shirts, talks a lot, tells lots of dopey jokes & is generally a one-man party - while he wears you out faster than most people, until that happens he is a lot of fun to hang out with. FYI: Cerwin's newish "CLS" series is not exactly like this: they're the same basic "uncle" but these know to keep quiet at church and to change into a nice Polo shirt at dinner time.

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If you want to check out older "big" loudspeakers (which you can also buy), check out this site. I don't know these people, this is just for informational purposes. Lots of neat stuff there! BTW: while I fully believe subwoofers can sound excellent, IMO if they aren't perfectly set up which involves lots of time and preferably a calibration disc and a sound level meter, because of their ability to easily produce a LOT of bass they can also end up sounding much worse than a pair of conventional loudspeakers (and yes, I use a sub in my own system). Kind of like how when driving when it's rainy, it's much easier to put yourself in a ditch with a Corvette vs. a Corolla! (yea I know, one is rear wheel drive and the other front-wheel drive but y'all know what I'm getting at ).

 

[El_Colombiano]

Hmmm, I think I'll go with those VE12's, but I need to know one thing before I make my decision....with the VE12's would I still need that woofer to have a reasonable amount of bass? Or will they provide a sufficiant amount by themselves?

 

[Ron Connolly]

Why would you say "I just want to drive my mom crazy with the whole house shaking because of the music..." when she is making it possible for you to get a new stereo so your "Games" sound better??? "Oh...ok, well it's because I have to use my moms credit card and she is crazy about using her card online."

 

[El_Colombiano]

It was sarcasm....besides she'll just come over to me room and say put it down...she's just cool like that...

 

[LanceJ]

This is a little like trying to describe how much salt another person likes on their fries but here goes.......

The VE12's will have lots of powerful bass for 90% of music and movies, but as far as how LOW they will go: relatively speaking they will not go as low as, say, the typical $500 subwoofer with a 12" woofer properly located in a room.

Anyone who has heard a Cerwin-Vega knows that for their size, compared to other less "rowdy" brands their bass is very powerful and has lots of "kick", which is great for rock, metal and hip-hop. To do this AND not require a large receiver to power them, especially for the larger models CV has sacrificed the very lowest frequencies, usually under 25Hz. It's those very low notes that require the most power to reproduce and why good subs have such large amplifers (compared to most receivers).

As far as the bass that game soundtracks TYPICALLY have, I have no idea so you might be missing out on some ultra-rumbly stuff. Maybe someone else here more informed on that issue could chime in here.

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Old fart rant, though I was only born in 1965 : before HT came along with all its power-hungry & artificially-generated extreme low frequency effects (and Blose pushing its cheesy plastic cube systems) literally for decades receivers with just 20-50 watts per channel and speakers with bass reaching to "only" 40Hz or at the lowest 30Hz* did perfectly fine for Average Joes and audiophiles alike & regularly pissed off parents and neighbors. Now for some reason these days everything has to be "extreme" - kind of like politics, food portions, SUVs, etc - so even if you don't need it, audio systems with perfomance you'll hardly ever or never use are pushed hard.

I guess I'm a wee bit tired of hearing that we all need our systems to reach down to 20Hz at reference level to enjoy everything we listen to.

* the most popular speakers ever sold here in the 70s, the Large Advent, got down to 35Hz.

 

I can attest to this reccomendation. I have a pair of VE12's and the OP is right, they do and can knock pictures off the wall. I LOVE LOVE LOVE THem. I paid $219 each and unfortunately $98 a speaker to have them shipped. I got them off Amazon from a second party seller. But they have been worth every penny. This is my second set of Cerwins in 20 years and I'm telling you for my ear they are the best speaker available for the price range and they are heavy at almost 60 pounds each!!! But the sound is just so crisp and bassey! They are being powered by a Pioneer VSX-819H-k which allows for on screen menus from a connected iPod or iPhone via the provided cable. I couldnt be happier with the whole set up!

A thanks to al the people here at HTF for helping me get it all together.

 

Great choice I have them and NO you will not need any additional Bass IMO. These things kick out the jams and move furniture at mid level volume, go higher and the pictures start falling off the walls. They are like going to a concert how you FEEL the sound in your stomach. Know what I mean?

 

[MaxL]

not that this isn't a very nice thread with lots of relevant info that still applies for many researching similar options, but this thread is over 2 years old...

 

[LanceJ]

Originally Posted by Dean Krouse

I can attest to this reccomendation...................

I'm glad it worked out for you. I wish CV's speakers were sold more widely though, in particular at brick-n-mortar stores. So many young people are growing up thinking (not their fault) that music should only be listened to via the cheapo earbuds their MP3 player came with. I have nothing against headphone listening and use some $75 over-the-ear Sonys a couple times a week at home and own a player for the car (NOT while using headphones though) and for hiking, but for me nothing compares to the experience of sitting in front of some good speakers and letting the music flow around me, and surround music is even better - way better! - at doing that for me but that's a whole other thread.

A sat plus subwoofer system is also capable of excellent bass, probably more actually for the same price, but if someone is only listening in stereo, setting up such a system can be tricky since there is only one stereo receiver I know of - the Outlaw Audio RR2150 - that includes a full bass management system to avoid sound-degrading phase and crossover point issues (the issues that can occur when using a sub's speaker-level inputs).

FYI: without such a receiver, one could run their sats full range i.e. directly connected to their 2.0 receiver, and with some experimenting, find a crossover point on the *sub* that would allow it to blend nicely with those sats, hopefully somewhere in the 80Hz range. I know this works because I've done it myself and seen many others on audiophile forums report the same thing.

 

[CB750]

Originally Posted by El_Colombiano


Now what I am looking for is killer bass so I can enjoy my PS3 with great sound,

I realize that killer bass is in the ears of the listener. But I don't think any HTIB will offer that. You may have to spend more than the cost of either of these two systems to achieve that. I say this because since you have not listened to either of these systems in person you don't know how they sound.

 

i did not notice that the post was so old! I wonder how it all turned out.