How to buy new speakers?

You should start by spending some time listenning to as many different speakers, and types of speakers. as you can.  If you can figure out the type of sound you like you can narrow it down a bit.
 
Are you looking for towers, bookshelves, in-walls, complete-systems?

You can save a bundle by buying last years models on close-out like these: Polk-Newegg, Energy-Audioadvisor.com, PSB-Saturdayaudio,

The best thing to do is order 2-3 bookshelves from quality companies that offer a good return policy and listen to them in your own home. This is time consuming and troublesome but you'll have a better chance of ending up with what you want. I ordered speakers from Swan, Aperion and Ascend and kept the one I liked best and returned the other two. Then filled out the rest of the system.

Aperion, Ascendacoustics, Axiomaudio,  HSUresearch, Audioadvisor and Ozhometheater (they both may offer a special price on a package deal), as well as SVS and Elemental-Designs already mentioned. And a few I'm sure I forgot.

As for BM speakers, I like Infinity. But you should also consider Paridigm, Def Tech, Polk LSi's and KEF. And even more I forgot.

Yes, there are tons to chose from, but your sub should come from SVS, HSU or ED Designs of course.

And the best of luck. This will be much harder than the receiver.

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot to mention this . When listenning to speakers in the store be sure to take a cd that you like with you. And remember, the receivers settings will probably be all messed up.

Edited by gene c - 1/31/10 at 1:22pm

I second SVS.............
My online forum communities I frequent (several, in fact), have some people that have them, and they just rave about them. I have figured for awhile that if I get to a point that I can ever buy new speakers, they will be SVS. I've not heard any bad about them. One guy here got some, and at first wasn't loving them. But, once he got all his settings right, the more he listened, the more he liked them. I guess they need a little breaking in time too. Anyway, he kept them, and was happy.
Good luck with whatever you decide on.

Bookshelf's  are the best value when using a good sub woofer. It's also easier to adjust their height than it is with a tower. Speaker positioning is also very important to how they sound. And a speakers cabinet is usually the most expensive part and a tower has lots of wood. Some believe a tower can be a bit better in the lower mid-bass area, say 100-250 hz because of the extra cabinet volume. I bought towers for the pompous "look at that" reason (at least I'm honest) but the bookshelf equivalent would probably have been just as good in my situation.





I don't really know enough about the differences between dipoles and bi poles to be helpful.

From what I've read, Height speakers can raise the vocals when a center speaker is mounted below the display. But having vocals coming from two different places doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I think the Jury is still out on PLIIz. 

A really good 5.1 system is usually better than an O.K. 7.1 so I spent my money on 5 up-graded  speakers vs. 7 lesser ones. But there wasn't hardly any 7.1 material available then anyway so the decision was much easier for me. Besides, if one side is open do you have a place for 4 surround speakers to be properly placed? BTW, I went with bookshelf's for surrounds in a 5.1 setup because I felt they would be better for music. Not sure how effective this is but I believe some bi pole/dipoles can be used for both Surrounds and Rear Surrounds by using the outboard drivers for LR/RR and the inner drivers for BL/BR. This way you get 4 rear channels from 2 speakers. Again, I don't know if this is a good idea or not.
 

Not sure about the quality of the reviews because they re from users and not professionals but I usually find my way to Audioreview.com. As with any type of review you have to take it for what it's worth but I just look for consistent comments like "too bright" or "boomy" etc. They also have a "Share" section (forum) where members discuss the products they own. But remember, too much information can be a bad thing. Trust your instincts and stick to products you're familiar with. Oh, and I forgot about Axiomaudio in my list of Internet speaker companies. Owners swear by them. 

Also http://www.soundandvisionmag.com
and http://www.hometheatermag.com
They have magazines at the bookstore also.

From everything I read and hear, their customer service is outstanding. So, I'm sure they'll be glad to help you.

You shouldn't have that problem with some good bookshelves, as long as you buy the proper ones. I currently have Swan 2.1's (one 6" mid-bass) and Infinity Beta 20's (also one 6" mid-bass) and both are very good with vocals, including lower male's like Boz Skaggs. IMO, where towers can sometimes have an advantage is with things like bass guitar, drums, and certain sound effects in movies. Now, if you choose a bookshelf like the old Polk RTi6's which are somewhat harsh sounding to me, then you may have a problem with male voices sounding a bit thin.

I can agree with that. Better than bi-amping the fronts, too.

No rear or side surrounds? All 5 speakers in the front? I don't know about that  . But, I've never tried it either so who knows.

That SVS package should be pretty good and would be a huge upgrade from those KLH's. I had a pair of the SVS speakers for a while and really liked them. Bought them when they first came out just to see what they were. But if you truely have a $2000 budget then you can probably wind up with something even better. Unless that $1000 price is too hard to pass up.

Sorry to chime in a little late here, but if the Paradigm's were somewhat appealing to you, you may want to think about listening to some speakers from PSB.  Not sure exactly where you're located, but there is at least one authorized dealer in the Rochester area (you can search at the PSB website).

The PSB's are very similar to Paradigm's - they are good for both movies and dedicated 2-channel audio listening.  I have a pair of Image 6 towers for my mains, a matching center and a pair of their bipole S5 surrounds on the sides.  I would definitely recommend a subwoofer from another manufacturer, though.  PSB's subs have gotten better in recent years, but there are much better values out there.

I will agree with what some others have suggested - better to build a quality "core" 5.1 system than spread yourself too thin budget-wise by adding rear surrounds or front height channels.

What I meant was that even though the $1000 SVS is very good, with a $2000 budget (now $3000  ) you can can get an even better setup from Axiom, Aperion, Paradigm, PSB, etc. I knew the MBS was way over budget.

We haven't mentioned room acoustics yet. It makes a big difference. I have two modest systems and the rooms do have a big influence on sound. Not sure how you can account for this but speakers can sound quite a bit different than they did in the store depending on the room they are in.

Also, when auditioning speakers much of the emphasis is usually on the bass and treble output. My main consideration was the mid-range, particularly male vocals. If a speaker got that right then I moved on to other areas.

And speaking of room acoustics, and speaker positioning, when auditioning in the retail store environment ask the sales rep if you can have the speakers moved to the same location when comparing one to the other. Particularly if some are on the top shelf or if smaller speakers are near the floor. And whether or not you listen to speakers accompanied by a sub woofer is up to you. I preferred to audition speakers without a sub but the stores usually have them blasting away. These are all things I wish I had done the first time around.

I'm not really the one to give advice on subs. But from what I've read Paradgm is one of the few speaker manufacturers who are also capable of making outstanding subs. But unless your dealer gives you a great deal on a speaker/sub package I'd concentrate on the speakers first and then start a new thread on the search for the perfect sub for your application.

Should have stuck to that with us, too  .

I can attest to that.  The sub I'm using with my PSB Image setup is a Paradigm Servo-15.  I got it at a great discount from a buddy of mine who worked for Dolby Labs and got to use his company's discount .

I've had it for years and to this day, have never even cranked it up to full blast - it's just too much!

In terms of the subwoofer matching the rest of your speakers, the sub is probably the least-critical in this area - mainly because once set up, there's relatively little frequency overlap between the sub and everything else.  Contrary to what Audyssey typically tells you, if you're using a subwoofer in your setup, you should always set the rest of your speakers to "small" and utilize the receiver's internal crossover to fine-tune your system.  Let the subwoofer do the "grunt" work, and let your mains focus on what they do best - mids and highs.

How about one of these? http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-cyl.cfm
These don't seem as big, but put out just as much bass.

As far as SVS, I get that vibe as well. Over on another site the boxes get way more talk even though there are no differences in output.
You can even turn those cylinders on their sides behind a couch and be hidden. In my room due to placement issues, a cylinder would work the best yet I still want the box.

And no, it isn't just you, there is a term for it but I can't recall at the moment but your audible memory (my term) fades quickly. For me, it got to a point where I couldn't tell a difference between a Monitor Audio and a cheaper Definitive Technology, even side by side so I bought the Def Techs.

This was ten years ago and Def tech doesn't even make them anymore but they are the Celsius, a front-ported bookshelf model that was designed to fit into custom enclosures. They worked for me because I had to sit them on a bookshelf at the time. If I had to guess the small Def Tech 350's minus the sub section would be what they sound like and are similar in size. I got a matching center, the C1 and the BP1x bipolor surrounds. It was and still is a pretty good sounding system for just over a grand. I got a Velodyne HGS 10 sub at the same time that worked well in my old space but is lacking in my new theater, that is what got me to looking at SVS when the budget allows

I was at BB recently and heard those Vienna's and they do sound amazing, I like those on wall surronds but agree that they are out of my price range. The Def Tech towers do not impress me much, I would prefer to locate my own subs but the Mythos line is nice.

You know, I think it was Ed Moxley who stated that speakers need time to break-in and I am of the opinion that is true for both the speaker and one's ear. Whatever you bring home is going to sound better once you get used to the sound.

I've heard this before. Did you take a favorite cd/dvd with you? Rather than compare one speaker to another I just try and judge how much I like the song I brought with me. Don't know if that would be easier for you or not but that's what I would try and do.


That's what I did a few years ago with Polk RTi's. Spent the next year and a half trying to get rid of what I thought was a harsh mid-range. Finally sold them for a more neutral (though still just a tad on the bright side) speaker with a softer, smoother mid-range.


You've been around here long enough to know better  .

The cubby idea is better than placing the TV right on top of it.  As far as acoustics, I would just make sure that the plane of the front of the center speaker is flush with the cubby's opening (even if this pushes the plane of the speaker "ahead" of the plane of the TV screen) and you should be fine.

If the center channel winds up signficantly lower than the TV, and if your viewing distance is on the short side, you may want to tilt the speaker up ever so slightly for the best effect.