Help: need advice on speakers that sound awesome but are lower profile

[BluRoo98]

So I have a dedicated theater room projector, 120" screen, in ceiling surround, sub, and center channel. The problem is I want to get some front left and right towers, but the wife hates the "large tower" look. She likes how the ceiling speakers are out of the way and they don't "clutter" the room. However I feel like we aren't getting the FULL sound experience. When I go demo towers, I can tell the bigger, the better the sound. I showed my wife some Polk Audio VR2 towers today and she said NO WAY (in just sharing as an example, I've looked at Def Tech, Klipsch, etc.) She thought I was joking. So....help....is there anything out there that will provide better sound than my in ceiling speakers but not be an eye sore to my wife? Should I be looking at front wall "in wall", is there a low profile tower? Are there some decent bookshelf speakers?

You can check out the pics in my profile to see my room setup.

[superpacman]

Bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer would be fine. Just go listen to some quality bookshelf speakers since they are cheaper then some towers.

For your surrounds, you can look into some bi/di-pole speakers.

[sonic_debauchery]

do you have the option of building a tower speaker, such as the polk you were looking at into the wall?

[BluRoo98]

Originally Posted by sonic_debauchery

do you have the option of building a tower speaker, such as the polk you were looking at into the wall?

Thanks for the suggestion. I've looked at standard wall speakers, I haven't considered towers inside the wall. I will look into this idea. I just have to consider resale value for the house. I love that picture though. Thanks again!

[Rayjaymay]

Any chance you can trade your wife for the tower speakers?

[BluRoo98]

Originally Posted by Rayjaymay

Any chance you can trade your wife for the tower speakers?

Ha! Well I don't think I need to go that far - I can always just buy them anyway and create an awkward tension every time we watch something.

[zeuspaul]

It's hard to tell what an eye sore to your wife is. Size and style can be very personal. Bookshelf speakers need a stand and will end up looking like a tower with a skinny base. Paired with a good sub book shelf speakers are fine. I would look at Ascend Acoustics Sierra with several finish options. I also like the PSA MT-100 which only comes in black which works for me because all my speakers are black.

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by BluRoo98

Should I be looking at front wall "in wall"?

Probably, for your wife's sake. You can probably demo a few at a local HT installer, though they are likely to be more expensive than the towers you were looking at, particularly if you are not handy enough to install them yourself. There are also in-wall subwoofers that you could consider.

If you are handy enough to install them yourself, monoprice sells some, though I can't attest to their quality.

[Spurrier Sucks]

Scansonic MB-2.5. Check my gallery. Dynaudio Excite X34. A number of different Totem floor standers.

[ImPulSive]

I've always wanted to try these, but I cannot justify them right now. Curious to know if anybody else has heard anything about them.

http://www.parts-express.com/audio-a...r-kit--301-980

[prerich]

Budget, budget and more budget.

http://legacyaudio.com/products/view/silhouette/

for starters.

[ImPulSive]

Originally Posted by prerich

Budget, budget and more budget.

http://legacyaudio.com/products/view/silhouette/

for starters.

Nice! MSRP $4k/pr = ouch. But the SAF should be high and they are compact, in the wall. Just that pesky budget...

[sonic_debauchery]

Originally Posted by BluRoo98

Thanks for the suggestion. I've looked at standard wall speakers, I haven't considered towers inside the wall. I will look into this idea. I just have to consider resale value for the house. I love that picture though. Thanks again!

Your Welcome.

Paradigm. Definitive Technology, Martin Logan and Goldenear all make on wall low profile speakers. It just comes down to budget and sound. If you do get on walls, perhaps try to add a sub to them to give a full range speaker. There are plenty of small subs out there.

[BluRoo98]

I really appreciate everyone's advice. I wanted to give an update on what I decided on.

If anyone here is married, you may relate to this. No matter how much I want something, I need to make sure I get my wife to approve of what we put in the house. I would have preferred to buy some towers because of the FULLER sound, but my wife was not interested in having ANY speakers other than the ceiling mounted 6.5" speakers that were built into the house. My main goal was to have the speakers facing us instead of being on top of us and produce a much more clear quality sound.

Solution we both agreed upon:
The wife recently added black IKEA box shelves with brown wicker baskets to our theater room.
I got her to agree to the ELAC bookshelf 6.5" B6s - great reviews on this new tech from Andrewe Jones. I also wanted to get the speakers more elevated so that they were more in line with our viewing position.
So she agreed to add 2 more shelves and place the speakers on top so the room matched. (I did not take a picture of the shelves I am referring to because they are on the side of the room)

So While I know that bookshelf speakers are intended a rear speakers or front audio only speakers, we managed to accomplish my main purpose - front facing sound - while pulling designs from the rest of the room together to make a more unified room.

So here is the result. For anyone that is not married (and is now convinced they should never marry) - this is a WIN - One battle at a time. Towers could be next...

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by Spurrier Sucks

Scansonic MB-2.5. Check my gallery. Dynaudio Excite X34. A number of different Totem floor standers.

Indeed those are great options but not sure what the OP budget is, Dali also has some small floor standing speakers, they all have also bookshelf counterpart that throw enormous soundstage.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by BluRoo98

I really appreciate everyone's advice. I wanted to give an update on what I decided on.

If anyone here is married, you may relate to this. No matter how much I want something, I need to make sure I get my wife to approve of what we put in the house. I would have preferred to buy some towers because of the FULLER sound, but my wife was not interested in having ANY speakers other than the ceiling mounted 6.5" speakers that were built into the house. My main goal was to have the speakers facing us instead of being on top of us and produce a much more clear quality sound.

Solution we both agreed upon:
The wife recently added black IKEA box shelves with brown wicker baskets to our theater room.
I got her to agree to the ELAC bookshelf 6.5" B6s - great reviews on this new tech from Andrewe Jones. I also wanted to get the speakers more elevated so that they were more in line with our viewing position.
So she agreed to add 2 more shelves and place the speakers on top so the room matched. (I did not take a picture of the shelves I am referring to because they are on the side of the room)

So While I know that bookshelf speakers are intended a rear speakers or front audio only speakers, we managed to accomplish my main purpose - front facing sound - while pulling designs from the rest of the room together to make a more unified room.

So here is the result. For anyone that is not married (and is now convinced they should never marry) - this is a WIN - One battle at a time. Towers could be next...

Congratz on the Elac, you couldn't have chose better option in that price range actually.

[BluRoo98]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

Congratz on the Elac, you couldn't have chose better option in that price range actually.

Thank you! I am REALLY pleased. They sound great. Now I want to hear the ELAC towers. Maybe once the wife gets used to speakers up front.....

The other "upgrade" that I did was bought some upgraded 16 gauge oxygen-free cooper speaker wire. I didn't realize that speaker wire made a difference. I have been using standard (super cheap) speaker wire with all my speakers forever - I feel like my center channel is TONS better with the new wire (maybe it is just placebo) but I now am convinced that ALL components need to be optimized.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by BluRoo98

Thank you! I am REALLY pleased. They sound great. Now I want to hear the ELAC towers. Maybe once the wife gets used to speakers up front.....

The other "upgrade" that I did was bought some upgraded 16 gauge oxygen-free cooper speaker wire. I didn't realize that speaker wire made a difference. I have been using standard (super cheap) speaker wire with all my speakers forever - I feel like my center channel is TONS better with the new wire (maybe it is just placebo) but I now am convinced that ALL components need to be optimized.

Wires do make a difference in my opinion but it is not where you want to spend all your money, You just bot some very decent quality cables that did not break the bank. I really enjoyed those Elac at the show held in Montreal back in march.

Your next upgrade if you an would be to get the matching center. Not sure how the current center mixes with he Elac but reast assure the transition would be more seamless with the C5 center.

[BluRoo98]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

Wires do make a difference in my opinion but it is not where you want to spend all your money, You just bot some very decent quality cables that did not break the bank. I really enjoyed those Elac at the show held in Montreal back in march.

Your next upgrade if you an would be to get the matching center. Not sure how the current center mixes with he Elac but reast assure the transition would be more seamless with the C5 center.

Yeah, I was wondering that too. What about my receiver. If I upgrade what should I look for from an output standpoint? I can also do 7.1 now because I still have the in-ceiling speakers. I know my pioneer is probably entry point. I also want to eventually get some directional in ceiling speakers for front and rear.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by BluRoo98

Yeah, I was wondering that too. What about my receiver. If I upgrade what should I look for from an output standpoint? I can also do 7.1 now because I still have the in-ceiling speakers. I know my pioneer is probably entry point. I also want to eventually get some directional in ceiling speakers for front and rear.

Well do you like the sound of your Pioneer? Why would you not stick with the with an Elite?

I would love to suggest Arcam but it.s very expensive. If you give me budget to work with I could suggest something. AVR numbers are tricky, I pay more attention to specs with all channels driven, or actual Lab measurements. My Arcam is rated 90wpc while some Yammys rated at140 per channle don't deliver half the performance of what I have with a 7 channels driven so you got to be careful.

Look Ultimately in your case I assume you want best bang for your buck, but I guess you just got to fix a budget. If your budget is not high enough to upgrade then Just wait a bit.

Accessories for less sell some refurbished units for a fraction of the price new.

This is a nice unit:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...0-value/1.html