Jonny K
Second Unit
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2002
- Messages
- 375
The time has come for me to buy my 6.1 home theater speakers. My setup is using a Yamaha RXV-1300 Receiver which is capable of handling loads down to 4 Ohm on the main left and right speakers and 6 Ohm on the center and surround speakers. The receiver has a set 80 Hz subwoofer crossover which I can't change. I won't be needing to buy a subwoofer, since the first upgrade I made to my lowly home theater was a DIY 15" Adire Audio Tempest subwoofer which has performed beautifully. I'm looking to spend about 2500 Canadian dollars (2000 US Dollars). I have no preferences between bookshelf and floorstanding, although I will need to buy stands if I have bookshelf speakers. I don't care an awful lot about aesthetics either, sound quality is paramount. The system will be used for movies primarily, but music is definately important too.
My room is quite large. It measures 11 feet wide and 26 feet deep, square. I'm only using about half the room for the theater though, so the actual space I need to fill with sound is about 11 feet wide by 15 feet deep. This presents the problem of not having a rear wall in the theater. Perhaps I can have a rear speaker on a stand behind?
Researching speakers is very difficult. I've read multiple reviews on speakers from Axiom, Ascend Acoustics, Rocket, Swan, Paradigm, and Aperion. In all those reviews the speakers are always praised as being "Outstanding Value" and "Sounds as good as speakers costing 3X more!". It seems every review says this, which makes these statements absolutely meaningless to me.
Here are my initial observations:
Swan - Audio Insider:
www.theaudioinsider.com
Looks very good aesthetically, and it's in the price range. But the surround speakers are 4 Ohm, so I probably can't drive this. I can always use big floor standing speakers as the surrounds, but this just seems weird and overkill to have such huge speakers as surrounds.
Axiom Audio:
www.axiomaudio.com
Well reviewed speakers. I'd be getting the Epic 80 Home Theater without the sub and with an extra surround. Word has it these can be “bright” due to their titanium tweeters, and I've also heard my Yamaha receiver is “bright” - this could be an issue. Also, am I putting too much load on my receiver by putting 4 Ohm speakers as the mains? Hmmm...
Ascend Accoustics:
www.ascendacoustics.com
Looks very good, I'm leaning toward these. I would get a full set of CMT-340s (or whatever Ascend recommends). With the money I can save with Ascend speakers I will be able to buy a Behringer FeedBack Destroyer. And they're made with Aerogel! That's so cool!
Paradigm:
www.paradigm.ca
I haven't looked at Paradigm much for two reasons. First of all, their product lines are confusing. They have so many speakers in different categories, the “Performance” line, the “Monitor” line, the “Reference” line, and each with 10 or so different speaker choices. Can the higher end speakers in the “Performance” line outdo the lower end speakers in the “Monitor” line? Too confusing! Additionally, these are speakers sold through traditional retail channels, and I like the idea of saving money on internet-direct speakers.
Aperion Audio:
www.aperionaudio.com
I don't know a lot about these guys. They seem to have a nice looking product, and certainly a nice looking website. But there isn't a lot of exposure for their home theater speakers (I only recently heard of them) and I can't find any performance graphs. Any input?
AV123 – Rockets
www.av123.com
Very pretty speakers, in the same class as the Swans for aesthetics. Unfortunately the center channel they offer is a 4 Ohm speaker which my receiver won't drive, so I've pretty much ignored Rockets.
Here's the question - what are the best speakers I can buy for a 6.1 system for 2000 US excluding a subwoofer? I know Ascend Acoustic's 340 (and 170) series speakers are supposed to sound great...but compared to what? Do they sound great to the average joe, or do they sound great to an audiophile? I'm looking to buy direct over the internet without an audition, so I want to make sure this purchase is well researched.
Thanks,
Jonny K
My room is quite large. It measures 11 feet wide and 26 feet deep, square. I'm only using about half the room for the theater though, so the actual space I need to fill with sound is about 11 feet wide by 15 feet deep. This presents the problem of not having a rear wall in the theater. Perhaps I can have a rear speaker on a stand behind?
Researching speakers is very difficult. I've read multiple reviews on speakers from Axiom, Ascend Acoustics, Rocket, Swan, Paradigm, and Aperion. In all those reviews the speakers are always praised as being "Outstanding Value" and "Sounds as good as speakers costing 3X more!". It seems every review says this, which makes these statements absolutely meaningless to me.
Here are my initial observations:
Swan - Audio Insider:
www.theaudioinsider.com
Looks very good aesthetically, and it's in the price range. But the surround speakers are 4 Ohm, so I probably can't drive this. I can always use big floor standing speakers as the surrounds, but this just seems weird and overkill to have such huge speakers as surrounds.
Axiom Audio:
www.axiomaudio.com
Well reviewed speakers. I'd be getting the Epic 80 Home Theater without the sub and with an extra surround. Word has it these can be “bright” due to their titanium tweeters, and I've also heard my Yamaha receiver is “bright” - this could be an issue. Also, am I putting too much load on my receiver by putting 4 Ohm speakers as the mains? Hmmm...
Ascend Accoustics:
www.ascendacoustics.com
Looks very good, I'm leaning toward these. I would get a full set of CMT-340s (or whatever Ascend recommends). With the money I can save with Ascend speakers I will be able to buy a Behringer FeedBack Destroyer. And they're made with Aerogel! That's so cool!
Paradigm:
www.paradigm.ca
I haven't looked at Paradigm much for two reasons. First of all, their product lines are confusing. They have so many speakers in different categories, the “Performance” line, the “Monitor” line, the “Reference” line, and each with 10 or so different speaker choices. Can the higher end speakers in the “Performance” line outdo the lower end speakers in the “Monitor” line? Too confusing! Additionally, these are speakers sold through traditional retail channels, and I like the idea of saving money on internet-direct speakers.
Aperion Audio:
www.aperionaudio.com
I don't know a lot about these guys. They seem to have a nice looking product, and certainly a nice looking website. But there isn't a lot of exposure for their home theater speakers (I only recently heard of them) and I can't find any performance graphs. Any input?
AV123 – Rockets
www.av123.com
Very pretty speakers, in the same class as the Swans for aesthetics. Unfortunately the center channel they offer is a 4 Ohm speaker which my receiver won't drive, so I've pretty much ignored Rockets.
Here's the question - what are the best speakers I can buy for a 6.1 system for 2000 US excluding a subwoofer? I know Ascend Acoustic's 340 (and 170) series speakers are supposed to sound great...but compared to what? Do they sound great to the average joe, or do they sound great to an audiophile? I'm looking to buy direct over the internet without an audition, so I want to make sure this purchase is well researched.
Thanks,
Jonny K