Best bookshelf for under 200 dollars? (1 Viewer)

[Brian Bunge]

Jack,
I heard a pair of S38's in this system here: www.paul-larson.com. I was quite impressed with them! I don't think they have quite the vocal clarity of my Emeralds, but they definitely play lower. I never would have guessed that JBL's would even be worth looking at.
Also, I'm assuming your new sub that you want to cross over at 60Hz is the 1803, correct? What will you use for a crossover? Does your receiver have flexible bass management or will you use the ICBM or some other type of crossover? I'm probably going to build a 4th order L/R active crossover and was thinking about 60Hz as a starting point.
Brian
P.S. I also ordered a FBD yesterday from www.musiciansfriend.com for $129 ($141 shipped)!

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Also, I'm assuming your new sub that you want to cross over at 60Hz is the 1803, correct? What will you use for a crossover?

Yep, the 1803. I think what I'll do initially, since my Onkyo 575x has a fixed crossover at 80Hz (3rd order LP, 2nd HP) and no pre-outs, is run the mains as "Large", set the sub to "None", and take a speaker-level feed to the sub. I'll use my AVA250 plate amp to see how this works, and it might even be enough to get me to 10db below reference,according to Unibox. No HP filter for the mains in that setup, though. It would be even cooler to use that Adire HS500, but it has no speaker-level inputs. I suppose it would be a simple matter to pad down a speaker feed to line level.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Jack,
Parts Express sells a speaker to line level converter but I think it's about $40. You might want to look at that.
Brian

 

[BryanZ]

Since the budget has been increased, I'd look at a pair of nOrh 5.1s, either in wood or synthetic marble. Your wife would probably prefer the wood. They are simply gorgeous! I just got a pair on Monday, walnut color. Much better looking, IMO, than the ceramics. What's more is that they are on sale now for $400 a pair delivered. The synthetic marble goes for the normal price of $500.
Another one I'd look at is the Swan Diva 2.1. Very nice looking and should sound excellent.
ACI's website is www.audioc.com. Swan Diva is www.av123.com and nOrh's is www.norh.com.

 

[DonH]

Thaks for the info on the Nohrs and Divas. Which is the better speaker of these 2? I see the Nohrs at 500. Where are you seeing them for 400 dollars?

 

[DonH]

Still also trying to find places for all of the Take 5.2 system. The speakers are sitting on my floor in their boxes. If I did end up using these for HT and Music, would they sound decent enough in music to bother keeping?

 

[DonH]

I apologize for taking so much time and space over this ridiculous issue. I bought a hot tub when I owned my previous place and had the room, and I almost lost a relationship due to the agonizingly long time I took researching what I wanted... so you see how I can be. I suppose it all comes down to a price/quality issue, or value for the money. Here are the speakers I am still considering and the prices which I have been quoted locally:
Energy Take 5.2 with S8 sub(already have here) $625 total
Energy EXL16 $200
Polk RT25i $200
B&W DM303 $300
NHT SuperOnes $260
Paradigm Titans $200
Paradigm Mini Monitors $350
Nohr 5.1(don't know where I would fit them) $500
Diva 2.1 $400 plus shipping
JBL S38 $400
Axiom M3Ti $275 plus shipping
I think that is it. I will keep the sub only if I keep the Take 5.2 system. Otherwise I'll be operating without a sub.
Why the hell can't I just make a decision?

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Try the 5.2. If you like it, keep it. With no sub, the S38's might have the best bass of the lot, from what I've read, and are rather efficient.

 

[DonH]

I suppose I should also mention that the speakers are going to have to be very close to the wall.

 

[Joseph_D]

I'd look at a bookshelf sized pro-audio studio monitor made by Hafler called the M5. You can listen to them at most Guitar Centers. They retail for around $220 a pair I think. I own 5 of them and they seem to effortlessly outperform most bookshelf sized monitors at many times the price tag.

 

[Saurav]

Here's something to make you happy - close to the wall, I would rule out the Paradigm Mini Monitors - they boom quite a bit if they don't have space behind them to breathe. You could mess around with stuffing the port, but that's not worth it. The NHT on the other hand, isn't ported (AFAIK), so it should work fairly well near the wall.
If you know that your speakers will be close to a wall, you might want to bring your list down to just the sealed or front-ported speakers. Sure, some rear-ported speakers do sound good near a wall too, but that always compromises their performance.

 

[Dave Simpson]

Don, here's a fellow in a similar boat . I detailed my experience to him with Axiom's M3ti, and he's since placed an order. Waiting to hear his impressions. Best of luck. Cheers.
DS.
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"Buncha slack-jawed faggots around here! This stuff'll make ya a goddam sexual tyrannasorse...just like me!"
Dave's Really Moldy HT Page

 

[Danny Tse]

Don,
The Polk RT25i is rear-ported, however, they are also made to be a wall-mounted speaker. Polk has a build-in wall-mounting bracket right over the port, what Polk called Power Port, so that the speaker can placed close to the wall. At my local Good Guys, the RT25i can also be used as a rear surround speaker, with them hanging on the wall. This may help.

 

[DonH]

It has become quite clear that I need a non-rear ported speaker. People mentioned PSB's. Have not researched those yet.

 

[BryanZ]

Don,
The woods are under the Christmas special . You can see the photos of the rosewood and walnut colors about halfway down. They may have to be about 6 - 9" away from the wall but nothing to major. The Swans should be front ported so they may end being a much better option for you.

 

[DonH]

Jeez... the Swans are over 80 lbs together to ship. That seems pretty heavy for a bookshelf speaker. Does that mean anything? The weight? Oh... and another little interesting aspect of the fiance's apparent decoration and speaker location control. The speakers, according to her, going to have to sit on top of a 6 foot armoire type piece of furniture(actually, it's a Murphy bed). Lovely. Will this make much difference in sound? I hate my life. =)

 

[John Garcia]

NHT are sealed also, and have what are probably the nicest cabinets I've ever seen. Awsome black (or white) piano lacquer with rounded corners all around. Since they are sealed, they are extremely accurate, but do not have as punchy bass (and, as mentioned, you would benefit from plenty of clean power to drive them). The SB1 and SB2 are much better speakers than the previous generation Super Zero and Super One. Had I not gotten such a good deal on my Paradigms, I probably would have gone with SB2s.
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All progress is based upon a universal, innate desire on the part of every organism,
to live beyond it's income.
ITRCA ** Link Removed (sorry, car guy)

 

[Jack Gilvey]

In this case, I would just let her pick out the ones she thinks look nice.

 

[DonH]

John... who makes the SB1 and SB2 again?

 

[John Garcia]

NHT makes the SB1 and SB2 - you can get complete specs at http://www.crutchfield.com/S-7pgOiua5bl2/cgi-bin/prodsearch.asp?s=0&g=37900&est=nht&search=sb . Definitely worth a listen. I demoed them with a Denon 3802 (same power output as my receiver), and they sounded great.