schalkt

Speaker Choices

Hi all - I'm in the process of building a small home theater room in my basement, and I've found a lot of great advice on these forums, so I'd thought I'd ask for some myself. I'm debating what speakers to go with - I want to do a 7.1 system (although I can start with 5.1 and easily add the other two later). My room is 12'x17'. I'm not looking for really high-end speakers - my budget is going to have to be about $1000. I'm planning on getting either the Onkyo TX-SR674 or the Sony STR-DG1000 as the receiver.

I've pretty much narrowed my speaker search down to three:

JBL Cinema Series (CST55 fronts, CSC55 center, CS600 surrounds, CSS10 sub)
JBL L Series (L820 fronts, LC2 center, L810 surrounds, L8400P sub)
Polk RM Series (RM30 fronts, RM302 center, RM101 surrounds, PSW12 sub)

Obviously, I can always go with different subs, as I've read various levels reviews about each of those. But has anyone had any experience with any of those speaker setups? I'm also curious if anyone has wall mounted the L820's...the way my room is setup, when someone walks down the stairs into the room the first thing they'll see is a front speaker - it shouldn't be too bad with a tower, but a wall-mounted speaker might work out better...as long as it's going to sound as good as a tower.

Oh, and one more thing - I think a lot of people are having trouble with this, but does anyone know a good place to get 300ft of in-wall 14AWG speaker wire? I've given up on Monoprice ever getting stock in, so I checked out a place called Firefold - but they only have 500ft spools, and I really don't need that much. That still might be fine, but has anyone tried their wire?

CWiz

Re: Speaker Choices

have you heard paradigm's $800 5.1 system? a dealer around me did a demo and they sound pretty good. also svs seems to have a good deal on the sbs-01 5.1 system, i think the main benifit is really a good sub.
have you looked at orb audio? they have a really neat compact 5.1 system in your price range thats supposed to beat the bose acoustimass 10/16
i've never heard the JBL's so i cant really say either way
good luck

I want your blu-rays
50" Samsung DLP HLR5078WX
Onkyo TX-SR674 A/V Receiver
Klipsch satalites -> F: RF-3 -- C: RC-3 -- Sur: TBD
Sub: SVS PB12-Plus Rosewood
PS3 - Folding as we speak why arn't you?

MaxL

Re: Speaker Choices

no, don't get any of those packages. don't get any tower speakers either. you pay for speaker that you don't really need or use if it's going to be in a properly set-up HT with a sub. that is unless you plan on doing critical music listening without the sub, and if that's the case you should really be saving up for better speakers anyway.

so, what to get for $1000 or less? 3 choices IMO.

1) SVS package w/ pb-10 sub. (on special if you don't mind white or silver.)
2) the psb alpha C package w/ monitor audio sub from saturday audio. $848 for 5 speakers and sub, very good quality, great for price.
3) the psb alpha C's for $600 and the pb-10 $375-430.

the psb's probably will sound a bit more open due to double woofers all the way around, but they're a little larger and therefore may be harder to place. it's an excellent speaker though, neutral flat response, a little rolled off at the high end, but not warm. if you like/ want warm, monitor audio bronze deals also at saturday audio are the way to go. if you want bright, svs is better, otherwise klipsch.

it's not so much that the speakers you listed are bad as there's better for the $$. if audio gear is rated on a scale of 1>5 where:
1=POS
2=entry level
3=mid fi
4=high end
5=true audiophile/ ludicrous

i'd put the SVS, PSB, and monitor audio bronze at 3.x and the stuff you listed at 2.x. just one person's opinion and i haven't listened to every thing.
there's a ton of gear in that 2.0-3.9 range at a wide range of prices.

before i go i should also mention the athena deals at audio advisor. you can do the 5.0 for under $400 (2 pair as-b1's @$120 a pair and 1 as-c1 @$150 i think). add the sub of your choice and IMO it will sound as good or better than any of your selections.

on speaker wire, this is from psb's own FAQ:

Quote:

Q: What types of cables or interconnects do you recommend? A: PSB Speakers does not endorse any particular brand of cables. We usually use 14-gauge wire when testing speakers. Wire does affect sound and the best way to test this is to find an audio/video dealer who specializes in wire and ask for samples of different brands. We do recommend the following gauge of standard two-conductor wire for wiring distances: Less than 25' 18 gauge 25-50' 16 gauge 50-100' 14 gauge over 100' 12 gauge If you prefer, you can use heavier (lower gauge) wire.

before i knew better i bought 12AWG speaker cable. now i buy mid range radio shack stuff (16 or 18 AWG last spool, don't remember). sounds fine to me. the firefold looks fine to me too, and a fair deal at that.

good luck

HT: Marantz SR8000, PSB Alpha B fronts, Alpha C center, CSW New Ensemble surrounds, Martin Logan Dynamo Sub, Philips DVD, Sony CRT TV

Stereos include vintage Sony receivers/amps into vintage AR and KEF speakers.

aht3

Re: Speaker Choices

Hi. I have a JBL L series setup and I love it. I would recommend the JBL L series setup that you suggested. as for the sub, I use a HSU 2.3 and would not trade it for anything in my room. I have it set to -3 on my receiver and 9 o'clock on the subs amp....lots of bass. I can show you to a dealer that has great prices on JBL L equipment. Also, if you want to step up to towers, I would recommend the L 880. I found a steal of a price for those too. PM me if you want more information.


Happy hunting,

Andrew

Pioneer VSX 94THX
JBL Studio L890s Up Front
JBL Studio LC2 at Center
JBL Studio L820s Surrounds
JBL Studio L820s Rears
HSU VTF2-MK3 Sub
Sony 46" XBR3 LCD

schalkt

Re: Speaker Choices

Thanks for the responses - now I have even more to consider.

CWiz - I'm guessing the Paradigm system you're talking about is the Cinema 110 CT. If so, that looks intriguing. Definitely another to consider. And the SVS system seems like a good deal too...I've heard that their subs are excellent.
Not a big fan of the compacts though (like Orb). They probably do sound great, but I guess I want it to look like a theater too, if you get my meaning.

MaxL - Great information...especially on the PSB speakers. I had a dealer try to point me at that brand, but he only had their high end (expensive) models to show me. They sounded great, but I didn't realize they had mid-level models as well.
I guess the main reason I had for going with tower or on-wall speakers for the fronts was that if someone comes running down the basement stairs, they might run right into the front left speaker. I'm not so worried about people, but I have an active dog that might cause trouble An on-wall would be safe, and a good-size tower would be a lot harder to knock down than a bookshelf on a stand.
And thanks for the links to those sites - they both seem to have some pretty good deals.

aht3 - Thanks. Glad to see someone owns and likes this series. And I've heard good things about the HSU sub too, so I'll definitely keep that in mind.

schalkt

Re: Speaker Choices

After reviewing my room layout a little more, I figure that I have to go with on-wall fronts - a bookshelf or tower is going to be too much in the way. So I'm going to check out the Paradigm Cinema 110CT next week (if anyone has those, I'd love to hear your opinion of them). The closest dealer is 40 miles away, but I think those speakers might work best for my situation. If I don't like those, I'll probably go with the JBL Studio L Series.

Oh, and I just put an order in for speaker wire from Firefold - I'll let you know what the product is like when I get it, but they're customer service is awesome. I called once, and someone picked up immediately. And after I placed my order, a rep called within 10 minutes to let me know that the wire was temporarily out of stock until early next week - which sucks, but it was great to get that kind of quick service.