Time to audition, suggestions welcomed...

Hi, first off sorry if you follow AVS forum, this is a repost from there. I know not everyone here reads there too, so I thought I would post here as well to see if there are any different suggestions, so here it is...

I'm finally in a position now to start an upgrade on my current Cambridge Soundworks Tower II speakers and matching center/surrounds.
My plan is to order 3-4 sets of towers online at once to audition and compare. I've targeted a few brands and just wanted to throw this out there to see if there are other suggestions. Budget is about $1500 for the mains. Looking for places where shipping is free so I only need to pay return shipping.

Current room is 13'x16' bedroom, dedicated media room. Listening is split pretty evenly between music, movies and gaming. Music I listen to ranges from older Genesis to hard rock (Ozzy, Type O Negative) to current progressive metal or European metal bands (Dream Theater, Nightwish, Sonata Artica, Leaves Eye, Within Temptation), with many of the latter having female singers.

Current speakers I know I am ordering-
Aperion Audio 6T's
Energy RC-70's from Audio Advisor

On the fence-
Axiom M80's
KEF Iq9's
Mordaunt Short Mezzo 6's
Mordaunt Short Avanti 908i
Definitive Technologies BP7006- BB Magnolia, not sure I have enough room in my current setup for these, my speakers are a little over a foot from the back wall, and have about 18" of space on the inside and about 2 feet on the outisde. Not sure if that is enough space to make them worth auditioning.

My biggest limitation is space for the center channel speakers. The ones I have mentioned so far have centers that will fit. The reason I am doing it this way is because most audio stores are 20-40 miles away from me, and with gas prices and driving a truck, I figure the added expense of return shipping is not that much more and makes it worth it to audition in home.

Feel free to let throw out other suggestions and where a good place to get them would be. If their centers won't work for me, I'll let you know. Example- Swan Diva's 5.2C will not fit, but the 4.2C does. Not sure if matching towers for that will compare well to the above? Also, I should add the dedicated room is not probably permanent. Eventually it will get moved to the basement into a 14'x28' or 14'x41' room.
Thanks...

I personally like the M80s (mine are arriving next week) so I would give them a thumbs up for auditioning.

Really there are a lot of good speakers out there so its hard to come up with a short list.

Fred

fredk said:

I personally like the M80s (mine are arriving next week) so I would give them a thumbs up for auditioning.

Really there are a lot of good speakers out there so its hard to come up with a short list.

Fred

Click to expand...

I like Axiom audio as well, I bought my bookshelves and surrounds from them and I am extremely happy. Even though I cannot comment on the M80's because they were out of my budget, I would have liked to auditioned them.

Thanks, I did shoot off an email with some questions earlier today to Axiom.
It would be nice to get factory seconds at 10% off, but it says they're about 2 weeks out. With trying to coordinate getting speakers here at the same time, I don't want to risk them taking 3 weeks to get here (I want to get the order in for the Energy's soon just in case the 'special pricing' goes back up soon, then they'll no longer be within my budget).

But I'm thinking I might just bite the bullet and just order a set of M80's new. It won't matter if I send them back, and I should be able to get the rest of the speakers 10% off if I keep them.

I'm tempted to try the EMP EF30T package, just ship the towers first so I can compare them, but I'm not sure if they would stack up well against these other speakers. If they did, it would save me about $1400 before buying a new sub, so it's tempting in that respect.

Yah, I got a couple of replies from Brent there already. He originally said there would be a wait for the factory outlet speakers, then I asked him some other questions he said he'd check on Tuesday to see what's available. Of course if he's too nice and get's me a pair, I'll feel bad if they're not the ones I like the best...

As for the EMP/RBH, doesn't look like that will be a go for me. If you choose the RBH replacement speakers, they come directly from RBH, so I don't think returns will be possible. If I stick with the EMP's (the wife doesn't want straight black either), and I didn't like them there would be a restocking fee.

Sent another email to Audio Advisor too (didn't respond to the first), I want to confirm that if I return the Energy's there won't be a restocking fee. By the policy there doesn't appear to be unless I send it back in poor condition, but want to make sure.

I was actually going to try some some S Series from aadsound.com, found out they were 20% from their direct store. Great! But they're clearing them out for a new line, so returns not allowed. Not so great. Oh well. I could try one of their other lines just for fun I guess.

When you do the audition, let us know how it goes. We all love direct speaker comparisons.

Fred

^ x2. I'd love to hear your opinion on the Aperion's. I've had good luck with aperion, and have my eye on the 6T's.

If you can, try and audition PSB Image T45, T55, and T65 series, and Totem forests. I own the T45s and love them. They are excellent with all music genre except for RAP becuase they can't dig deep enough. Its a non issue for me because I don't like RAP.

I have only listened to the DefTech speakers at BB, and I have to say that the BP7006's are severely lacking compared to the bigger brothers of the same product line. If you want that line of speaker, stretch your budget a bit and get at least the 7004's. I will say that all 3 of the BP product line didn't handle dialoge well with the matching center. Dialogue sounded like it was coming from a empty hallway, but the surround effects were fantastic.

I did NOT like the way the crossover is built on the BPs. I think you'll find these a much better buy given there's more control over what your speaker is going to process:
http://av123.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=23&category_id=19&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=37

I'm waiting for these to come in, and they may suit your HT (and metal) tastes just fine, when paired with a good sub:
http://av123.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=27&category_id=19&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=37

Note that prices are per pair.

But...I may have overstepped your space limitations. The AV123 Rocket center is a BIG boy and the speakers aren't runts either.

Just a heads up, I dont think the 30 day audition period applies when you get the factory outlet speakers from Axiom. You'll have to double check that with Brent but I think that is the policy.

From the Axiom Factory Outlet Page:

"---- they have absolutely no operational problems or sound performance issues, and come with the same 30-day Money-Back Guarantee and 5-Year Warranty on all our products."

Fred

Well, whatever so you decide on, it is important to understand that the speakers may sound very differently in your own room compared to the store.

So just make sure they have a 30-day FREE Return policy. If Best Buy has the 30-day free return policy, try out some of their speakers in your own home. If it's LOCAL and FREE audition, why not?

Monitor Audio

Monitor Audio Silver RS-6 Loudspeakers! If budget expectation is between $1,000 - $1,500 RS-6 (list $999) has to be on the short list for auditioning assuming there is a dealer near you.

Neht24
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HT: Samsung 61" DLP, Arcam AVR250 Receiver, Denon DVD-2910 DVD Player, LG BH100 Blu-ray/HD-DVD Player, Atlantic Technology ICTS-6LCR "Tilting" In-Ceiling Speakers (Left/Right/Center), Atlantic Technology ICTS-8.2e In-Ceiling Speakers (Surrounds), Atlantic Technology 10e CSB Powered Subwoofer, All AudioQuest Cabling, Xbox 360 Elite & Universal Remote MX-700

2-CH: Arcam FMJ C31 Preamplifier, Arcam FMJ P35 2-Channel Amplifier, Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player, Monitor Audio Platinum 100 Monitors w/Stands, REL C-305 Subwoofer, all AudioQuest Cabling & Universal Remote MX-350

AcuDefTechGuy said:

If it's LOCAL and FREE audition, why not?

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Yes... some local dealers have in-home trials. I know my store allows speakers to be loaned out to potential customers for an in-home demo. AcuDefTechGuy is right.. in-home evaluations are always best.

Neht24
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HT: Samsung 61" DLP, Arcam AVR250 Receiver, Denon DVD-2910 DVD Player, LG BH100 Blu-ray/HD-DVD Player, Atlantic Technology ICTS-6LCR "Tilting" In-Ceiling Speakers (Left/Right/Center), Atlantic Technology ICTS-8.2e In-Ceiling Speakers (Surrounds), Atlantic Technology 10e CSB Powered Subwoofer, All AudioQuest Cabling, Xbox 360 Elite & Universal Remote MX-700

2-CH: Arcam FMJ C31 Preamplifier, Arcam FMJ P35 2-Channel Amplifier, Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player, Monitor Audio Platinum 100 Monitors w/Stands, REL C-305 Subwoofer, all AudioQuest Cabling & Universal Remote MX-350

AV123 Rockets

Check out this speacial on a 5.0 Onix Rocket package for $2k including the 850 floorstanders.
http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?t=32643

If you can find a few locals who will let you audition their system, you might be able to save a few bucks on return shipping.

EF30's vs M80's

I have both the EMP EF30's and the Axiom M80's--
Both are good speakers-- EF30's are better full range speakers IMO, and the M80's are a bit on the bright side. For the money, the EF30's can't be beat--
I have the Axiom's in my office, which is wall to wall carpet and and entire wall of shelves-- paired with an aperion 12"sub, they sound great! The EF30's are in my unfinished basement/exercise room with a cheapola 8" sub, and they sound great as well! It's a tough choice, but if cost is an issue, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the EF30's.
good luck!!

Thanks everyone for the responses.
To start off with, the EMP/RBH EF30T might still be a possibility, not sure yet. Since they’d be coming directly from RBH the audioholics store admin was going to check to see if they’d allow an audition window to do a return and waive a restocking fee. He said it might not be likely, but if they do, it wouldn’t be a real long audition window (I’m thinking maybe 14 days?). And I assume all speakers would be shipped, so I’d have to return all of them. But for the price of the package, it might be worth it. I did tell him though if it was going to be a big hassle for a lot of people not to worry about it.

As for AV123, I could accommodate the towers, at least the RS850’s (that’s a good package deal too they have going now). However, the center channel speaker is waaaay too large for my space.

I’m waiting to hear from Brent at Axiom today, and sent an email to Aperion about what they have for 6T’s (I’m at work, so calling and live chat isn’t a real option right now).

I verified with Audio Advisor that there is no restocking fee. However, with speakers on sale, I would have to pay shipping both ways. I asked him for a price quote for shipping the 70’s and LCR. However, checking their site today, it appears the RC-70’s are no longer on sale starting today. So that’s real nice timing. Just got another reply from them, no open box or demo ones available, and it appears they will not offer to extend the sale price for me (I didn’t ask specifically, but said the MSRP was out of my range).

So that’s a bummer, the RC-70’s being on sale was the big reason why I was doing this now, and decided to do it this week instead of waiting to hear about a possible raise at work. I guess I could order a pair of PSB T65’s, for full retail (free shipping to me) for about $1200, is that worth it, or can I find them for a much better price? I can only accommodate the smaller C40 center and not the C60 unfortunately.

I did talk to a Monitor Audio dealer last year, a custom installer. He did not have any available (initially contacted him regarding RBH, which he didn’t have either). He didn’t like those brands for the price so didn’t really push them much, plus he doesn’t really carry inventory. So I tried to contact another MA dealer online over the weekend, no response yet. However, I’m unsure on the center speaker. I can accommodate it, but it would be sitting right in front of the tv and have about a half an inch of space between it and the tv, and it’s rear ported…

Hm, now I’m not sure if I should just wait another month or two and see what happens (goes on sale) or comes out in the mean time (Emotiva’s towers).

My picks are Monitor Audio, PSB, and RBH for B&M and av123, Axiom, and Aperion for ID.

armaraas said:

I did talk to a Monitor Audio dealer last year, a custom installer. He did not have any available (initially contacted him regarding RBH, which he didn’t have either). He didn’t like those brands for the price so didn’t really push them much, plus he doesn’t really carry inventory. So I tried to contact another MA dealer online over the weekend, no response yet. However, I’m unsure on the center speaker. I can accommodate it, but it would be sitting right in front of the tv and have about a half an inch of space between it and the tv, and it’s rear ported…

Hm, now I’m not sure if I should just wait another month or two and see what happens (goes on sale) or comes out in the mean time (Emotiva’s towers).

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When you say "MA dealer" do you mean Massachusetts? Retailer in Littleton (me) has PSB T55 and Monitor Audio RS6 available for in-home demo.