Speaker shopping in Southern CA

[emrliquidlife]

Hey brethern,

Anyone have recommendations on a place to shop for speakers in Los Angeles or Orange County CA? I'm hoping to find a place where I can actually do critical listening, as oppossed to being sandwiched next to the refrigerator section.

I have a small apt, so I'm looking for accuracy and imaging. Don't care for mucho bass as I have neighbors.

I previously had Polk Audio S10s mains, and a matching Polk Center.

Thanks,

E

[CitronBull]

Most people consider Santa Barbara to San Diego a part of Southern CA. You might want to be more specific and give your city or zip.

[Haoleb]

I was at Audio/Video showroom in santa rosa a couple of years ago and was able to sit down and listen to some pretty high end systems. They also had less expensive setups in dedicated rooms. Santa rosa isint exactly socal but may be worth the trip.

[j_garcia]

www.ascendacoustics.com

[emrliquidlife]

Most people consider Santa Barbara to San Diego a part of Southern CA. You might want to be more specific and give your city or zip.

Actually any part of LA County or Orange County works for me.

Santa Rosa, is a bit far to drive.

E

[Davidt1]

Magnolia are all over the place. I just spent about two hours at BB listening to Mirage Nanosat, Vienna Morzat Grand and some giant Def Tech towers. Oh, man...those Vienna speakers are simply amazing.

[jostenmeat]

Actually any part of LA County or Orange County works for me.

Santa Rosa, is a bit far to drive.

E

You can ask for suggestions at AVS. A brief search turned up these two threads:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=941148

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=921931

I live in SoCal as well, and what I did was visit the manufacturer websites, and simply click on "find a dealer", type in Zip, voila.

Rereading your first post... sometimes the better prices I found did not have the best listening rooms. In general, however, most stores I've visited have quite decent situations. I think the very worst room I ever heard was a Ken Crane dedicated room with BW 802s I believe that sounded awful. They admitted as much too.

What kind of budget are you working with? For one pair of bookshelves? Living in our cosmopolitan area, I felt that there would be enough brands for me to hear, in order to cherry pick my favorites. However, the repuatation for value from ID is well documented. I would personally be quite curious about the HiVi 2.1 SE for $900.

[mziegler]

My favorite shop is hometheaterdoctor in Redondo Beach. www.hometheaterdoctor.com

They will let you bring in other speakers, and they are very generous about letting you take a speaker home to try out in your home.

[emrliquidlife]

www.ascendacoustics.com

Whoa, those guys are just around the corner from my work.

I really like the philosophy of the company. I think I'll give em a call and see if I can demo on site.

Thanks much.

E

[emrliquidlife]

I want to say thanks for those that took the time to provide input.

Literally, I'm using gear that I bought approx in 93. About time DaDa got some new gear on.

Budget, If I can get two mains and a center for that Awesome! Now, If somehow I can stretch it to include a Sub, or maybe kick in a tad more I guess I could go to $1,200.

The names of the manufactures, I have no idea about. I mean, I don't get any stereo mags, don't really hang out with audiophiles etc. I mean, after all, I was listening to 15 year old speakers.

Now, am I going to be shorting myself by running them off a cheapo Pioneer VSX 412D?

E

[emrliquidlife]

www.ascendacoustics.com

Okay, this is a bit weird. I called them up and had a good chat. However, they don't have a listening room, or a way of letting you hear the speakers. They stand behind a 30 day guarantee. Hmmm, okay, I get the idea of having a 30 day demo, but if I don't like them, I don't like the idea of having to take it back etc.

I was told that the best person to speak to would be Dave. So, I'll call them back.

E

[mziegler]

Whoa, those guys are just around the corner from my work.

I really like the philosophy of the company. I think I'll give em a call and see if I can demo on site.

Thanks much.

E

Even better, there is someone in Manhattan Beach who would let you listen to his Ascends. I have them too and I live in Torrance.

[emrliquidlife]

Even better, there is someone in Manhattan Beach who would let you listen to his Ascends. I have them too and I live in Torrance.

Very Cool.

Yes, I live in Manhattan Beach and work in Gardena.

Without imposing, I'll take either option.

Thanks,

Ed

[mziegler]

I sent you a PM.

Email me: mziegler1@socal.rr.com