Both great speakers.....need a little more info from you, though....What are you wanting to know exactly? I've owned Mini-Monitors, 5s, and 11s.....and the studio/20s and 100s. All very good speakers and excellent values.
11s are good. I'd take 60s over them though, unless you have a REALLY big room or are looking for serious SPLs.
What John said.....When I went to a larger room a few years ago (when I first bought a house) my 5s were swallowed whole....I went up to 11s and it made all the difference.
Ditto about the SPL output of the M-11's vs. the S-60's. WRT sound quality, the 60's have better detail, are more balanced across their frequency range and have more air, or depth, than the 11's. Also, the Studio line is not as bright as the Monitor line. Monitors are good, especially at their price point. But the Studios are better.
We are building a home theater room that is 12x16. Not extremely large. The speakers would probably be about used about 85% of the time for movies. From what it sounds like the two are very similar with the studio's a slight step up with a bit more clarity. I have a HK AVR430 putting out like 65 wpc, so someone suggested hooking up an amp to them. Outlaw amps seemed to be the best for the money. So, do I need to add an amp? Is outlaw the best for the money? Thanks!
The step from M-11's to S-60's is not small, the difference is distinct and immediately noticable. I'm not a big fan of the Outlaw amps, just personal preferance. I prefer Parasound or Sherbourn, or if you like a warmer sound, a Rotel or NAD amp would be a good choice.
In that size room, I would give serious consideration to using a smaller stand-mounted speaker with a good quality subwoofer.Just like I said above that my 5s were swallowed up in a larger room, when I first brought my 100s into my current room (15x25ish) they sounded a bit congested to me. They were much more localizable, whereas when I put the 20s up front they disappeared. The 20s are a bit more robust in the low end than most people give them credit for, but you definitely need to add a good subwoofer for the low end. Others may disagree, or you may just prefer a larger speaker, but I would bet that ultimately a smaller, well-matched bookshelf/sub system would sound better than towers in that room....ESPECIALLY if you add an outboard amp. Those little 20s will sing with some nice quality amps. I heard them with both B&K and Aragon stuff, and they were very impressive. In a smaller room like that, I'd also consider dipolar surrounds....In the case of the studios, go with their ADPs. They help to really diffuse the surround field, whereas a direct firing speaker may be less convincing with HT. As far as Outlaw amps, I've had their M200 monoblocks in my system for a few years now. They've been matched with Monitor 11s, Studio 20s, STudio 100s, and currently some Magnepan MMGs. I'd rate their performace as very good given what you pay for them. They are exceptional with HT, but only 'good' with music. If you wnat your HT to be hard hitting and powerful, go with Outlaw amps and save some cash. If you think you want to listen to music in its best presentation, I'd look elsewhere. I'm an HT 75% Music 25% guy, and I'm definitly planning to upgrade my Outlaw amps in the near future. First it's bigger Maggies, then a nice Odyssey amp. But for what you are describing, I would think the Outlaw amps would be a significant improvement over the amp secion of that HK receiver.
Ia gree with AlanZ. I personaly would go Studio 20 or 40 in that size room....and the money saved put towards a good sub. I think you may like the 40's....they have a little extra oomph in the bass that is nice. 20's are great though!! I would not look in the Monitor line myself. Personaly opinion but they just do not do it for me. A lot of people call them a great value but after comparing them to speakers of the same price I was really not impressed. The Studio lineup is VERY solid and are nice and detailed without being overly fatiguing. I also agree about the amp. First...if you do get the 60's than get an amp.....no question about it. The 20 I ironicaly heard with a HK 430 and was very impressed. I still would want more power but it is not as waranted I think. Outlaw is great for the price but take full advantage of the audition time allowed...they are not for everyone. I really like Parasound and Rotel myself.....different toa point but VERY nice.
Evan reminded me of a point I meant to elaborate on when he was talking about amps.... Although I only listen to music around 25% of the time, I want that to be one HELL of a 25%, you know? Just because that's how my usage breaks down in time doesn't mean that I'm not interested in good quality reproduction when I DO listen to music....follow me? That's the main reason why I plan to upgrade from my Outlaw amps, and it's the reason why Evan recommended Parasound and Rotel to you.....I'd say both those are better choices with regard to music, while at the same time providing you a killer HT experience. You could get a really nice quality amp with the money you'd save going with smaller mains, like the 20s or 40s. That Parasound HCA-855 I used to own would be PERFECT for a room your size. You could find one of those for around $350 on audiogon or ebay probably. But yeah, an outboard amp of good quality would make even the little paradigms sing like birdies
I recently audtioned Ascend 340s vs Studio 40s and definitely preferred the 340s. In the end, I found the Boston VR3s to be even better. Hope that helps some.
Steve, I own a pair of those VR3's. I love those speakers. Not very popular around here but when people are talking about speakers and "bang for the buck", I would put these in that category for sure. I also agree with you about the Ascends......those are some INCREDIBLE sounding speakers for the money......
