Infinity Entra Series speakers....a good buy or not??? (1 Viewer)

[TommyWMedford]

I recently purchased a pair of Infinity Entra 2 floorstanding speakers for Circuit City for $350, and, they sound great to me. I did get the Entra 1 center at Ultimate Electronics, but it didn't seem to be up to par with the other 2. Dialogue sounded very flat, with no highs, and effects were the same. I took it back the next day. The Entra 2's sounded much better, with dialogue being very crisp and clear. I'm wanting to buy the Entra 2 center speaker after hearing that it's far better than the Entra 1, and listening to it myself at Ultimate Electronics. It sounded very good to me, and I was running it with the Entra 2 floorstanding speakers, on the same receiver that I own, which is the Yamaha RXV-430. I know that both the receiver and the speakers aren't the best you can get, but I'm on a tight budget. Do you guys think the Entra series are good for the money? The Entra center 2 sells for over $200 in the stores, but I can get it for only $120 online. Should I go with the Infinity's, or try something else. I've already tried Polk, and I wasn't impressed at all. If you guys don't think I should go with them, what else would you suggest? I was thinking about Klipsch's Synergy series, but I wasn't too impressed with their cener speaker, the SC.5. I haven't listened to the model above it, but I don't have $300 to spend on a center speaker. I only have around $500 for the fronts and center. I would like to stick with the Infinity speakers since I purchased them at Circuit City, so I can take advantage of their speaker replacement program. The only other major brand they carry are the Polk's, but like I said, I wasn't impressed with them. I'll shut up for now. Please let me know what you guys think. Thank you.

Tommy

 

[Bill_Wil]

Welcome to the forum Tommy!!
Some people feel that Infinity is a little over-priced but they do make quality speakers. If you like how they sound then I'd say go ahead and get the Entra2 center and maybe a couple of Entra ones for surrounds and you'll have a nice sounding system.
Since you have a Circuit City nearby you probably also have a Best Buy since they're usually located right near each other. Check out the Athena Audition Series speakers at Best Buy to compare them to the Infinity's and see what you think. They're in a similar price range.
But I do think you'll be happy if you choose to stick with the Infinity setup.
Good luck and enjoy!!

Bill

 

[TommyWMedford]

Thanks for the input. I actually have tried out the Athena's. They were a little too musical to me. They didn't seem to be as good for movies. I've got a pair of old Polk R-15's as my surrounds for now, but I will probably get the Infinity Entra 1's for my surrounds later on.

 

[TommyWMedford]

Well, I went ahead and ordered the Infinity Entra Center 2 online, and I should get it in a couple of days. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good speaker wire. I was using some 12 ga wire from Home Depot, but it doesn't seem to be very good. Should I go with Monster? Or is there a better brand that I can get online? I really don't want to spend a whole lot. I guess I would only need 10-20 feet. Thanks.

 

[JohnnyG]

I'm sure the Home Depot speaker wire works just fine, but if you're not comfortable with it, get something you are going to be comfortable with.

That's always my advice when it comes to interconnects and speaker wire. If you're always going to be wondering if you wires and cables are hampering performance, then just get better cables so you can stop worrying about it. Then you can move on to obsessing with far more important things

 

[Bill_Wil]

What was it that you didnt like about the home depot speaker wire? Just about any 12 ga speaker wire like that should work just fine.

 

[TommyWMedford]

I hate to say it, but I'm going to go out and buy some Monster wire, and an optical cable. I've always disliked Monster, but maybe I've been wrong this whole time. I know their stuff is good, but I've always figured it wasn't worth the price. In the past I've been perfectly fine with cheap cables and speaker wire, but my ears are getting more sensitive to this stuff, and I'm beginning to get picky. It looks like I'm on the road to becoming an "audiophile". Next year, I'm hoping to get a Marantz SR4300, and some Klipsch Reference speakers, and move my Yamaha and Infinity spkrs to my bedroom.

 

[TommyWMedford]

What was it that you didnt like about the home depot speaker wire? Just about any 12 ga speaker wire like that should work just fine.

It was when I went to Ultimate Electronics to return that Infinity Entra One center speaker, and the jerk salesmen were trying to talk me into keeping it, swearing up and down it's one the best center speakers out there, and they went as far as to hooking it back up and playing some Jazz music. To my ears, it sounded horrible, and very flat, and they tried to tell me it sounded good. It was an open box speaker, one that had been returned, and maybe it was just a "bad one". I don't know, but I didn't like it, and I told them that, and they said it's a great speaker, and one of the guys said that his friend has the same speaker and that it was the bester center he had ever listened to. They asked what kind of wire I was using, and I told them the 12 ga Home Depot wire, and they said that was probably the problem, and that I should buy some of their Monster wire instead. Up until that point, I was wanting to exchange it for a Klipsch center, and take back my other Infinity speakers and exchange them for Klipsch speakers, as well. But when they said I should get Monster wire, I said, "You know what, I just want my money back." At the register, I started thinking about getting the Klipsch again, so I asked him if it was too late to just do an exhange, and he said, in a very sarcastic way, "Whatever makes you happy", and I said "Forget it. Just give me my money back, since you wanted to be so pushy about the whole thing. I'll go somewhere else from now on." That whole ordeal really pissed me off, excuse my language, and I will never shop at that store again. I'll drive 25 miles to the next nearest one. But, yeah, it was the fact that the guy suggested I should get Monster was what made me question my current speaker wire. Maybe he was right. I don't know. It has made me wonder if my wire is good enough, and maybe I should get something better, so I'll know my wires and cables aren't the weakpoint in my system. I really don't like how Monster markets their stuff. I don't doubt it's good, if not the best you can get without shopping online, but it's the way the salesmen at these stores, like CC, BB, and UE, try to push anyone in buying it. Just the other day at UE, there were 2 ladies in there looking for a DVD Player, and I could tell they weren't audio/videophiles or anything like that. They just wanted a decent DVD Player. And that's exactly why they chose a JVC, which was only $70, the same one that I got just a couple of months earlier. It's a fine player, nothing special, though. No Progressive Scan, no SACD or DVD Audio, no digital decoders, just a plain jane DVD Player. That's all I wanted, and that's all these ladies wanted. The salesman who helped me was the same one who helped these ladies, and he had tried to con me into buying a component cable that cost twice as much as the player itself. I said "No, thank you." Well, what he did to these poor old ladies, was con them into buying an S-Video cable that was almost the price of the player itself. These ladies didn't know better and I guess he made them think they were getting a good deal. And I'm sure these ladies didn't care about getting the best possible picture, just a good picture, you know? That's why I've refused to buy anything from Monster in the past. It's the way these salesmen talk oridinary people into buying this stuff. He could have easily suggested they get the "RCA" brand that they carry but he didn't. If I seem to be going off on a rant like this, I'm sorry, but that's how I've always felt about Monster. But since I think I'm more than just a casual listen/viewer, the stuff might be worthwhile for me to buy.

 

[Greg Thomas]

I don't doubt it's good, if not the best you can get without shopping online, but it's the way the salesmen at these stores, like CC, BB, and UE, try to push anyone in buying it.

The reason why CC, BB, UE and others push Monster cable is because the markup is tremendous. I just read in the Tweaks area that for one chain, Monster only makes up 2% of sales but 30% of profits. That's ridiculous! You'd be paying way too much for that product.

Get the Home Depot, Lowe's, or the Sound King 12 ga speaker wire. But if it's gonna keep you up late at night, buy the Monster, compare it to other brands and return it when you see it was no better than what you previously had.

 

[Bill_Wil]

Tommy,
I think your original opinion about Monster cables and the salesmen that push them down your throat was right on the money. The speaker wire you're already using is just fine. But maybe its best to try out some other stuff just so you can find out for sure.

 

[Angelo.M]

Tommy:

Welcome to the forum.

I'm in the camp that your original choice of 12 gauge wire was more than sufficient. Of course, if you think the Monster wire will sound better, it just might!

Seriously, spend your time choosing CDs and DVDs, not worrying about wire. The stuff you buy at Radio Shack or Home Depot is just fine.

 

[Mark gas]

The owner of Axiom speakers e-mailed my brother in law and told him to to just buy some thick wire and as long as it is thick the brand does not matter. So if the owner of Axiom says wire is wire Home Depot wire should be all good.

 

[Daniel G]

I currently own Entra One's for the front/back, Entra Center 2 and Entra Sub One with a HK AVR520. These are nice starter speakers. I also didn't have money to jump any farther into better equipment.

I would recommend the Center Two as well. I think it sounds amazing. Dialog to so full.

Regarding speaker wire, I opted for the Monster all around. I probably agree with the board, it doesn't matter much. But as I read previously, there are much better things to obsess over.

 

[Luis S]

35% mark up? Try 40% or more. Though I admit with my discount Ill probably get some Monster THX just to say I have it.

Luis S

 

[TommyWMedford]

Thanks for all of the replies. And thanks for the welcome. I probably will stay with my Home Depot wire. Like I was telling my wife the other day, as long as the wire is thick, it doesn't matter what brand it is. She could care less, though, lol. I used to buy all of my wire at Radio Shack, and Best Buy, the Acoustic Research brand, which I thought was great. Then I found out how cheap Home Depot and Lowes Wire was. About a week ago, I went to Lowes looking for some 14 ga wire for my fronts, after replacing my surround and center speaker wire with the 12 ga stuff. The poor guy was looking everywhere for it, and couldn't find it, then I looked at some of the spools of wire they had on the ground that was to be thrown away, and I saw a huge spool of 16 ga wire. The guy looked at the tag, and told me it was 50 feet and since it was going to be thrown out, he would go ahead and give it to me for the price of 20 feet, so I got it. 50 feet of 16 ga wire for around $4. Not a bad deal, I thought. I haven't used it yet. I don't know what I can use it for at the moment, but I'm sure I can put it to good use some day.



" would recommend the Center Two as well. I think it sounds amazing. Dialog to so full."

I would have to agree with you, Daniel. When I listened to it at Ultimate Electronics, I thought it sounded wonderful. It sounded 10 times better than the Entra 1, which, I was told, would sound no different by the salesmen there. Some of those guys really are a piece of work. But anyways. I should be getting it in the next 2 or 3 days.

I'm wondering. How old are you guys, and what kind of systems do you guys have? And what kind of systems did you start out with? I started out with an RCA receiver, which was actually a Pioneer, just with the RCA tag on it so they could sale it at Radio Shack. STAV 3990 was the model number, I believe. It was ok, nothing special. It had a ton of inputs, though. S-Video, component, binding posts for the speakers, I mean, it had everything you woul find in a receiver costing twice as much. I only paid $200 for it. My speakers were Polk R15s for the fronts, I can't remember the model number for the center, and I had crappy KLH's for the rears. My sub was the Sony SAWM20, or something like that. I still have it, but I'm thinking of selling it. It's too small for the living room, it only has an 8 inch woofer, and only 50 watts of insuffecient power. I think the bass for my Entra 2's is much tighter, which is what I'm looking for. The sub is too boomy, I think. I'd rather feel the bass then just hear it. Next year I'll be able to get a better sub. Anyways, I'll shut up now. You guys take care.

Tommy

 

[BrianTran]

Tommy . .
Did you ever get the Infinity Entra Center two?

I'm ordering it at onecall.com. They have it for 167 shipped. Where did you get yours and for how much?

How do they sound?

I'm debating about canceling my order and getting the b&w vm1 instead.

Let me know

Thanks

 

[Daniel Hawl]

Tommy,

Don't worry about the wire, really, your home depot wire is perfectly fine. I know what it's like to start and think that "oh boy, time to be an audiophile, i need the best.." but the fact is that you won't notice a difference, and even then, you aren't exactly running $10,000 speakers here. Keep things in perspective. I also am using Home Depot wire, and I have no problems.

As for your question about age and what we have, I'll start things out even though this is my first reply in this thread. I'm 21, and have the following:

Denon AVR 1082, Klipsch RB3s in the front with an RC3, RS3II's in the back, and a KSW12.

Here's my setup : www.thebluepen.com/hometheater/ and yes it's all with el-cheapo home depot 12g.

 

[Daniel Hawl]

double post... ignore.

 

[BrianTran]

Daniel,

I see your pics have a wireless keyboard and mouse. Do you have your computer hooked up to your tv? If so how? Just need that special video card?

 

[Daniel Hawl]

Brian : hah, if only it were that easy..

That's my dedicated Shuttle HTPC, I suggest you head on over to www.avsforum.com if you want some more info on them, but I'll provide you with a quick rundown.

It's a dedicated HTPC running to the RPTV through an ATI all in wonder 8500. Since my Toshiba hdtv doesn't work well with computers using its DVI port I am using an ATI DVI-Component dongle to connect to my tv. I'm able to get 480p, 720p, and 1080i with some overscan, but nothing to horrible. I am using a program call myHTPC which can be found at www.myhtpc.net as a user interface for playing movies, music, and viewing pictures. I have around 100 movies stored on this computer at the moment, but I generally download (shhhh) 5 or so a day at this point.

For audio I am using the optical spdif output of a soundblaster extigy to my denon, and it's flawless. Watching dvds isn't something I use the htpc for a whole lot since my liteON dvd/divx player really provides great picture through component and I don't have overscan to worry about.

I don't really use the keyboard/mouse much except for tweaking the system and web browsing, my ATI remote has been programmed to control basically anything I need to do with media playback.