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Best Center Under $200?? (1 Viewer)

Donald_Spry

Stunt Coordinator
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Mar 3, 2002
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I have heard good things about the Axiom VP150. From their outlet store it weights in at $297.50. I believe that includes shipping and a 30 day money back guarantee. If you don't like it you can send it back. You would only be out s/h.

You could run a search on it here, or check out audioreview.com to get an idea of peoples opinions.


DJ
 

Mark Fitzsimmons

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 18, 2001
Messages
539
Medium Density Fiberboard.

Its wood, I think it can be described as sawdust and epoxy right?

Its strong enough for speaker boxes and is known for its resistance to resonating.
 

Kevin Parker

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May 18, 2002
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228
for people who wanna buy this S center go to yahoo shopping and you will find it for $137.88 on many differen yahoo stores, thats the cheapest i found on net.
 

Phil Iturralde

Screenwriter
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Oct 7, 1998
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1,892
One advantage a conglomeroth like JBL parent Harman International has is that it can cough up the high tooling cost for plastic moldings, which look great and have acoustical advantages, too.

... Brent wrote in another article about the 3-way JBL S-Center, ..."The S-Center sports a 1-inch tweeter mounted above a 4-inch midrange, both flanked by 5-1/4-inch woofers. The advantage of this design is that its horizontal off-axis response is much smoother than that of the usual two-way, woofer-tweeter-woofer center speaker."
Based on the favorable recommendation here, the JBL S-Center accomplished it's goal to reproduce dialog with outstanding clarity, dynamic realism and accurate localization for an outstanding price.

Phil
 

Mike Strassburg

Second Unit
Joined
Nov 4, 2001
Messages
421
Under $200 I'd have to also say the S-center as I picked mine up for $141 shipped last year. Under $300 I'd have to say the Klipsch Legend C-7 as I also have one of those.
Unfortunately it REALLY depends upon what mains you will buy. What's your approximate budget for mains and how soon will you purchase them? Don't want to get a cc now and have the matching mains be discountinued.
One more I forget to mention: DIY KLF-10 converted into a center channel. We're talking 85# cc with dual 10's for about $250. This thing is incredible. Sorry for the shameless plug :D
 

Kevin Parker

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May 18, 2002
Messages
228
Thanx a lot guys for your help, I think I will consider s center, I will go to some store check em out and let you guys know what I think about em, Thanx a lot again for helping me. :)
 

EricHaas

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Messages
667
Picking up a center based on its own quality and buying mains to match is the tail wagging the dog. The quality of the mains is more important, particularly if you plan on doing any music listening at all. It's OK to buy the center now and mains later, but the first consideration in picking out the center is how good are the mains that will go with it.

I think JBL s-series offers great bang for the buck, but I do think there are a couple of possibly better options out there, particularly as you upped your budget to $300.

The Axiom recommendation above is a very good one. You can gear toward getting their Mt22 or Mt3 bookshelf speakers later on. You will be absolutely blown away by either. Very few pairs of bookshelf speakers under a $1000 sound better. I recommend getting their VP100 for $198 factory outlet. That is the proper match for the Mt22's and Mt3's.

You can also get the Paradigm cc-370 center for $300 with a modest dealer discount off the MSRP of $325. It is a great center in its own right, and will later match with Monitor series Paradigms - the Mini-Monitors at $325 being the best bargain there.

I strongly encourage going to a hi-fi shop and listening to at least one brand like Paradigm. I also encourage looking hard at online direct stuff like Axiom. It is hard to beat the sound you get for the money with online direct.
 

Kevin Parker

Stunt Coordinator
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May 18, 2002
Messages
228
I wuz browsing the net and found out that JBL and Infinity are the same company owned by harman Kardan, did you guys know that? I didnt. and infinity wuz my first choice, so now its easier to choose.
big bucks!! Harman+JBL+Infinity+Digitech+Soundcraft+many more=One Big A** company :b
 

Todd smith

Supporting Actor
Joined
Apr 2, 2002
Messages
643
Infinity was also one of my first choices when I was looking for speakers. When I found out jbl and infinity are both with Harman I said hmmm.. what about the s-series from jbl? Checked them out and thought the s-38 at 279.00/ pair was unbeatable. I listened to paradigm speakers and thought they were awesome as well, but the only ones that could compare or better the s-38 IMO were the studio line which is much more money. I really liked the studio 40's, but even at the dealer discount of 800.00/pair I could not justify the extra cost over the jbl's. There was a diference but not $520.00 worth. Add to the fact that the studio cc was 400.00 and I would be at $2000.00 for 4 40's and cc center before tax, while 4 s-38's and s-center ran me 729.00 shipped. There are some great speakers at this price point, but from my research the jbl's can't be beat. Good Luck!
 

EricHaas

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Messages
667
The difference between a pair at one price point and a better sounding pair at a higher price is usually subtle. Whether or not you think it is worth the difference really depends on how much the difference in price means to you financially. There is no doubt that as speakers get more expensive you get less bang for the buck. The JBL s-series probably gives more bang than the Paradigm Studio series, though the Studios sound better IMO. And at Canadian prices, the Studios are very hard to beat.

I find the Paradigm Monitor series to be on par with the s-series, though I have not done a proper a/b test under level matched conditions, so take my opinion with a grain.

The Axiom Mt22's can be had for $325 in b-stock. IMO, you won't find a better speaker at that price point. Maybe not anywhere. I don't think you can demo them though.

BTW, I owned jbl n-series prior to my current Paradigm Studio set. A good starter set.
 

Marc H

Second Unit
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Messages
497
Kevin,
Being that you are in Toronto, try and get into some of the shops and listen to the Canadian brands. In general, you should find better bang for your buck in the domestic companies because of the lack of import and distribution costs.
I second the Axiom recommendations and you should be able to find several Axiom retailers in the Toronto area that will save you over the Axiom direct prices. Check out the Axiom VP50Se, VP100Se and my favourite, the VP150Se.
 

Bruce Chang

Second Unit
Joined
May 10, 2002
Messages
283
Find a used Totem mite T center for $200. I bought it off my friend and one of the best center channels I've heard in it's price range.
 

Kevin Parker

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 18, 2002
Messages
228
I found axiom center CE50 for $120 on their site shipping and taxes included, you guys think its a good deal, any one use this cnter?
 

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