I am seriously considering buying b&w 603 s3 or a paradigm monitor 7 or monitor 9 or psb image t45 or jbl northridge e80. To be paired with my existing Yamaha rxv795a for home theater and to a NAD c352 or Harman Kardon hk3480 im also itching to buy for stereo (jazz, rock, mellow, pop, new-age). My listening room is about 7m X 4m x 4m (length X width X height).
My budget is pretty tight, availability of other models is also tight.
Or instead of buying these floorstanders, am i better of buying b&w 602 series 3 and buy a cheap sub?
I myself feel that the monitor 7 will best the monitor 9, and have had a dealer agree with me on that. The bass on the 9, as well as driver intergration, leaves something to be desired.
There is my $.02
and I agree with Jan that a "cheap" sub (cheap being anything less than $400 to $600) will be conterproductive.
The cheap sub im referring to is wharfedale sw150. For the moment, its the only thing i heard decent enough within my budget. The next available models and brands better than that is way beyond my reach. So im hoping to pair my target speakers to that sub until I can buy a better sub, which will probably take me two to three years.
Thanks Gavin for your input regarding monitor 7 and 9. So how about monitor 7 and studio 20 and b&w 602 series 3? The 602 is actually a lot cheaper than the paradigms i mentioned. The monitor 7 and studio 20 is the same price here. Even PSB image t45 is a candidate and of the same price as the monitor 7.
I am planning to use them for 40% stereo music (jazz, accoustics, mellow, some rock and pop from time to time) and 60% home theater. Im hoping to play music without using a sub except for rock music. Which of the models i specified do you think will fit the bill?
I will do my listening test within this two weeks but will appreciate any comments.
the studio 20 is a much better speaker than the monitor 7, and even has acceptable bass response to boot!
IMHO I feel that you will have a good chance of getting by without a sub for music listeing with the studio 20s, provided they are in the right sized room. If your room is medium to small sized, I would reccomend them hands down over the monitor 7.
You know, you should really go out and take some time to listen to the speakers you are interested in. A bookshelf speaker will not give you the depth of bass and impact that a floorstander can. Listen to the bookshelf speakers alone, then with a sub. Then listen to the floorstanders. All these combinbations sound different. YOU be the judge of what you like best. Above all, take your time and have fun.
I respect all your comments thats why I'm asking for them. I will be auditioning the Paradigms this week and maybe after a day or two, the B&W. I have not found any dealer carying both brands here, that would have made it a whole lot easier to compare. But as such, I'll just make notes and rate them up how they satisfy me using my owm materials. If the difference is not that much and i could live with it, I'll go with the B&W 602 since its the cheapest from my selections.
By the way, I'm being critical and nervous because the next upgrade will take me maybe 7 years, or my wife gonna kick my sorry you know what.
Again, thanks. But keep on posting, I'll update in this post my experience hopefully for comparisons with anyones more mature experience on it. Only if our dealers in this country is like in the US that allows speakers to be taken home for evaluation, that sure is the best.
And Gavin, the room is about 3m Width X 7m Length X 3m Height. But my designated listening space is half of the 7m only. Will appreciate further comments from you and from Rick.
in that space, I wouldn't put a pair of towers, but that is me. Personally, I think that a pair of studio 20's would be absolutly STUNNING in a room that size :-)
place a tower in too small a room, and the bass is a mess.
place a great sounding bookshelf in a smaller room, and you will have bass response that will equal (or better) that of a tower speaker in a larger room.
Remember that many tower speakers only go down to the middle 30 Hz range at that price point. All to often, this is forgotten.
Nope, Don't agree...I have Athena AS-F1s in a 10'x11" den with a Rotel RX-1052 and the bass is just fine, deep and full, nice slam, not overbearing. Same room, same amp with Energy C-3s and the bass is there, not quite as low and certainly without guts, they need a sub. With the the Athenas there is no need for me to have a sub even for HT. However, with the Energy's they in no way have adequate bass for HT or the music I listen to for that matter.
A bookshelf speaker will never give you the BASS SLAM that a tower can provide. AND, many people would be satisfied to have tower speakers without a sub for HT.
to each his own, but its not something I prefer. IMHO you can get great bass response (and slam) if you choose a great monitor and your room is of the apropriate size. It all boiles down to personal preference.
note... I didn't say "blow your ears out mate CV's with the biggest SVS I can find ie bayless" bass. Nothing irritates me more than that.
I set up a pair of monitor 7's in a room almost exactly that same size for a friend, and they sounded great. To be totally honest, I have never heard them sound better.
So, I would hands down reccomend the 7 over the 9, ESPECIALLY in a room that size. Properly set up, the bass response is also fantastic. Even though the studios are better speakers, the monitors are great for the price.
Just an update, I auditioned the paradigm monitor 7 and studio 20. I'm more impressed with the studio 20. Even for its size, i feel better low and highs from the studio 20. I was expecting for monitor 7 to best the lil fella at least on the low end, but no luck. The studio 20 can even fill the audition room about 6m X 6m with 3m ceiling. I didnt notice any distortion even at high volume.
I'll be listening to B&W this week.
By the way, since im not familiar with the Harman Kardon Amp, when i raise or lower the volume, I can't relate how high its already driving the speakers. I mean, unlike in the Yamaha which have a rotary volume that a quarter twitch from 0 position is normally loud enough, but in the HK the volume dial keeps rotating and only the digital numbers indicate its loudness, seems to start at a high value, the lower it gets, the louder it becomes. So does that mean when it comes to 0 its at its loudest? or will it go to negative? Because im playing the studios and monitor from 20 to 27. I mean, am i pushing it already?
you might want to check out the Ascend 170SE from ascendacoustics.com --- it has been favorably compared to the Studio 20s by a number of posters on other forums, esp. AVS Forums. I'd go there and do a search or post a thread asking about that.
I would order a pair and take it in for an AB comparison at your Paradigm dealer---if you prefer the Studio 20s you can ship back the 170s for a full refund and just pay about $20 shipping. If you like the Ascends you'll save oh, a good $500-600 a pair. Which is the price of a good sub like a Hsu VTF-2.
You can also go to the ascend user's forum and ask around for a local Ascend owner who'll let you come and listen.
IF JAZZ AND CLASSICAL OR ACOUSTICAL INSTRUMENTS IS WHAT YOU LIKE LISTENING TOO, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER PLANARS/PUSH PULLS, ELECTROSTATS with subs, Or try omnipolar designs such as OHM WALSH, MIRAGE, ELAC for example. B&W's, boston, JBL'S and the likes are more for general music such as rock, or anything with deep, deep bass. If piano and stringed instruments you are after, planars and electrostats are the most preferred like martin logans, magnepans, eminent technology, audiostatic, apogees, quads, lightspeed,monsoon and newform for example
If you can afford it, a combination of drivers like dali's or anthony gallos would be a good choice. My preference for overall soundstaging without worrying about sweetspots are designs like OHM'S, ELAC, MIRAGE, REL AND ANTHONY GALLOS OR MOBIUS cause they have one of those 360 degree patterns. FOR HIGHER END, it would be GERMAN PHYSIKS, MBL'S AND DUEVELS INCLUDING BANG AND OLUFSEN.
Thank you all for your help. I preferred the qualities of the Paradigm Studio 20 v3.
It's been an exhausting experience, comparing these speakers all over the city and determining which is best for me. I auditioned Paradigm monitor 7 v4, studio 20 v3, B&W 601 s3 and 602 s3 and 603 s3, JBL Northridge E80, Dynaudio Audience 42, Monitor Audio B2, NHT sb2 and sb3, Wharfedale bookshelf something. PSB T45. These are all I can find in the market. I did not listen to anything beyond my budget.
At first I was yearning for B&W 603 or 602. Been at it for years. But the studio 20 simply have better details and not fatiguing to my ears. After about two weeks of auditioning, WAF finally helped me by saying NO! to floorstanding. So that narrows the candidates a bit. Then I decidedly removed all rear ported since these will be placed about 3 to 5 inches from the back wall. So I wanted to play it safe and heed the experience and warning of those forums and reviews about rear ported, and frankly, it does makes sense.
After the initial impressions of about 1 hr to 2 hrs auditioning with my materials, I narrowed it down to the studio 20 and NHT sb3. NHT is a lot cheaper than the studio 20. So I went a second round with these two. And I believe the extra dough I'm spending is a wise investment in the studio 20.
All of these speakers are really good, regardless of price differences. But they all lack something that I heard from the studio 20. Some even leaves my ear hurting while the studio did not even when I pushed it too very higher than my usual volume. And all these speakers mess up some of my test materials unlike the studio 20 which simply took it all easily.
Again, thanks. And wish me luck with my new investment.