cheap but decent tower speakers? (1 Viewer)

[eddieZEN]

Jeremy,

thanks for the coupon, that's a hell of a nice price!

 

[eddieZEN]

Dan,

Oh I've pretty much written off Best Buy. Am mostly deciding betweent he $350 Athenas versus the $600 Ascend mini-towers. The price difference is significant but I understand the Ascends are supposed to be significantly better for mids and highs. Plus the Athenas are really huge, which would make moving with them a pain. May just take a chance on the 30 day return policy.

 

[Shane Martin]

Looking at your options:

Monitor Audio would be your Camry IMHO. NHT is another lower cost brand that might do as well.

 

[eddieZEN]

Shane,

Have you heard the Monitor Audio B4s? My dealer offered me a floor demo pair for $500 but I was in a hurry that day so no chance to listen yet. Mostly need detailed mids and highs, bass unimportant.

 

[Shane Martin]

If that is what you're after, then yes you'll get it in spades.

 

[eddieZEN]

Great! I have a powered sub which gives me all the bass I need, it's harder to find detailed mids and highs that aren't too sharp.

 

[Sean Mc]

Sorry it took me so long to post a reply to your questions, you probably don't even care anymore heh. I'm on christmas break from college and don't have internet at my own house (I'm at my gf's).

Anyway, for my SX-HTB, I have those plus a set of SV-6's that I also like very much hooked up to a HK AVR-325.

I originally had them paired with the Dayton tiny mighty sub from parts express. I recently got an SVS PB-10 to replace the dayton.

This is my first real set of home theater type speakers. Before these, I had a set of Logitech z-560s that served me well for a couple years. I got them for $140 and sold them 2 years later for $100, not too shabby.

That's the extent of my speaker purchases so I'm no authority. I've heard the AV-HTB set of Fluances, some Paradigm offerings, and some various in-store speakers at best buy and circuit city. I've never tried a blind test of Fluance vs. anything else. I think I'm in the same boat of low-fi/wannabe-mid-fi range. I think the SX-HTB set was an excellent value, and my tone deaf ears wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them and something else unless I spent considerably more.

I watched the matrix at close to reference volumes in my 10'x9' room for a demo of my SVS and the Fluance set really kept up. I'm sorry I can't give you a statement like "I thought they were as good as athenas" or something like that since I couldn't hear them side by side, but I'm really happy with them overall. The only thing I feel a little lacking is the center on my set. I really wish they would have included the same tweeter as the main speakers and made the drivers a little larger (they're 4"). I asked Fluance about new centers they are working on and they told me they have a SV center coming out in the next year, so I'm definately going to get that.

One of my friends has Paradigm phantoms as his mains and he came over to listen to mine when I got them. He told me they sounded very good and was extremely impressed when I told him the price. I'm not saying these are as good as Paradigm obviously, but for somebody like me It's good to know that somebody who was used to his phantoms thought that my set sounded of similar quality (he told me that if he had heard these before he got his set he might have wanted to get the same 7 speakers I got instead of his 2 phantoms since the price is about the same).

I really wanted to have a full 5.1 or 7.1 set since I'm mostly HT vs music. I think I got a bargain with the Fluance set. I'm sorry I can't really give you a comparison to anything else I've really had time with.

Good luck with your searching.

 

[eddieZEN]

Sean,

Well better late than never, and I appreciate how detailed your feedback is.

I'm leaning towards either the Ascend CMT-3470s or Paradigm Monitor 5s right now, I care mainly for musical performance and getting the best possible highs and mids from my mains, relying on my sub for the low end.

 

[Girish]

Infinity IL50. They can be had for $350-400(ebay etc). One hell of tower speakers for that price!!

 

[Max F]

Hey Eddie,

You should go in and talk to that dealer selling the Monitor Audio B4s. Since your already have other options, just take a chance. Go in and offer him $350 (or perhaps $250) and see what he says. Tell him that other stores are discontinueing them and selling them at that price. Print out that one that was sold on e-bay and show that to him if you need to.

Ofcourse this is assuming that you listened to them and like them.

 

[eddieZEN]

No, haven't had a chance to listen to the MAs yet. I'm probably avoiding doing so because that particular dealer while a nice guy, always talks my ear off when I go in there---it's interesting technical stuff he goes on and on about but after about 10 minutes my mind is saturated and can't take anything more. : )

Also I get the impression the MAs try to be a full-range speaker whereas the Ascend and Paradigm focus on the mids and highs which is exactly what I want from my mains since I have a sub.

 

[nickMahler]

i think the extra room capabilities takes away some of the channels of your 6.1 when your listening to music and takes them back when you switch to 6.1 surround in the main room.

 

[Max F]

Can't really go wrong with those choices.

 

[David Bikeman]

"the Ascend and Paradigm focus on the mids and highs which is exactly what I want from my mains since I have a sub."

I auditioned both in my home. You can't go wrong either way. They're different but not in a negative way. If it hadn't been for the Ascends, I would have been happy with the Paradigms.

David

 

[eddieZEN]

David,

Which Paradigms were they? I'm looking at the Monitor 7 and Monitor 5, a local dealer has them for $703 and $541 (after taxes) respectively; the Ascend 340s are $566 shipped.

Damn, I might just have to stick my neck out on the return shipping and audition the Ascends too, I'm afraid I've been way too sold on their website and all the glowing reviews about them.

 

[David Bikeman]

Monitor 5's. I listened to the 7's at the dealer and they just didn't do it for me. With a sub, I felt the 5's did a better job.
Stick your neck out. Since you already have a sub, you will get the full benefit of the Ascends. It's well worth the cost of return shipping. Think of the great write-up you'll have for the forum.

David