Your Favorite $600 Speakers (1 Viewer)

What are your favorite speakers (bookshelves or preferrably towers) which handle music/movies well and are in the $600 range?

Ascend Acoustics 340. http://www.ascendacoustics.com/

ELT's by av123.com

Magnepan MMGs

Are we talking about a pair? If so, I don't think I'd qualify the ELTs. Maybe the ELT/PBS combo deal?

I like the Rocket 250s or used 550s in the $600-700 range. Of course the Ascend 340s is also a favorite.

I also need to get the HTD Level 3 towers in my home for some extended listening.

Klipsch Heresey, but you have to like that 'live' sound. You can get a set for less than six cheese. One major drawback is that the matching center channel is hard to come by; they don't make 'em any more.

I'm assuming you are talking about a_pair_of speakers, not a full 5.x setup.

B&W 600 Series

Used Polk Audio LSi9s

Ascend 340's here too!

Yes, I'm just talking about a pair of front speakers. I'm thinking full range towers rather than bookshelves for music.

What about offerings from PSB?

Thanks

The Magnepan MMG's.

Revel Concerta M12 - Eliminated my urge to upgrade. I actually lost interest in HTF after I purchased the speakers (from once a day to about once a month).

PSB speakers are very good. In general, North American-designed speakers are well engineered.

Yes, it seems that Canadian speakers have a lot to offer -- I'm having trouble choosing between PSB, Energy, Paradigm, Axiom, etc.

Slightly used Paradigm Studio 20s.

I have NHT SB3s in one system and B&W601S3s in another system. The B&Ws are about $450/pr and hard to find cheaper then that. The NHTs are $600/pr but pretty easy to find deals that are lower priced. The B&Ws are disappointing and require space around the cabinet to sound good (lots of it). The NHTs work much better closer to the walls and overall present a much more accurate sound. The NHTs remind me of the Celestion SL6S I had in the past, they disappear and have great imaging and soundstage. The B&Ws sound is nice, have good soundstage but lack a focused a image and sound too boomy in the mid bass (too close to the rear wall in my installation at 12")...very uninspired sound compared to more expensive B&W series.

Haven't heard anything in this range that do what the Magnepan MMG's do, when used within their dynamic and positional limits.

Once you've heard Maggie MMGs, you don't want to get back into the box.

Plus, since the surrounds mount to walls, and look like just "panels," they can be a little easier to get past the ol' lady...

Yes, but the thing I hear time after time is that the MMGs lack bottom end, and don't do well with rock music or action-type movie soundtracks. For mids and highs, they're supposed to be very detailed — many say that they're wonderful for piano, classical, and vocals.

Since I predominantly listen to rock/funk/blues type music and want to use them also for home theater, I'm concerned that there are speakers better suited to that type of application.

I'm still considering them, but from what I've heard so far the MMGs don't seem like the right fit.

For those who recommended them — can the MMGs handle pounding rock music and thundering movie soundtracks? I could use a sub I suppose, but wouldn't a full-range tower speaker be a better choice?

Pounding rock? Thundering soundtracks? Klipsch.