Need "bang for the buck" speakers for a 2nd system (1 Viewer)

[Patrick R. Sklenar]

Currently - HT: Outlaw 1050 & 750 driving four Boston Acoustics VR-M50s, one B.A. VR-MC, one ancient Advent "Baby II" as the rear center & nothing upstairs yet.
Planned - move the 1050 upstairs and replace it with an Outlaw 950 in the HT. Upstairs will be used for probably 90% or more music. So. Do I buy a good pair of speakers for upstairs and leave the Boston's downstairs? Or do I move the Bostons upstairs and buy a whole new 5.1 set for the HT?
Finances are tighter than I had hoped at this point ... I've spent about $2500 more than budgeted after moving in to my new house, thus I can probably afford only $1000 to $1500 for speakers ... I'm not sure that would get me any HT set (5.1 or better) that would sound as good, let alone better, than my Bostons right now. :frowning:
Thus I'm leaning towards a single pair of speakers with a more full range like the Diva 6.1's for the upstairs. That way I could get by without a sub up there and, being fuller range, they'd probably sound better with music. And for watching TV and stuff upstairs, I've got two old Radio Shack Minimus 7's and another Advent "Baby II" that I could use to round out the 1050's outputs for the 10% of the time it might be used for watching TV or something.
Anyone have any opinions to share? Am I looking at things bass ackwards? Does my proposed solution make sense? What other speakers are available in the sub $1500 price range? I briefly considered the Boston VR-M90's ... but I'd have to win Lotto to be able to afford something like that. Also, someone on another forum suggeted building my own. While that's tempting, it wouldn't be any cheaper ... I don't have the necessary wood working tools yet, so I'd end up spending a lot of money there. :frowning:
Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Evan S]

Pat, if you can go as high as $1500, I would seriously consider trying to find a used pair of VRM-60's on Ebay. You can put those in your main HT downstairs (you can probably get a pair for around $700 or so), and you know they will timbre match your other speakers. Then I would get a SVS 25-31 PCI or HSU or Adire or something in the $500 range to put in your main HT. It will probably be a big upgrade over your current sub (which I can't see you mentioning in this thread). Whatever you have downstairs can be brought upstairs and mated with your VRM-50's in the bedroom to provide full range sound.

That's what I would do with my $1500 if I had the cash.

But I'm a bookshelf kind of guy. There are very few floorstanders who will give you as full a range as a good pair of bookshelves mated with a quality sub.

 

[Patrick R. Sklenar]

Evan,
The subwoofer is the B.A. PV-1000. In Cherry of course.
I've also been a "bookshelf kind of guy" up to now. But considering that I'm expecting mostly music use upstairs (and it's the living room, not the bedroom), I was leaning away from a subwoofer. Thus the consideration of full range towers. Yes, I know that down to 27 or 28Hz isn't really full range, but I'm under the (mistaken perhaps?) impression that that's pretty good for music applications.

 

[Heath_R]

Buy a pair of M60's to go upstairs.
www.axiomaudio.com

 

[Patrick R. Sklenar]

Heath,

Thanks for the reply! Out of curiousity, why would you recommend the M60's over the M80s? Is the 4Hz difference in the low end not really that meaningful from a music point of view?

 

[Sean D]

Pat,

You won't be disappointed with the Diva 6.1's .

 

[Kevin Farley]

Check out the Vandersteen 2ce sigs! they go down to low 30's, and due to their construction (www.vandersteen.com) they're really 3000 speakers for 1500... Excellent for home theater.
Kevin Farley

 

[Heath_R]

I have not heard the M80's, but I am worried that they will not image as precisely as the 60. But they are more efficient, which would be good with the 1050. I am scared of the dual tweeter design, I have heard speakers with problems from it. But, This is just a gut feeling, Axiom may not have any issues with it. IMPO the only thing to step up to the 80 for is to get every bit of extension. For the price difference you could add a Rava with the 60's and cross it over at like 60hz.

I ended up getting the M3's and a 10-39 SVS PC. The cherry finish looks classy, I am very happy with the speakers.

 

[Marc H]

Heath is correct; the M60TiSe have a bit sharper focus on the imaging.

The M80TiSe are great if you need a speaker that will play blisteringly loud and stay open sounding.

 

[Patrick R. Sklenar]

Kevin,
I checked out the Vandersteen site. Very nice looking speakers. And based on the reviews I found via Google, I suspect that they sound pretty darn nice. Unfortunately, it looks like they need a fair amount (up to 4 feet in one review) of open space around them (back & sides), and my room really just doesn't lend itself to having them that far from the wall. I figure I can realistically them (what ever speakers I buy) about 2' away from the wall at the max.
Heath & Marc,
hmmmm ... you make a very good arguement for the M60 over the M80. And my room isn't exactly huge, so I really don't need to fill a massive space with sound. I was primarily looking at the M60 (and the Diva 6.1's) for the maximum possible bass extention.

 

[chris c]

Totem Dreamcatcher 5.1 speaker system.

 

[Heath_R]

The M60's are rear ported and need some room to breath behind them. IMPO I think a foot and a half from the side and rear walls would be good. I don't think any speaker sounds its best if you shove it very close to the wall.

 

[Joe Casey]

I'd go with the Vandy suggestion. Or maybe 2 pairs of Magnepan MMG's or a pair of Magnepan 1.6/QR's, especially if you'll go 90% music.

 

[Patrick R. Sklenar]

Chris,
That Totem system looks nice, but how much would it cost? Also that's a 5.1 system, I'm looking for a music system.
Heath,
18"? I've got the room for that.
Joe,
Well, as I explained to Kevin, while the Vandy's look like a very nice option, I'm afraid that they'd end up having to be located too close to the walls for them to sound their best in my room. :frowning:
As for Maggies ... I'd never considered a panel since I've never heard one. And, I guess, I've always been under the impression that they were difficult to drive. Would my Outlaw 1050 receiver let them sound as good as they should?

 

[Joe Casey]

Patrick,

With the exception of the larger Maggie models (3.6, 20.1), I'd think the 1050 would be just fine, as long as it is stable into a 4 ohm load (a very stable and purely resistive 4 ohm load) that Maggies present. I've successfully driven MMG's and the 1.6's with lower powered amps and receivers. See if you can demo the Maggies.

 

[Patrick R. Sklenar]

Joe,
I've since read some positive comments about the Maggies by other 1050 owners. Sounds like they should work fine. after talking with a couple of friends who are more 'up to dat' with speakers than I, I'm leaning towards the Diva's, but I'm far from decided. May wait until after the HE2002 show in NYC at the end of the month. Sort of check out the higher end stuff there and see if I have any brilliant insights.
Mean while, I'm asking around to see if I know anyone locally with Maggies.
Thanks!

 

[KeithR]

Dynaudios baby...Audience 82s

I also recently enjoyed at a demo the Epos M16? (2 way floorstander) that retails for 1400.

Whatever you do, pick up used so you can effectively double your budget

 

[chris c]

"Or do I move the Bostons upstairs and buy a whole new 5.1 set for the HT?"

Did I misunderstand this?

The Totem set I believe is around $1500 or so - I am sure you can track down the information on the web somewhere.

 

[Patrick R. Sklenar]

Chris,
I'm sorry, I did a quick Google search for the Totem Dreamcatchers and found a review that mentioned a price of $2500? I'll do some more searches this evening.
Thank you,

 

[chris c]

Patrick, that price was in Canadian dollars. Retail for US is $1695.