interested in getting my first nice setup! please help!

[suda562]

Congrats! Now don't forget about the WAF.

Oh and I almost forgot the WAF! I'll have to have her come along to the Aperion shopping experience. Sounds to be a fun one (are there any that aren't?). Her dad is a music and sound junky. So i think we're fine there! HA!

 

[klix58]

You can also through Monitor Audio into the mix ar various price points. Accurate and I think a bit smoother than Paradigm, just an opinion. I second Onkyo

 

[jamie2112]

Suda Audiogon is very good as far as buying. I have bought a bunch of things with no problems at all. I don't think I will buy new again as the cost is too much for what I want to listen to. The deal on the B&W 802N is sick IMO...

 

[BoB/335]

Jamie,
What didn't you like about the M80's? They seem to get some great reviews. What would you prefer in that price range and why?

 

[calnbs]

Jamie,
What didn't you like about the M80's? They seem to get some great reviews. What would you prefer in that price range and why?

From my research, most people that don't like Axiom is that those speakers were too bright and forward for them.


OP,

Remember that Speakers are more important than Reciever/amp when it comes to sound. So if you have to lower the budget on one of them, you should know which one to cut.

IMHO, going with Onkyo, HK, Pioneer Elite, Denon, Yamaha is fine and and can always add an amp later on.

B&W are great speakers. Wish I can afford them. As another poster said, check out Monitor Audio as well. May be even the Polk LSi 15. Audition is the key here since sound taste is different from person to person.

If you don't mind Internet brands....Definately check out Salk Sound. There are 2 Reviews here in Audioholics and a large following at Avsforum. Now, finding a person close to you to audition may be the hard part. Might have to call Salk to see if anyone will allow you to audition them. I haven't heard them but from my research over the years....The Salk Songtowers are very good speakers for under $2K. Heard that their HT3 is to die for.

If you dont mind less looking speakers, read up on the JTR and Seaton Sound Catalysts speakers.

 

[suda562]

Quick note...made it to...well...Magnolia today because the wife had a social engagement and I was close to it. Only place that was open today, anyhow, checked out a number of speaker lines. Probably my favorite of theirs was Vienna Acoustics Bach Floorstander. It was being run through a Pioneer Elite Receiver. For my ears, I would place the other two above the Vienna Acoustics. The journey continues. More to come as I should be able to make it to more stores tomorrow. I think top of my short list is still the B&W's with the Rotel Receiver.

Thanks again for all the advice!

Oh and Jamie those are nice, but probably above my price range. Good to know about Audiogon though!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Quick note...made it to...well...Magnolia today because the wife had a social engagement and I was close to it. Only place that was open today, anyhow, checked out a number of speaker lines. Probably my favorite of theirs was Vienna Acoustics Bach Floorstander. It was being run through a Pioneer Elite Receiver. For my ears, I would place the other two above the Vienna Acoustics. The journey continues. More to come as I should be able to make it to more stores tomorrow. I think top of my short list is still the B&W's with the Rotel Receiver.

Thanks again for all the advice!

Oh and Jamie those are nice, but probably above my price range. Good to know about Audiogon though!

Well, if you end up with B&W and Rotel, it would be just fine.

I like the 5 yrs Parts and Labor warranty of Rotel.

 

[mike_wassell]

Something I forgot to mention. At your budget I would get Vandersteen Speakers. These are very high quality audiophile speakers but are also very economical for their entry level system.

Audiophile speakers are great for HT. Don’t shortchange yourself please audition some Vandersteen speakers. They can be found at:

Bradford's High Fidelity
Vandersteen Premier Dealer
942 Olive St., Eugene, OR 97401, Phone: 541-344-8287
Store Hours: Monday - Friday 10 to 6pm
Saturday 10 to 5:30pm & Sunday 12 to 5pm
www.bradfordshifi.com

I guess this is probably about a 2 hour drive from you however you will probably have the opportunity to audition other equipment at this location. I would definitely call first to see what they have in stock.

Look them up in the forums these speakers are the real deal and they will be my next set of speakers and I currently own the Focal Electra series speakers and have worked in the business.

 

[suda562]

Spent a number of hours today heading to three different places. Started out with Aperion. Very nice service, nice showroom, liked their speakers. I was actually very pleasantly surprised with the 5T as well as the 6T. Put it on the short list.

Next went to check out Dynaudio and also ran into some Era speakers (D10). I was extremely impressed with the Era's. Probably above the Aperion for me and equal to the B&W. Getting closer to narrowing this down.

Also went to check out the PSB's (which they didn't stock) as well as some Focal speakers. Nice, but a little too low heavy for me. Not quite what I was looking for. Very nice looking however.

Thought it was interesting one place recommended the Classik Music all-in-one made by Linn. Any reason to go that way instead of a 2 channel Rotel Receiver? They also actually recommended the Arcam equivalent as well.

Thanks again everyone! Getting closer to figuring this out. I think the next step is bringing the wife along for a listen to the B&W's as well as checking out the 700 line instead of the CM 7's.

 

[OttoMatic]

Something I forgot to mention. At your budget I would get Vandersteen Speakers. These are very high quality audiophile speakers but are also very economical for their entry level system.

Audiophile speakers are great for HT. Don’t shortchange yourself please audition some Vandersteen speakers. They can be found at:

Bradford's High Fidelity
Vandersteen Premier Dealer
942 Olive St., Eugene, OR 97401, Phone: 541-344-8287
Store Hours: Monday - Friday 10 to 6pm
Saturday 10 to 5:30pm & Sunday 12 to 5pm
www.bradfordshifi.com

I guess this is probably about a 2 hour drive from you however you will probably have the opportunity to audition other equipment at this location. I would definitely call first to see what they have in stock.

Look them up in the forums these speakers are the real deal and they will be my next set of speakers and I currently own the Focal Electra series speakers and have worked in the business.

An excellent suggestion! I actually auditioned the Vandersteen 3A at Bradford's in Eugene when I was in town to visit my parents. I ended up buying a used pair on Audiogon. If you have the time, make the drive. They also have Magnepan which is another interesting breed. Also available in Eugene is the best pizza ever -- check out Track Town Pizza on Franklin Blvd.

 

[jamie2112]

Spent a number of hours today heading to three different places. Started out with Aperion. Very nice service, nice showroom, liked their speakers. I was actually very pleasantly surprised with the 5T as well as the 6T. Put it on the short list.

Next went to check out Dynaudio and also ran into some Era speakers (D10). I was extremely impressed with the Era's. Probably above the Aperion for me and equal to the B&W. Getting closer to narrowing this down.

Also went to check out the PSB's (which they didn't stock) as well as some Focal speakers. Nice, but a little too low heavy for me. Not quite what I was looking for. Very nice looking however.

Thought it was interesting one place recommended the Classik Music all-in-one made by Linn. Any reason to go that way instead of a 2 channel Rotel Receiver? They also actually recommended the Arcam equivalent as well.

Thanks again everyone! Getting closer to figuring this out. I think the next step is bringing the wife along for a listen to the B&W's as well as checking out the 700 line instead of the CM 7's.

Good deal. I would say you are getting close. I love auditioning speakers. The drives are not always fun but the end result is new speakers....

 

[TheFactor]

Check out Freds Sound of Music in Portland They have a great selection of any and everything you'll need.

 

[suda562]

Alright so went back to have the final listen to the CM 7's and brought the wife along. We both love them. Now it's time to get to work on the saving end. The other question I have is this...

If I wanted to go up from a Rotel but not as high as, say, a McIntosh, what brands of 2-channel receivers should I look at? I am now officially sold on the 2 channel solution as well. Just want to maybe look up the line on the receiver end. Thanks in advance!

 

[WmAx]

Alright so went back to have the final listen to the CM 7's and brought the wife along. We both love them. Now it's time to get to work on the saving end. The other question I have is this...

If I wanted to go up from a Rotel but not as high as, say, a McIntosh, what brands of 2-channel receivers should I look at? I am now officially sold on the 2 channel solution as well. Just want to maybe look up the line on the receiver end. Thanks in advance!

There is no guaranteed sound quality difference by going to high end devices that are expensive because of price or name brand itself. There are even plenty of poor performing exotic high priced devices that can decrease your sound quality. You can get top notch performance for very reasonable prices if you shop wisely. If you want maximum potential sound quality, use separates or make sure the 2 channel receiver or integrated amp you purchase has pre-out and amp-in jacks. This means you can use the pre-amp section, send it out for processing, then feed it back in and use the processed signal to the internal amplifier of the integrated unit. I would tend to recommend outboard amplification and a separate pre-amp, regardless of what that pre-amp may be. You can even use a high quality receiver that has pre-outs as just a pre-amp, and ignore it's built in amplification. That is my current set up in my dedicated 2 channel sound room.

Let's examine why it's so important to have access to the pre-amp to power amp circuit: Let's say you want serious LF ability, but want to keep the CM7s. The best way to integrate subwoofers is to use a high quality active crossover to send just the right frequencies to the mains and to the sub(s). A high quality crossover will be a separate component. To use it properly, you need to have the connection abilities I described earlier. BTW, subwoofers can be seamless extensions of the main speakers if executed properly. Also, stereo subs(one near each main) is ideal for perfect seamless integration. Some of the more sophisticated external crossovers also have advanced EQ systems that allow you to perform room correction curves and other signal manipulations to your benefit, such as adjusting the LF curve to increase or decrease subjective 'tightness' of the bass. This is all possible with the right hardware.

-Chris

 

[suda562]

Awesome advice WmAx. Great to know! Maybe since I am totally new to the idea of separates, could you recommend or maybe just show me something to the effect of the 2 channel integrated receiver with the pre-out and amp in jacks? That would be extremely helpful to know what to look for.

I'm a bit confused I guess. Examples would help. Here is my understanding. Signal comes in through the CD player (separate unit one) straight into the receiver (separate unit two) and then without being decodered, it gets sent over to the ________ for processing and back to the receiver now decoded. the receiver then sends the sound information to the speakers and voila you have sound? Just confused what to look for. Here is my understanding.

CD Player -> Receiver? -> ? -> Receiver? -> Speakers

What are you running might help also. Thanks so much for the in depth info there. Very helpful!

 

[fredk]

If you buy a receiver with pre-outs there are two paths your signal can follow:

CD ->Receiver->speakers

The receiver does all the signal processing and passes the signal to an internal amp for amplification before sending the signal to the speakers

CD ->Receiver->Outbard Amp->speakers

Here the Receiver does the signal processing, but you are using the pre-outs to bypass the internal amplifyer to send the signal to an external amp.

What Chris is suggesting with the DCX is another level of signal processing to separate out certain frequencies to send to specific speakers (sub)

I think it looks like this:
CD->receiver->DCX->amp(s)->speakers

Now, receivers already have circuitry in them to separate out the signals that are to be redirected to the sub, but it is limited in what you can adjust. If, for some reason, you have a hard time integrating your sub with the mains, there is not much you can do in a conventional receiver crossover.

At best you can choose the crossover frequency. For me, this works just fine so far and I have a fixed crossover of 80Hz (older receiver).

If you have a lot of trouble integrating the sub, something like the DCX is your only solution, but you need pre-outs between the signal processor and the amps to be able to manipulate the signal.

Hope this helps

 

[WmAx]

Awesome advice WmAx. Great to know! Maybe since I am totally new to the idea of separates, could you recommend or maybe just show me something to the effect of the 2 channel integrated receiver with the pre-out and amp in jacks? That would be extremely helpful to know what to look for.

Fred's description was accurate. If you want a specific example of a receiver with this type of connection, the Harman Kardon 3490 stereo receiver has the bridged pre-out -> amp-in jacks that you can use to interrupt the signal externally, process and send back to the internal amplifier. Download the manual and their is clear picture of this connection on the back of the unit.

What are you running might help also. Thanks so much for the in depth info there.

Well, I don't use the internal amplifiers of my receiver, nor does my receiver have the ability to access the amplifiers externally for direct input at the same time the pre-amp outs are active; I use it only as a pre-amp. I have all outboard amplifiers. So I just use the pre-outs from my Yamaha receiver, feed the pre-outs to a DCX2496 for processing which then feeds the amplifiers.

-Chris

 

[jamie2112]

Jamie,
What didn't you like about the M80's? They seem to get some great reviews. What would you prefer in that price range and why?

I do not like the sound of the Axioms because they are very bright and way to forward sounding to my taste. Also if you knock on the 80 series( their top speaker )the cabinet sounds hollow inside. I know they get good reviews but I myself have heard a few and am not impressed whatsoever....

 

[suda562]

Update: More shopping yesterday. I wanted to hear the difference in the Rotel separates vs. the receiver. For me the difference was minimal between the two. It really finalized my decision at least for me.

So I think I've made the final decision. For my price point I feel like without jumping up quite a bit (listened to the Musical Fidelity separates as well as obviously McIntosh) I have found my favorite setup. CM7's with the Rotel 1052 and the Rotel CD player as well (not sure of model number).

I guess now it's time to figure out a way to make it all happen money wise! Thanks for all the advice everyone! I'll definitely let you all know when I actually bring them home!

 

[suda562]

So now on to the next technical, less exciting question. What interconnects and cabling should I be pairing with this setup? I know it's probably a boring question to answer, but I'd love to learn more. I have heard Audioquest is worth a look.

Also what cables do I need to make this whole thing sing?

Am I totally crazy to install this all on my own? I don't consider myself totally incapable, and thought for the money I can save, I'd love to just connect/install it myself.

The more details the better. Thanks!