Suggestions for Speakers and Reciever. $1000 budget. (1 Viewer)

[AaronMK]

I am considering purchasing a new receiver and speakers for my dorm. I am going on a strict $1000 budget. After reading other threads, I was considering the following:

JBL NSP1 speaker set( 4 N-24's and a N-Center )

Sony SA-WM40 subwoofer

Kenwood VR-509 receiver

w/ shipping $775 at etronics.com

I am interested in opinions of this setup and other similar setups worth considering.

I would also like to know about people's experiences mail-ording audio equipment (ie. Is it likely to be damaged during shipping, vendor support, etc.)

Thanks for the assistence.

 

[Chuck C]

I'd get the JBL PB-12 over the SA-WM40 for about $100 more

 

[Jason Wolters]

Save money on the receiver and buy a Kenwood VR507 receiver. Basically the same with less of a remote. Put the extra money into a better sub. I have the Paradigm PDR 10.

 

[AaronMK]

I gave the PB-12 a listen, and agree that it kicks the crap out of the sony (which sounded a little loose and boomey) and would be worth the $100 difference.

However, I have read that the JBL PB-10 and PB-12 subs are very problamatic, many times DOA, or suddenly failing after a few months. With my situation at school, packing and getting a 40lb box to the post office to ship back would be near impossible, so I would need something reliable and one with which I could tell if it is a lemon or not during a break while home. With the JBL subs, it does not seem like even summer break would be long enough.

Thanks again for any suggestions.

 

[Randy Prue]

As for the Kenwood 509, I am using one now, and I enjoy it very much. The remote is "interesting". It's silver so I can read it!!!

In learning mode, it takes me longer to access the Instant Replay for my DVD player than it does to grab the DVD remote and hit the IR button. Instant replay loses something when the 10 seconds that it backs up have gone by navigating the menus in the 509 remote.

If that's the only difference to the 507, then you will have enough power for your dorm room, the rest of the floor, and maybe plenty of complaints. It has a nice sound, nice features, and pretty much does it all.

You probably don't need that much receiver for a dorm, but it definitely do the job. I'm in a large room in a house with no neighbours and it does not run out of power. I can have loud portions of movies or music up so loud that you can't talk in the room (no distortion). I use fairly large speakers (large than you're looking at, or would fit into a dorm room, I suspect).

 

[Chuck C]

The PB10 is problematic...the PB12 uses a totally different amp that is more reliable.

 

[David D. C.]

i would look into the infinty line for your speakers they are a well rated line and i think you could pick up a low pair of fronts for about 200 and the 3 piece surround center and rears for about 200 sub would be around 300 and then the reciever you could play with on an intry level as you sound like you are ( not raging you ) but shope well on the reciever a low priced rev. well be something for you to learn on and not have a big loss if something hapens you can get a great reciever for around three but ther again you get what you pay for no need to spend 500 on a reciever for a dome room.

all is my opion good luck

 

[Jon_R]

I was recently in your situation. I never had that much at one time, but I rather I slowly upgraded over time, all while living in the dorm. Here is my suggestion.

Buy for the future, look way down the road and do the best you can in choosing gear. This sounds obvious, but you can do some really great things with that in mind.

I have a denon avr-681, functionally equivalent to the 1601. It is a low end denon. The 681 was the mass market version 1601 with a higher %THD. I have never had any complaints about that however. I got it for $200 online. I had it shipped with no problems. It may not have a warranty, but, it wasn't that much. The 1802 would be a good choice for you I think.

I usually suggest getting a good PAIR of bookshelf speakers and a good (decent) sub. You could the get a matching center and save for the towers up front. In my case, I bought some small bookshelf speakers and a matching center. I had some junk surrounds. A while later, when I was out of the dorm, I picked up the matching tower fronts. My dorm room was tiny, and a really odd configuration thus keeping my speakers small.

I have the Sony SA-WM40 and really like it. It is a bit boomy sometimes, and possibly loose, but I got a pricematch and got it for $120. It is clearly worth that.

About buying online, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I would worry more about the company than with the shipping details.

Good Luck,

Jon

 

[Scott Werner]

I agree with the above post, spend your money only on quality components. It is better to have good stereo rather than mediocre 5.1 surround. I recently bought some Axiom speakers from www.axiomaudio.com and they are great. Great bang for the buck. I liked the M3tis ($275 a pair) almost as much as my $900 Dynaudio Audience 52s (they are easier to drive too). Axiom also sells factory seconds at a discount. Read some of the gushing reviews on their homepage. The jbls sound like telephone speakers in comparison.
For the reciever I really like the sound of Marantz recievers although most recievers in your price range will sound similar.
A really good online retailer is onecall.com - they have always been reliable and quick to fix any problems.
If you would like to see how an online retailer rates check out audiosurvey.com for some customer feedback.

 

[AaronMK]

I gave some low-end Infinity speakers a listen. No question they sounded better, but I found that I got more enjoyment with five speakers of medium quality than 2 good quality speakers.

Another thing that was overlooked was the fact that the fact that the four mains in the NSP-1 package are 6 ohms and the center is 8 ohms. I don't know much about this spec except that they sould match what the receiver will power, and it seems stange that they would match these in a package.

I am toying with the idea of getting 5 mains and a receiver, and putting off a subwoofer purchase. It would also include going down to a Kenwood VR-505, upping speaker budget to $750 for the five mains.

Again, thanks for all suggestions.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

AaronMK - I'm not sure where you found the following spec . . .

There's a popular misconception that the more expensive speakers in a line sound better than the inexpensive ones. . . . To my shock and delight, the speaker with the best midrange was the humble little N24.
. . .When you get a listen to the mids, though, you'll forget how good the bass is. I think the midrange of this speaker may be the cleanest I've heard at $200/pair. . .
Every singer I listened to sounded better even than on a lot of good $1000/pair speakers.

Sound quality can be plotted on a graph using a standard & repeatable test process. JBL Design team starts here, then using not just measurements but also rigorously controlled listening tests with both audiophiles and civilian listeners, engineers can better correlate measured performance with subjective sound quality and push their designs in directions that listeners repeatedly prefer.
This approach generally reveals the speakers characteristics and sound quality in a given frequency area of sound. Tom Nousaine established a process that anyone can use to compare different design approaches and speaker quality. You can compare the JBL NSP1s frequency response vs. some popular speaker Mfg's offerings @ my webpage Are Bose Speakers Over Priced vs. Performance??.
Have fun auditioning,
Phil