While I don't have my Denon (5700) any more I will mention that when I did have it I was able to use 4 ohm speakers with it (M&K 150's) with absolutely no problem. I mention this because the manual suggested speakers in the 6-16 ohm range and the 5700 was able to handle the lower resistance speakers with no problem. The receiver was designed in such a way so that the additional draw on it didn't cause and overheating. This is not the case with all receivers from all manufacturers, so you usually have to be careful.
In other words, you have a lot of different options with speakers and most anything available, within reason, will work just fine. Let your ears and your pocketbook determine what you end up with. You can't pick speakers without auditioning them, preferably in your own home if that's possible.
Chase,
I'll resist the temptation to make aggie jokes, but what speaker brands are there in College Station to audition?
You could always drive to Austin to get more variety. Or Houston, Dallas, San Antonio. Hunting for speakers can be fun, enjoy it. Give us some ideas what the possibilities are and we will give you a bunch of conflicting opinions. You will also get recommendations for some nice speakers available online, but you won't be able to listen to them first. I bet the new Rockets will be a hot topic, and probably a good choice.
Well, Im actually home for the summer back in Montgomery on Lake Conroe, just north of Houston. Yesterday I actually drove around Houston auditioning various speakers. I hit up the two Paradigm dealers in town and was very impressed. I liked the sound of the Atoms and was thinking of a setup similar to this.
Paradigm Atoms in front and rear Paradigm CC170 SVS 20-39PCi
I also liked the Titans but wasnt really sure if they sounded any better than the Atoms. Since Ill be adding a SVS sub regardless of what other speakers I add, I think I have the deep bass taken care of.
I went to audition PSB speakers as well but the only authorized PSB dealer in Houston had a horrible setup. They had no area even to audition speakers.
I also listened to some B&W bookshelves. They sounded pretty also. Right now, I'm thinking about this combo:
Axiom M3Ti's in front and rear Axiom VP100 for center
My budget for the fronts/rears/center is around $800-$1000 including stands. Shoot me some opinions guys.
Also, what should I demo in the Houston/Austin area. I have many friends at UT so I visit Austin a lot as well. I plan on purchasing everything before I move into our new apartment on the 17th of August.
3802 Driving: Front Mains:M&K S1-C (Truly amazing imaging!!!2 tweeters and 2 midrange drivers) Center: M&K S-90 (Slightly larger 6.25" woofer, great for dialog, which is what the center is mainly for!) L&R Surrounds: M&K SW-85 (Same mid range and tweeter drivers as fronts) Back Surrounds M&K SW-85 (Mounted in ceiling behind sweet spot) All of the above share the exact same tweeter for timbre-matching. Temporary Woofer: Velodyne, that is, until the 2 SVS come!
Lust replacing my Denon AVR 3300 with a Denon AVR 3802 and will be using Paradigm Reference Studio 60's Paradigm Reference CC Center Velodyne HGS 12 sub woofer and Polk Audio fx 500's surrounds. I do however use a Denon POA 5200 two channel power amp for my front channels. I feel that it gives more stability for my critical audiophile two channel music listening. The whole system gives quite a glorious sound
Denon 4802 with Paradigm Monitor 9's (Soon to be Studio 100s),CC370, adp 170. And Parasound HCA855 power amp.
If you are having problems at louder volume levels you might want to try adding a power amp to power your speakers and use your current receiver as a pre/pro.
You asked what you should audition in Houston/Austin. Look in the yellow pages and call and find out what is available in the stereo/home theater stores that are a step above Best Buy and Circuit City. Have your friends call around Austin and find out. Then tell us what is available. The Home Theater Store is a franchise and has outlets in Houston, but I forget what speakers they carry. They do carry Denon receivers though, so you would be able to listen to speakers through your Denon receiver. If you are a young collge guy and listen to rock (or do aggies listen to country?), then Klipsch wouldn't be a bad option. Too bad Monitor Audio Bronze won't be back out with the new version until late July. That is what I am getting my college bound daughter (hook em'). If anybody carries the Mirage frx series you might want to listen to them, another good Canadian company. Somewhere else I read that Ascend Acoustics is having a July 4th sale and they have the CBM 170 fir 299 a pair. Doesn't your Denon have 7 channels of amplification? If so, are you wanting to use 7 speakers? That would be cool. With an SVS you should probably rent a house instead of an apt., so you won't get evicted!
If you go Axiom, you could get the 3ti's for front, QS2's for side surrounds, and 2ti's for the rear surrounds and the 100 center. If your apt doesn't have a good place to put the QS2's, you could just get 2 pair of 2ti's for side and rear surround, to take advantage of your 7 channel amp.