looking for speaker recommendations (1 Viewer)

[JasonLa]

I think I have finally come to a decision on the reciever I want. Pioneer VSX-1014TX-K. I origionally was considering Denon AVR-1905 but the addition of the THX select certification and MCACC have swayed me more towards the pioneer. Considering the pioneer is 110 watts per channel my origional concideration for getting B&W 300 series speakers is probably not a good idea sinse B&W list them at a power handling of 25-100 watts. My budget is about US$1300 (plus whatever I can get for my KR-V7030 and speakers maybe $300). I'm guessing about $150 per speaker plus about $300 for a sub. But this probably will overshoot what I am hoping to get everything for.

I am certain klipsch is out of my price range. B&W possibly too concidering the power of the receiver unless that can be reduced. I'm afraid I really don't know much of anything about brands of speakers. And I'm afraid there aren't very many places near me that have setups for me to listen to stuff. I'm hoping to narrow down the field before I start looking for places to listen to speakers.

 

[Eddie Horton]

Don't be concerned about a receiver putting out more watts per channel than a speaker is rated for. It is much easier to damage a speaker by underpowering it at high volume (clipping) than to overpower it.

 

[Mitch_J]

Maybe try www.aperionaudio.com

Budget sounds about right and they're easy to work with.

 

[MikeDuke]

Another option might be Definitive Technology

http://www.definitivetech.com
Their Pro cinema series has speakers in that range.

 

[JasonLa]

I did not know this. I assumed that speakers rated less than the watts per channel whould be bad. At least thats what I was told all those years back when I bought the system I currently have. But its a dinosaur in comparison to the stuff out today.

I'm afraid the aperion speakers are out of my price range. Cheapest ones are 180 each and since they only sell direct there isn't any chance for me going store to store getting one place to beat another places best price.

Definative looks nice but the pro cinema packages are only 5.1 and i don't see any info on the site about getting additional speakers to expand to 7.1. If I just missed this info let me know. There are a few dealer in my state. They are a bit of a trip but if I can do a 7.1 setup with pro cinema it might be worth the trip to take a listen to them.

The unfortunate thing is that all the stores I have found that carry the speakers don't carry the pioneer reciever. The store that I know of that has the B&W speakers does have the denon. I'll have to call other stores if I go with something other than B&W to see if they have the reciever.

I assume that if the speakers sound nice using the denon they will sound just as good or better with the pioneer.

 

[Nick Bum]

Dont worry about overpowering a speaker. Undering powering is a much more prevelant cause of speaker failure. If you underpower it it causes it to get hot and can cause problems that way too. And the amount of amps that a reciever puts out is often times bs. I have heard 40watt rotel amps that put out more power than 110 watt sony on the same set of speakers. And i would look for a Rotel amp for my ht but thats just me. Also THX critification is bs. companies like Rotel, Arcam, Krel and others make excellent products and are not THX certified. B&W speakers are amazing and George Lucas uses a set of 8's to master THX but they are not THX certified.

 

[JasonLa]

Reguarding THX certified. I read a nice little bit about it. I thought maybe it was something special more so than what I know about it now. The equipment has to pass certain requirements to be THX certified. See this site for more info. http://www.audioholics.com/FAQs/THXp1.html I found it helpful.

I agree you can have really nice quality without the certification.

I probably would have decided on the denon had I not found out about the pioneer. Since they are both the same price it appears that the pioneer offers some things I find the denon doesn't mainly the MCACC.

As for THX certified speakers. I think most if not all are just way too high priced. As for the reciever the fact that it is THX certified is just a bonus. I'm not particular on equipment having it or not. Its all a matter of if i like how it sounds.

Well it sounds like I will get the B&W speakers if it is safe to overpower them as you guys have pointed out. I'm going to go back to the store that had the denon reciever and B&W speakers to listen to them. Unfortunately I don't think they had the pioneer to do a side by side comparison of sound.

 

[ScottCHI]

https://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/...item=k1m80zzzz

half-off now, $100/each, free shipping
real wood, too.

 

[JasonLa]

I didn't see any specs on those M80s. Any good sources for info?

 

[Eric C D]

If you're not afraid of online purchasing, I'd suggest investigating Ascend Acoustics, Axiom, and AV123 (specifically the ELTs). All those have excellent packages in the price range you're looking at.

Good luck,

 

[Ricky c]

I went from a def.tech. procinema setup(100's, great setup) to now B&W 603s3 lcr 600 and eventually i'll get the 601s3 for surrounds.What i'm getting at is that i got my system gradually because it's what i wanted not so much what i could afford at one time.Sure if i had the budget i would of got them all at one time.But eventually i'll have what i want,(it's a better feeling ).The def.techs if your interested can be mixed and matched and you can add as many speakers that you want,5.1,6.1,7.1 etc.

 

[JasonLa]

For me its not really a how much I can spend at one time. I shoot for an overall price and see if I can get what I want in that price range. So far it is looking good. I'm assuming the main difference between the 300 and 600 series are the speaker stands? I see there are some non-bookshelf models too but they are probably more than I want to spend. I used the "your needs" thing to price out the speakers selecting the $150-350 range and the larger 600 series models didn't show up.

 

[Ricky c]

i think there is alot more differences than stands.

 

[JasonLa]

I'll have to take a listen to each at the store when I go back .

 

[JasonLa]

Well after a bit of thought I went ahead and got the CambridgeSoundworks that were linked to. i listened to some other model of theirs and liked its sound so I expect these ones will be better than them. And the price was so nice I saved at least $300 over getting the B&W speakers.

Thanks all for your help