Speakers for Dummies

canadianplayer99 · 07-14-2007, 11:04 PM

For whatever reason, I cannot assimilate all the information available in terms of speakers for the life of me. I am equipping myself with a 7.1 Harman Kardon AVR 247 receiver and am looking for a set of speakers to pair with it. After reading as much as I can, I cannot evaluate which speakers are good, which are good and expensive, and which are just plain no good.

I kind of want a speaker ranking in your opinions as to which speakers have the best bang for their buck.

I am a big movie watcher and love to have the clearest crispest sound possible during the show, but I don't have 5000$ to invest on a sound system. If anybody would like to share their expertsie with me, I would much appreciate. Here is what I am looking for.

I want to put 1000$ on a 2 floorstanding, 1 center and 2 surround. I need an effecient speaker (8 ohms) and I want them to be good with bass, (I will be adding a sub afterwards, but I still want the floorstanders to hold their own). What manufacturer should I be looking at? what criteria should I be looking for when I shop for a speaker? who has the best prices out there? will I see a difference between a set of floorstanders at 600$ per pair and a set at 750$ per pair?

So far, I have listened to the following:

Mordaunt-Short Carnival series. (sounds great, missing a little bit of bass)
REER Accoustics Orpheum (sounds great, have never heard of them before)
Cerwin -Vega CLS6C (a guy mounted 5 center speakers with 1 sub, sounded great.)

I would love for you guys out their to share your knowledge, but one thing... I know some of you out there have exquisit tastes and will say that a set of speakers under 2500$ a pair is crap. I can honestly say that I am a begginer of the audiophile hobbie and so my standards of connaisseurism aren't at your level yet, so please, within my criteria can you identify speakers I should be looking at?

thanks!

ThomasC · 07-15-2007, 01:42 AM

Quote:

will I see a difference between a set of floorstanders at 600$ per pair and a set at 750$ per pair?

There may only be subtle differences between the two, and you might like the speakers that cost $600/pair over the ones that cost $750/pair. Audio is a subjective field, so just because I like something doesn't mean you will.

I would suggest going with AV123's x-series speakers. Try a pair of their x-ls bookshelf speakers first to see if you like their sound. If you don't like them, AV123 will cover shipping costs both ways, so it's completely risk-free. EDIT: Hmm, your username suggests that you're from Canada. If so, that changes things. The free shipping deal applies only to people in the United States, but AV123 says they have a special deal for Canadians. You'll need to contact them to find out what it is.

Floorstanders: x-mtm at $449/pair
Center: x-cs at $139
Surrounds: x-ls at $219/pair
Total: $807 + shipping

http://www.av123.com/products_catego...akers&brand=55

MaxL · 07-15-2007, 11:27 PM

for this budget, go for bookshelves up front and add a sub sooner. unless you're into listening to a decent amount of 2 channel music from a mid-fi or better pair of speakers, your bang for buck works out much better going with a smaller speaker and sub.

for real value, athena is tough to beat IMO. i also think psb alphas make a great intro speaker for higher end audio, at a fair price. svs and hsu are default subs for price:quality ratio. i love my dynamo for tight clean bass in a small-mid sized room.

there's a lot more i could say, but don't know about what kind of room you have or sound you're looking for.

canadianplayer99 · 07-17-2007, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxL

for this budget, go for bookshelves up front and add a sub sooner. unless you're into listening to a decent amount of 2 channel music from a mid-fi or better pair of speakers, your bang for buck works out much better going with a smaller speaker and sub.

for real value, athena is tough to beat IMO. i also think psb alphas make a great intro speaker for higher end audio, at a fair price. svs and hsu are default subs for price:quality ratio. i love my dynamo for tight clean bass in a small-mid sized room.

there's a lot more i could say, but don't know about what kind of room you have or sound you're looking for.

I am actually leaning towards the Athena LS-500 towers for up front, I like their sound and a couple of people have recommended them to me. As for the subwoofer: I am looking for a sub that punchs wells and lets me feel the bass in my chest, nothing too overbearing. the room is 18x13 with wood floors. Would you recommend the SVS or HSU sub over the Athena sub? or other speakers for that matter?

And once last question: for the surround speakers, do I go with bi-pole or a regular set of bookshelfs? and do Imount them beside my seats? or behind? facing right back at the screen or angled towards the central seats?

thanks

ThomasC · 07-17-2007, 09:24 AM

Definitely go with SVS or HSU for your sub.

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MaxL · 07-17-2007, 10:09 AM

can you explain why you want the towers? it's not that they're bad but depending on the overall budget, you may be paying for a lot of speaker you won't really be using. those towers go down to 30hz, but if you're using them with a sub (which you should for dd/dts audio) you will probably be crossing over at 80hz give or take. it's not that bookshelves will sound better than towers, but they tend to be a much better value in this price range for this kind of system.

the other question that hasn't been addressed in this thread is center speaker choice. whatever you're getting for your mains, buy the matching center speaker from the same brand and line.

as for surrounds, if you're getting di/bi-pole speakers, they should go on the side walls slightly above and behind where your head will be when seated. this may be the ideal position for mono-pole surrounds as well but not necessarily and you can put them on your back wall facing in. rear surrounds in a 7.1 system should go on the rear wall facing into the room and should be monopole.

canadianplayer99 · 07-17-2007, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxL

can you explain why you want the towers? it's not that they're bad but depending on the overall budget, you may be paying for a lot of speaker you won't really be using. those towers go down to 30hz, but if you're using them with a sub (which you should for dd/dts audio) you will probably be crossing over at 80hz give or take. it's not that bookshelves will sound better than towers, but they tend to be a much better value in this price range for this kind of system.

the other question that hasn't been addressed in this thread is center speaker choice. whatever you're getting for your mains, buy the matching center speaker from the same brand and line.

as for surrounds, if you're getting di/bi-pole speakers, they should go on the side walls slightly above and behind where your head will be when seated. this may be the ideal position for mono-pole surrounds as well but not necessarily and you can put them on your back wall facing in. rear surrounds in a 7.1 system should go on the rear wall facing into the room and should be monopole.

I will be buying the Athena Center to go with the mains, I have heard many good comments about the system. I think I will also be going with the bookshelf version of the Athenas for the surround speakers. For a 5.1 setup, would you suggest placing them on the side walls slightly behind me? or on the back walls? And when you say ''facing in'' does that mean facing straight back at the TV or angled in towards me in the center of the room?

Robert_J · 07-17-2007, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canadianplayer99

For a 5.1 setup, would you suggest placing them on the side walls slightly behind me? or on the back walls? And when you say ''facing in'' does that mean facing straight back at the TV or angled in towards me in the center of the room?

This should answer all of your questions - Dolby Labs Speaker Placement.

-Robert

Paul_Dunlop · 07-17-2007, 02:14 PM

Post your room size
Post your floor material (wood or carpet)

Post your music / HT / TV listening percentages

Post your music type - if music is a significant percentage

Definitely get the SVS or HSU for the sub, regardless of the speaker type

What stores have you been listening to speakers in so far?