fluance sx-htb vs budget paradigm setup (1 Viewer)

[Jason->D]

so i just bought a yamaha rxv750 receiver and am looking at speakers to match and am currently considering the following for speakers

either

paradigm with a set of titans up front and atoms as rears with either a cc170 or 270 as a center and then a paradigm sub

or

fluance sx-htb with a sub (undecided as of yet)

my major concern is that although the paradigms will most likely sound much better is are they worth spending the extra $400 for speakers alone or would the fluance be a better choice for someone starting off in ht

if i do go paradigm it will be piecing together 2 speakers at a time until i get money for it all as opposed to the fluance where i could go for it all at once.

just wondering if anyone here has used both and if there is a noticeable difference between the two

this will be used in my basement where i'll be moving it's maybe 10' x 30' (another thing one of the people i was talking to is that the paradigm setup would be underpowered for this size of space)

thx in advance

 

[Steve Smitty]

I don't know about the fluance speakers, I know paradigm makes good loud speakers, But don't get their Subs. They suck!
After building a $400 diy sub with a dpl 12" tuned to 17 hz, i went to a high end audio store to see how mine stood up to a brand name sub. After asking to hear their best sub, they guy took me into their main theatre room, I asked for Finding Nemo, and had him go to the scene where Darla taps on the fish tank ( a real couch shaker) The sub was in the $700 dollar range, (i was hoping he'd have something a little more expensive) The entire system was paradigm, the speakers were awesome (but top of the line $$$$$$). When the sub played i thought it was gonna fall apart, it wasn't the sound glass makes when hit,(a kinda of deep vibrating noise), it was a more of a deep muddy struggling Please stop noise!! Anyway my sub makes it sound like a wal-mart sub. I've read that their subs aren't very good on other post as well.
Parts Express has a new Dayton 12" active sub for $120 i think with a 150 watts, i'd check into maybe 2 of those, their 10" version is extremely popular.

 

[mackie]

Are the fluance mail order only? My thoughts on buying speakers, which might not be popular on this thread, is it's always best to hear what your getting.

Also, buy the best speakers you can afford without getting in over your head. If you go with the Paradigm setup, you'll have speakers that you'll be able to use for years.

 

[John Garcia]

Based on what I've heard about the SX-HTB (not that it's bad), between those two, I'd go for the Paradigms. Basically, I see that many people end up upgrading from the Fluance speakers to something better in a year or less, while Paradigms tend to be able to keep people happy for a long time.

 

[Jason->D]

thx for the info everyone, what would you all suggest for a sub then since paradigm seems to be less the favorable. the dayton sounds nice but being in canada i would prefer to stay local for everything but if it's a really really good deal i could most likely go and order online

 

[John Garcia]

In Canada, I'd probably look at an HSU Research STF-2 or STF-1. They have a Canadian distributor. I believe SVS also does now too.

 

[ryan.p]

Well the funny thing is I have a very similiar set up to what you describe. I have a yammie RX-V650 and using Titans v.3's for fronts, cc-170 v.3 for my center, and Titans v.3's in rear. I also use a Paradigm PS1000 v.4 sub and just absolutely love mine. The 10" sub is very punchy and articulate just the way I prefer it. Just dont care for sloppy boomy bass. My Titans do a real good job and blend very well with my sub. The cc-170 is a decent center and that is all I needed. I prefer 2-channel music listening and only need decent ht effect. The Titans are decent for music but will be upgrading soon. If you have any questions feel free to ask. If I know one thing it is Paradigm speakers.

 

[AlanZ]

I'll throw out a vote for the Paradigms, too....every time someone mentions them it's very nostalgic for me I think I have to agree with Steve, though....their subs suck. Well, considering what they charge for them they suck All I know is that you can't go wrong with the Atoms/Titans. Every time you listen to them you be thinking, "wow, it sure feels good to get such value out of an audio product". For what they cost, they are nice little speakers. I remember back when I got my first SVS (a PCi 25-31), I still had my Atoms in front and Paradigm Micros in back with a CC-70 center. That system cost less than $1k and it just rocked. I've since become seduced by Magnepans and gotten over my need for a center channel, but if someone put a gun to my head and made me go back to my little Atoms I'd still enjoy the heck out of my HT

 

[John Garcia]

I've owned/used just about every bookshelf they've sold in the last 10 or so years. Atoms, Titans, Minis, 5s, CC170, CC270, CC370, 20s, 40s, v1-v3 as applicable for most. I actually had v1, v2 and v3 Titans all at the same time They really do offer great bang for your buck, but when it came time for me to upgrade beyond the Monitors, I didn't feel the Studios were where I wanted to go. Just as with Alan, if I had to go back to them for reasons unknown, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[Jason->D]

thanks for all the advice everyone, i'll have to go listen to a few of the paradigm sub's and see how they sound. the dayton sub does look nice however shipping from us to canada with customs and such makes it a pain also the hsu one is a little more then i'm wanting to pay at this time (i know i most likely wont get anything great for less though)


one question for john in particular would be is it worth the extra cash to go to the cc270 from the cc170 or is it not a noticeable difference?

 

[John Garcia]

To be honest, I didn't think the 270 was a huge improvement over the 170. The extra extension does help with dialogue, but I was kind of disappointed with the 270. That was one of the reasons I moved up to the Monitors - so I could get the 370.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

you may also want to consider an Axiom combination. They have a great product, with good / reasonably priced subwoofers.

regards

Gregg

 

[Steve Smitty]

just remember when checking out subs, you want it to be able to go low, loud, but CLEAN, (this is where Paradigm turns to mud), don't just buy because it's loud, listen for detail as it gets low.

 

[Jason->D]

i looked at some axiom combo's and they are pretty out of my price range (about $1000 canadian when all is said and done where as axioms are like $1000 us) and one of the big selling points of the paradigms is that i've been quoted about that for 2 atoms, 2 titans, either a cc170 or 270 and a paradigm sub for about a grand


but yah for the bass i'm not a huge fan of excessive bass at all, even using my logitech z680s around my tv right now i have the sub turned down pretty low so i'm not to concerned about sheer volume more so nice sound

 

[mackie]

Bass that is properly calibrated doesn't really sound loud or excessive. You don't have to have a monster Hsu or SVS sub to have good bass. I believe PSB makes a few decent subs as well as velodyne. You can get excellent sound from a less expensive sub especially if you eq it with a berringer feedback destroyer ($99), and it's not that hard to do. Often people have an unequal frequency response due to room interactions. In my house I had a huge peak at 40hz which would make the bass sound boomy, loud, and excessive, but I was able to remedy with when I BFD'd it. The bass that you hear from cars isn't the same as you should hear from your HT setup. Quality bass really adds to overall sound quality and movie watching enjoyment.

Keep in mind you don't have to do it all at once. Many of us on this forum have pieced our systems together over time or are in the process of doing this.

 

[JohnCZ]

I had my sub fixed a year ago at a dedicated speaker repair shop. They were the authorized repair shop for many speaker brands. I asked them what brand of speaker they had seen most in for repair. All three of the guys in the back said Fluance, with no hesitation. I'll always remember that.

 

[eddieZEN]

Jason,

if you go Fluance then you might want to consider just getting the SV-6 bookshelf speaker all around with the possible exception of the center where you'd get their AV-SC which is supposed to be a definite improvement over the CC that comes with the SX package. Also the SV-6 is said to be far less bright than the towers that come in the HTB packages, which makes sense since at such a low pricepoint the bigger the speaker is the more cabinet-related distortion comes into play given the price restrictions.

Another possibility you could look at are the Athena bookshelves and center that they're clearing out at audioadvisor.com this should be well below the Paradigms' pricepoint.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/mf...gies&MFGID=218

 

[Brown_A]

I heard Athenas are really good. But they were a little out of my range. Instead I got the JBL E-80 floorstanding. For the price and my budget, they are very nice. If price isn't your limitatin go for teh Athena's. I may later if I get the money, but for a few years, the JBL's will do me just fine. I listen to mostly movies anyway. So music listening isn't my main priority. I will say this. I'm JBL biased since i just got them. It pains me to say Athenas are better since they are for the price. If you do half movies and half music def Athenas. But if you are on a budget and do mostly movies and less music, JBL. Axion are nice. I'm weary about the Fluance, they are cheaper than JBL but to me I had a bad feeling about them when I was looking at them. To many they sound great, but I'm not sure about how bad they go bad as noted to the above poster.

 

[Jason->D]

depending how the paradigm sub sounds i might just end up going with speakers for now and then pickup a svs sub or something better later on but we'll see gotta go listen to some things next week on my day off

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Jason where in Canada are you located?