New user needs suggestion on front main speakers and sub Please (1 Viewer)

[jonnyukon]

I need some suggestions for front main speakers and a sub or two that will work with the power rating of my harmon kardon hk-3490 receiver i just bought for 279 ... 120x2 @ 8ohm and 150x2 @4 ohm. and has two sub outputs. im on a budget of around 700 for both. Our musical tastes r from hard rock, metal to rap and we watch alot of movies. So any help would be greatly appericated

 

[Robert_J]

Power rating has very little impact on the speakers you need. Are you looking for towers or bookshelf speakers?

 

[jonnyukon]

I would really like two towers an a sub

 

[Robert_J]

Elemental Designs towers $400 - http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_42&products_id=972 eD sub - $350 - http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_41&products_id=406 Call them up and ask for a package discount. They are very good about doing that. Pay via Dwolla and save a couple of percent as well.

 

[jonnyukon]

Wow I really like the looks an the prices r right ! Thank u btw what is dWolla? I have pay pal

 

[Robert_J]

Dwolla is an alternative to PayPal. http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-11/tech/30381380_1_credit-card-interchange-fees-paypal

 

[iamfrankiam]

My take differs from the other responder. I've been using subwoofers seemingly forever and i like them quite a bit. For my current system I decided to invest the motherload of my budget for speakers into the subwoofer and to then make do with whatever I could round up for the fronts, sides and rears. I feel the payoff in more than one way as in, my $750 Velodyne 15" self-powered sub will lift my couch off the floor. Whether you're talking low frequency effects or a kick drum or bass, this sub has the ability to move you. The effect is amazingly real for music and simulates standing on stage and in the middle of band. The reproduction of the sound of a kick drum will thump your shoulder and the sound of a bass guitar is amazingly similar to standing in front of a real bass rig. The high end is fine using a mix of inexpensive speakers and I have no want to change out any of these little speakers. My system is set up as a 7.1 with three across the front and four more for the sides and rear. The center speaker is actually a pair of ten year old Radio Shack bookshelf speakers, the front sides are a pair of new Boston Acoustics and the no-name sides/rear units came from Amazon. Funny story, I ordered four speakers at $24.95 each and when they arrived I found I'd ordered four pair instead of four singles! I was sort of let down thinking I was about to install $12 speakers in my fabulous new system but they really do the job just fine. Again, I'm not feeling the least bit compelled to change out any of it. In operation I feel the critical item in my system is the crossover point. Theory says there is no stereo information below 150 Hz and none of my cheezy llttle speakers are called upon to perform below this mark where they really wouldn't be worth spit anyhow. As such, it works. I used the calibration feature of Sony receiver as the beginning point for calibration. I defined the fronts/sides/rears as "small" speakers. I paid particular attention to the crossover frequency of the center speaker and tuned the crossover point up and down to keep any male voice from sounding either too thin or too muddy. Once I hit the mark it was Calibration done. It's my fancy subwoofer that carries the load in my system. This fifteen inch speaker in my small living room works effortlessly. The first time I noticed the waft of air coming for the closing of a car door in a movie drama I smiled. The sub had been sitting there quietly until that point. I'm a sixties sort of guy and watching and listening to Paul McCartney's Good Evening NYC was a total high. I discovered that I can't really turn the system up beyond movie theater loudness ...It's just way too loud beyond that and it's all because of that subwoofer and that level is well short of the experience that will leave anyone with ringing ears and complaints from friends that I'm overdoing it on the volume control. So my recommendation to you is to throw all the money you can at a great self-powered subwoofer, one with a large cone and perhaps a 1500 watt amplifier. There's no getting around the need to move a large volume of air to reproduce low-frequency bass, and I say it's the presence or absence of a low end that determines the naturalness in the sound of your system and not an ear-splitting high end sound that only serves to hurt. Get a great sub. It will change your multimedia life. Francis

 

[Robert_J]

Following Frank's advice above: BR-1 kit $150 - http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-642 Speaker stands $44 - http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=240-766 Those BR-1 speakers are no slouch either. I run a DIY design using the same drivers and a similar sized box. Awesome sounding speakers that will get loud. That lets you move $200 more to the sub. Get the next larger sub from eD or go completely DIY.