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Help Me Pick a pair of speakers to go with this system

post #1 of 10
1/22/12 at 11:37am
Thread Starter 
I am in the midst of setting up a modest little system for a new apartment I am moving into in a few weeks. I got some great advice on a separate part of the forum but now need help with speakers.

Because I have both a SACD and DVD-Audio collection, I will be getting the Denon 1611UD Blu Ray player, along with the Denon 1712 receiver.

My current display, as seen below, will be the same in the new apartment. I am looking for a pair of reasonably priced speakers that would go with this set-up. It's not a very big room and because of my building's noise rules, I wouldn't be able to really get use out of a subwoofer, so rather than invest in a whole surround set up, I'd rather just have a nice sounding 2-channel setup. Given I'm only spending about $600 on the player and receiver, let me know what you think would be a solid pair of speakers. Thanks all!


700
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post #2 of 10
1/23/12 at 8:19pm
A little more info? What cost is "reasonable? $300? $500? It means different things to different people.

Towers? Smaller towers? Large Bookshelves? Regular bookshelves?

I'm using a pair of Infinity Beta 20's (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4132085&CatId=4598) as fronts (along with the 250 center and OWS-1's as surrounds) and the 20's seem perfectly fine to me all by themselves.

The Pioneer SP-FS51-LR speakers are a smaller floorstanding speaker (less then 32" tall) and have a strong following. They're on the low side in efficiency at 87 db but if you're not looking for ear-bleeding levels then they should be alright with the 1712. And you might be able to audition them at your local baetBuy, if they have them hooked up correctly rolleyes.gif (mine never does).

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Speakers/Home+Theater+Speakers/SP-FS51-LR

Frys has had the Polk RTi series on-sale lately. The RTi8's were $199 a pair and the RTi6's $179. Very good speakers but a little on the bright side.

Newegg.com always has good prices on the Polk Monitor series which are decent enough for most purposes but I'd like to see you get something better for SACD/DVD-A..

Maybe the PSB Image B6 ($439) or T5 ($799) http://www.saturdayaudio.com/ (click on the " all PSB specials" button then scroll down and click on the "Refurbished" section).

Others to look at are AscendAcoustics.com, SVS.com, HSU.com and Infinity Primus. The Polk LSi9's can be found for under $600 sometimes, Paradigm, AxiomAudio.com, Mordaunt-Short http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/MORDAVI2WN/Mordaunt-Short-Aviano-2-Two-way-6-Bookshelf-Speaker-Pair-Walnut/1.html Cambridge, the list goes on and on. Best value may be something used off craigslist.

Or build your own from a partsexpress kit http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=302-973 This is an excellent price, but they have others http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?srchExt=CAT&srchCat=769

or speaker building project if you're good at working with wood. http://www.parts-express.com/project-gallery/speaker-projects/
Edited by gene c - 1/23/12 at 8:31pm
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post #3 of 10
1/24/12 at 3:37am
If you aren't going to use a sub I would recommend looking at small towers. The towers are all as big as they used to be. If it were me I'd go with Axiom M60s. If movies will be a significant use of the system I'd also recommend going with a 3 speaker set-up and using a center channel.
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post #4 of 10
1/24/12 at 3:48am
And scratch the Polk LSi9's off the list. They're 4 ohm.

And even with towers set the crossover to 40 or 50 to help protect them from those deep and loud cannon blasts. They won't play much deeper than that anyway.
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post #5 of 10
1/24/12 at 7:55am
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys, I realize I should've provided a few more details. Size-wise, I think small towers will ultimately work best in the space, I don't think there's room to put bookshelf speakers on the media console, but there would definitely be space for a center channel. Pricewise if I can find something suitable around the range of the Pioneer SP-FS51-LR, $200-350 that would be ideal.
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post #6 of 10
1/24/12 at 12:28pm
I don't have any recos in that range. I hope I'm wrong, but I'll offer that your budget is not really consistent with the implication of SACD/DVD-audio set-up. I think you're going to have to nearly double it.
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post #7 of 10
1/24/12 at 3:56pm
It would take some really good shopping and a bit of luck. The RTi8's or Infinity Primus 362's for $199 when on-sale at Fry's would be fine but they're both kind of large speakers. Check the clearance centers of Vanns.com and OneCall.com for customer returns or open box deals. Small towers are not that common. And a large part of the cost of a speaker is the cabinet. An even larger part for a tower.
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post #8 of 10
1/24/12 at 5:23pm
I also reocmmend these: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Speakers/Home+Theater+Speakers/SP-FS51-LR

I bought the entire set and liked it a lot but they were too bulky for me and I needed something better so I exchanged them for my current set up (which was a LOT more expensive). But I did have the pioneers for a week and they sound great. The price in unbeatable and sound is unmatchable for the price. I bought the ENTIRE surround set (minus subwoofer) for 288,- at a local best buy. They sell it for that cheap as a "package" deal.

Ray
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post #9 of 10
1/25/12 at 10:09am
Thread Starter 
I may go with the Pioneer FS51's based on Ray and Gene's recommendations. Is there any particular reason these wouldn't work well for me? I definitely won't be cranking these up at all, I just want something that will sound clean given the rest of the set up.
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post #10 of 10
1/25/12 at 3:57pm
The only reason they wouldn't work is if you didn't like the way they sound. They will have a slightly softer and warmer sound to them as opposed to a brighter, almost harsh sound you might get from some Polk (the RTi's) and Klipsch. They were designed by Andrew Jones who usually works on much higher cost systems. But he found a way to make an in-expensive speaker sound very good for the price. Not SVS, HSU or Axiom good smile.gif , but pretty good none-the-less.
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