New home, new speakers? Help please! :-) (1 Viewer)

[SethC]

My wife and I are building a new home (our first). The living room is small, only about 150-200 sq ft. I currently have a Onkyo 676 receiver w/ a Polk series package I bought about 6 years ago.

I am not going to have as much room to mount speakers as I currently have in our condo. Of paticular concern is a small media center area. I will not have a lot of room to put speakers next to the TV. I am thinking of selling my current set and buying something still as powerful, but in a smaller package. I need somthing that is small, it wil need to either be inset into the wall, or mounted in the corner of the ceiling. Floor standing is too big for me now and not an option.

The builder offers an option of pre-wiring and installation of rear channel canned speakers. I do not have any info on what brand if any the speakers are. They charge $200 which in the cost of a house is negligable. I don't mind really doing it myself depending on how hard it would be to get to the roofline. Still it would be easier to have someone else do it if I can find out the brand. That said, I am looking for something that is either easy to install or wireless.

Has anybody had any interaction and experiance with a wireless speaker system? Also, what brand and type of speakers would you recommend me check out? I have never been a huge Bose fan, but are the Acoustimass 15 systems worth checking out? Most appealing are their size. The fact that it is small is most aggreeable with the wife wil look best in our living room.

What about the Gallo Micro Spheres or the Home Theater in a Box?

Mirages OmniSat Micros?

Energy's newly announced Act-6?

Thanks for the advice! I just want to make sure that I don't blow extra money on too much system for a small room.

 

[MikeLi]

Check out the ELT's at AV123.com.... Cant beat them for the price and perfect for your room.

 

[SethC]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give those a listen to if I can find them anywhere in my area (Fresno :-( )

I don't know if those will be small enough fo rmy room. It is a pretty small room, and I physically wont have much wall space especially for the front channels. There is a fireplace semi close to the TV area. I doubt I would be able to fit anything that size in the Media Center area. There is not enough wall space around the area to mount the speakers 6-10 feet apart.

I was leaning towards somthing around the size of the Micro Spheres.

 

[MikeLi]

You could try the spikes from the same company.. av123.com
They are also getting good reviews for small room areas. Priced very reasonable too!

 

[Nhan_H]

I think Mike meant the Tykes And if you're nice, they might throw in some free spikes

Also try the middies from HTD.com. You might want to get a different sub for better performance, not that there's anything wrong with the middie sub, but you'll want something bigger for the living room.

Definitely skip the bose crap.

I own a pair of gallos, and have listened to the HTD Middies, and the middies edge them out in performance. Plus they're much cheaper.

The mirage omnis are nice, but they're a little more expensive. Have not heard anything about the act 6, so I can't help you there.

 

[SethC]

Regarding the Tykes, can I really expect decent quality for a $399 package? Seems cheap for seomthing decent, even my Polk's were $800. Do you know of any chains that carry these, or will I have to check out LA or SF to hear them?

Also, those HTD's are pretty large too. Is the size difference compared to the MicroSpheres worth it? I seriously only have like 6 inches from the edge of the TV/Media Center to an angled wall with the fireplace on it. I just don't know if I am going to have room for anythign that big. Any suggestions on alternate installations?

That's one reason the Omni's seem appealing is that they don't necessarily have to be directed at a sweet spot. IT woudl give me a little more freedom in installation.

THanks for all the help everyone, I REALLy appreciate it!

 

[Nhan_H]

Re: Tykes quality. Yes, you can. The quality from AV123 is absolutely great. They're internet direct, so you get all the saving without having to go thru the middle man. No no chains. You can go to request an in-home demo from one of the owners (possibly around your area). Try Audioenvy.com for the request. Also you might try posting a request at AV123's forum. You'll most likely get a faster response that way. BTW, you'll want to include the city/state that you live in, so people may provide the best suggestions.

I'm not sure what your expectations are with small speakers vs. large, but the small ones (no matter which) will have their limits. Here's are some reviews for the Tykes:

http://reviews.designtechnica.com/re..._main8638.html

http://forum.av123.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=tykes

Pics of the tykes in someone's home:

http://forum.av123.com/showthread.ph...ighlight=tykes

These are all relatively small speakers. So I don't know which one might be able to fit the dimemsions you're quoting (hard to get an image...any pics?)

The middies are 9.5x5x5 roughly.
Tykes satellites: 6x3x4 roughly. Center: 3.5x10x4
Omni Micros: 6 7/16 X 5 1/8 X 6 9/16

 

[CurtisSC]

The the Hsu Ventriloquist system would be great. It has been getting great reviews by professionals and customers. I have heard them three times...and each time I am amazed how the little system puts out bigger sound than you think it could.

http://www.hsustore.com/vt12.html

 

[SethC]

I will indeed look into the Tykes. I hadn't thought anythign under $500 could be decent. I don't have a pic of the home b/c it won't be built until Feb or March or so. I will try to scan in some diagrams with measurments to give you all an idea of the layout of the room.

Thanks again!

 

[Nhan_H]

No problem, Seth. It's amazing what some of these internet direct companies are offering in terms of price/performance. Definitely better than nearly anything you can get at a local store. The tykes seem to have quite a good fan following. I was testing some HTD middies in my home a couple of weeks ago, and was pretty surprised at how well it can do for HT material. I have a medium-sized room (17x22x10) that is opened to other rooms. The middies was surprisingly good for hometheater. I was not expecting it to fill up a room like that with the level of sound that it did. Don't get me wrong. I'm definitely NOT giving up my big speakers for these tiny ones, but they definitely will do a great job in smaller rooms.

With the small speakers in-stores, you'll be hardpressed to find any the quality of the Tykes or the Middies. Most will be made of cheap plastic enclosures with similar quality drivers and inside components. The Tykes have aluminum enclosures, while the Middies have MDF. The internals of each are also of good quality.

Plus the level of customer service and support you'll get from each company is simply astonishing.

I can't speak for the Hsus, as I've not seen them in person. But they do have a good fan following, as well, and the company is also first-rate.

 

[Brad_See]

Seth,

I just noticed that you can also buy B-Stock tykes from AV123.com for $249 if you decide on them and you're wanting to save some more money.

brad cook

 

[SethC]

Thanks all, I am gonan try to check them out.

Would you say their quality and sound reproduction rivals Gallos and/or Mirages?

What's the best for a 5.1 or DTS experiance. Should I look at goign 6.1 or 7.1 since I am upgrading?

 

[CurtisSC]

I have heard the little Gallos, but not Mirages, and yes, I think the Ventriloquist is at least as good, if not better....the Hsu subs definitely outclass the Gallo offering.

 

[Nhan_H]

Seth,

See my first post. I thought the Middies outperformed my Gallos, which have been moved to the bedroom for rear surround duties (again).