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blipblap Unregistered guest | I'm looking at getting a set of athenas but I'm not sure whether to get a set of f1's and a cheap sub, maybe a velodyne vx-10bv, or just a set of f2's. I'm also still trying to decide on what reciever to get, I'm pretty much limited to buying from future shop as I have no credit card. Also I'm in school so I'm on a pretty tight budget and all I plan on connecting to the reciever is my computer. oh and the whole package will be purely for music. |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 1997 Registered: Mar-05 | what's your receiver? and what's your sub budget? is this for music or movies? if music, what kinds? how big is your room? |
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blipblap Unregistered guest | Haven't decided on a receiver yet, but I saw your post on the pannisonic pure digital and I think I want to go that route if I can find it around town. As far as sub budget goes, I won't really know until I decide on a receiver, but I can tell you my total budget's about $1500cdn after taxes. It'll be entirely for music. I listen to pretty much everything with a guitar and a little bit of hip-hop. The room's tiny, just a little dorm room. |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 2006 Registered: Mar-05 | $1300 US for a sub or for the whole shebang? If it's for the sub only you can do a HELL of a lot better than Velodyne. If it's for the whole system you can still do VERY well especially if you're only going 2.1 --- this is *NOT* what I'd call "a pretty tight budget," LOL. Don't worry about the lack of CC, you can always send money orders to many Internet direct manufacturers. You will get a whole lot more for your money going that route than local retail, particularly for the sub. That Panny xr55 is hard to find in shops, here in the US only Circuit City carries it, I don't know what the big-box equivalent in Canada is. I looked at the FutureShop site and the only all digital they have is the JVC rx-302, you might want to do an in-home audition of this but I haven't read of too many people raving about it like they rave about the Panny. But that's what refund policies are designed for after all. For the sub, look into hsuresearch.com and call their toll free number, I think they might be based in Canada or they have a way of shipping to Canada without killing you for duties. Their STF-2 is a fabulous sub for just $400 US, $320 b-stock. If you can get the Panny in Canada it will run the Athena towers beautifully, in fact it can bi-amp them if they are bi-ampable. The F2s have an extra driver which means they'd be better for bigger rooms and extra bass, but if you get a sub the F1 should be fine, I'd go with the sub and F1 personally. The thing is, with a good sub like the Hsu STF-2, you don't really need huge speakers, what you need are speakers that can do the mids and highs well since the sub takes care of all the bass. Check out the ascendacoustics.com site for the CBM-170s, I don't know how they handle shipping to Canada but I know they definitely will accept money orders and that their toll-free phone reps are exceptionally helpful and courteous. Ascend also carries the Hsu subs for the same price as Hsu direct and when you order speakers and sub together they should be able to give you some sort of discount. One thing to not overlook, if you are a music listener, is the CD player. You will never get good music out of a PC's cd player...at the very least get a Toshiba 3980, this is a budget DVD player that has been highly regarded for its music performance and is carried by FS: http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Cod e=Tosh_3960&Category_Code=MODS I went with the Marantz 4300 cdp, got it for just $142 refurb from accessories4less.com with 1 year Marantz warranty, it made a big difference with my Ascend speakers, a lot more than in a shop with Monitor Audio towers that cost 3 times as much. Other options in Canada would be Paradigm speakers, these are made there and have very good bang for the buck. |
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blipblap Unregistered guest | Alright thanks a lot. I've decided to go with the cbm-170s and the stf-2, but it dosn't look like I'll be getting the Panny. Could you recommend another receiver? I was thinking maybe the hk-3480 from ascendacoustics if that would run the speakers and the sub. |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 2010 Registered: Mar-05 | Good choice with the cbm-170s and the STF-2, sorry about the Panny, that would've been a real giant-killer. The 3480 would do fine, though for an extra $100 you could get the NAD 320bee which is a 2-channel integrated that does music REALLY well. (And disregard the WPC numbers, that NAD has ample power unless you have a humonous room, just check to see if it has a subwoofer pre-out.) |
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Bronze Member Username: Rysa4Post Number: 34 Registered: Jul-05 | Thought I'd throw an offbeat suggestion in here--- why dont you skip the big bucks and just get a creative labs 5.1 set up[ via your computer? You can play CDs and stream audio from itunes, Dell musicmatch, or Yahoo or whatever and amazingly for a dorm room it wouldnt be that bad and cost 100 bucks as well. I know it sounds silly- but I have 4 separate music systems with all kinds of speakers and stuff and sometimes I just stream internet radio through a 2.1 Creative labs set up and its fine for casual listening. Obviously not up with anything mentioned here but the leftover 1000 dollars could buy a whole lot of music. |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 2011 Registered: Mar-05 | OMG a budget idea from Marc of all people, I'm absolutely flabbergasted... : ) |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 2013 Registered: Mar-05 | If you decide to go with computer speakers, these are what I'd look at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000C2KB7 or http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000062VUO These are also interesting but not cheap: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836127106 |
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Silver Member Username: Stu_pittNYC, NY Post Number: 545 Registered: May-05 | The C320BEE doesn't have a subwoofer pre-out. The main in/pre-out loop can be used for this. Get a Y adapter and connect a sub with an internal crossover. |
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Bronze Member Username: Rysa4Post Number: 35 Registered: Jul-05 | HAHA Eddie! When you come to my housewarming party you get the blindfold test between the creatve labs stuff and my new Ascend CBM 170s. |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 2020 Registered: Mar-05 | ooh, can't wait...! btw, you still need to come over for the blindtest of the Panny 55 vs. NAD separates. |
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Bronze Member Username: Rysa4Post Number: 36 Registered: Jul-05 | Yes. I'd like to give that one a whirl actually. |