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Please recommend some floor standing speakers

post #1 of 9
11/11/08 at 11:20am
Thread Starter 
I have a onkyo htib. I would like to replace the front speakers with some low cost floor standing speakers. By low cost I'm talking about $200 on ebay or craigslist used for the pair.

The only thing I've really listened to recently are my brother's white van Matrix 1300's that he paid like $100 for. I'm sure everyone here has heard much better but to me they sounded great. We listened to a lot of old music again "for the first time". (this is coming from someone who knows little about home theater speakers)

Fry's has the Polk R50's for $59.99. Opinions?
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post #2 of 9
11/11/08 at 12:15pm

Re: Please recommend some floor standing speakers

$200 for a used pair of quality floor standing speakers still in good condition would probably be extremely hard to come by, if at all possible. Someone would have to be running some sort of firesale for that to happen.

At those prices, you're probably better off not limiting yourself to floor standing units.

Having said that, maybe you can somehow find one of a number of old models (w/ original prices in the $1K-1.5K region) from Vandersteen, NHT, Definitive Technology, etc. that meets your criteria in the used market, if you're lucky enough.

_Man_
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post #3 of 9
11/11/08 at 1:11pm

Re: Please recommend some floor standing speakers

What do you use this setup for? Movies and music, or just music? Your post mentioned listening to music.

If you use it for home theater / movies, and you're going to replace the left and right fronts, you really need to replace your center channel as well. If your center isn't timbre matched with the left/right mains, you're going to hear a very obvious difference in sound when panning across the front soundfield.

Cnet suggests the Fluance AV-HTB 5-speaker system, which includes a set of 5 timbre-matched speakers in your price range.

Fluance AV-HTB 5 Speaker system Surround Speaker System reviews - CNET Reviews

For slightly more ($299) you could go up one level to their SXHTB line:

Fluance SXHTB+ 5 Speaker Surround Sound Home Theater System

These got good reviews a few years ago but they're only one or two of the many options available. Just make sure you replace the center channel speaker too.

cheers,
Phil
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post #4 of 9
11/11/08 at 2:48pm

Re: Please recommend some floor standing speakers

Fluance's are nice. I just sold a set I purchased a few years ago. Definitely an upgrade over the HTiB speakers.

However.... Maybe it would be better to get a new sub? Then you can let the sub do the heavy lifting. Cheapest quality sub I can find is about $400 or so.
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post #5 of 9
11/11/08 at 3:26pm

Re: Please recommend some floor standing speakers

FRYS.com*|*Polk

Newegg.com - Polk Audio Monitor 50 Single Two-way Floorstanding Loudspeaker Black

The Polk's you mentioned should be just fine considering your budget.
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post #6 of 9
11/11/08 at 5:40pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Please recommend some floor standing speakers

I think I'm leaning towards the fluance SX Htb

They really look like white van speakers. Can anyone attest to the sound quality? I'm guessing they will sound similar to the Matrix MX1300's.
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post #7 of 9
11/12/08 at 3:51pm

Re: Please recommend some floor standing speakers

White Van Speakers pretend to be something they are not. Fluance is not pretending. It is what it is... A cheap speaker. Don't expect it to sound like an expensive one. It will be better than most HTiB speakers.

Oh, and they sound pretty good. I lived with them for 2 years. Recently sold them to a guy for his game room.
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post #8 of 9
11/12/08 at 6:50pm

Re: Please recommend some floor standing speakers

Audio Advisor has a clearance sale on Athena speakers. The LS300 towers were $500pr. and now $99ea. Excellent inexpensive speakers,I don't think you can do better than these new with a warranty. White Van speakers are garbage, if you think those sound good, these will sound like high end speakers by comparison. Athena - LS-300 Tower Speaker-Audio Advisor
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post #9 of 9
11/12/08 at 8:14pm

Re: Please recommend some floor standing speakers

Getting the complete Fluance package might be better over-all because even though you have been given some decent quality tower speaker suggestions they will probably be a poor match for the Onkyo center channel. If you were going to get towers only I would suggest you get a matching center as well. The Polk R50's and a Polk CSi25, which can be found for around $75 on occasion, might be your best bet.

IMO, the Athena's are a better speaker than the R50's or Fluance but the center is getting hard to find. But anything mentioned here should be better than what you have now.
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