Budget setup Fluance, JBL NSP1, Onk SKSHT510, or Acoustic Research HC6 (1 Viewer)

[DaveGTP]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered the AV-HTB set. I passed on the sixth speaker for now, my budget needs to stay under control. I still have to buy speaker wire, a couple of speaker stands, etc. I'd have to move the couch out from the wall a few feet to squeeze in the sixth channel right now, and that seems a little silly at this point. So I just stuck with the 5 speakers. I will have to drive around this weekend and find a couple of speaker stands.

They just called here to confirm the order. That was quick! Hope the speakers are OK. It's gonna suck waiting for them to arrive. My receiver is going to show up on Saturday (according to UPS). I'm probably gonna have to wait another 2-3 days for the speakers to arrive. D'oh!

 

[Edwin_C]

umm... how're you getting the TX-SR600 for under 300? the cheapest i've seen it is a little bit under 400.

as for the speakers you're choosing. don't go off of what other people's opinions are, go off your own. other people aren't in the same crowd as you are. take Aiwa for example, the crowd that it reaches for is completely different from the crowd that H/K reaches for.

if i were you, i'd also be very skeptical to the fact that fluance doesn't seem to give their speakers a complete frequency response.

for the price, i can't say you'd honestly do better.. because i haven't heard fluance. just know this though, more materials for a good speaker generally means higher cost. from seeing the price, it seems a little bit too unreal.. so my take on it is that you're paying mostly for looks, not sound.

go with a more well known brand. don't let the sub be your determining factor, because you can always get a sub later on. a sub isn't completely necessary.

i say go with jbl, but know that i'm biased to them .

 

[DaveGTP]

Edwin, if you sign up for and login to www.clubonkyo.com , they sell the SR600 refurb for $321.75 (plus however much shipping). I ended up charging the SR601 on my Sony financial services card, same as cash for 90 days, at crutchfield, for $499.95 - $20 credit.

I came very very close to ordering the JBLs and the matching speaker stands this morning for a total of $279. I talked with a couple of my friends who are coming over tonight. One of them had a really good comment. "Is there one of these speaker sets that you would get, but regret not getting the other one?". I would regret settling for bookshelf speakers, even though they are JBLs; the Fluance towers appeal to be. A chancier venture, but, sometimes you have to take a chance. The cnet reviews on them were good, and user comments on them are 95% good. If I don't like them, I will Ebay them off (I am an experienced ebayer), or sell them to someone here on the forum.

Besides, I thought for a while. I realized that I listened to the smaller N24IIs at Best Buy last weekend. I remember that I didn't really like the sound out of the N24s - I vastly prefered the N26s (the bigger bookshelfs). Perhaps the Fluance will work out. I'll make sure to post my input when I get them installed and broken in.

 

[DaveGTP]

Hey guys, quick question to the Fluance owners, if someone could answer it for me. I have everything hooked up and ready to go except for the speakers (they arrive tomorrow).

Rightly, I should post a new thread, but I was hoping to tap in on you guys with Fluance that have already posted. I have the subwoofer hooked up and running (along with the TV speakers until tomorrow). I have the front speakers set to large (since they have decent bass, from what I have hear). Should the fluance center be set to large, or small (I was thinking small). My TX-SR601 crossover is set at 100Hz. Should I tinker with this? What should I set my cutoff on the Sony WM20 to properly go with the Fluance speakers (20hz to 200hz)? Thanks!

 

[perrin]

I just got my Fluance AV-HTB about a week and half ago, and I really like how they sound. I, too, was not sure what settings to put for the speakers and the subwoofer. I did try setting the mains as large for awhile, but the subwoofer did not come through as loudly. After reading several forums messages concerning this issue, the most conclusive thing to do is set the mains as small, and let the subwoofer handle the deep bass. As soon as I changed it to small and I calibrated them with the Radio Shack's SPL meter, I finally hear the sub and the speakers sound even better than before. If you are not sure which setting, try each setting to see which one you like.


perrin

 

[DaveGTP]

Thanks for the advice Perrin, I will try that. Got the speakers today via UPS, took them out of box. I picked up a couple of attach-to-the-wall speaker brackets from Radio Shack for the rears, and a couple of sets of banana plugs for the front towers. I was having trouble figuring out how to put the bananas on the speaker wire at home, so I didn't get to hear the speakers yet. I had to go to work (get to go home in an hour). I think I figured out the banana plugs for when I get home.

Made my third trip to Radio Shack and got the SPL meter for calibrating. Boy am I broke! I scored an optical digital Toslink cable (only 3 ft) for $2.50 on my first trip to the Shack today, whoo hoo!

I will post when I get to demo the setup.

 

[DaveGTP]

Hey guys - I've got things installed and up and running (mostly). I still have to mount the surround speakers for the rear, but everything is up and producing sound. Still tinkering with the subwoofer settings - right now it seems like the sub is outputing when it shouldn't (too much bass).

I did have one issue, though. I popped in a couple of audio CDs and I was getting some crackle. I'm going to post a thread specifically regarding the crackling.

 

[DaveGTP]

OK, I still don't have the surrounds up and running, but I did get to break the speakers for I would say, 4 hours of music and HT. They sound good so far. The crackling seems to be from the CD itself - some troubleshooting found the crackling being produced from a different source over the speakers itself. Seems like a bad recording source for the CD, I guess, since I can't replicate it on any other CD or HT use. Right now I have the crossover @ 80Hz and the speakers on small. Still tinkering a little with it.

 

[DaveGTP]

Just a last post to let everyone know that I am happy with the purchase. Fight Club, LOTR:FOTR, Star Wars Ep II, Matrix all sounded very cool. The crackling I was hearing is apparently just the CD, for it isn't evident on any other CDs. Good for HT, good for music. I am happy with the purchase. Thanks for all the comments/recommendations. The Acoustic Research set almost won out, it was a close 2nd. I'm a happy Fluance owner. The Sony WM20 may need replacing at some point, though.

 

[TommyWMedford]

I'm happy for you. I'm glad you like them. My SX system should be arriving on Wed, maybe Tues, but I doubt it. I'll let everyone know how it goes.