Your thoughts on various speakers (1 Viewer)

[Bill RE]

I have narrowed my speaker choices down several brands. I have been able to listen to some of these (Klipsh, Polk, Paradigm) but never at the same time which is making my decision difficult. I realize that speaker selection is a personal preference but I am still interested in various opinions. Given the following prices which would you choose for a 19 x 14 HT room (75% movies/25% music)? I would appreciate any thoughts.

KlipschParadigm - laminate

RF-3$564Studio 60$850
RC-3$230Studio CC$350
RS-3$335Studio ADP$615
Total$1,129Total$1,815
reliableaudiovideo.comAssume 10% off Canadian retail

PSB ImagePolk

6T$629LSI 15$1,049
9C$259LSI C$349
10S$420LSI FX$599
Total$1,308Total$1,997
reliableaudiovideo.comacousticsounddesign.com

Axiom
Outlet Price
M60ti$800$680
VP150$350$298
QS 8$470$376
Total$1,620$1,354
axiomaudio.com

Note: I have a decent M&K sub but I'll probably upgrade in a few years.

 

[Bill RE]

Opps. Tabs didn't work.

Klipsch

RF-3$564
RC-3$230
RS-3$335
Total$1,129
Reliableaudiovideo.com

PSB Image

6T$629
9C$259
10S$420
Total$1,308
Reliableaudiovideo.com

Axiom

M60ti$800/$680
VP150$350/$298
QS 8$470/$376
Total$1,620/$1,354
Axiomaudio.com (retail/outlet)

Paradigm

Studio 60$850
Studio CC$350
Studio ADP$615
Total$1,815
Assume 10% off Canadian retail (laminate)

Polk

LSI 15$1,049
LSI C$349
LSI FX$599
Total$1,997
acousticsounddesign.com

 

[JonnyD]

Bill I am a little confused at your pricing.
Just bought the
Klipsch RF3IIB $850 pr
RC3IIB $350 ea
RCW3IIB $700 pr (in Walls)
RSW12B $1400 ea
They do sound awesome although they are brand new and will need running in they look fantastic with the copper cones
What I have read here in the hallowed walls of HTF speakers are definitely a personal choice and I can only give you a biased opinion as I have these speakers. You must test out all your choices with music of your own liking take cd's into the store and play then until you are satisfied with the result. Its a expensive mistake...

 

[Marty Lockstead]

Hello Bill,
I guess you've apparently made up your mind on the speaker brands you're interested in, but may I reccomend you give definitive technology an audition? I find them great for movies and music alike. Good luck in your search.

 

[Bill RE]

JonnyD:

Reliableaudiovideo.com lists the Klipsch "RF-3II Reference Series" speaker for $563.95 and sounddistributors.com lists them for $599. The RC-3II is listed for $229.52 and $275, respectively. Is the RF-3IIB a newer or different version? I don't know much about either of these on-line companies but I was planning to start a new thread or do a search to see if anyone has purchased anything from them before I place an order.

Thanks for the feedback on your speakers. I'm sure that I will be happy with any of the brands I mentioned but I'm trying to find the best deal and I think its interesting to hear what others think of the various systems.

Bill

 

[Bill RE]

Marty:

Thanks for the tip on Def. Tech. I auditioned them once for a very short period and I liked the sound but wasn't overly impressed. I didn't have time to listen to much music and Def. Tech has received some negative reviews for music. However, given that there is a Def Tech dealer only a few miles from my house I will give them another try.

Thanks, Bill

 

[Jason_Me]

All of the speakers you listed are great. You really have to go out and listen to them.

 

[Marty Lockstead]

By the way Bill, I neglected to mention that, when it comes to music, I'm very old school in terms of how I prefer to listen to it. That being in 2-channel stereo only. I occaisionally let my roommate listen to his trance/rave stuff on my BP8 towers and he thinks they sound very rich and full with a broad frequency range. Personally, I couldn't care a less about hearing any kind of music in a surround mode, despite the fact that my Yamaha RX-V3200 has plenty of music modes. Regardless, please let us know about how your auditioning goes.

 

[Bill RE]

A friend and I are leaving work early tomorrow and plan to visit several stores that carry Polk, M&K, Def. Tech, Paradigm, and Klipsch. I am bringing The Matrix, Mission Impossible, and several different types of music for the auditions. I only hope that we can get all of this in before our wives find out that we are M.I.A. My friend will be shopping for a pair of bookshelf speakers and I am also going to try and decide between the Toshiba 65HX81 and the Pioneer SD-643HD5. I will report back with the results.

 

[JustinP]

I'll throw my two cents in for the Paradigm setup. Their more forward sound will surely meet your HT, and I find them very musical as well.

 

[Bill RE]

I made it out to the stores the other night and had a lot of success. We were able to listen to the Paradigm Studio 40s (wanted to hear the Studio 60s but they didn't have them in the store), Klipsch RF-3II, M&K 750 & 150s, and Polk LSI. The store that carries Def. Tech closed an hour earlier than I thought so we didn't get to hear these. I will go back another time.

I am fairly new to all of this and I don't completely understand all the terms but I will give you my impression of the speakers I heard.

First we compared the Klipsch and Paradigm side by side with music and several movie scenes. It was extremely easy to hear the differences under this type of test. I felt that not only did the Paradigm 40s out perform the Klipsch RF-3 but the Studio 20s sounded significantly better as well. Klipsch was harsh on the high end and almost muffled in the mid-range and bass. The Paradigms were crisp and very natural sounding. On a couple of acoustic guitar solos I could each string/note being played where it sort of muffled together with Klipsch. The bass of the Paradigm bookshelf speakers was better than the RF-3 which is a floor standing speaker. It seemed that there was a lot more depth and rich sounding. It was closer with movies but Paradigm still sounded better to me. My friend had a similar opinion. So Klipsch is out and Paradigm will advance to the next round.

Our next visit compared Polk LSI with M&K. I went in expecting not to like the Polks and they were absolutely awesome. We listened to the LSI/15 and LSI/7. I have the same comments about these speakers as the Paradigms. Very clear sound with plenty of depth. Just for fun I tryed the Polk Rti 100s and both of the LSI speakers blew these away. If you have not liked Polk in the past, you should listen to these new speakers. Next was the M&K 750s and these were very nice. I didn't care for the bland look of the speaker but it sounded good for movies and OK with music. The sound was on the bright side and very crisp but lacked the depth of the Polks. Overall, I thought the Polks sounded better for music and movies. The M&K 150s were set up in 7.1 in a separate room. These are out of my price range and it was getting late so we didn't listen to any music but the movie scenes sounded the best of any of the systems we heard. The MX-150 sub really pounded out the bass. In this brief audition, it impressed me more than the Servo-15.

The good news is that I will be completely happy with either Paradigm or Polk. The hard part is trying to decide which to buy. I think the decision would be easier in a side by side comparison. Also, I was listening to the LSI/15 (floorstanding) vs the Studio 40 (bookshelf). The stores didn't have the LSI/9 or Studio 60, which makes it difficult since I couldn't compare floorstanding to floorstanding and bookshelf to bookshelf. I don't have my room set-up and I have not ordered any of the other equipment so an in home audition will have to wait.

I have decided to eliminate PSB since there isn't anywhere for me to hear these. I will try Def. tech at some point. I may wait to get my room finished and order the Axioms on 30 day trial and chek out the Paradigms and Polks for a final in home audition.

I do have a question for anyone that made it to the end of this post. The Polk LSI/15 is compatible with 4 Ohms and the Paradigms are 8 Ohms. What does this mean and which would work better with a Denon 3802 receiver?

Side note: The Pioneer SD-643HD5 had a much better picture than the Toshiba 65HX81. The Toshiba was good but the Pioneer was fantastic. Also, I got a deal on a pair of Mission 781 bookshelf speakers a few weeks ago that went in my living room. I took these in just compare them with the Studio 20s and they certainly held their own. I probably preferred the Paradigms slightly but the Mission sounded great.