Is there something better than Gallos for home theater in small apartment (1 Viewer)

[Michael_Cho]

Am looking to invest in a home theater for a small apartment (listening/viewing area will be less than 12'x12'). The ability to upgrade piecemeal later is not something that is important to me.

A salesperson recommended Bose's (given the small listening space); was wondering if others might have different recommendations. Speakers need to be fairly small. Was thinking of a system with a Gallo Due as center, 4 micros and the gallo sub. Would like to budget somewhere around $1,500 or less.

thanks in advance. Also, if people could seperately recommend amp/receivers as well; I'm building this from scratch.

 

[Andrew Pezzo]

If it was my money I would get and Energy Take 5.2 speaker system with matching S8.2 sub. For a receiver I would go with a Denon. Those 2 brands go together very well (I had this setup at one time and was very pleased). For the budget you listed you could even get the matching stands (a must in my opinion).

 

[Wes Nance]

Hi,

For half your budget, you can get something custom built in your choice of wood veneer that will blow away the BOSE. I haven't personally heard Gallos, so can't compare, but I've heard these little guys, and they sound great, especially if, as you say, you have a small to medium sized room:

Rutledge Audio Design Micros

These full range drivers are very impressive, and the speakers are still very small. Brian who owns the company is a great guy, and can give you some good advice. These would run you $750, and have them veneered to match your room.

That's what I would do if I wanted small speakers. . .

Wes

 

[Lee Carbray]

You can check out the Mirage Omni line. I have not heard them but they are small and get good reviews.

 

[Michael_Cho]

Andrew--

Everyone seems to like the take two's, although I've read some criticism on the sub. any thoughts?

thx

 

[gregD]

You mentioned sub performance... no experience with Energy, but...

I'd highly recommend the Gallo Due's you're considering, but I would avoid their subs: subpar sound, cheap build (to me, anyway).

Also recommend auditioning the Totem Acoustic Dreamcatcher system in that general price range... or if you'd consider buying online, the Rocket ELT: http://www.av123.com/products_produc...s&product=37.1

Also check http://www.accessories4less.com/ for a very decent selection of satellites by NHT, Canton, Acoustic Research... then look to online dedicated sub manufacturers SVS, Hsu, Adire.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

Bose - duh!!!



The Energy system gets great reviews, and they are really 2-way speakers (instead of a full range cone) - check it out.

 

[BryanZ]

Rocket ELT or a Tyke system with a UFW-10 sub. Would add the HSU Ventriloquist/VTF-2 combo on there. In addition, competing directly with Gallo is Orb Audio. Wouldn't rule out buying used gear either.

 

[Wes Nance]

Michael,

Don't judge all full range drivers by BOSE experience. If you don't have a large, large room, and you're going to cross over to a sub at 80 or 90 hz anyway, there are some definite benefits to a good full range driver, like no crossover to deal with, superb imaging, etc. And there are no time alignment issues because there is only one driver per speaker.

Energy's are great values and a good product, but you'd also probably be very surprised to hear these 3" TangBand fullrangers I reference above. They're basically flat from a crossover of 90hz to 20K. Their weakness is that they can't do extreme output, but most of the speakers in this price range are in the same boat, especially the little tiny guys like Gallos, etc.

Many people get huge value in subwoofers by going DIY or having a sub made for them by Brian or Kyle Richardson or somebody else (hang out on the DIY forum) but much fewer seem to do with DIY or hand built speakers, even though they will still often buy without listening to another Internet vendor.

All I know is that the components in my Paradigm Atoms cost less than $20 total for both speakers and the crossover, etc. Retail speaker markup is huge, and rightfully so with marketing, research, etc. The drivers in those Micros are about $12 a piece and weigh in at over a pound. A much bigger portion of your investment is going to the components, plus you're getting furniture quality veneers, etc.

Just want to stick up for the small guy in the business. If you're going to purchase sight unseen, why not have them hand made and talk to the builder yourself?

All that said, the market has gotten so competetive that it's almost difficult to make a poor choice out of the suggestions in this thread!

Let us know what you decide.

Wes