Hawk, You constantly recommends NAD, Marantz 7300 and HK7200 receivers. Now, can you give a list of speakers to pair with each of these receivers? I think this will serve a very good references to those that are searching for these answers. It will also save lots valuable time for you as you do not have to answer the same questions over and over again by new postings.
You are asking a lot as there are many good speakers out there and it is hard to list them all.
However, start with the receivers: The H/K 7200 is the most laid-back sounding of these three receivers, so it works best with brighter sounding speakers, such as Klipsch, JMlabs, Monitor Audio, and Axioms.
The Marantz is another warm receiver that is a bit relaxed sounding, so it works almost as well with the above speakers, but I like it better with the traditional british speakers, such as B+W, KEF, and Heybrook.
NAD sounds best to me with really accurate speakers that are just a touch laid back, such as Paradigm, PSB, NHT, and Dynaudio. However, although not laid-back in any way, I love Magnepan speakers with an NAD 762.
This is just a start--is there a speaker in particular you have in mind?
Thanks all for your help. Hawk, I specifically feel delighted to read your words as I personally consider your comments as the final judgement. I have narrowed down two brands for my initial stereo setups: PSB (4T, 5T or 7PT) or Paradigm monitor 5, as I have seen good reviews and confirmation by you. Receiver is T742. Do these two speakers sound similar (I cannot do auditing with these speakers at the same time with NAD)? If I were to choose 4T or monitor 5, which one would you pick? I have the money to choose any of the aboved mentioned speakers. Which would you recommend? My future setup will be a complete home theater. Thanks and make it a nice day!
You ask a tough question. Both the Paradigm Monitor 5 and the PSB 4T are excellent speakers and represent a very good value IMHO. I also think they are rather similar in their sound, and both the Paradigm and the PSB are an excellent combo with the NAD receiver. I am going to recommend both speakers as a good choice. If I were to point to any difference, it would be that since the Paradigm has the larger mid and woofer drivers, it probably goes a bit deeper in the low end than the PSB. But, I am splitting hairs here as the PSB also goes pretty deep into the low end, perhaps just not quite as low. This is a very close choice.
Thanks Hawk. One more question if you do not mind, please. Would the price be well justified to go up to 5T or 7PT (My listening taste is 70/30 classical/movie)? Make it a great holiday!
I am going to chime in here as I am a very happy PSB/NAD owner myself. I have the Image 2B as fronts and the 9C as center. Please be advised before I start that I am speaking mostly of movies here, not music. One thing to keep in mind with these speakers is the actual size of the woofer. I really wanted to get the 9c as my center. I am mainly a movie watcher, and for movies, the center channel speaker is the most important. The 9c has 6 1/2 inch drivers on it. My choices for front speakers were the 1B and 2B. After talking with a salesman at Saturday Audio, I decided on the 2B because it has the same 6 1/2 inch drivers in it that the 9c does. While I am sure either the 1B or 2B would have sounded great with the 9C, the salesman said that I would get slightly better results by getting the 2B since they would match a little better. Therefore, you ask if going up to the 5T or 7PT is worth it. For music, I cannot make any recommendations as I did not buy my speakers for this purpose. However, for movies, I think my question to you would be which center channel (if any) are you going to use. If you are going to use the smaller 8c with 5 1/4 inch drivers on it, I think the best match would be the 4T. If you are going to get the 9c with the larger drivers, then you might have a better match with the 5T. Once again, you cant go wrong with either, but if you are concerned with getting the absolute best match between center and front channels, pay attention to the size of the drivers and try to match them. I know you said you aren't going to get a center channel right now, but it is something to think about.
As for the 7PT, if you have a powerd subwoofer, the 7PT would probably be overkill. It is a bunch more expensive than the others.
If you have the cash, and given your interest in classical music, I would say that yes, I do think moving up to the 5Ts makes sense. Without knowing what your price is on the 5Ts, I will merely observe that you are getting into the price range of the Paradigm Studio 20s (MSRP of $800/pair), a smaller speaker than the 5T, but one that is very smooth and great for classical music. I would check them out, too.
How exciting this is! Just as I narrowed down what speakers to purchase, Hawk opened another horizon in front of me. Looks like I need to do more research!. Hawk, my budget for my complete HT will be around $2000-$2500. Thanks. BTW, anyone put any weight on audio magazine reviews in choosing your best speakers? Thanks
Mr. Hawk, I went to a paradigm dealer today and audited studio 20s and monitor 5 with parasound pre/amp side by side. Big difference! Studio 20 is way better. smoother, sweeter, more coherent than monitor 5. So good for classical music. The dealer wants something like $680/pair. Sounds a good deal? I do not have a chance to audit Paradigm and PSB side by side. While PSB 4T + NAD T752 sounds great, I am more impressed with the studio. I am about to buy the studio 20 when my wife stepped in. She said something like: OK, you spent too much time on this and when you buy, please make sure you buy the one you will keep for years to come. She said she does not want to see after several months or a year, I will not be very satisfied with the speaker and will think of upgrading again. (Which means that I could actually spend a little bit more than the price of the studio 20!) What comes to my mind immediately is studio 40. Mr Hawk and others, please advice: Is studio 40 worth the extra compared to 20?