Hi, ive done alot of research but it seems my results ahve only yielded old reviews and want to make a good choice if Im spending this much money. My whole sysem is gonna run me around $1500 (reciever, DVD) but my Left front and Center is what I want to put most of my money into and I dont mind having floor 3 channel speakers if it will give me good power. I guess somewhere aroud 60-100 W is good. Please respond, thx, Erik
Loudness is going to come primarily from your receiver or amp, not the speaker. The speakers affect loudness only insofar as their rated sensitivity---a speaker with a 96db sensitivity will sound "louder" than one with a 89db sensitivity running the same receiver at the same volume setting. However, since most receivers nowadays pack ample power this is not really an issue unless you have a huge listening room with high ceilings.
Instead of floorstanders, which actually require MORE powerful receivers/amps to sound their best, I'd suggest bookshelves or mini-towers which will be more musically accurate and sound just as good if not better esp. if they are properly placed on good stands---AND used in conjunction with a good quality self-powered sub.
Also when you use a sub, that takes a lot of the workload OFF of the receiver because it's the deep bass that consumes the most power, so when you set the receiver's crossover filter to send say all the frequencies under 80 Hz to the sub, the receiver will run cooler and the speakers will sound better, more dynamic and powerful even.
1. Front 2 speakers: the Internet-direct Ascend speakers offer truly amazing quality-to-cost ratio, with a massive paper trail of glowing reviews to prove it. They really do outperform most speakers that go up to $1300/pair. CBM-170s, $340 shipped from ascendacoustics.com
2. Add an Ascend CMT-340 center to the above for an additional $290 shipped.
3. Receiver: JVC RC-FX10 (surround capable) all-digital receiver, $230 shipped or Pioneer 1014 (surround capable), $350 shipped. Both from jandr.com
4. Subwoofer: Dayton subwoofer, $143 shipped from partsexpress.com or Hsu STF-1, $311 shipped from ascendacoustics.com or SVS PB10, $429 shipped from svsubwoofers.com
Gee thanks Edster...I see you are recomending the CBM 170's over the paired 340's... Heres the thing, My "guest" cottage is 30x21 feet. But that 30 feet is cut down to 2 13X21 feet rooms and a bathroom/cloets slivered in the middle....but that bathroom is getting shortened and closets torn out so the room might become a full 30/21 feet. I really want this system to shine, I was gonna go for a 7.1 but decided to downgrade to 5.1 and put that money towards the actual system. I guess I can push 1500 a little but I just want to make sure I get the most for my money. So, on a kid who's in college at a $22000 a year income, is upgrading to the 340's from the 170's worth it?---to fill that space. Thanks again for the reply and I asked this before but the 2 rears----Ascend? or no...
I actually have the 340s, but that's because my living room has 18 foot cathedral ceilings and wraps around into the breakfast, kitchen, stairwell etc. so I really need the room-filling effect. I was suggesting the 170s mainly with your "under $1K" budget in mind---if you don't mind the extra $200 or so then I'd say the 340s with the extra driver and the wide-dispersion tweeter would be even better. But just make sure you have enough money for a decent subwoofer, which will run at least $300-400.
As for the rears, a $100/pair of Polk R15s would be fine for HT, unless you are planning to do a lot of DVD-A/SACD listening. Also go cheap on the DVD player---I'd get the Toshiba 3960 for $50 shipped from jandr.com (go to referenceaudiomods.com for why they use this as their base model).
Speaker wiring (12-16 gauge) and interconnects also I'd get the cheapest generic stuff around, this is where you will definitely get the TINIEST bang for your buck.
Being in college on a $22K income does make it pretty tight but I think if you shop wisely and get decent stuff now you'll be less likely to get the upgrade bug in a couple of years which can really add up! The Pioneer 1014 should keep you very happy for a good 5 years or more.
Anonymous
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Edster's correct. You're probably going to want to buy your receiver first and work from there. A good quality receiver isn't going to be cheap. You can virtually cont on spending at least $500 for the receiver alone if you plan on using floor standers.
My own front and centers are Athena (They used to sell them at Best Buy but I don't know if they still do or not). The mains are AS-F2s and the center is the one that matches them (I don't know the model number offhand). These are some darn good speakers and I got the three of them for $600, well within your budget. They're floor speakers and thus, require a better amp to make them sound their best but they're pretty effecient and most amps will drive them at decent levels. If you can still find 'em, you might be able to pick them up for as little as $200 a speaker. That's a steal for these things!
For a receiver, again, you're not going to get anywhere by buying good speakers and a cheap receiver to drive them. I've had 3 sub $500 receivers in the past few years and none of them sounded that good or had the kind of output you really want to get the most out of quality speakers.
I highly recommend looking at Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha. With receivers, you really do get what you pay for. It's easier to find quality speakers that are affordable than it is to do the same for the receiver. You'd be much better off spending more for the receiver and upgrading your speakers in the future if you're not satisfied.
I highly recommend looking at Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha. With receivers, you really do get what you pay for. It's easier to find quality speakers that are affordable than it is to do the same for the receiver. You'd be much better off spending more for the receiver and upgrading your speakers in the future if you're not satisfied.
Guess I disagree. Speakers make the most difference in overall sound, so put most of the money there. You'll need to update electronics sooner or leter anyway because of new formats, and you might keep your speakers for 25 years (I have).
My speakers are worth much more (or would be if they were bought new) than my h/k avr-325 receiver.
Anonymous
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Peter,
Sorry....I haven't registered yet but I am the previous poster you replied to. I think part of my point (that I didn't mention) was that without a good receiver in front of them, he won't be able to properly evaluate any speakers that he might want to audition. If the receiver itself adds coloration or distortion to any given set of speakers he hooks up to it, he might very well conclude it's the speakers that are at fault. It could be but you'd never know it if you don't have a receiver that has a known track record for good, clean performance. Cheapo receivers also aren't known for their power output. He said he wants his system to shine and I don't think that's what he's going to get if he goes for a $300 receiver coupled with $600 speakers. There are always exceptions, of course but in general, that's what I've found.
Excellent speakers can almost always be found on the cheap. It's a little trickier with receivers.
On the budget you've suggested, I agree with the 5.1 for now. I've been running Polk Audio all around (floor standers as mains) with a 120 wpc Onkyo (5.1) for 6 years...unfortunately the sound quality has dimished as I make more money every year. It's one of those perception things. As I could afford more, the inadequacy of the amp became obvious in Home Theater performance. This Onkyo was awesome at 2 channel music performance. I never had a problem filling a 30 ft. X 16 ft X 8 ft. room.
Degraded HT Performance over time> At first I thought it was my speakers. After reading on this site, it became apparent that a low powered amp was the problem. I just received a pretty decent Denon (120 wpc) receiver. This one is 7.1, but the difference in the amp is amazing! Even my wife can hear it at med-high listening levels (0 db).
I agree with unregistered anonymous that the receiver should take up a little more of your budget. Are you doing any auditioning of different speakers? Which do you like? Personnally, I've found that nailing down the sound you want at an audio store is the first thing you should do. Then if you're interested in a whole system, get the best deal you can at the store. Otherwise, piece the system together from eBay auctions...it takes more time, but you will end up with a better system in the end (and it's cheaper).
I don't enjoy shopping for curtains with my wife, but 'the hunt' for quality home audio is part of the excitement for me. Good luck.!
I personally would never use ebay for audio shopping. Know too many people who have been robbed there. It can happen on any online store that allows us to sell our gear, but I find that it happens less at Audiogon than anywhere else.
I think a $300 receiver is problably a good match for a $600 pair of speakers. I certainly wouln't reverse the numbers and match a $600 receiver with $300 speakers (unless they were used at that price).
Good things are siad about the all-digital receivers and those are not very expensive at all.
> Good things are siad about the all-digital receivers and those are not very expensive at all.
Peter's right about that, the all-digitals are really the wildcard here. The $230 JVC RX-F11 that I heard while auditioning speakers blew my socks off!