Upgrading Speakers for newbies! (and the poor!)

[Bango]

Ok....so I have some cheapie Harman Kardon satellite speakers that I want to replace in my 7.1 setup. I want to start with the two front speakers, want to get some towers. I don't need the ABSOLUTE BEST as I'm not willing to spend thousands on ONE speaker...but what's a good Brand of speakers with fair performance at a fair price? A friend had mentioned that Polk Audio makes some decent speakers at a decent price. Anybody know first hand of Polk are good? Any suggestions?

[Brian Cash]

Originally Posted by Bango

Ok....so I have some cheapie Harman Kardon satellite speakers that I want to replace in my 7.1 setup. I want to start with the two front speakers, want to get some towers. I don't need the ABSOLUTE BEST as I'm not willing to spend thousands on ONE speaker...but what's a good Brand of speakers with fair performance at a fair price? A friend had mentioned that Polk Audio makes some decent speakers at a decent price. Anybody know first hand of Polk are good? Any suggestions?

Ok number one what are you willing to spend on one tower and polk is good i would go with klipsch though

[MacDaddyOJack]

I have polk towers and I love them. You really need to listen for yourself though. All speakers have subtle differences so its always best to listen with your own ears. Your friend is right though, Polk towers are a good place to start for decent speakers that won't break the bank!

[Beta Man]

yeah, Your budget for Fronts should also take the cost of the Center speaker into account, because you're gonna want it to match.

Are Floor-Standers all you're considering? Believe it or not there are some NICE book-shelf (stand-mounted) speakers out there.

[Bango]

For fronts specifically, I don't really want to spend more than like $1500 a pair. Even that I think is overkill as I live in a small house...but I do like the option that Polk gives of the finish of the towers (my gf will love the cherry finish! and will help with getting her to "permit" me to buy these) Again, I'm upgrading my system little by little. I just bought the new receiver, new blu-ray player coming soon. I'm looking into buying all my speakers around July or so but thought I could start getting some input.

[Brian Cash]

for 1500 a pair i would deff go with some klipsch

[Dagger]

Second that on bookshelves - some can sound great.

Here's what I spent on my Paradigm 5.1 set-up...
Monitor 7's (Fronts) - $500
Monitor Atoms (Rears)- $270
CC - 290 (Center) -$400
Velodyne DLR 4000 - $400.

Total $1570. Throw in tax and shipping maybe $1700 total.

[Memnoch71]

Go Audition all of them and see which sound better to you. Polk Monitor Series are a reasonably priced setup, Klipsch are highly recommended as well. Mirage makes some good ones in that range as well. I do recommend you get the Towers and the Center at the same time as someone esle suggested.

[kingofgrills]

For $1,500 a pair as your budget, be sure you audition Monitor Audio and Paradigm. Both lines have excellent fit and finish quality with several wood finishes to choose from. They offer a lot of bang for the buck and sound thousands better than their price.

They have incredibly smooth midrange, great treble extension, and tight bass. Check out some of their reviews on the web sites. The critics love them.

www.monitoraudio.co.uk/

http://www.paradigm.com/

[kpkelley]

you could check out Cerwin Vega - The LOUD Speaker Company.

http://www.cerwinvega.com/

[Ratdaddy]

Go here very good speakers. I have them.

http://www.acousticsounddesign.com/?...ID=10341672011

[jhawkjd]

My suggestion:
Start with:
Klipsch # RF-82 Floorstanders
Don't scrimp on the front channels. Your receiver can simulate the center channel until you buy one. The start of a good 2 channel system. If you want better, go for the RF-63 or, even better the RF-83.

Next purchase, when you can afford it, go for:
Klipsch # RS-62 Surrounds; and,
Subwoofer of your choice (I have had a 12" Velodyne for 10 years and it has been awesome. But now, I would pop for at minimum a 15" Velo DD series)

Next purchase, when you can afford it, go for:
Klipsch # RC-62 Center and then rear 2 speakers if you want 7.1

The reason I liked the Klipsch is that they had a transparent presence and a high efficiency. But no matter what you choose, it has to pass the listen at loud for extended periods test.

I started building my system around Klipsch 23 years ago with my front speakers and it has been easy to build into a Klipsch 5.1 system as I went.

Best advice I can give you. Buy more system than you think you need. Because once you get hooked, you'll want bigger and better.

Originally Posted by Bango

For fronts specifically, I don't really want to spend more than like $1500 a pair. Even that I think is overkill as I live in a small house...but I do like the option that Polk gives of the finish of the towers (my gf will love the cherry finish! and will help with getting her to "permit" me to buy these) Again, I'm upgrading my system little by little. I just bought the new receiver, new blu-ray player coming soon. I'm looking into buying all my speakers around July or so but thought I could start getting some input.

[Bango]

I was checking out the polkaudio.com website...and was noticing that they have the speakers in differeent categories,"bookshelf" speakers and the "surround" Can they both be used as surround channels? Other than the fact that the bookshelf ones will be bigger, will I notice any difference?

[dobyblue]

Wow, excellent budget for front upgrades and some all round good recommendations here also.

One thing I'd suggest is to consider upgrading your center channel at the same time. When you're watching multi-channel programming, the center channel being substantially un-matched to the fronts is immediately noticeable and you will BURN to upgrade it as quickly as possible.

Speaking from experience, I upgraded my satellite fronts to Paradigm Monitor 11v4's in October 2005. I had promised my spouse I wouldn't buy anything else for that year. January 2nd I was down at my local dealer replacing my center with a CC-370v4 also from Paradigm. Although it was only 10 weeks, it seemed to take forever.

I normally recommend Axiom for speakers, particularly those on a budget, but where you're heading with a $1,500 budget I think you should look elsewhere at some of the previously recommended speakers. If you're going with a nice set of towers, it's a good idea to look ahead at what center channel you might add to them.

If you have a Paradigm dealer close by, I would definitely recommend auditioning a pair of Monitor 11v5's or a pair of Studio 60v4's. The Monitor 11v5's you should be able to find for between $1050 to $1225. The Studio 60's will run around $1,250-$1,500. It all depends on the dealer. Matching those in the future with a Studio CC-590 center channel, which is around $800, would give you a really nice frequency response which would allow you to set your crossover at 50Hz and still have a +/- frequency response within 2 dB.

You could match the Studio CC-590 with either the Monitor 11v5's or the Studio 60v4's and enjoy really nice sound across all three speakers. Obviously the Studio speakers have a nicer look and finish than the Monitor line, but if you go Monitor the "Black Ash" look works really well.

Monitor 11v5 - http://paradigm.com/en/paradigm/fron...-1-19.paradigm
Studio 60v4 - http://paradigm.com/en/reference/fro...-1-28.paradigm
Studio CC-590 - http://paradigm.com/en/reference/cen...-1-31.paradigm

If you won the lottery at some point before you buy, take a look at Paradigm's Signature line.

Polk Audio have some incredible prices through Amazon that you're likely to not find in the store. Their top of the line speakers, the LS, are all 4 Ohm speakers, underneath that are the VM series, which do not have frequency response like the other speakers as they're using 4" drivers for the bass units, which is not something I agree with. Come down one more line to the RTi series and you're into some series loudspeakers again.

Take a look a the top RTi model from last year, the RTi12 - http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/p...tanding/rti12/
The list price is $1,679, but they're available on Amazon right now for only $399/each, which is $800/pair. That's a SERIOUS deal right now on those speakers.

Some highlights, numbers released by Polk:
+/- 3dB 30Hz-26kHz
That's pretty impressive. However keep in mind Amazon only have these in the Cherry finish. To go to the same speaker in the current RTi line-up, which is the RTi A9, you're looking at $1,500 pair even on Amazon.

Should almost just stop there....order a pair now before they're gone; you would NOT regret it, not for only $800.



For center channels, to match the RTi12 I wouldn't look any further than the CSi A6.
+/- 3dB 55Hz-26kHz
http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/p.../center/csia6/
The MSRP is $459, but you can find it on Amazon for $399 - http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-AM6...5880466&sr=1-6

Like the Paradigm's, that would give you a really nice frequency response, completely clean down to 60Hz and very much capable of a crossover at 50Hz.

The Klipsch Reference line would be another good consideration. The RF-82, which is one away from the top of the Reference line, is available at Best Buy stores for $499/each, which is $998/pair.
Klipsch claims a frequency response of 33Hz-23kHz +/-3dB
http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/rf-82.aspx
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1157067061234
Comparing Best Buy's price with Amazon on the F-3, Best Buy actually appears to be the winner.
The F-3 is also a nice speaker, costing around $800/pair.
35Hz - 23kHz +/-3dB

I'd match either of them up with their RC-62 reference center channels.
Reference - http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/rc-62.aspx
57Hz-23kHz +/-3dB

GOOD LUCK!!!

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by Bango

I was checking out the polkaudio.com website...and was noticing that they have the speakers in differeent categories,"bookshelf" speakers and the "surround" Can they both be used as surround channels? Other than the fact that the bookshelf ones will be bigger, will I notice any difference?

Absolutely. If you're just into movies, you may want surrounds as they can provide a little more spacious sound, but if you enjoy any high resolution music I think either bookshelves or floorstanding rears are the way to go.

I listen to 50% music easily, lots of Super Audio CD's and DVD-Audio discs, as well as hopefully soon some Blu-ray Disc audio releases. I made the decision to go with full range speakers for my rears (Paradigm Monitor 11v4's) and have been extremely happy with that decision ever since.

When I listen to multi-channel music I can now set all my speakers to LARGE and listen to the multi-channel mix exactly the way it was intended to sound.

[Cwoodall334]

When I upgrade, I'm looking at getting a system from http://www.usheraudiousa.com/. The reviews on their systems have been great, plus they're affordable.

[JasonR]

Polk makes a very good speaker and Doby pointed out a very good deal. DO IT!!!! The Klipsch tweeter horn isn't my taste, but not a bad choice if you're into it...

[hagar852]

Lets also not forget about www.aperionaudio.com

I just built a 6.1 system using their speakers. They are listed in my sig...

Good price and GREAT performance... These speakers are awesome, and the company is 1st class all the way.. Lets just say when your speakers come in velvet bags to protect their shiny finish you now this company is top notch..

I have pics posted of them in the home theater pics thread..

Check them out.. 30 day trial period with free shipping each way. Nothing to lose!!

[hagar852]

Here is the link to my setup...

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...postcount=1290

[dobyblue]

Aperion make great speakers, you just need to make sure you know what you're doing with the different impedance they use.

(I think they're all 6 Ohms right?)