Can I improve sound for only $500? (1 Viewer)

[Rob White]

Hey Joe,

I've already got the wire in the wall (from construction 10 years ago). What I'm worried about now is that by relocating the speakers and/or bringing in a subwoofer, the wires won't be long enough any more. What do I do in that case?

Thanks in advance,
Rob

 

[Marty M]

IMO, the way you will hear the most difference is to upgrade your front speakers. I suggest you look at the Paradigm line. They have a wide variety of speakers in all price ranges. You might first consider upgrading the front three speakers and then purchase "matching" surrounds, and then a sub. Just my $.02 worth.

 

[nolesrule]

That's what the wallplate is for. Attach the existing in-wall wire to the back of the wallplate and a new wire of whatever length you need from the front of the plate to the speakers.

Unless you are talking about relocating the hole in your wall for the speakers, but that's a different thing altogether.

 

[Rob White]

Thanks Joe. My brain's not working real well today, I guess. Makes perfect sense.

Rob

 

[LanceJ]

Hi Rob,

Sorry about the delay-I was whining about the problems of surround music on the Music forum.

You found the right one. We talk about that one so much here I took it for granted you knew which sub I was speaking of.

 

[DavidCooper]

The Infinity Primus line is a good budget system. You might want to take a look at those.

I set a budget system up for my Dad last summer with the 4 Primus 150's (fronts and rears) and the Primus center channel. He already had a decent sub...but you can always fine a decent budget sub.

I thought the Infinities were a good "bang for buck" speaker that you can buy at places like Circuit City etc. They are front ported so you have some more flexibility in placement if space is a factor.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Rob,

I love the look of that Advent sub at Parts Express. I'd buy it. That will yield a very big improvement right away. Next, I'd find a nice center channel speaker that is a match for nice bookshelves that you can buy some time in the future. Adding a center and sub instead of running full range fronts and "phantom" center will IMO give you the most bang for the buck.

Those Bose speakers with their two tweeters could potentially work extremely well for rear surrounds. You may have to get clever mounting them (ceiling or wall brackets and such), but think about it.

 

[Rob White]

Lots of great ideas from you guys. Here's where I'm at:

1) I need to work with my wife on finding floor space for a sub (the sub seems to be what most folks agree is the #1 concern). She's a very cool wife, but we don't have a ton of floor space and I'm not sure how she's going to feel about something that screams "I'm a big subwoofer."

2) I really never see myself moving the 301's to the rear. Part of the reason that I want to get rid of them is that they stand out. For the look of the room, they really look ugly. And they would be worse looking in the space where the rears would go. So once I get new fronts, the 301's will be retiring (after 23 years of service).

3) I'm intrigued with Philip's idea of just getting a sub and a center channel. That would give me 5.1 right away. I'm concerned, though, that I'd be locked into only buying fronts and surrounds from the same company that I buy the center from (make sense?). In other words, if I buy a JBL center right now, would I feel like my future fronts and rears would need to be JBL's???

4) And lastly, if I do buy just the sub and center, would my super cheap Radio Shack rears do any sort of a decent job?

Thanks,
Rob

 

[LanceJ]

What kind of drivers do they have? Radio Shack used to make some pretty decent mid-fi speakers back then. Don't forget the Mach One for example! *reviews*

 

[Philip Hamm]

Your rears will work fine.

My brother Andy is still using a pair of Bose "Interaudio" mains that I handed down to him, I bought them new in the very early 80s. They are conventional box speakers with a forward facing 8" woofer and 3" paper tweeter. Last I heard them they still sounded pretty good. He'd probably get a big upgrade by changing out the drivers for something from Parts Express, but for now they work fine.

Speakers last a long time. Be sure to get ones you'll like for many years to come. I've had the same B&W DM602 speakers in my home theater since 1998 or 1997 and I love them more with every play.

 

[derekBannatyne]

what about athena audition speakers?

 

[eddieZEN]

I second Derek's suggestion of the Athena speakers. This is what I'd get:

Athena AS-B1s, 2 pairs for $200 shipped
Athena AS-C1 center channel, $100 shipped
from audioadvisor.com

Dayton 12” subwoofer from partsexpress.com $125 shipped

if you don't mind going just $150 over your budget, this would be worth it for musical SQ:

Hsu STF-2 subwoofer,
$350 shipped B-stock
from hsuresearch.com

The Athenas should mate well with your Onkyo 502; to my ears the JBLs have an unpleasantly harsh high end.

 

[Rob White]

Now I'm starting to wish that the choices involved something smaller, like the Energy Encores that I bought for my bedroom a few years ago.

 

[LanceJ]

Rob, throw caution to the winds and just snag a pair of these for your fronts:

Manly man speakers! (only 500/pair at some places)




Seriously now...
why the change of heart?

 

[DavidCooper]

Manly speakers? Maybe if you lived in a frat house! lol

 

[LanceJ]

Ah come on David.

For the 47th time folks, their "Classic" line of speakers are NOT typical Cerwin Vegas, despite the misleading name.

They were designed by an engineer who use to work for NHT and use a soft-dome tweeter manufactured by Vifa set into a horn to increase efficiency but without the harshness so many metal diaphram horn tweeters exhibit; the mid is a retro-design with a treated paper edge, the same type that many sought-after vintage speakers use, loudspeakers which are known for their warmth; and the woofer is a typical CV design and AFAIK no one has any problem with a CV's bass quality.

I've read several reviews of them finally and while they certainly aren't "gentle" audiophile speakers, they aren't the screamers that so many seem to think.

And their E series, which ARE typcial Cerwins, still aren't that bad IMO-I'd rather have a pair of their E-712s instead of some "hi-tech" sub/sat system with sats with dinky 4" woofers and a subwoofer crossed over at 150Hz.

 

[Rob White]

Lance,

I guess the "change of heart" comes from the fact that I'm not sure how they'll look in the room. It's a great room (living room, den combo room). Right now, the old Bose 301's are sitting on top of tall pieces of furniture. I was hoping to find something small that I could bring lower on the wall. But I can't have them so big and black (or brown) that they are an eyesore. My wife's great, but that might reall bug her. I'm going to have enough problems with the subwoofer fitting in somewhere.

I'm just gonna have to give it some more thought.

Rob

 

[Rob White]

One thing almost worked, though. Somebody suggested the Infinity Primus line of speakers and I found a great deal at Crutchfield where I could get front 160's and a Primus center and then I'd get a pair of 150's for the rear for free. But the 160's don't have key holes for mounting like the 150's do. And if I move down from 160's to 150's, then the 150 rears aren't free anymore.

Oh well,
Rob

 

[LanceJ]

Rob: I've seen mounting hardware for speakers like the 160 (that's a great deal BTW with the 150s) but these aren't usually as clean looking as the keyhole mount. But if the 160s did have a keyhole it owuld probably pull any type of mouting screw thingy right out of the sheetrock anyway, so that wouldn't work. I do like the idea of the 160s though for the front mains.

 

[Rob White]

Am I correct in thinking that I need a front-ported speaker if I plan on placing it against a wall?