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If you had $600 to spend on a pair of bookshelf speakers? (1 Viewer)

Vincent_S

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I haven't been into HT in awhile but just moved into a new house and can't use my Def Tech towers due to size. Looking for a pair of bookshelf speakers and would like to spend about $600. Could go a little higher if needed. I listened to a pair of 700 series?? B&W's today and REALLY liked them but at $1500/pr. I am just not into this hobby that much anymore to spend that much $$. They will be driven by a Pioneer Elite 54??(sorry, can't remeber the exact model #). I have an SVS 20-39PCi sub. I am thinking about the Polk RTi series as I have Polk surrounds right now. I am going to go listen to some Polks tonight or tomorrow. What I have available in town to listen is B&W, Polk, Paradigm, Kef.
 

John Garcia

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The 340SEs would be on my list to check out for sure. Excellent bang for your buck. I find them neutral, leaning toward the brighter side, though I prefer warmer sounding speakers.

I'd also seriously consider the Onix Ref 1s which are on sale for $499 in South American Rosewood right now (normally $1200/pr) here. Part of their ongoing sale.

You can also find the B&W CDM-1NT for about $750 used. That was the series prior to the 700s.
 

Vincent_S

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I forgot to add that I did in fact listen to the CM1 and was not crazy about them for the price. I can see $1500 for the 700 series though. I will check out those links. Thanks for the responces so far :)
 

DaveHo

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How about a pair of Polk LSi9's? Used, the price should be right in the ballpark.
 

aht3

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Andrew Taylor
I like the JBL Studio L820s and the L830s. Great prices on these on Amazon and eBay.
 

MatrixDweller

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I have a pair of Klipsch RB-81's. They have been given top notch reviews and are under the $600 threshold. They are great for HT and can be powered by any amp due to their high sensitivity. Home Theater Mag did a decent review on them a while back.

A used pair of Klipsch RB-75's would be even nicer.
 

Marty M

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I usually recommend auditioning Paradigm, my favorite brand. If you like B&W, you might consider the Paradigms having a brighter sound. It can't hurt to give them a listen, though. I think the Mini-Monitors list for under $500.
 

drdave319

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Geez...I would love to know what you guys do for a living to be able to drop this kind of money on speakers!
Are you hiring?!?!?!
(...I'm serious....)

DAVE
 

Dingiswayo

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It's all about priorities. How badly do you want a lovely sound system? I think for most people here this is a main hobby. So they spend money on this stuff that they're not spending on other stuff.

Besides, $600 for a set of bookshelves, while nothing to sneeze at (and more than I've paid for two speakers) is nothing compared to how you can really get about audio.
 

John Garcia

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I met a guy recently who had at least $20K in speakers (~6 pair of various high end) sitting around in his living room and that was only about half of his collection...the rest were in storage. This was primarily for 2ch... Too much money on his hands :)
 

jaggill

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Hello all, I'm new to the forum. I have always taken interest in audio systems. My main focus has been car audio. I would like to get a pair of speakers within this price range as well. The size of my room is 11ft by 20ft, with 15ft ceilings. The room opens up to our eating area which is 11ft by 15ft, also with 15ft ceilings. Right now I just want to get a receiver/amp, 2 bookshelves and a subwoofer. I have a 42" Sharp Aquos mounted above our fireplace and a Ps3. I have a pair of Shure EC3 headphones which are very accurate but the bass is lacking. I also have a pair of Tannoy Reveal Active monitors. I love the sound of the Tannoys, and I would like my new bookshelves to reproduce the same type of sound but within the large room. I am Canadian, so keep in mind I have to get the speakers shipped to me if I purchase from Ebay or another internet website. I have friends that work at Futureshop and 2001AudioVideo, so I can get most of their speakers for almost half price. Also, I would like the receiver to be a minimum of 5.1 because I will be planning to upgrade in the future once I get more $$. Thanks for all of your suggestions.
 

Brian Serene

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In order to get the Onix Ref 1s for $499, you have to buy 3 speakers. You can't get the Ref 1's for $499 unless you buy 3 speakers from AV123. I was thinking about getting the RSC 200 Signature Center Channel speaker in Rosewood for $299, until I saw that I had to buy 3 speakers to get the RSC 200 for $299.

I do not like the way that AV123 has their prices posted. It looks like you can buy as many as you want at the sale price, until you reread the pricing.
 

LanceJ

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NHT Classic 3 An acoustic-suspension design, which integrates better with subs vs. similar-sized ported designs when using the standard THX 80Hz crossover --> see the 16th paragraph in this article.

Classic 3 review (was on the front cover of The Absolute Sound a few months ago). For me this magazine includes a bit too much subjectivist opinion when reviewing gear so keep that in mind when reading the review.

Boston Acoustics CR85 IMO Bostons always sound "bigger" than they really are.

Cambridge SoundWorks M80 3-way with 8" woofer. Tweeter/midrange assembly can be rotated for horizontal placement so imaging capabilities aren't affected as much. Last year I saw these at Fry's Electronics in a wood veneer finish - very nice looking (didn't have time to listen though).

Pioneer S2-EX oh wait, that's six thousand......oh well, what the heck! :D
 

Vincent_S

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Thanks for all of the responces guys/gals. I bought a pair of B&W 704's today. Went a little over my $600 budget. And didn't even get bookshelves. LOL!
 

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