Speaker Suggestions (1 Viewer)

[Allen Marshall]

im not familiar with alot of speaker brands i was wondering if anybody could suggest some good speakers to check out or audition.

Im lookin for a pair of floorstandings, a subwoofer and a center.

my budget is $5,000 or less for a pair of floorstandings, $5,000 or less for a subwoofer and $2,000 or less for a center.



Thanks

 

[Marty M]

With this budget you will have a lot of good choices. I'll start the ball rolling that you audition the Reference series of Paradigm speakers. You can check them out at http://www.paradigm.ca

As I am sure you know, you will be getting a lot of personal preferences, but the only preference that matters is the speaker that sounds best to you.

Good luck and happy shopping.

 

[Jon_Welker]

KEF Reference Series would be very nice to audition. I just helped hook up a pair today, and they are just incredible. You really can't ask for anything more out of a speaker. $3500 for fronts. I believe they are the 207's. Very, very, nice sound to them, and they image like nothing I've ever heard before, and I've hear a lot of speakers.

 

[Chuck Schilling]

Were I able to drop that kind of loot on speakers, I'd be looking at the Martin Logans. I've heard the Ascent on a few occasions and they simply never fail to make my jaw drop. Though the MLs aren't great at bass extension, add an SVS PB4 or PB2+ and that's just about my vision of sonic nirvana. Give them a listen if you have the opportunity!

 

[george king]

here is my suggestion. The Kefs are nice, and I used to use the Q series.

For that kind of money, check out the GR Research Line array at www.gr-research.com Danny will then design you a matching center.

Then go to Brian at Link Removed and he will custom build you a sub. Brian build the cabs for GR research so you will get matching veneers to boot. The other person to build a sub would be Hank Frankenberg. He frequents the DIY section, and does nice work also.

Hope this helps.

 

[CurtisC]

Allen,before you drop that kind of bread on a speaker set up(which I highly recomend)take lots of time.There are a lot of great choices,all different like shoes,and a few bad choices,listen to ANY you can.Even if you have to drive a few hundred miles it would be well worth your time,good luck.

 

[Allen Marshall]

I've decided on the Definitive BP3000TL for my mains and rears. For my sub i want to get a B4-Plus, cause its a very large room.


I still cant decide on a center speaker, any ideas?

 

[MikeLi]

I have to agree with Curtis. Your going to be spending alot on speakers you better like as you will have them for quite awhile unless your very well off. You center speaker should be matched with your front mains. Ideally for the amount of money your spending all you speakers should be matched. Have you thought about the internet brands. You have done a great job by picking the SVS sub. Why not try AV123.com and Axiom speakers. Order both and see which you like the best and return the others. For the price your paying a few bucks in shipping one way on a set will be more than worth the price and your peace of mind.

 

[Allen Marshall]

are you saying i should look at the rocket and axiom floorstandings or the rocket and axiom centers?

 

[Allen Marshall]

i never hear the end of that Rocket RSC200 center speaker, thats the center speaker i wanted to get before i started this thread but i dont know of alot of good center speakers, any for that matter

 

[Scott Oliver]

Living in Chicago, there are a decent amount of high end dealers carrting quite a few speaker brands. I would grab some of your favorite CD's, ones that you are familiar with and also preferably ones that can test different instruments or areas of the frequency response.

Take a weekend or two and go out and listen to from your own opinions as to what type of sound you like. I think you will find some very different presentations out there. Then once you have narrowed your list down a bit, you could then come back here or other forums and ask for user opinions on those brands.

Asking such a broad question right now is not going to help you out much at all, as all you are going to get is opinions of opionated listeners or buyers.

By the way with your budget just about every speaker brand is open to you, that is the good news, the bad news is that there are hundreds of speaker brands. Have fun discovering the world of high end sound.

 

[Scott_N]

Speakers from the Energy Veritas line or the Revel Performa line would be good choices in this price range.

Good luck

 

[ChrisLazarko]

I will recommend Klipsch. There reference series is very nice, especially for movies. They give out very nice vocals, stronger than most speakers, but still maintain a nice midrange and low bass. Klipsch speakers are also very easy to power, basically you could put 1Watt of power into a Klipsch and get a decent amount of sound while the other speaker company might need 3Watts of power to reach the same level.

Quick suggestion for your price:

Klipsch RD-5's (Not the top line but very nice)
Klipsch RC-7
Klipsch RS-5's (If you want read surrounds)
Klipsch RW-12 (12" woofer)

You should be able to find everything there for about $6000 total so you will be under your budget.

 

[Jason.Soko]

For $5000 why is everyone suggesting these entry level speakers like paradigm,klipsch and deftech. You can find those in Tweeters around here. For $5000 you can get some serious speakers and I would recommend going to a high end audio shop. I would HIGHLY suggest looking into the Totem line. At $3700 a pair for the Forest series, you aren't going to find anything better in that range. You may even be able to find their $7000 Wind Series in canada for $5000. Their Winds are absolutely amazing.

And, as Scott said. Go find some high end places and bring some CD's. Demo everything in your price range.

 

[Jon_Krug]

check out the onix ref's from the av123 website. i have the ref1's and they are great and i still don't even have them fully broken in yet. the ref2's r floorstanders and i'm sure they sound even better. as far as a center goes... i would recomend a matching center of whatever speakers u go with (and if not a matching center, then atleast a center from the same speaker company).
goodluck

 

[Paul M.Kuziel]

One word for ya buddy KLIPSCH

 

[Brian Corr]

Allen,
Are you looking for something for HT alone or music also?
With your budget, I'd be checking out other lines other than Def tech, klipsch, or paradigm. They are great speakers for the money, but are more run of the mill. With a budget of 5k for mains alone, there are much better performers, especially if music is a priority. I'd check out some of the smaller companies that hand make there speakers in house.(Aerial, Monitor, Snell, GR research...)
For HT only, you could actually drop your budget and probably would be hard pressed to tell the difference. A quality center and subs can make all the difference in the world.
But if you also listen to music, SACD, DVD-Audio, then full range front and surrounds in your price range would be great.
Triad is another well known brand for higher end speakers also (although there dealer base is smaller than something like paradigm). If your room is large, Martin Logans can sound fantastic (if you like their sound)
SVS make fantastics sub and you couldn't go wrong going that route.
It's very, very difficult to tell the difference between speakers with out hearing them side by side. And what sounds good in a showroom may not sound as good in your home. Try and learn what type of sound you prefer (forward, laid back, right in the middle-accurate) and see if you can get them home to listen to them.

 

[John Garcia]

Brian asked my question: More music or movies? Both? One or the other only? Also, what type of amplification and do you already have this taken care of?

In this price range, add to your audition list: Vienna Acoustics, Sonus Faber, Thiel, B&W Nautilus.

I can also second GR Research. Very satisfied owner.

 

[Geoff L]

Yes, John finally asked an important question, what is in front driving the speaker system to be?

And the systems use, % of HT use, Music 2-channel, multi channel-SCAD DVD-A, etc.

With that budget, take your time and definitly hit the high end stores and listen listen....

Cheers
Geoff

 

[Mike_Gr]

In the price range you mentioned, I suggest you audition:

- Thiel
- Energy (Veritas)
- Soliloquy
- Monitor Audio Gold
- Tannoy
- Snell