Hi, I am very new to this forum. I am looking to purchase new speakers.
Budget - $2,250
Size - I could do floorstanding but my wife would prefer monitors
Use - All music, no home theatre
Speakers checked out so far - paradigm studio/100, definitive technology Power Monitor 900, B&W CDM 7NT, and some other misc brands/models.
It is so hard to compare speakers when you go from place to place and the set-up is completely different at each and we really don't have too many good retailers around that carry the brands I am interested in.
I have heard nice things about these speakers as well as others like RBH. However, I have yet to listen to any RBH speakers. Actually one dealer who carries paradigm and definitive, among other brands, never even heard of them.
Anyway, any advise from out there. I know buying speakers is kind of like buying music, art or wine - let your own preference prevail. But, there must be some good thoughts and recommendations among this group.
By the way, why is it that all monitors are compared to "Giant Towers". Are floor standing speakers better than "bookshelfs"? For whatever speaker I buy, they will be on the floor or on stands. But I have found monitors that can go head to head with a floor modle - such as the power monitor 900 with the paradigm studio/100.
I would love to get some feedback, thoughts and opinions.
A little follow-up. Although I really didn't get much feedback from the readers I will share my experience. I took home a pair of Power Monitor 900's (with reservation) but found them to be a pleasure right away. I didn't do my homework before I bought them so I did some post purchase. I did an extensive search for reviews and came up with several reviews, best picks, and highly recemmondeds mostly through theabsolutesound.com. The PM700s were getting a lot of attention so I figured the 900s must be as good or better. But I could not leave well enough alone since the main coause for my initial reservation still haunted me: they just didn't have the precision and clarity in the mid to high that I was looking for. As far as low end - dynamite! But there was that mid, high, voice reproduction and soundstage that I thought was a little lacking. I called the dealer and he suggested I compare them against a pair of Paradigm Studio 100s. I picked them up, put them along side and then rested. Those big speakers suck to move around. However, it took no time at all to confirm what I thought I was lacking. Although very good, the PM900's could not compare to the overall presence of the Studio100s. Then I did a blind test with my wife and she too confirmed it. Then we had to wrestle with the concept of sporting such a huge speaker in our room. I took the PM900s back last night and ordered the Paradigms. Now I have no reservation that I will have the best sound that I want to afford but the size of these things takes a bit to get used to.
If DEF Tech could do a little refinement in the clarity and precision section, they would have a product second to none. I think if one was interested in home theatre, these could be awesome. My decision was for music listening only.
one more thing: I really was interested in checking out some RBH stuff but found it too difficult in my area. No dealers within a two hour drive and they were not willing to sell direct or make it easy to audition any of the speaker line.
That was an interesting story. I was really surprised
to hear that a DefTech would beat a Paradigm. My own
ears have never warmed up to the DefTech's that I have
checked out. So it was reassuring when you went to
the Studio stuff.
... reading your post made me think though... you know
what would be ideal???
If some guy had a van with a bunch of speakers in it.
You know, like the "car doctor", but instead you are
the "speaker doctor", and you drive to people's houses,
and you unload a bunch of speakers into their living room.
Hmmm. I'm not sure if I can make a million dollars off of
this idea, but I think I'll reserve patent/copyright/trademark
on it right now. You may now officially refer to me as:
"The Speakers Doctor". Anyone got an old Chevy Van they
want to sell me???
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