Bookshelves as fronts

[browndk26]

My room is 12 x 18 with TV on the 12 foot wall. I sit about 9 feet from the TV(against the opposite wall). Would bookshelf speakers be ok as my fronts? I would like to upgrade my current Sony speakers. If I had up to $400, any suggestions for 2 bookshelf speakers and a center?

[HomeTheaterVirgin]

If you really want audio that bad I would buy just 2 book shelf speakers for now no center and use that while you save up some money.Then when you have enough money saved you can buy the front stage that you really want towers if that is the case.Then just move the bookshelfs to the back.

[Hammie]

Two bookshelves and a decent sub will sound great for a front soundstage. I ran some Polk Audio bookshelves for about 4-5 years with a sub and thought they did a great job.

[roxyv]

Buy Polk RTia1 for Fronts for now then upgrade to floorstanding RTia5 , Csia4 then move the RTia1 as surrounds....or buy the Polk Monitor series at newegg, quite cheap...

[Big Daddy]

Buy three identical good quality bookshelf speakers for your front. An identical vertical center speaker is better than a horizontal center speaker. In the future, add one or two subwoofers and two bipole surround speakers.

If you plan to buy a good subwoofer in the future, you do not need tower front speakers. Even if you buy tower speakers, you will have to set them to SMALL for best blending with your future subwoofer.

[Beta Man]

I use bookshelves, and they work great for me...... I actually had them as surrounds and sold my fronts to move them there, since I couldn't justify using them as surrounds ( I don't listen to much multi-channel music)

I agree though, that you should spend the $400 on the L/R, and save for a center.

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by browndk26

My room is 12 x 18 with TV on the 12 foot wall. I sit about 9 feet from the TV(against the opposite wall). Would bookshelf speakers be ok as my fronts? I would like to upgrade my current Sony speakers. If I had up to $400, any suggestions for 2 bookshelf speakers and a center?

If you pay for shipping costs (packaging + shipping charges), I have a Polk Audio CSi3 Center and RTi4 Bookshelves in Cherry finish for sale.

[callas01]

Brown....

One of the guys here just went with some PSB Image B25s for bookshelves in a 2 channel operation, Here is the thread and these are the speakers.

A little over budget, but great speakers.... Can't go wrong with PSBs.

[ZedsDead]

I am also contemplating using bookshelf's for fronts for a future upgrade (hopefully sometime next year). The variety and value of bookshelf's is very appealing.

[jomari]

as others have mentioned, bookshelves are a great option to look into as your initial purchase. a good quality set of bookshelves paired with a well blending subwoofer, can definitely outperform a mediocre set of towers.

as mentioned earlier, i would suggest finding the appropriate pair towards your liking, and research on its paired center. or as BD has suggested, finding a good retailer can also get you another bookshelf speaker to work as your center. the suggested speakers mentioned above are all great candidates, but as always, audition, audition audition your speakers prior to purchase. we all have our own preferences in regards to what we hear, and my hearing yet alone each member here, is different from each other. you want to research on finding out the characteristics of a great speaker versus an overpriced one.

im surprised we havent suggested klipsch, mirage or energys on here. all in all, save up as much as you can, and bite the bullet to buy the complete frontstage, instead of waiting out to get the center. remember: most companies phase out their speakers in a year or two, thus may have you hunting down the matching center in the future.

just a thought.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by jomari

as others have mentioned, bookshelves are a great option to look into as your initial purchase. a good quality set of bookshelves paired with a well blending subwoofer, can definitely outperform a mediocre set of towers.

as mentioned earlier, i would suggest finding the appropriate pair towards your liking, and research on its paired center. or as BD has suggested, finding a good retailer can also get you another bookshelf speaker to work as your center. the suggested speakers mentioned above are all great candidates, but as always, audition, audition audition your speakers prior to purchase. we all have our own preferences in regards to what we hear, and my hearing yet alone each member here, is different from each other. you want to research on finding out the characteristics of a great speaker versus an overpriced one.

im surprised we havent suggested klipsch, mirage or energys on here. all in all, save up as much as you can, and bite the bullet to buy the complete frontstage, instead of waiting out to get the center. remember: most companies phase out their speakers in a year or two, thus may have you hunting down the matching center in the future.

just a thought.

Great post jomari!

And isn't is refreshing to hear little or more of the same (see bolded)

John