Upgraded: Floorstanding & Center Suggestions for $5,000 or less (1 Viewer)

[Michael R Price]

While those speakers are certainly not actually 102db efficient, and probably can't actually handle 250 watts of continuous power, they are still much more powerful than any other speakers suggested here. (Except maybe the HE12.1 kit I suggested a little farther up.) And it does seem like good clean power is what you're looking for...

 

[Allen Marshall]

Anybody hear the Martin Logan Montages, there in my price range how are they?

 

[JamesCB]

130db or something like that?

Holy Crap! That would cause hearing damage in a few seconds.

 

[Philip A]

I suggest you try the NHT 5 or 6's. They are as effortless, natural, yet powerful a speaker as I've ever heard.

I own Dahlquists and am extremely happy with them (QX10's piano black gloss), but with your higher budget you should look hard at the NHTs...

Don't forget that audio is very subjective--one person's junk is another's treasure, as they say. Many are high on the Klipsch as you are finding out--I've heard them a lot as two nephews of mine have them, however, I caution you about the ear fatigue many report from horns. Soft dome tweeters tend to be less straining in longer listening sessions.

Have fun finding what works for you...

 

[Ken Arnold]

also let me add, i'll have my m&k's withing a couple days so i'll be able to give you a good comparison of them to the klipsch

There is no comparison between M&K and Klipsch. My knowledgable home theater friends that have heard my M&K 750's claim they rival the B&W 604's which I demo'd thinking to upgrade, then realized it wasn't (an upgrade).

Kilpsch are good for music like jazz, but IMO have no place in home theater. (Too week in the midrange and to brightin the high range.)

 

[Ken Burkstrum]

well,i blew my center speaker today i was to far away and to greedy listening to music on PLII: Music, im sad :frowning:

 

[Allen Marshall]

uhhh thanks for that ken lol

Ok i want people's opinions just out of curosity, basically 1 of these speakers im gonna get.

Wharfedale EVO-40
Wharfedale Zaldek Z-2000
Rocket RS750
Onix Reference 2
Klipsch RF-7
Paradigm Monitor 90P
Paradigm Legend
Martin Logan Montage

I want to know what speaker people think is best, out of curosity!! cant stress the curosity enough, if i anyone has a suggestion for a speaker in these price ranges that would really stand up, by all means suggest them. I'd really like to know the MSRP on the Legend and Monitor 90P?

 

[Andrew*L]

i've come to realize that movies just all sound the same to me

then you won’t need to spend anymore time and money on this system, allowing you to beef up components for your 2 channel music system.

3. If its clarity at high volume levels you want, it might be more effective to spend dollars on amplification, rather than speakers. Most of the speakers mentioned in this thread, will play sufficiently loud and clear in the average room for average listeners. More often than not,(assuming competantly designed speakers), distortion comes from inadequate power, not inadequate speakers. So try getting a good 2 channel amp (high current and 200+ watts per channel) that you could either use in a dedicated 2 channel system as in option 2, or you could use in the Left/Right front speakers in option 1 (assuming your receiver as pre-outs). With the popularity of multi-channel amps for HT, there are a lot of high quality two channel amps for sale in the used market.

These approaches could save you a lot of time and money, and allow you to use a lot of what you have, instead of starting all over.

Just my $.02

 

[Allen Marshall]

i didnt say i listen to 130 im wondering what volume normal audiophiles listen to movies at approxiametly

 

[Allen Marshall]

there not my home theater systems, 1's in the living room for everybody the other is my brothers the other is mine

 

[Evan S]

i didnt say i listen to 130 im wondering what volume normal audiophiles listen to movies at approxiametly

Most people on this forum I would guess listen to movies at an average volume of 80-90db with peaks of around 100-105. Anything louder is unhealthy...heck, even those levels are pushing it.

 

[Ken Arnold]

Allen,

All seriousness aside, go listen to some M&K's before you buy. I was getting a case of upgradeitess, and demo'd some Sonus Faber's ($15,785 for the set), also brought home to demo a set of speakers I've loved for years - Vienna Acoustic Mozart's (front L/R), Maestro (Center) and Hayden's for the rears. Incredible sound. The Mozart's are $2500, $4500 for the set, plus you'd need stands for the rears. Several guys on this and another forum have this setup. You can look at those here:

Vienna Acoustics

I decided to go in the middle price wise and demo'd a set of B&W 802's.

As I was planning to make my decision and subsequent purchase in January, I started playing with the placement of my M&K 750's. Moved 'em a bit forward of the screen, and actually switched the fornt L and R speakers oppposite of which side they should be on. (M&K on this THX certified model has the tweeters at a slight angle to face the outer walls of your room.) Problem is they are designed for a 16x20 room which would cause the sound to reflect back to the listening area. My living room is 17' deep and 23' wide, with stairs on one side, and open to the kitchen in the back.

Point is, once I got the speakers dialed in just right, my wife and I were blown away and fell in love with them all over again. This is a set of speakers that will last a LONG time, and cost $750 a pair, plus $300 a pair for the bases, which are sand filled and turn them into towers. Use surround 550's for the rear and get the base for them as well (I believe M&K calls them docking stations.)

M&K makes the most sonically accurate speakers on the market - Skywalker Ranch uses the S150's (same drivers as the 750's, just more of them) to test the accuracy of the tracks on their movies!

You won't get a set of speakers any where near this good even if you spend twice as much. Check them out at:

M&K

 

[brentl]

Yep, for the money(on sale in Canada for $600) I'd get 6 Athena AS-f2s and some good amplifier power.

Read a couple of the reviews that are linked to in other posts on this site and you'll see that these speakers love the power.

Maybe not like Paradigm 100s, but running 200 watts wouldn't be overkill.

B

 

[Jon Lane]

Since I was kindly quoted in the thread, I'll chime in:

First thing we'll need is a perspective. IOW, what's this 130dB number being tossed around? It's entirely out of range unless you really, really do want jet engine-level output...and the risk of hearing damage.

Assuming even 115db average continuous operation and full-spectrum response from 20Hz to 20kHz (and assuming your neighbors could stand you living within a block of them) you're still not really talking about anything in the range of affordability, to say nothing about keeping a semblance of "audiophile" performance.

What's this leave us? If you're online because you're budget sensitive, go get the physically largest and most sensitive speaker you can afford, and try to get one with a lot of drivers (a lot of voice coils to dissapate all that thermal load you're going to subject them to) to keep IM distortion low.

In this category will fall the vast majority of direct-radiating (non-horn) speakers with 1"-1.5" voice coils.

Referring to my previous remark, the only way around the thermal limitations imposed by even the best Kapton or aluminum-wound voice coils are the Scandanavian-style drivers from Dynaudio, Morel, and Swan. These drivers feature ventilated motors and high-temp voice coils two to four times the diameter of conventional drivers, and thusly a number of times more tolerant of heavy, long-term output.

Problem is, they cost a lot, so you won't find too many speakers at any price that lavish a lot of such drivers in any one design. Lastly, there's also a minor trade-off in sensitivity since this style driver does tend to have less of it to begin with...

Remember, just like sheer cubic inches, there's no substitute for large enclosures and lots or drivers, and hopefully, high-temp voice coils. All of these add up to good initial sensitivity and good thermal capacity.

One more thing; a typical 75 watt receiver isn't going to cut it for long. Suggest that you investigate a high-current amp ASAP. Successful Swan users I talk to every day always end up with amps from Outlaw or Rotel or B&K, among others, driving their Swans speakers, even though our designs are quite sensitive and a reasonably easy load to begin with...

 

[Chris J Hall]

Wharfedale EVO-40
Wharfedale Zaldek Z-2000
Rocket RS750
Onix Reference 2
Klipsch RF-7
Paradigm Monitor 90P
Paradigm Legend
Martin Logan Montage

If you aren't completely set on towers then I wouldn't leave out the Onix Reference 1. But, I would like to say that it is one really nice list you have there with some fine(and very different) speakers representing. I'm sure you'll find one that will meet your tastes and make you happy.

 

[Allen Marshall]

Well here's my plan, i decided 2 months after getting my setup that i should of looked into it more, a month later i decided i want 3 things, better more expensive fronts and a center, a subwoofer and a better reciever. I decided which one i was most eager to get and i would enjoy having over the others and it was a subwoofer (cause i dont have one). First i was thinkin to spend about $600 max on a sub and then after hearing and reading countless stuff on svs and the pb2+ i decided (its kinda pricy but i'll get it) that was about a month ago, now i see that the PB2-Ultra is out, which would always bother me and be at the back of my head if i got a pb2+, and now, starting today i realized...hey...b4 isnt that much more expensive then the ultra, so now im getting a b4 (which i always whined about in my dreams cause i wanted it so bad but seemed to pricy).

for a pre/pro amp combo i really want B&K but after a B4 blow i'd have to wait like......a year 1/2 to get it and i really extraordinarly can not wait that long cause my reciever hisses and it'll drive a man to take the blue pill.
So im gonna get the outlaw most likely, very affordable, thank god!

Now, bum bum bum comes the new speakers, end of 2004 and after that its just i can start workin on other things, like saving up money for a good projector and a screen, and maybe set the place up to look sorta like a theater.

 

[Allen Marshall]

im scared to get a speaker that's liek the 2nd or 3rd best in its series like B&W or something cause it just seems to me that it would be better to get a speaker like Rocket RS750 where they tried like hell to get the best speaker for the price then a B&W speaker 3rd from the top

like the Athena AS-F1 and AS-F2 sound the same, i got the F2's cause they have 2 subs in them and it couldnt hurt.

 

[Eric Eash]

allen, what type of amplifier are you planning on using with the B-4 if you get it? it requires a separate amp which will cost at least $300-$400. i skimmed though this thread and saw one mention of it, but most people don't listen to their movies over 90db, but bass will usually go much higher. THX recommends 105db, which is what is known as reference. if someone says they are listening at 10db below reference, they are listening at 95db. it sounds like you still live with the parents, in that case, they probably aren't going to want to hear it above 75db.

eric

 

[Dan Hitchman]

Allen,

Personally, I think the B&W DM604 Series 3 sounds more natural than the Rocket 750, and they're comparable in price and internal construction IMHO. The Vifa ring tweeter the Rocket's use may be kind of cool, but they are the cheaper type of Vifa's.

Two other things going for the B&W right off the bat: they're the right height when sitting to align the tweeters at ear level, and they're much more stable. With the Rockets, I found them to be too short and too wobbly unless you bought the optional height extension stands (which jacks up the price). That's why I finally scratched them off my list when I got an audition at someone's house.

The B&W's, to my ears, sounded best with a Rotel, Bryston, or Krell amp at the dealer. Of course, if you can afford a Bryston or Krell amp, you might have the greenbacks for even better speakers than Rockets or the mid-level B&W's. I know I don't. :frowning:

Dan

 

[Allen Marshall]

Alright time to kick it up a notch, Floorstandings and Center together for $5,000 or less.