Im looking between 3 brands of speakers for my 7.1 Yamaha receiver, JBL, Klipsch, and Athena. Im looking to have that movie theater sound w/ movies and good sound as well for playing SACD's.Wondering which brand everyone would recommend and which speakers would work best. thanks
Have you listened to any of these? A lot of listeners are not fond of the Yamaha and the speaker brand combination you mentioned...a little on the bright side and may cause listening fatigue. It is important that you listen to them first.
I auditioned Yamaha for my HT with JBL's and did not like how sharp and fatiguing it was. I went for a Denon and got a little warmer performance in the price bracket from that setup. If you like music more than movies, as Tawaun said , you may want to consider a totally different setup though.
Each of the suggested brands has a pretty wide range of sound and quality. More details would be nice. For example, you can buy Klipsch speakers for as little as $230 a pair (B-2) or as much as $7000 a pair (new Klipschorns). They don't sound the same.
As others have basically said If you want good music listening too I would choose another reciever if those are your speaker choices.
Also what peter said all those speaker companies have some not so great speakers and some very good ones. I would pair those type of speakers with the likes of an HK or pioneer elite or marrantz reciever to somewhat tone them down. They will still do what is needed for home theatre but won't be ear pearcing for music.
yea, i was choosing between those three b/c i was getting a "good price" on the speakers. But just out of curiosity, what places do home auditions? Also i was looking at something like the JBL dual 6" floor standings and dual 6" center(e80 and c35 i think), and maybe 5" bookshelves for the surround. Perhaps the receiver is overkill.
"Home auditions" as you are thinking are generally done by small privately owned companies that are selling very expensive equipment. "Home audition" in this instance means take them home and listen to them. Best Buy doesn't charge you a re-stocking fee if you bring them back within their return period - make sure you confirm this for yourself though. If you've got extra room on a credit card, buy two different complete set ups or two or three different fronts, compare them on your equipmet in your home, and return the ones you don't like. This way you will know exactly which ones you like the best.
Best Buy is not a very good place to compare different speakers directly against each other. Their are too many background noises, and their are no rooms that attempt to mimic actual living spaces. Their is no way that any of the gear you buy there will sound anything like it does in the store, unless of course you live in a warehouse.
This is my take comparing the JBL to the Klipsch. Sound quality wise they are similar, and someone will probably be able to argue on behalf of either speaker sounding better. Which sounds best is a judgement call and based solely on personal preference.
With everything else being equal, I like the Klipsch horns for durability and loudness. With the JBL, you might have a bigger chance of blowing out a tweeter, while on the other hand, the horns are very durable.
I have a friend in mgmt at a BB store. He was telling me about the demographics they have been studying and are now putting into play. The stores in GA will be defined by the demographic customer they have compiled using all the info they have been collecting. For example, the downtown stores will cater to a higher end customer with auditioning rooms and much higher end selection, while some of the suburban stores (near malls) will cater to the casual and maybe "media" oriented customer. They give the stores names based on the demographic profile they create for different types of shoppers. Sounds cool but it will be neat to actually see it in practice. I am not sure whether this will translate to other states right now , but changes at GA stores are almost complete.
I myself have the older JBL northridge for my HT setup and like it. I do not however like it for music.
You're right on on the new BB store profiles. Yes, they are doing this nationwide and, I believe, they have the stores in place and they're retrofitting some stores to allow "in house" auditions with dedicated listening rooms. Needless to say, Spokane won't get such a store. LOL
Robert, it would be very helpful to know something about your music preference, room size, budget, etc. to comment on the speakers. I did side by sides on some JBLs and Klipsch in the $1000/pair and under range and went with something entirely different.
room size isnt huge, its an apartment, so about 15 by 15. I listen to mainly rock, maybe some classical if the mood is right. I am really mainly buying them to try to get something close to that movie theater clarity and base for watching movies and for like Xbox or Playstation
Joseph very interesting post about BB changing direction. Are you aware of what lines they are carrying in their high end stores?
I'm interested to know if this experiment will work to say upgrade the taste of some people who might otherwise not even know what the higher end lines are. Also I'm curious as to what manufacturer of the higher end will start to cater to BB. They would have to seriously uptick their production line and deal with quality issues and perhaps even loose their present market segment by becoming known as a BB product.
Nobody in their right mind should go out and buy large loudspeakers or a subwoofer if they live in an apartment in the name of common sense and courtesy.
Yea, but I was an ignorant college kid at the time who lived in an apartment occupied 100% by other ignorant college kids.
I am giving him the benefit of the doubt that he is living in a 'real' apartment building surrounded by tenants who have real jobs and work for a living. Ya know, not the kind of place where I lived where keg parties were the weekend norm and everybody learned to live with the racket in the name of partying till you drop, and sleeping late.
Hence your current level of knowledge and expertise, no doubt. Wouldn't want the waif to grow up and throw a tantrum after a ball fell into a speaker port... I remember college well... Well kinda, that is
Nobody in their right mind should go out and buy large loudspeakers or a subwoofer if they live in an apartment in the name of common sense and courtesy.
Quick! Someone alert Paul that someone has broken his password!
Is this the new Paul? I like it better than the usual remarks! Thanks for that!
If you really want that cinematic feeling, M&K make some superb kit. Their speaker solutions are mainly small satellites allied to a sub so you will have to be careful about annoying the neighbours, especially since their 'worst' sub goes down to 22hz flat. M&K are used by several studios to master their films so you will get a similar feel. In terms of music reproduction I've heard a lot worse than the M&Ks, especially in terms of sub/sat systems where nothing comes close in my view. For really good music replay you need to be looking at more typical full-size speakers. There's a plethora of good brands about, many made in the US.
