best bookshelf speakers at BestBuy? (1 Viewer)

[DavidCooper]

You also mentioned these would go inside the entertainment center...right? If so I hope the speakers your considering are front ported....if not they will sound a bit strange.

 

[MarcusDiddle]

Well, it's kind of a cool setup. I've got a fireplace. To the left of the fireplace is built-in shelving for components. Above the fireplace and component shelving is just wide open. My 36" Sony Wega fits nicely there, and my two speakers will go on either side of the tv. I'll post pics later

 

[DorianBryant]

Noticed I typed "timber" matching. Bet no-one has heard that one before!

I had some Bose 501's and tried to use the JBL N center to match. Sounded terrible. I sold the 501's and bought all JBL's.

However, I would make sure your front 3 speakers all match at the very least. I am not a Bose basher. If you like the Bose, get the 301's. It will not sound good if you mix any other fronts with your center.

If you were going to move your Bose to rear duty, I would recommend JBL. I have S38 and use an EC35 as a center. Not truly a perfect match but very close. Both a 3-way but the EC35 uses a 3/4" titanium laminate tweeter and a 3" mid as opposed to the 1" full titanium tweet and 4" mid.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Yup! Nice thing about BB is their return policy, so you can try them all at home. I had JBL before Athena in my HT and am happier now...very impressive (and I've had Magnepan, Spica, NHT, etc...not new at this). Try both if possible. I'm returning the Magnepan MMG-W/C suite I tried and keeping my large Athena setup (AS-F2/F1/R1).

 

[MarcusDiddle]

Ok I'm at a loss on how to do this. My receiver does not have red/black speakerwire connections for a surround-back speaker. It only has a monaural connection for surround-back, located directly above the sub connection. Is there any way to convert the connection?

 

[Maneesh]

You could use a Y-splitter maybe? I don't know what kind of signal that connection would have - does your receiver have 6.1 decoding?

 

[JamesG]

Marcus, it sounds like your receiver does 6.1 processing, but only has 5 amplifier channels. I believe this was more common in slightly older receivers (2 to 3 years old).

To use the surround back, you would need to buy a separate amplifier. You would only need a one-channel amplifier (called a monoblock). You're probably looking at a minimum of around $200, unless you find a good deal used.

The amp has an input that connects to the "surround back" output on your receiver and binding posts to which you would connect your surround back speaker

James

 

[Jack Gilvey]

I agree with James' analysis. I'd advise against purchasing an amp just for rear surround, though, when there are new 6.1 receivers available for the same price. I woudn't even bother with using the Bose for rear in this case. What model receiver do you have?

 

[MarcusDiddle]

First of all, thanks for all the input guys! This place is great.

I've only had the receiver a little over a year, so I'd hate to replace it so soon. It's only 5.1 though. The STR-DE985 is 6.1. Here's a wiring diagram of my receiver:

http://mjpd.com/images/misc/STR-DE885.jpg

The only surround-back option I have is located directly above the sub connection (it's highlighted). So I couldn't use my Bose center for surround-back even if I wanted to. So I'm stuck with my center for now.

So honestly, would the Bose 301's be a bad investment? Are the cubes the only Bose products that people are leary of, or is it all Bose products in general?

 

[Jimi C]

just sell the Bose center on Ebay..

 

[Brad_See]

I love my JBL setup. E30's in the front, EC35 center channel and E10's mounted on the walls in the rear. Sounds awesome and seamless. I bought the E30's and E10's from www.bhphotovideo because they shipped them for $159 total for the E30's and $99 total for the E10's. That was about half the price that my local Best Buy was asking. I'd avoid the E20's if you're placing them against the back of a shelf or wall because they are rear ported. The E30's and E10's are front ported.

brad cook

 

[BryanZ]

Best sounding speakers at BB, IMO, are the JBL E-20s. Same sonic signature as the E-90s. Of course, if you have 21" between the front of your entertainment center and the wall then you may be interested in trading a $500 BB gift certificate for my ceramic nOrh 4.0s, including shipping.

 

[MarcusDiddle]

Haha thanks for the offer Bryan

It sounds like JBL is highly regarded around here as a quality speaker. I'll definitely look into the E20's. I've actually got about 25" from front to back, so I'm not too concerned about going with a rear-ported speaker. I'll look into upgrading my center to the EC25 or EC35 soon after.

 

[MarcusDiddle]

Brad, how was your experience with that place? They've got E30's listed at $150, + free shipping on all JBL's; pretty good deal! Are E30's better than E20's? I'm guessing so just by looking at model numbers...

 

[MarcusDiddle]

*quick update*

Thanks for all your advice and suggestions guys! After spending a good 45 minutes in the speaker room at BestBuy, I brought home a pair of Athena AS-B2's. My local BB is nice in that they have a completely seperate room for listening to speakers. The JBL and Athena setups were right next to each other, which made comparing them easier. It was a very tough call, but when it came down to it, I chose audio quality (Athena) over bass (JBL). While the JBL's packed a bigger punch, I felt the Athena's had a higher-quality of sound. They sounded much clearer and more crisp than the JBL's.

I just finished wiring them up and haven't had a chance to really test them (damn olympics...). But I've got 30 days to try them out Thanks again for all your help! I'll let you know what I think of these in about a week!

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Cool..nice speakers. Let us know about your center. Which JBL did you compare? In all fairness, you should probably try them at home also...BB isn't so great to evaluate.

 

[MarcusDiddle]

The Athena's sound great so far; I'm not missing my Kenwood's one bit yet. I haven't watched an entire movie yet, but I've tested the speakers with scenes from Return of the King, and Kill Bill v.2, both of which sounded great. I still need to do some adjusting on the eq for the fronts and the center.

I compared the Athena AS-B2's to the JBL E-20's and E-30's. They had an "open item" of E-30's there, reduced to $170, which I was really tempted to take. But in the end I felt the Athena's just sounded better.