Speaker selection help (1 Viewer)

[Jason Kolczak]

Well, I've gone through the forum and found a huge range of speakers I want to audition, but there's no way in hell I'll be able to do it. I'm looking at speakers that cost between 400-600 used, preferably bookshelves. They'll be driven by an amp that I haven't bought yet (Denon POA-8300 or Parasound HCA-1203A.. or maybe a Rotel). I listen to music (rock) 70-80% of the time;however, if a speaker company doesn't make a good center, then I'll look elsewhere. I currently have Klipsch Cornwalls, so some brightness in a new speaker really won't bother me, but Sonus Faber happens to be the speaker I'm leaning towards right now (go figure since they Klipsch and Sonus sound completely different). Why am I changing speakers?? I live in an apt. and need something smaller. Also, I do have a sub (Paradigm PW-2500).

The list:
NHT M5 (listened to the SB3 and thought something was missing)
Totem Mite
PSB Stratus Mini
Sonus Faber Concertino (favorite so far)
Polk LSi7/LSi9
Vienna Acousics Bach/Haydn (briefly listened to Bachs, definately need to go for another audition)
Boston VR-M60 (highs were a bit too bright when turned up, although I will listen to them again)
ACI Emerald
Von Schweikert VR-1
Dynaudio Audience 42
Linn Katan
Onix Rocker 250
Meadowlark Swallow
Triangle Titus
Quad 12L
Totem Arro
JM Lab Cobalt 806
Usher X719
RBH 61-SE
Paradigm Studio 20v2/40v2
Soliloquy Sat5/5.0
Axiom M22ti
Kef Q1
Energy Veritas 2.1
Klipsch (forgot which bookshelves, but I didn't like these)

I'm sure I may have missed some speakers, so feel free to add to my list. I did listen to the Monitor Audio Silver bookshelves (S2 I believe) and was not impressed.
Are there any speakers I should automatically remove from my list? I'm probably going to want a speaker that won't kill my ears when turned up, so metal domes may be out unless they're more laid back. Thanks for any help.

 

[MuneebM]

That's a very long list, but add the following JBL Studio Series speakers to it:
JBL S310II floorstanding towers OR JBL S38II bookshelves, JBL S-CenterII center speaker, JBL S36II surround speakers

 

[Wayne Ernst]

So true. By the time one was done auditioning all of those speakers, the new models would be out and one would have to start all over again.

Jason, in regards to paring your list down to a level you can relate to, you might want to see which of those speakers are carried locally by your dealers. You might want to just pick out 6 speakers and make it a point to listen to them over the course of a week. Plus, don't forget to ask your dealer if they have any open-boxed or demo specials. You might find that they have something to fit your needs.

 

[Jason Kolczak]

Very true. Since I'll be in the used market, some of those speakers will be hard to come by.
I've got Tweeter, Ultime Electronics, and Hillcrest High Fidelity within 15 minutes of me and other shops not too far away since I live near Dallas.

I'd like to go with a lesser known brand that the common person wouldn't recognize, but these will be harder to audition and purchase used.

I'm going to audition what I can around the Dallas area and pick one pair of bookshelves to buy. After I make my decision, I'm going to try and find other speakers on the used market that I wasn't able to audition. I'll then audition those against my original purchase and decide what to keep. Next I'm going to sell the pair I don't prefer and try to find another pair of used speakers and do the same thing. This will hopefully go on for a couple of months.

I'd really like to narrow the list down though. So if any speakers aren't necessarily known to be good with rock, or if they have a weak center, I'd like to toss them out of the equation.