good small speakers on a budget...is this possible? (1 Viewer)

[ThomasL]

Hi everyone,
I currently have a 5 piece budget surround sound system for movies and music and I've been looking to upgrade to something that handles music better. Currently the satellites, with the subwoofer turned off, sound really tinny when compared to some CSW bookshelf newton M50 speakers I just bought which are about 2x their size. With the subwoofer, it sounds great but even still, it seems to me that the low "boomy" bass sound of the subwoofer seems to compete with the higher more "tinny" sound of the little satellites. I'm not an audiophile so forgive my descriptions. Due to SAF constraints, any replacement speakers can't be bigger than 8 inches high and probably 6 inches wide and placement is pretty much where they are now so anyone who recommends different placement to get better sound, well, thanks for the thought, but it's not going to happen
So, my question is, what, if any, systems are out there that can handle decent bass on their own, in other words, sound more like the CSW M50 bookshelves but meet the size constraints and cost about the same as a pair of those bookshelves? People have pointed me at the Energy Take 5.2 system. Anyone who owns that can you comment on the satellite's handling of music and of the lower midrange bass?
thanks,
--tom

 

[Michael_Santti]

I like my newly acquired Paradigm Titans. Sound quite nice on their own.
Here the Axiom 3Ti is not bad either.
The guys around here no more than I do though.
Mike

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I have the JBL Northridge set (2 pairs of N24s and 1 N-Center) and I think it sounds fantastic. You may want to check it out.

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

It kinda sounds like you're just unhappy with the quality of bass from your subwoofer. I don't know what you're using now, but its possible that upgrading to something like an SVS or an Adire Rava or Dharman would solve the problem.

 

[Brian Bowles]

I have small polk rt-25i speakers and they sound great. I would like to get some klipsch rf-3's in the future but for now these are good and only $99 each at circuit city. I just got a SVS and it rocks!!!!!!!!! My dad and brother came over and could not stop smiling. It is a whole new world with bass like that.

 

[Steve WC]

Check out Axiom. They sell factory seconds(small blemishes on cabinets), and are highly rated.
http://www.axiomaudio.com/
See reviews here:
http://www.goodsound.com/home.shtml

 

[ThomasL]

Thanks everyone. I looked into the JBLs and Polks before deciding on the CSW Newton M50s for my bookshelf purchases (unrelated to home theater den/room Unfortunately, all of those are a little too big given the space constraints in the tv room (they all come in at 10 inches or higher).
Does anyone use the Definitive Technology ProMonitor 80s? These also seem to get good reviews and people seem to think they handle music much better than the Energy Take 5 satellites.
thanks much!
--tom

 

[Randy G]

Tom,
No two ways about it; if ya want quality, you've gotta pay for it. In your case, with those size constraints, the only quality speaker I can think of is the Role Audio(roleaudio.com) Kayak. Actually, it's EXACTLY within your size constraints, but it doesn't sound like the typical tiny little tweetbox. Ain't cheap....

 

[Chip E]

I'd consider B&W 303's... I'm putting together a small bedroom rig and was considering these for the mains but, in the end, they'll pull surround duty while a pair of 601 S3's sure up the front. The 303's are fairly small.
http://www.bwspeakers.com/products/gallery/product_details.cfm?object_id=60DB0F6A-F827-11D4-813D00D0B74745A0

 

[Marc H]

I'd suggest giving Axiom a try too but the M3TiSe, M2TiSE and M1TiSE are all too tall.

I'd suggest their MZero satellite speaker though; it's only 5" high and still uses their titanium tweeter/aluminum woofer technology.

The sound will be alot more open and smoother then a Take 5.2 speaker. Imaging and transparency is very cool for stereo music listening.