Loudspeakers for Home Theatre
|
| Hi guys. just need a bit of help choosing speakers that will match the pre-amp and power amp. I've decided on the Arcam AV8 and the Arcam P7 power amp. Now i need matching speakers. The room is 16' W x 20'L x 10'H. My personal preference is for accurate and uncoloured reproduction but not harsh (if that makes sense). and my budget is $10K for speakers and cabling. The dealer here says that the Polk Audio Lsi 15's are a very good match. He did say that the Kef PSW 4000 sub was again a good match. Has anyone heard about Vandersteens?? Are they good? What about Martin Logans? better?? Cheers! |
|
Hawk | Polk LSi 15s are not in any way in the same league as Vandersteens or Martin Logan. Given the high quality electronics you have, I would not be looking at Polks. Vandersteens are great, so are Martin Logans and either would make a fine combo with your Arcams. You should also look into Magnepans, Paradigm Studios and KEF Reference speakers (not the "Q" series). Each of these speaker brands are very accurate. The two planar speaker brands, Martin-Logan and Magnepan, would have the least coloration since neither has a speaker box (the most common source of coloration). The other three speaker makers I recommend each use different and unique techniques to suppress any box coloration, so they are worth investigating. Each of these speaker companies makes a great speaker, but they have different sounds, i.e., sonic signatures. Different people have different preferences and they respond to different speakers, so the key is to find what is right for you. I would suggest that you spend a few Saturday mornings at local high end audio dealers to see what you like the most. Can you compare any of these speakers at your local dealer. I find comparing the speakers is the best way to find what I like. |
|
| <---- Drooling with envy. Hawk is right. Forget the Polks. I can say that because I have some really nice Polks and I really like them. But with $10k you can do MUCH better. One other brand to consider is Definitive Technology. |
|
| thanks people.. Am looking at a few B&W's too. very very nice speakers. too many choices. Have been on the hunt for about a month right now... been very impressed with a lot of gear... but with different shops stocking different brands... makes it slightly difficult to get an accurate measure. Cheers. |
|
harry | Also drooling. In addition to those noted, I would also add Ruark & Dynaudio Have fun auditioning. |
|
Hawk | Drooling, as well. Let us know what you end up getting. We all like to live vicariously. |
|
lidistick | Well,.. I've worked hard and this is the first time I'm splurging on meself.. so I wanna get it right. The problems is that I'm all the way here in New Zealand. and they don't stock half the good stuff you guys are accustomed to finding in the states! The Kef Reference series is totally out of my league.. I want at least 5 speakers and one sub.. not a stereo pair. and oh yeah... I'm having a shitload of fun auditioning these speakers!  |
|
lidistick | ohhhh I LOVE THE B&W Nautilus series!! HOT DAMN!! Probably the most uncoloured speaker so far... VERY VERY NICE!! |
|
G-Man | Advice---don't waste too much money on speaker wire. Any speaker wire with half decent RF shielding (no more than $1 a foot) will be sonically as good as the $100 a foot stuff. But the retailers make a fortune on speaker wire and they will try to convince you otherwise. A local retailer gave me some very expensive TARA, CARDAS, and KIMBER KABLE to try instead of my top of the line Radio Shack wire. ZERO DIFFERENCE. Any audio or acoustical engineer will tell you the same. No one--let me repeat NO ONE--has ever been able to show in a double blind test that there is any audible difference when the audience couldn't see which cables and wires were being used. If you have the room--Magnepan's are very nice, but don't image as well as directional speakers. However they are very superior in soundstage, as their sonic launchpad is enormous. But they are also a bit more finicky on placement and can't be placed on walls, as they project sound both front and back. I agree with Hawk that Paradigm's are very good, as are the Montior Audio Gold Reference series. Heck, between $6K and $9K you can get a number of great speaker systems. And if you buy that much from a dealer they should set it up for you and balance the system with an SPL (db) Meter for free. The only thing different I would do is switch out the subwoofers with either a high quality SVS subwoofer, 2 HSU VTF-3's at $849/each, or one of the $2k or more Velodyne's. I have a great Monitor Audio set-up, but their subwoofer is their weak link. Not bad---but no where near the quality of the speakers. So I bought a HSU VTF-3 and am living in sonic heaven. Now I have a Monitor Audio subwoofer to give a relative :-) Again--remember--don't waste money on overly expensive speaker wire and interconnects--although your retailer will scream and whine and tell you that you won't go to sonic heaven for making this "drastic mistake". But what is the fact is they are either brainwashed, ignorant, or feel so close to that pile of profit they can taste it. They make a fortune on that stuff. |
|
lidistick | ok.. I've decided on the B&W's Nautilus 804 for my fronts with a matching Nautilus HTM1 centre. The surrounds are the Nautilus 805. Thank for the advice people... I decided to splurge on the cable.. saves me the hassle of getting cable from someplace else.. Cheers. |
|
G-Man | You have a very good system and I am sure you made the A/V salon dealer overjoyed. |
|
lidistick | yeah... he came over and installed it for free.. Also tuned the room and calibrated the speakers and pre-amp/pro for me.. definitely in sonic heaven.. but it needs to run it.. so it can only get better.. in the midst of running a coax digital cable from my PC to the pre-amp. |
|
Anthony | Hi I assume your B&Ws are broken in by now? How do they sound? Do you think the 800 series is worth the money you spent? Cheers. |
|
Anonymous | FACT--- Hi, I would like to express to G-man that there is a huge difference when using better speaker wire in a properly set up audio system; however, there comes a time when your system will not allow this difference to be heard due to choice in gear. Listed is the reason for an improved sound. Ex. thin copper wire is great for mid and hi-freq; however, terrible for bass. This is when a combination of thin strands and larger copper cores in a time correct fashion (so all sounds arrive at the same time)come into play. Anyone with a pulse would agree that the combo of thin strands and larger copper cores will reveal a less harsh sound and smoothier low freq response. I can agree running out to purchase audioquest everest cable @ 1,300.00 per ft isn't the best idea, best formula is spend 10% of speaker cost on good speaker cable. thanks for reading |
|
Harry | Anon, I generally agree, but I don't think it is FACT--- I would be interested in your comments regarding cable discussion |
|
Anonymous | Harry, I believe that yes there is a certain time when dielectric bias system, pretty loom and large jackets, ect. ect. becomes smoke and mirrors. And would agree that bigger isn't always better; however, all i'm saying is invest in decent cables. I'm using a set of monster cable m2.2s in a bi-amp fashion and could contest a vast improvement when i upgraded from their mcx series. At $250.00 a pair this was an easy choice for $6000.00 speakers. |
Main Forums
Today's Posts- Home Audio Forum
- Home Video Forum
- Home Theater Forum
- Car Audio Forum
- Accessories Forum
- All Forum Topics