big box store speakers

[dtowntke]

so i am a year in to my home theater hobby and its an enjoyable but expensive hobby. when i first started out i didn't now much about speakers or televisions for that matter in fact i still think i am lacking in the knowledge department on both of these subjects, but i think i learned a little in my year. my interest first started when i was about 13 my brother in law a rapper/producer got me hooked on sounds, i sat in his studio for hours apon hours going over every little sound that he was chopping and putting into his beats. from drums,hand claps, high hats, piano's, and horns he made sure he pointed our every detail and made sure i understood it. but i really never paid much attention to his equipment other then the mpc and the technique turntable. i went away to college (northern michigan university where the n stands for knowledge) and i discovered i was missing something in my music, so i bought a pair of bose. actually i don't know they model but these floor speakers rocked hard, they were in a wood cabinet had a 8inch woofer and a tweeter with plastic around it bought as i got older i felt i needed to get something new. so i went down to the electronic store and bought a pair os sony three way tower speakers better mids then the bose but didn't rock as hard then i figured what the hell i need something better so i bought a 7.1 av receiver and sold the bose put the sonys as my surrounds and bought polks rti8's. that is pretty much where i am know, but i learned of all these better speakers out there like paradigm,axiom,b&w, which took my by shock because in my ignorance i thought bose, polk and klipsch where top of the line but to my shock they weren't. so my next pair of speakers will be b&w 804s, dose any one know the price on these? but my question after this long story is what in your opinion is the best brand of speaker the the big box retailers carry?

[CasualKiller]

The B&W's you are looking at will cost you about 5000.00 a pair <US>.

Some other brands you may want to look into are :

Monitor Audio
PSB
Dali <Audiogon.com you can get a pair of Helicon 800's for 3500.00>
Martin Logan <Vistas, Preface and I think Montage would be in your price range>

Although not really "big box store" brands these are in my opinion some of the best and fairly easy to aquire.

[JJ]

Those Bowers & Wilkins speakers are quite expensive! I'm glad you didn't pick the $64,000 Nautilus ones, - Best Buy's Magnolia department also has Definitive Technology and Martin Logan - I would say those are the best brands that they have for sale, better than Polk or Klipsch and of course Sony and Bose.

[RUR]

Originally Posted by CasualKiller

The B&W's you are looking at will cost you about 5000.00 a pair <US>.

Shoot, for $5K for the front L/R only, one could do a lot better than 804's, IMHO.

Some other brands you may want to look into are :

Monitor Audio
PSB
Dali <Audiogon.com you can get a pair of Helicon 800's for 3500.00>
Martin Logan <Vistas, Preface and I think Montage would be in your price range>

Exactly. and many others. $5K will get you a new pair of ML Vantages.

[dtowntke]

can some one explain the purpose of the big speaker grill on the martin logans

[JJ]

Originally Posted by dtowntke

can some one explain the purpose of the big speaker grill on the martin logans

Electrostatics - it's another speaker technology. It's not a speaker grill, Dtown. Give this a read, I figure someone else might be able to give you a better explanation than myself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_speakers

[RUR]

Originally Posted by dtowntke

can some one explain the purpose of the big speaker grill on the martin logans

Not a grill, the panel is the speaker for all except bass frequencies, which are handled via a conventional cone driver or drivers (except for the new CLX).

ESL 101 here.

[dtowntke]

well do they work well

[richteer]

Originally Posted by dtowntke

well do they work well

Very.

[Beta Man]

Just curious how you decided "The 804's were your next speakers" ???? Did you listen to them? Funny that you pulled those out of the hat (and not 803's for instance)


Just curious.


I have 700's because of budgetary issues

[DiverSpear]

I have Martin's and they sound incredible. I would try B & W's but the ones I want are out of my budget. I can't say enough about the sound quality of Martin Logan. Granted my wife says I'm half deaf due to the nature of my work and where I work. But she loves the sound of the Martins.

[allstar780]

I got a chance to listen to the 800Ds at the store I bought my bookshelf speakers at... I really just didn't want to leave. lol

[sokrman14]

Originally Posted by richteer

Very.

sometimes. They have their ESL line and their Design series line. The ESL line from Martin Logan is a lot better than their Design series, and there are other electrostats better than Martin Logan

[RUR]

Originally Posted by sokrman14

sometimes. They have their ESL line and their Design series line. The ESL line from Martin Logan is a lot better than their Design series, and there are other electrostats better than Martin Logan

Everyone has their preferences, of course. But we're wandering around, it seems. To expand on Beta's post, how did the OP decide that B&W 804's are the right speaker for him? Does he sincerely expect to pay $5K for a pair of front L/R speakers? Is he even interested in other suggestions in that price range? New, or used? How does he plan to select the best speaker for himself?

etc.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by RUR

How does he plan to select the best speaker for himself?

I'd use one of these.....

[sokrman14]

Originally Posted by RUR

Everyone has their preferences, of course. But we're wandering around, it seems. To expand on Beta's post, how did the OP decide that B&W 804's are the right speaker for him? Does he sincerely expect to pay $5K for a pair of front L/R speakers? Is he even interested in other suggestions in that price range? New, or used? How does he plan to select the best speaker for himself?

etc.

Very true, I didnt mean to upset those who are ML fans or owners. Just not for me unless you plan to spend $5k or more. I am not a fan of their design series.

[sokrman14]

As far as big box retailers go, Best Buy has their Magnolia Home Theatre department. If we include those, then the Vienna Acoustics. Their Mozart Grand is absolutely phenomenal. The soundstaging, accuracy, detail is 2nd to none when it comes to big box stores speakers.

[dtowntke]

ok so how do these brands stack up against my current brand of polk audio

[RUR]

Originally Posted by dtowntke

ok so how do these brands stack up against my current brand of polk audio

It's not difficult to find speakers better than the Polks- all it takes is money and a little work. What's your budget? What AVR or pre-pro/amp do you plan to drive them with?

[dtowntke]

well well my budget for speakers is around 3,000 and as of now i am using a yamaha rxv 663 but i am going to up grade in the next week or two, i think i am going to go with a denon 4308ci, which was going to lead me to my next thread i was going to start but maybe you guys could answer it here? its two questions what's more important to your system the speakers or the receiver? and if for movie watching purposes, if the center speaker carry's up to 50% of sound and dialogue shouldn't that be the best speaker in your ht setup?