Please review my 5.1 system before i buy. (1 Viewer)

[BlaineG]

Hello everyone, i am going to be moving soon and i want to get my first surround system, mainly for watching movies as i already have a set of dynaudio audience 52se's for stereo. Anyways, i set the budget at $3000. The room that the speakers will inhabit is a fairly large room, i'm unsure as to the exact dimensions but the entertainment area of the room is at least 25'x20', its basically the family room with the kitchen directly off of it. I would attach a picture but i am not allowed to post links. Here is what i have picked out so far, my biggest concern is that the sub may be a little lacking for the size of the room ..because when an explosion goes off in a movie i'de like the room to really rumble. I have also read that there is a fairly large performance difference between the Axiom M50ti and M60ti, so i am unsure if it would be smarter to spend the extra money on a possible upgrade to the M60ti's or to a more powerful sub.

fronts: Axiom M50ti ($700)
rears: Axiom Qs8 ($500) + Axiom FMS-QS speaker stands ($270)
Center: Axiom VP150 ($385)
sub: SVS PB12-ISD ($599) ($655.43 shipped)
Reciever: Pioneer VSX-1015TX ($360) ($404.26 shipped)

That totals to $2821.94 shipped to the front door. (axiom took $93 off the order for purchasing more than 5 items from them). That leaves $178.06 for wiring or slightly better components? Thank you everyone for your help.

 

[Nhan_H]

Seems pretty good to me. Have you had a chance to demo the axioms to see if they are a fit for you? Considering that you have the Dyns, I'm assuming that you know what type of sound you like. I'm not familiar with those axioms you mentioned, since I've only been able to hear the M60s and M22s in action.

As for the SVS question, I don't see why it wouldn't be able to rumble a room that size. You might want to give the SVS folks a ring to be sure.

 

[MichaelPR]

Hey Blaine,
I'd just make sure you have researched the Axiom sound or have listened to the speakers before you decide to pull the trigger. I listened to alot of speakers instore before my most recent purchase. I keep reccomending them....but I see little word of them on this forum...The Swans are an amazing speaker in my opinion. Good luck with your new system!

 

[Shane Martin]

Going from Dynaudios to Axioms would be a drastic difference in sound. Axioms are much brighter of a speaker and the difference will be noticable especially considering you already have Dynaudio. Polar opposite sound.

If you wish to stick to online only:

I'd go this route:

Aperion Audio 633-T Tower Speaker: $998
Aperion Audio 522-D Vac Center: $280
Aperion Audio 522-D-SS Dipole/Bipole: $490
http://www.aperionaudio.com/products...il.aspx?id=135


Those include Shipping and a free SPL Meter. 10 yr warranty and a free trade up program.

You also get $150 in accessories to go with it:
http://www.aperionaudio.com/whatsnew...aspx?newid=932


SVS Subwoofer: $655.43 Shipped PB12ISD. Likely you will want more. The 25-31PCI would be a good alternative if you can go the Tube route. Cost would likely be less.

Receiver: Pioneer 1015tx $404.26 shipped(Is that Legit with warranty?)

Total $2827.69 For about $124 with shipping more you could upgrade to the Pb12ISDv. The ISDV is bigger and heavier and should ideally produce deeper/louder bass.

Wiring: I'm really happy with the stuff I purchased from AC4l.com I went with Ixos and I'm very pleased. It's very possible with the Pb12ISDV and the cabling from Ac4l you'd be right at the edge of your budget or use the $150 credit they give you towards the stuff they(aperion) sells.

 

[BlaineG]

Thank you so much for the help everyone i really appreciate it. Shane, i have never heard of aperion but i am now intrigued by them, i will have to read up more on them. One problem however is the rear speakers you suggested are wall-mount only from what i gather, i have no problems wall mounting them but i dont know how i would do so without having speaker wire hanging down the wall.. i know i could drill a hole in the wall at the baseboard and run the wire through it but i was orignally planning to just use speaker stands for the rears to avoid all of the mounting hassles. Also i have no problems using a spherical sub and would actually prefer it, so i'll have to look more into those as well. The price on the Pioneer 1015tx is legit and from a reputable online retailer.

 

[Shane Martin]

If you have an attic you could just drop the wire down the wall and pull it thru with a wall fish.

If not then speaker stands and the bookshelf speakers for Aperion would add $200 to the price. If you can use the accessories credit towards the stands then it's less obviously

Sub wise: I'd email SVS and ask them what they would suggest.

 

[Dalton]

Blaine,
I'd strongly suggest you look at Ascend Acoustics. The yare another online speaker company like Axiom and Aperion. I just switched from Axiom to Ascend and am thrilled with the results. The Ascend 340 mains sound better than the M60's IMO. They just put out a bigger soundstage than the Axiom setup. I had a couple of friends over yesterday who had heard my Axiom setup many, many times and we all agreed that the Ascends were better in every way. Don't get me wrong, the Axioms were a good set of speakers but for the $$ the Ascends are just better IMO. You could get the entire 5.1 setup(340 mains, 340 center, cbm170's surrounds, and pb12isd) w/ the Pioneer 1015 for less than $2400. It would be a superb setup IMO. You could even upgrade to the more powerful PB12/2 ISD sub for $300 more and stay under your budget.

Good Luck,
Dalton

 

[MikeLi]

Yet another place to check out is av123.com...
You can get real wood (4) 750's floor standers and their best center (which in my opinion is the best one out there for its price, actually at 3X the price the RC200), some people refer it to as Bigfoot. For $2799.00 No more up and down on the volume between soft and loud sceens. My last speaker set up cost twice as much as this one did and was crap... Sorry for you NHT lovers out there but no compairison to the Onix Rockets. Obviously you would need a sub but the 750's and the 200 will go low enough for you to save up for say an SVS or HSU sub in short order.

Your getting a lot of different things hit to you and usually my advice is to try to take your time and find someone that will let you listen to these internet brand of speakers before you buy. Its your ears and every one's are different.

Better to take the time and research now that wondering what if "I got those" down the line.

Another popular approach is to order a center from each company and try it out. That way you get to see build quality as well as listening to them with your gear. Send the ones back you don't like and they all will still give you the package price special. Whats say $100 in return shipping when your spending 3K on speakers and you do want to make the right decision!

MikeL

 

[BlaineG]

Thank you all again for the replies i appreciate it. Looking into the ascend's considering how much cheaper they are compared to the axiom's why would i go with smaller rear channel speakers when i could just go CMT-340's all around?
I just priced the ascends and for this setup:

fronts: CMT-340 mains + Stands ($648.00)
center: CMT-340 center ($298.00)
rears: CBM-170 pair ($328.00)
Stands for rear: Omni-300 A/H Stands /pair ($99.00)

+ $92 shipping + $113.27 tax brings the total to: $1,578.27 before sub,reciever,wireing. That equals out to being $277 cheaper than the axioms, i still need to compare priceing with the aperions.

 

[BlaineG]

Well, after reading most of the day it seems to me that the ascend speakers probably make the most sense for me, and sense i cannot drive somewhere to audition any of the online brands i think i am going to give the ascends a try and if i dont like them just send em back. Also, on the subject of subs i ran across the 15" TITANIC MKIII SUBWOOFER KIT which is $650 shipped from partsexpress.com so that is what i am considering over an svs which would cost more and i dont see any advantage to the svs's except for their cylindrical design to save space, at least in the same price range as the titanic. So what i have so far is:

fronts: CMT-340 mains + Stands ($648.00)
center: CMT-340 center ($298.00)
rears: CBM-170 pair ($328.00)
stands for rear: Omni-300 A/H Stands /pair ($99.00)
receiver: Pioneer VSX-1015TX ($360) ($404.26 shipped)
sub: 15" TITANIC MKIII SUBWOOFER KIT ($650 shipped)

So that totals to $2632 and some change before wiring. If anyone has any input on the titanic sub i would greatly appreciate it, but so far everything i've read has been positive about it.

 

[BrianMe]

I can't tell you about the main speakers, but I can tell you that you are nuts if you don't consider SVS. I have a 21-39 PC+ and it absolutely stinking rocks. There is nothing to compare it to in that price range. HSU might be good, but I doubt you'd find any others that are comparable.

 

[MichaelPR]

I'll second that for SVS.....they are simply AMAZING

 

[al lout]

I'd add a BFD (~$100) to equalize the sub.

 

[BlaineG]

It is not that i have not considered svs, in fact svs was the first place i looked for a sub, but it just seems like i am getting a much better sub for the price by going with the titanic over any similarly priced svs sub. I could be completely wrong mind you as i have never heard either product, but from what i have read so far the titanic seems to be as good or better than any svs sub under $1k.

 

[Nhan_H]

I would agree with the statement, except for bass output, if you were comparing the two speakers by themselves. The Ascends is always recommended with a good subwoofer to handle bass below 80 Hz.

 

[Dalton]

Absolutely agree. That's why i have an SVS 20-39PC+. A perfect blend IMO. I really don't think i could have done any better for the money spent. I had the money to spend more but i would have had to go a lot deeper into my wallet to make a real improvement in SQ IMO. I couldn't be more pleased with the Ascend/SVS combo. I certainly would have had no problem returning them if i wasn't satisfied.

Dalton

 

[CurtisSC]

For the 170's and full enjoyment, I agree that they need a good sub. By good, I mean matching the Ascend sound quality.....still sound pretty good considering.

For the 340's, not quite as critical to have a sub.....but still nice to have for the deeper stuff.

 

[RyanJE]

Blaine,

Check out JR.com for those stands. I saw them on the site for pretty cheap the other day. I think they were about 40 pre ship.

 

[JuanNarvaez]

Blaine, checkout the guys at plasmadocs. I think they can hook you up with a special package of ascend/svs and comes out cheaper than buying directly. Check it out.

 

[eddieZEN]

Blaine,

Are you planning on listening to a lot of SACD/DVD-A surround music? Do you watch a lot of big-budget action/sci-fi flicks with lots of great sound FX?

If the answer to those questions is NO, then I wouldn't even bother with the CBM-170s for surrounds, I'd go dirt cheap and buy some $100/pair bookshelves like the Polk R15s or Fluance SV-6s because the surrounds only do maybe 10% of the work for HT anyway so the 170s would be major overkill.

I'd put the savings into a much better receiver than the Pioneer 1015, or maybe even separates.

I own the Marantz 5400 with the Ascends 340s across the front and when I recently added an NAD amp/pre-amp for my fronts, it was like going from a biplane to an F-14! The Ascends will truly come alive with more and better quality power behind them, it was really a night and day difference.