OK I have clearance from wife to dump my cerwin vegas clcs12 fronts and centre, and move into a brand new world.
it includes... new NAD C272 amp to drive my new fronts and my Marantz SR5600 to serve as the brain and to drive my rears and sides. With my trusty HSU VTF2 as my sub.
The contenders Paradigm Monitor 11's vs PSB Platinum M2's bookshelves including stands.
now i understand they are both different in size. and the PSB's are about 1K CDN more in total. My question, is will i hear a 1K difference in sound. I'm stuck in the mindset that bigger is better hence the vegas, however may grow to like the delicate balance of the smaller bookshelves. I'll be going to hear both on Monday, however its a sizeable drive between the 2 stores, about 2 hrs. so i'd like to be infront of the 8ball here. I've heard put the money in the speakers, with the money i'm putting down, i will be without a centre for a while. my mix is 50/50 HT/Music
Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreicated.
With a VTF2 I don't really see the need for massive floorstanders especially if you do 50% HT.
If you're not getting enough output out of the VTF2 I'd suggest getting another one for a stereo pair, and then getting the best bookshelves you can afford with the money left over. You'll likely get much cleaner mids andhighs out of them.
Adding a bit to Eddie's post, the Monitor 11 is far from the best in the Monitor lineup. The Monitor 5 would be both cheaper (allowing you to get a center), and give you superior performance in just about every area except bass extension (which Eddie noted as being largely moot since you do possess a solid subwoofer). Another thought might be the Paradigm Studio 20's, which are still cheaper than the Monitor 11, and are significantly better qualitatively.
Stephen makes an excellent suggestion there on the Studio 20s.
To make it even more interesting, you could gamble $25 return shipping on a pair of Ascend CBM-170SEs and take them into the shop to AB against the Studio 20s. That's a matchup which a number of people have done before on other forums, often with surprising results given the enormous price difference...about 50/50 split by my guesstimation.
I'd be interested in hearing about peoples experiences with PSB? I am somewhat cautious with the bookshelves. Could it be a battle between the S2 and the M2? Anyone have any thoughts on that?
I'd entertain EVERYTHING within your price range. Forget pedigree. Within every line of speakers their are hits and misses. Overall, PSB, Paradigm, and B&W among countless other make very good speakers. That doesn't mean every single speaker they make is very good, or even very good for the price.
Here's an example of what I mean -
In the lowest price range of the 3, I like the Paradigm models by a good margin. I believe they're the Cinema series.
In the next level up, I like the PSB Image series by a good margin.
The next level up from there gets trickier, but I like the Paradigm Studio series for some speakers, and the B&W 700 series for others. It depends on the specific models/types.
I've owned a few different PSBs over the last 10-15 years. They're very good speakers IMO, but overall, their's better out there at different price points. I haven't heard the Platinum series yet, so I have no opinions and wouldn't make a blind suggestion.
Go out and listen to as much as you can. The 2-3k range is a very competitive range. Some very respectable people here have said that are significantly better speakers at that price range than these brands. One of those people, Art Kyle (a regular here) owned the Paradigm Studio 20 and 40. He really likes Paradigm, but says at your range, Paradigm doesn't compete like it does at the lower levels.
In this range, in addition to what's been listed, check out Totem, Dynaudio, ProAc, Martin Logan, Vienna Acoustics... the list goes on and on. I've heard some but not enough to say what I'd buy.
Good luck and take your time. Make sure you get what you like most after hearing all of the possibilities. This way, you're very unlikely to look back and regret any purchase.
Hmmm. Stu, I realize that you're just giving an example here. But isn't there a "level" between the Paradigm Cinemas (basically HTiB) and the PSB Image series in your mind? Would you pick the Paradigm Cinemas over the PSB Performance series, or the Paradigm Atoms, for instance?
I guess I'm wondering about entry-level bookshelves that are bigger than microsats but less expensive than "the next level up" that you mention above. Granted, price-wise the microsats and the entry-level bookshelves may be close.
Ide go paradigm, and steve said about the 11's being the best in paradigm's linup isnt all tha ttrue. It really depends on you personall taste. I listened to the 9's and the 11's side by side for about 30min and I purchased teh 9's. The 11's are very nice, and have a bit (very slightly) better mid. However, the 9's have much tigher, more accurate, more noticble bass. I wouldnt buy the 11's without hearing the 9's for a few songs.
thanks everyone! I've been around the globe and back on this purchase. I've even gone as far as put money down on the 603's to pull it back in fear I should of gotten the 604's or the paradigm, 7,9 or 11's. I do know I will be getting a rotel rb1080 amp, so I'll have the power, just needs to feel out what I'm going to put it into.
Well, your best bet is to listen to all teh speakers. Bring a few cds, mutiple genres, and a good dvd or 2. When I started, I was listning to the paradigm 11,s the 9's, the 7's, as well as some klipsch reference speakers, and some energy speakers. If you dont listen to everything you can, you man doubt your purchase in a few months. Which is not fun.
Put the money in the source and amp. Great speakers sound bad on a $299 source/amp. Not to say buy $99 speakers, but the source and amp are very important.