bookshelf speakers (1 Viewer)

[erxk]

Hi guys,

I was just wondering generally, haven't been able to find much reviews on Pyle speakers, I was curious to know how they matched up to other speaker brands. Particularly the Pyle PDMN58 mini-monitors. I'm using a technics SA-222 receiver. If there are any other suggestions for speakers that'd be nice for the amp, I'd gladly appreciate (however my budget is low at the moment for speakers, but I'm trying to get decent ones as I am a developing audiophile for my slightly larger than 10 X 10 bedroom.) I'm also looking at the JBL E20s.

thanks,
Erek

 

[Greg Gable]

AV123 x-ls Bookshelf Loudspeaker

 

[John Garcia]

Pyle is definitely not the place I'd start when looking for speakers. Not good, not bad, and there are plenty of choices. What is the budget?

The X-LSs are certainly a good choice, but they are also out of stock until the end of March, unless you can wait that long.

 

[erxk]

well, I would definitely look into the x-ls's even with the wait, but they are a bit too high. I'd say at most right now I can spend $100. Although I have been hearing many good things and reading good reviews about AV123, I might consider starting to save, as I'm sure they are well worth the price.

 

[John Garcia]

Athena AS-B1.2 from www.audioadvisor.com Just a little above your budget, but a decent little speaker.

 

[erxk]

Ah, those are nice. I can definitely go with those at the moment. Just in case I was wondering about saving up for the AV123 x-ls's, the price is not too much more hefty than the B1.2s, would I be compromising a lot of sound quality if I settled with B1.2s instead of the x-ls's?

 

[John Garcia]

The Athenas are good for the price, but the difference is worth it for the X-LSs IMO. The cabinets are 10X nicer on the X-LSs and are worth the difference alone. Sound wise, the X-LSs are definitely better also. You've got time to save too, since it will be a few weeks before they are available They will also be releasing some new finishes for them besides the black and maple.

 

[howitzer]

Love my B&W DM600's. I use 5 plus the sub. About $350 for a pair.

 

[aht3]

Erxk,
If you are trying to save some money, I have heard some good things about the Sony SS-MB350H. It also got a lot of good reviews on Amazon. Here is the link. At $75 for the pair, that's hard to beat

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SS-MB350H...3315505&sr=1-2

eBay has some too.


http://listings.ebay.com/_W0QQsocmdZ...e=search&fgtp=

Hope this helps.

 

[John Garcia]

Amazon isn't exactly a good place to look for speaker reviews.

 

[aht3]

I hear ya...just working with a guy on a budget. If the specs are what they say they are, this is a good deal.

 

[Ken.L]

The Athena's sensitivity is 90 db and all the other's are in the 86-87 range. Since your receiver puts out only 30 watts, the higher sensitivity speaker would suit you better.

 

[aht3]

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-JBL-Studio-L830-3Way-6-Surround-Bookshelf-Speakers_W0QQitemZ120095494018QQcategoryZ61381QQrd Z1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-JBL-Studio-L810-3-Way-Surround-Bookshelf-Speakers_W0QQitemZ120090928840QQcategoryZ61381QQtc ZphotoQQcmdZViewItem


These are nice speakers. Especially at this price. I have the 810s for rear but if someone wanted to use these mainly for bookshelf speakers, i would go with the 830s hands down

 

[erxk]

Anyone know the stats on the Paradigm V2 Mini-monitors?

 

[LanceJ]

For their price, the Pyles look decent but I've never heard them. BTW: after being into this hobby for 26 years, I've found there are always some diamonds among the dirt or at least some cubic zirconias so price doesn't tell you everything.

FYI: unless they've changed hands recently, Harmon/Kardon has owned Pyle for years now.

Anyway...I own the previous version of these Pioneers for temporary rear channels and while they are a bit bright, until you can get something better, they are hard to beat for a hundred clams per pair (sold at Circuit City):

Pioneer bookshelf

Pioneer builds all their own drivers so they can price these low but still keep the quality; plus they don't use wood veneer so that money goes into the drivers instead. They also sell smaller versions of this model. Pyle also sells a similar large model but is a 2-way & is black w/wood(?) side panels.

I've also heard Sony's version of this speaker i.e. also a 3-way with an 8" driver and it sounds quite good also, though its silver grill puts me off a little.

Since the Pioneers are "large" bookshelf speakers with an actual woofer - eight inches - and not a 5.25" midbass driver gasping for air, they can actually produce enjoyable and feel-able low bass, particularly in that small 10X10FT room (receiver set to "no sub", fronts to "large"). And for a lot of movies they should perform decently too because despite audio board urban myth, not every adventure movie has bass into the low 20s or lower. And many movie soundtrack mixers also include bass in the 40Hz to 100Hz region in the front left/right channels for people using only their TV's speakers.*

As I've mentioned here before, even when crossed over at 100Hz (the lowest my older A/V receiver goes) my Boston Acoustic CR9s - also with an 8" woofer - still produce bass that vibrates couch cushions....and this is with music. I've experimented with smaller speakers particularly ones using the very popular 5.25" woofer size and the difference was tremendous, in other words basically all that bass disappeared. Again, this is using a 100Hz crossover, so at the more standard 80Hz point.......

This means that even with a sub being used, there will be a gap in the lower sound spectrum, which IMO is what causes so many small sat/subwoofer systems to sound so thin and unsatisfying. You could raise the crossover point of the sub and/or receiver to try to compensate, but then you start inviting boomy bass into your room.

* when a standard dvd player plays a 5.1 soundtrack, and when its left/right analog RCA outputs are used, abiding by the dvd format standards the player combines the left/right/center/rear channels to form a stereo mix but discards the LFE channel since most TV speakers even on large RPTVs cannot handle extremely low bass if it is present.