Front Speaker Comparision? (1 Viewer)

[SeanAH]

Im was playing with my budget and i want to put about 1200-1400 in speakers. I was checking out some 3-400 dollar fronts, but i may end up spending 6-700 is the sound quality is a big jump. Heres the two i was comparing.

htmarket.com/jblfloorspea1.html
JBL E80 350/pair

tweeter.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1870386&cp=1124387&parentPage=family

Polk Audio 350/pair

Sorry i didnt post the full link, but it wont let me post links.

 

[AlanZ]

You'll find a lot of people have different philosophies on how to allocate money, so you'll just have to go with what makes the most sense to you.

I tend to prefer to get the best mains I can afford and go from there. I use my system for both HT and music, so quality of sound is paramount for me (over 'quantity') - and speakers make the biggest impact on overall sound. If you're going to use a receiver, you'll want to have speakers that are relatively efficient, but there are a lot of great speakers out there that are easy to drive. I also prefer not to use a center speaker. I'd rather use that money toward my mains and run the front stage in phantom mode (which, contrary to what many believe, does not result in the loss of ANY info from the soundtrack....it's simply reproduced by two speakers instead of three). For me this is not a trade-off, however. I used to always use a center speaker, but then one day discovered quite by accident that I liked the presentation better without it.

AFter that I focus on getting the best subwoofer I can afford, which in my case means something from SVS. When I'm happy with my front stage and the sub, I focus on surrounds....I don't believe in spending a lot of money on speakers that are rarely busy with most movies, but again, that's just me. I'm not going to say better surrounds don't make any difference, cause they do. But when you have a limited budget, you'll find yourself in the position of needing to make trade-offs. You just need to figure out what is most important to you and go from there.

Just my $.02

 

[SeanAH]

Thanks, you got me convinced to put some more into my front's. I still really don't want to go beyond 7 though. I was considering the JBL's e100's. What seems to appeal to me is they have 2 10" woofers in them. Does size really help with quality?

 

[AlanZ]

Nope, size of the driver doesn't necessarily correlate with quality. In fact, the tweeter used in my favorite speaker - the Magnepan 3.6 - is so thin that you can't even see it if you were looking at it from the side. Aside from Magnepans, which reproduce sound completely differently than your typical cone driver, I actually like the sound of a good bookshelf/monitor-sized speaker combined with a good subwoofer. It's really just a personal preference, but if you have a small to medium sized room this type of arrangement can really pay off. It really just depends on your goals, you know?

Are you going to be using your system for only movies, or are you going to be wanting music to sound good, too? If the latter, I'd personally advise you to take your $700 to your local audio shop and listen to what they have. And I don't mean Circuit City or Best Buy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not meaning to knock those places, and I'm not saying to avoid products like JBL. There are a lot of JBL fans on this board, and they are typically good value speakers. But for $700 you could really get a nice pair of mains, and you should do yourself a favor and at least go listen to some stuff at a shop that just deals with audio/HT.

So anyway, how big is the room? Music AND movies, or just movies? If music too, what kind do you listen to? The more info you can provide, the better advice people can offer.

 

[SeanAH]

The room is 15x18, i pretty much want it solely for movies.

 

[AlanZ]

Oh okay, well in that case just get the best set of speakers you can afford and a good sub. SVS just came out with a great little HT package that you might find of interest, and it might even save you a few bucks. Check it out: www.svsound.com

Good luck

 

[SeanAH]

Heres the 700 dollar pairs im been looking at lately

The B&W DM602.5 S3

Axiom M50ti

Polk Audio RTi8

all are 700/pair

 

[louHamilton]

I was comparing Polk against B&W and liked the Polks better for HT. B&W would have my vote for 2 channel music and maybe 5.1.

The highs in the B&W's are too forward and bright for my liking. I liked the warmness of the Polks better for movies. I took Blade II and Fifth Element as movies to test with.

-Lou