I'm looking for a inexpensive main speakers. My budget is ~500-600$ for a pair, and I narrowed down my choice to the following 3 sets Monitor Audio Bronze B4, JBL Northridge E90 and possibly Paradigm Monitor 7 (which is more money). MA's sound was very clear and musical, but the bass is not very impressive. Ths B4 is smaller than other 2 speakers. I understand JBLs are not considered great by many people, but E90s did not sound bad for 500$ a pair, and had an accurate bass. My other consideration is efficiency - I won't have lots of power to drive speakers (I'll buy either Yamaha RX-V640 or Dennon 1804) and my room is not large (~160 square feet). Any advice what speakers should I go with? I also sort of liked some of Def Techs and Bostons, but many people say they are good primarily for surround/movies, not music.
IMHO Paradigm Monitor 7 is the best choice in your selection. MSRP price is $700, so you definitelly can buy it new for $600, or even less for used.
Check online hi-fi classified resources before you are going to buy it at a local store: - audiogon.com - audiowatcher.com - ... (there are many of them)
Thanks, That's what I thought. I'm a bit concerned about placing them in a small space - won't they be to large for 150 sq ft room? Also, what about their efficiency? My primary concern is the sound quality at low volume.
I think 150-160 sq ft room is enough for Monitor 7. Actually they are not so big as it seems. Sound quality is very good. IMHO they may be no so "bright" and detailed, but you can't get everything great at this price range. What kind of music do you plan to listen? As another option I can suggest B&W 602 S3 or CDM-1NT/SE (You can get used CDMs for $6600-650 and they will IMPRESS you with a sound quality...)
I primary plan to listen to smooth rock, instrumental, classic and jazz sometimes. Vocals are also very imporant. I really liked how human voice sound thorugh MAs. However, Paradigms sound smoother overall and have better bass. I was a bit surprised to see that MAs B4 have a wider frequency range (36-22kHz)vs(47-20kHz) for Paradigms according to specs. I'd say paradigms had much more solid lower bass...
Paradigm are a good choice for your music. IMHO monitor 7 is a bad choice for electronic music or agressive rock (anything "harder" then Pink Floyd"). Since vocal is very important to you - try to listen B&W CDM-1 - they DO NOT have a bass (not even close to Monitor 7), but all other things are super!
interesting comment re "monitor 7 bad choice for anything harder than pink floyd". why? any others in same price range that are better? monitor audio silvers? b&w 600 series?
It is just my personal opinion. I listen this model a lot and it seems to me that "soft" styles sounds really nice with these speakers. MA Silvers are better for rock, but they are absolutely not detailed, but bass is good. B&W 60x is very good for rock - it's very dinamic/agressive and detailed (but may be too much accent on middle high...).
P.S. Do not forget that it's IMHO
GJT
Unregistered guest
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How would JBL e90's and a Pioneer VSX-D912-K go together? Or, how about the JBL E90's and a Yamaha RX-V740
I'd agree with Bezel. When I first listened to Monitor 7, the rep played some pretty heavy rock through them and I was not impressed. I compared them to B&W, which sounded much better. But the next time I listened for some classic mussic and some softer instrumental rock and Monitor 7s were superior. I did not have a chance to compare Paradigms with MAs side by side, as there is no dealer in the area which carries both. Did anyone auditioned their Bronze B4 speakers?
MA Bronze is not a concurrent for Monitor 7. It's cheaper serias. They are not bad actually, but in that price range I can suggest to try Wharfedale Diamond 8.x speakers.
Bezel, thanks a lot for your suggestions. I decided to go with Monitor 7s. I think I'd rather save some money on receiver, since speakers are much more important. I heard Paradigms sounds good with virtually any receiver. Is that true? I'm considering Yamaha RX-V740 or Denon 1804. Which one would you recommend? Is it really worth stepping up to higher-end models? As power goes, I think 90w per chanel is more then enough for my sitaution.
Roman, The best sounding receiver for your 7's is any of the NAD models. Check out the 743 and 753. If you go Yamaha I would not buy anything less than the 1400. This can be had on line for less than $600 and is much better sounding than the 640 and well worth the extra money. You now have some very nice speakers and it would be a shame not to drive them with something of comparable quality. Check out the NAD's.
Roman, I absolutely agree with therealelitefan, NAD is the way to go with your Monitor 7's.
Just a thought, have you considered Magnepan MMG's ? At $550 a pair they are in your price range, and better anything you are currently considering. Good luck.
I think Yamaha 740 is a bad choice. Yamaha does not make good cheap receivers. Danon much better then this Yamaha, but I would rather go with NAD 753, Rotel 1055 or Onkyo/Integra (starting from 7xx series).
