Wiredin
Grip
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2009
- Messages
- 19
- Real Name
- Luke
Alirghty, ordered up my new receiver (onkyo tx-sr707) today. got rid of most of the limitations of space. Now it's time to get down and order some speakers.
I've done a lot of auditioning in the last two weeks.
I'm still very limited in funds, as I got a little less than I thought, but I'm thinking of going a bit more piece meal than originally intended. Mostly because after demoing the Soundstage, KEF C1, JBL, Energy, and Mirage systems I'm hearing way to much flub and want cleaner, clearer sound. So I've narrowed it down to two.
Here is where I'm torn, all the solutions sound bloody amazing, but each one has pro's and cons'
System 1:
Kef IQ10 book shelve fronts
Kef IQ2c center channel
Kef Kube 2 8" sub
I can get the above system shipped for $800 CAD (give or take a few bucks) from accessories for less. This system seems to be the most efficient at lower volumes, The clarity and fullness of sound at these lower volumes seems to be the best that I've heard so far. The sub isn't overly powerful or earth shaking, but helps enhance the bottom end enough to give me some whoomp.
System 2:
Paradigm Atom Monitor bookshelf fronts
Velodyne Impact10 sub
Paradigm Cinema 330 center
According to the local dealer she can get me this pacakge for $800 CAD. I don't have to wait for shipping (which is awesome) and its a local dealer, which means local support, which I'm huge on. The Paradigm Atom's sound bloody fantastic. Like, unbelievably fantastic. But... they sound so amazing when their getting a decent amount of power. At lower volumes they seem to get lifeless and lose all the clarity that they have when the amps turned up and pushing some juice. They are also a lot bigger than the KEF's and will require stands, which my wife don't want, but she's in LOVE with the sound.
I demoed both using the CD of Eric Claptons "One more Car One more Rider", specifically "Key to the highway" for the acoustic sound stage that song as, and "Cocaine" for the full band and sonic spectrum.
The problem was, that the shop I went to go listen to the Paradigms, while friendly, seemed lazy to sell me some speakers. They would only hook the Atom's up for me (not even letting me demo the Cinema series which was more what I went in there for), and even then they wouldn't hook up the sub or the center channel. Their reasoning is that the fronts are the most important (obviously) and will make up most of my decision. The rest will either work or not once it's in my room and they will give me 60 days to make sure they are right for me.
They also put the audio through a McIntosh MCD301 CD player, McIntosh C2300 tube preamp, and McIntosh MC405 power amp... which I'm sure really made those Paradigm's shine!
I'm really really torn between the two systems. My home theater is going to be doing so much that I need it to be able to handle music from blues to hard, heavy rock, movies from comedy, action, and dramas, to video games from RPGs, racers, and first person shooters.
The KEF's seem to be better for low volumes, where the majority of our listening would be. And still sound fantastic turned up!
The Paradigm/Velodyne system is more bang for the buck, and better sound once turned up...which I won't be able to do for at least 3 years (our goal for a new home thats not multi-dwelling)
Really in the end it's only for the low volume efficiency that I'm waivering. So I need to know from others... how are the Paradigms around the volume level that most people listen to their TV at before they go home theater and crank the thing!
I know it's a long post. But I'm really torn here. If I didn't have to online order the KEF's I wouldn't have an issue as I could just go in and buy both systems and return one with the fantastic return policies of my local dealers. The KEF's are just 3x more expensive at my local dealer...
I've done a lot of auditioning in the last two weeks.
I'm still very limited in funds, as I got a little less than I thought, but I'm thinking of going a bit more piece meal than originally intended. Mostly because after demoing the Soundstage, KEF C1, JBL, Energy, and Mirage systems I'm hearing way to much flub and want cleaner, clearer sound. So I've narrowed it down to two.
Here is where I'm torn, all the solutions sound bloody amazing, but each one has pro's and cons'
System 1:
Kef IQ10 book shelve fronts
Kef IQ2c center channel
Kef Kube 2 8" sub
I can get the above system shipped for $800 CAD (give or take a few bucks) from accessories for less. This system seems to be the most efficient at lower volumes, The clarity and fullness of sound at these lower volumes seems to be the best that I've heard so far. The sub isn't overly powerful or earth shaking, but helps enhance the bottom end enough to give me some whoomp.
System 2:
Paradigm Atom Monitor bookshelf fronts
Velodyne Impact10 sub
Paradigm Cinema 330 center
According to the local dealer she can get me this pacakge for $800 CAD. I don't have to wait for shipping (which is awesome) and its a local dealer, which means local support, which I'm huge on. The Paradigm Atom's sound bloody fantastic. Like, unbelievably fantastic. But... they sound so amazing when their getting a decent amount of power. At lower volumes they seem to get lifeless and lose all the clarity that they have when the amps turned up and pushing some juice. They are also a lot bigger than the KEF's and will require stands, which my wife don't want, but she's in LOVE with the sound.
I demoed both using the CD of Eric Claptons "One more Car One more Rider", specifically "Key to the highway" for the acoustic sound stage that song as, and "Cocaine" for the full band and sonic spectrum.
The problem was, that the shop I went to go listen to the Paradigms, while friendly, seemed lazy to sell me some speakers. They would only hook the Atom's up for me (not even letting me demo the Cinema series which was more what I went in there for), and even then they wouldn't hook up the sub or the center channel. Their reasoning is that the fronts are the most important (obviously) and will make up most of my decision. The rest will either work or not once it's in my room and they will give me 60 days to make sure they are right for me.
They also put the audio through a McIntosh MCD301 CD player, McIntosh C2300 tube preamp, and McIntosh MC405 power amp... which I'm sure really made those Paradigm's shine!
I'm really really torn between the two systems. My home theater is going to be doing so much that I need it to be able to handle music from blues to hard, heavy rock, movies from comedy, action, and dramas, to video games from RPGs, racers, and first person shooters.
The KEF's seem to be better for low volumes, where the majority of our listening would be. And still sound fantastic turned up!
The Paradigm/Velodyne system is more bang for the buck, and better sound once turned up...which I won't be able to do for at least 3 years (our goal for a new home thats not multi-dwelling)
Really in the end it's only for the low volume efficiency that I'm waivering. So I need to know from others... how are the Paradigms around the volume level that most people listen to their TV at before they go home theater and crank the thing!
I know it's a long post. But I'm really torn here. If I didn't have to online order the KEF's I wouldn't have an issue as I could just go in and buy both systems and return one with the fantastic return policies of my local dealers. The KEF's are just 3x more expensive at my local dealer...