I have 2000 dollars and am lookin for speakers (I already have a reciever) (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Cohen]

Hi, I have 2000 dollars to spend and looking for speakers and a subwoofer. I already have a reciever (STR-DA4ES Sony Reciever). What would everyone recommend? I went in to Best Buy today and looked at the Klipsch speakers for a bit. They had left and right channels for 650 for both, center channel for 250, surrounds for 350 for the pair, and a 12 inch subwoofer for 500. I do not remember the model numbers right off. Does anyone have any suggestions for places to check out or speakers to look into? Thanks!

My television is the silver colored PT50LC13 (50 inch Panasonic LCD Rear Projection Widescreen HD set) and I think black speakers would look nice with it.

 

[Nhan_H]

First of all, welcome to the forum, Aaron. That's quite a bit of cash to spend You might want to state where you are to give people here an idea, so they can better provide suggestions.

I, too, went to BB and listened to the Klipsch speakers and subs. They sounded pretty nice, but of course, their setup is not optimal for any type of serious demos. I wasn't too impressed with them, however, as Klipsch is too forward/bright for me.

Second, what kind of sound do you like? Warm, bright, forward, laid back, etc. If you don't know those terms, then you can tell us what speakers you've heard that you like. That way, people can recommend a variety of makers that are similar to the ones you've heard and like. Also, do you listen to movies or music more often. What's the ratio: 60/40, 50/50, etc? Bring along DVDs and CDs of material you are familiar with, so that you can properly demo each system. Most likely, you'll want to listen to a receiver that is similar to the one you already have. And, BTW, what receiver do you have? This is important, since different speakers have different efficiency ratings. For example Klipsch have very high efficiency ratings, so they don't require a powerful receiver to drive them.

Third, what is the size of your room. Please state LxWxH to give people an idea of how big it is. Also, you might want to describe the room layout (like closed on all 4 sides, or opened in the back and 1 side to other rooms, etc.) Or better yet, send pictures.

Fourth, you might want to go to higher end stores to demo as many speakers as you can. Popular speakers to demo would be Paradigms, PSBs, Energy, Klipsch, Definitive Technology, B&W, Mirage, NHT, etc. Again, tell us where you are, so people in your area can recommend some good stores.

Fifth, many here (including yours truly) will suggest you at least give some of the internet-direct companies a listen. Popular ones would be AV123 (Rockets), Axiom, and Ascend for speakers. For subs, HSU Research and SVS, along with Adire are very popular. Each speaker set will have their distinct sound. Why don't you look at each of the sites suggested above first, and see which ones you may like. Each company will have owners across the country that will be willing to let you into their homes for personal demos. Many of these offer a 30-day money back guarantee (most minus the shipping costs), so you don't have to be stuck with speakers you don't like.

Sixth, once you've done all the above, then you might be better informed and ready to purchase your speakers. $2000 is a lot of money, so you'll want to be as informed as possible. Don't make a purchase without having heard the speakers first. And even if you've heard the speakers, they might sound different in your home, so make sure the company you purchased them from has a good refund policy.

Damn, that was long, but I'm sure I forgot some pointers, which some good folks will certainly chime in and help me out with

 

[Mark Amayao]

Hello for that amount of money you can find better than klipsch's synergy line see if you can piece together a system with the Reference Line Klipsch.

Youve got a great receiver you can do a lot more with the money your spending. Happy hunting and demoing

 

[Alex Prosak]

Not that BB is ever a good place to audition, but what did you think of the sound of the Klipsch you auditioned? Klipsch have a very distinct sound, some love 'em others hate 'em. I've found that this is one speaker manufacturer where there is almost no middle ground.

There are MANY options available to you in your price range and it would be helpful to know what you're looking for in sound and where you eventually want to end up with your system.

 

[Gordon Groff]

There are a LOT of great options at your price point! I'll echo Alex's point about checking out Klipsch RF-7 series. If you like that sound, they are a great speaker.

I ended up with a full Rocket system with SVS subs and am EXTREMELY pleased. Many threads about them here, the AVS forum, and over at their home forum www.av123.com. Photos of them in my HT in my link. They have a new "ELT" series that are getting good reviews and come in under your price point.

Try to listen to as many different brands as you can. You can find folks willing to provide Rocket auditions by going to www.audioenvy.com.

Good luck!!

Gordon

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Thanks for the responses! I'm busy at the moment with getting books for college so I will briefly answer some of the questions you had and get back here with the other answers soon. To be honest I don't own a single cd, though I do own 522 DVD's...strange huh? So I would say the speakers will be used for 100% movie watching but I am sure my roommates will want to listen to music on them so they will be used a little for music. Very heavy tilt to movies though.

I can get exact measurements of the room I am in and pictures. It is not a very optimum place for speakers though it is an okay size... It is an apartment at college in the living area. During the summer these speakers will be taken home where they will placed in my room which is smaller than the area I have at college. I will not have the option of turning them too loud at home as my mother would get mad but at college I should be able to have them relatively loud.

I really have not listened to many speakers yet, I had just stopped by Best Buy last night and listened to the Klipsch speakers for a minute. I am not interested in Bose which were the others they had on display. I'll be back here later with some more information about what I am looking for. I will look into the pricing of the RF-7 series Gordon.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Aaron Cohen]

I briefly looked at the RF-7 series online and found that the best price I could find the left and right speakers for were 750 dollars each... I think that would end up being well out of my price range...

 

[Aaron Cohen]

This was recommended over at avsforum.com

http://www.axiomaudio.com/epic60.html

Swapping the sub in that package for this one:

http://www.hsustore.com/vtf2.html

How do you think that would do?

 

[Gordon Groff]

Given your application - especially with moving them back and forth, I'd look seriously into the new "ELT" speaker package by Onix at www.av123.com. They'd save you some $$ and not be as big, heavy, or susceptable to damage as some of their higher-end offerings.

Good luck!!

Gordon

 

[MikeLi]

I'll second Gordon on the Onix ELT speaker system. Its brand spankin new, getting great reviews and they always offfer quality as #1


www.avs123.com[/url]

 

[Aaron Cohen]

I feel dumb. I went to the link but could not find the Onix ELT speaker system... do you have a direct link? I must be overlooking it..

 

[Gordon Groff]

Here's the ELT page at av123

Gordon

 

[Nhan_H]

Aaron, your've already made the wisest decision by staying away from B@ose

For your current situation, I would third the ELT recommendation. They are about 1/2 your budget, but will more than satisfy sound in an apartment. Besides the sound and build qualities, these make for very nice eye candy.

I can't imagine lugging heavy and bulky tower speakers back and forth every summer, unless you have a Chevy Avalanche or a Ford Excursion or a U-Haul truck Besides, you might be risking possible damage to the towers in the move. Bookshelves are much easier to handle.

Sorry, I re-read your first post again and saw that you had the Sony 4ES receiver. That one should do well driving most speakers.

 

[CurtisSC]

Aaron,

Do you know what kind of sound you like?

 

[MikeLi]

Thanks Gordon... too many pills this morning I guess....

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Curtis, I'm not sure how to define what kind of sound I like.... I guess "full" sounding sound? This is my very first foray into the speaker market and as you can tell I don't know much. Thanks for all of the help!

Nhan, funny that you should mention a U-Haul truck! LOL, that's how I had been transporting my stuff in the past. This year I did not need one to bring my stuff down though because I was not needing to carry a television (the 34XBR800 I had was defective after 3 service calls and I was given store credit at Circuit City which I used to purchase the set that will be delivered on the 30th that was mentioned in my first post here) and I got a new rotating DVD shelf that was still unassembled so nothing took up much room. On the way back though I will have a fully assembled rotating DVD shelf, TV Stand, TV (though it only weighs about 80 pounds the 50 inch size would not fit in my car) plus whatever speakers I buy so I was probably going to rent a U-Haul for the trek back!

Is there anywhere I can find a picture of a setup involving the ELT speakers? I couldn't really get a feel for how they looked from the picture on the website. Also, do they come in any other color? Pretty much all of my stuff is black (reciever, dvd shelf, black gamecube, PS2, Xbox, etc.) and I think it goes very nicely with the silver color of the TV stand and TV which is coming. I'm not sure how the cherry finish would look with it...

Do tower speakers always have to be up? If I did purchase them and then did put them in a UHaul truck, would it be okay to lie them down on their side?

Thanks again for all of the help!

 

[CurtisSC]

Aaron,

You are welcome.....these forums are a good place to learn about stuff.

You can lie towers down for transporting...no problem as long as you are careful and not putting any pressure on the speaker drivers.

I am hoping to hear the ELT's soon, and I'm a fan of Ascends and Axioms. Get out and listen to stuff...it is a fun process.

curtis

 

[Aaron Cohen]

I thought you guys kept mispelling Axiom when you had an A at the beginning until I just realized that IS an A! I thought it was an "I" and they were Ixiom speakers....LOL

So where can go I go to hear these speakers?

 

[FeisalK]

If size and color are going to affect your decision, you might want to take a look at Paradigm's Cinema Series - brochure says Cinema 90 system is $906 (not sure what currency?)

 

[CurtisSC]

If you go to the Axiom forum you may be able to find someone in your area for an audition.

Same thing with the Ascends at the new Ascend owner's created forum .