HT speakers revisited - looking for suggestions

[Sylin]

So I have an Onkyo 804 on a 5.1 setup, and it occurred to me that it's been many years since I really read up on speaker technology and was wondering what's good out there without breaking the bank? What to avoid? Do I have any "weak links" in my setup that I should replace?

My setup is pretty simple. Two Sony floorstanding speakers for L & R, an HK center that's fairly large, and 2 HK bookshelf speakers for rears. My sub is a cheap $150 Polk I got on sale @ CC a few Black Friday's ago. Probably $1000 invested in speakers.

Personally, I think it sounds good, but not great. The sub throws out a TON of bass. The fact that we have real wood floors probably helps. However, behind the sofa is the kitchen (it's an open great room) so I don't have anywhere for a 6.1 or 7.1 setup.

So... any suggestions? Am I good, or are there other brands I should look at?

TIA.

[blindcat87]

www.ascendacoustics.com for speakers, I highly recommend the Sierra 1s, but none of their models are slouches. I have experienced all of their models except for the HTM-200s, but the new SE version of those are getting good reviews. The CMT-340/CBM-170 SE setup is one of the setups listed on www.3luxe.com
Oh, on the Sierras, I love piano black finishes, but I went with the natural bamboo finish for my front stage and have gotten lots of compliments on the appearance as well as the sound.
For subs, I highly recommend www.hsuresearch.com they have subs for any size room including the monster models that dip far into the subsonic range.

Both companies products are good for music and movies. Ascend focuses on accuracy without coloring the sound and Hsu is really good at giving you tight, accurate bass without sacrificing boom, plus they are the only company out there to follow a modular model for their subs allowing a ton of flexibility. Check them out, and check out the forums, lots of reviews and information.

Chris

Originally Posted by ikcizokm

So I have an Onkyo 804 on a 5.1 setup, and it occurred to me that it's been many years since I really read up on speaker technology and was wondering what's good out there without breaking the bank? What to avoid? Do I have any "weak links" in my setup that I should replace?

My setup is pretty simple. Two Sony floorstanding speakers for L & R, an HK center that's fairly large, and 2 HK bookshelf speakers for rears. My sub is a cheap $150 Polk I got on sale @ CC a few Black Friday's ago. Probably $1000 invested in speakers.

Personally, I think it sounds good, but not great. The sub throws out a TON of bass. The fact that we have real wood floors probably helps. However, behind the sofa is the kitchen (it's an open great room) so I don't have anywhere for a 6.1 or 7.1 setup.

So... any suggestions? Am I good, or are there other brands I should look at?

TIA.

[DragonSarc]

definitive technology pro cinema they sound great and wont break the bank

[Sylin]

Does it change anything if we have a very large great room? It's about 18x18 with vaulted ceilings, and open to the kitchen, so a lot of "space" overhead. Will these smaller speakers fill the room with sound?

[rigpig]

Originally Posted by ikcizokm

Does it change anything if we have a very large great room? It's about 18x18 with vaulted ceilings, and open to the kitchen, so a lot of "space" overhead. Will these smaller speakers fill the room with sound?

.....so many things affect the overall sound of your system. You hit it right though, room acoustics can affect sound as much as speaker design/choice. Room acoustics, speaker type, speaker position, listening position etc etc all have a large part to play.
Ultimately you won't know until you try them in your own home. Personally in a large space i would lean towards larger monitors & more amplifier power, rather than smaller & less.

Some other speaker company suggestions:

Paradigm
PSB
NHT

[thunderhawk]

Moved to audio.

[Slicker1]

Even though you have vaulted ceilings/opening, you state you have wood floor, and that suggests you'll have a lot of reflection in the room. 18 x 18 is not that big, so taking that into consideration you should not need a large speaker set, just a quality one. I would also recomend the Def Tech's.

[Sylin]

Wow guys... these are some great recommendations -- thanks!

The Def Techs certainly seem to get the thumbs-up. I'll have to take a trip up to my local dealer and hear them in person!

Moving from floorstanding speakers to bookshelf size is going to require some new speaker stands, hopefully ones my toddlers can't pull down on themselves. Any suggestions there?

[blindcat87]

Ascend has custom stands for their 340 speakers that make them look like a tower speaker, they are sand or shot fillable. For the sierras, you can use the ones for the 340s or there is a guy on the ascend forums who used to work as a carpenter that is makeing custom matching bamboo stands. He has been getting raves from all of the forum members that have ordered them from him.

Check it out. Dave, the owner of Ascend posts regularly and is very open and responsive to questions. I really think they are one of the kings of the bang for the buck. Of course I am an accuracy above all else nut, so they suit my tastes perfectly, others may differ. From what I know and have heard in the past, nobody has yet suggested anything that I think would be a bad way to go. Seems like there is a lot of good taste in speakers on this forum. Doesn't make choosing any easier, but better to have too much to choose from than to have to work hard to find a good choice.

Chris

Originally Posted by ikcizokm

Wow guys... these are some great recommendations -- thanks!

The Def Techs certainly seem to get the thumbs-up. I'll have to take a trip up to my local dealer and hear them in person!

Moving from floorstanding speakers to bookshelf size is going to require some new speaker stands, hopefully ones my toddlers can't pull down on themselves. Any suggestions there?