My Speaker Finding Experience

[Matt34]

My receiver and sub I'm more than happy with but my current speakers will not work in my new room and I think I may have a buyer for them already.

What I going for now is a pair of bookshelves for under $2000 that I can demo in Colorado. These will be the basis of a 5.1 system in a small room. I might be able to fit towers but for now I'm going to assume I'm stuck with a bookshelf speaker.

Right now my list of what I *think* is available between Denver and COS:

KEF R300
Dynaudio Excite 12
Epos Epic 2 *Do they even make a center channel?
Paradigm Sig S2
Aperion Verus Grand Bookshelf *Excellent return policy
PSB
DefTech
B&W
Dali
NHT
Energy
Salk WOW1
Salk CAOW1

Obviously if come into a windfall of about $8k or so I'll have to order some Salk SoundScape 8's blind and shoehorn them into the room, but I'm willing to take that chance after hearing the 12's at RMAF last year.

Hopefully in November when I'm home for a couple weeks I'll be able to listen to a handful on the above list and take some notes. This thread is just to document my findings and for the sharing of knowledge from others that have been down this road or are just in the beginning stages themselves.

For your time, some Speaker Porn:

 

[pg_rider]

You're welcome to listen to my Paradigm Studio 10's if you'd like. Not quite the Sigs you're looking for, but maybe they'd give you some insight into the Paradigm "sound".

I'm in C. Springs (the guy that wanted to buy your 4311 )

 

[Tomorrow]

Hi Matt,

I might suggest that you check out our Great Northwest 2010 GTG that we had with YOU in mind. ... a half-dozen buttkickin' speaker pairs under 2 grand. And because of their generous auditioning and return policy, I'd suggest adding these to your list...WOW1 - home
and these...CAOW1 - home. They'll make great surrounds for the time you get those SS8's.

You know that in-home auditioning is the schizz.

 

[lsiberian]

Definitely give the Energy a listen I was really impressed in my last audition by them. If you get a chance to check out the JBL LSRs they are around that range in price.

 

[Matt34]

You're welcome to listen to my Paradigm Studio 10's if you'd like. Not quite the Sigs you're looking for, but maybe they'd give you some insight into the Paradigm "sound".

I'm in C. Springs (the guy that wanted to buy your 4311 )

Thanks, if the shop downtown doesn't have the Sig's in-store I'll have to take you up on the offer.

Hi Matt,

I might suggest that you check out our Great Northwest 2010 GTG that we had with YOU in mind. ... a half-dozen buttkickin' speaker pairs under 2 grand. And because of their generous auditioning and return policy, I'd suggest adding these to your list...WOW1 - home
and these...CAOW1 - home. They'll make great surrounds for the time you get those SS8's.

You know that in-home auditioning is the schizz.

I'll add those to the list, forgot about them actually.

Definitely give the Energy a listen I was really impressed in my last audition by them. If you get a chance to check out the JBL LSRs they are around that range in price.

Which models? I've never heard an Energy speaker.

 

[PENG]

Thanks, if the shop downtown doesn't have the Sig's in-store I'll have to take you up on the offer.



I'll add those to the list, forgot about them actually.



Which models? I've never heard an Energy speaker.

I would only recommend the previous Veritas or the RC but you can't buy those Veritas new any more. BillyP had the RC but it seems obvious he now prefers Ascend so I guess Ascend mayalso be a good choice.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

KEF R300
Dynaudio Excite 12
Epos Epic 2
Paradigm Sig S2
Aperion Verus Grand Bookshelf
PSB
DefTech
B&W
Dali
NHT
Energy
Salk WOW1
Salk CAOW1

Good list. Don't forget Focal. They do make those ultra expensive Grande Utopia for like $180K/pr, so it might trickle down to their earthly models, like the KEF Blade and such.

 

[Matt34]

Good list. Don't forget Focal. They do make those ultra expensive Grande Utopia for like $180K/pr, so it might trickle down to their earthly models, like the KEF Blade and such.

The thing with Focal is when you do a dealer search they also list all the car audio shops in your area as well. I have a bunch of car audio dealers in the area but no HT dealers that carry them.

 

[lsiberian]

Thanks, if the shop downtown doesn't have the Sig's in-store I'll have to take you up on the offer.



I'll add those to the list, forgot about them actually.



Which models? I've never heard an Energy speaker.

The CF 30s, 70s and of course the Veritas. What really stands out is the lack of port compression due to abnormally large ports for a commerical speaker. The Veritas are dual ported. One of my friends has the CF 30s and loves them. Honestly I was a little shocked at how good their lineup is. I simply did not expect much.

 

[its phillip]

I'm pretty happy with my RC-series Energy speakers, but at normal pricing there are definitely some better options out there. If you wanna get a sample of how they sound, you can get a pair of RC-10s for $200 from amazon/vanns. I think they're an excellent deal at that price

 

[GranteedEV]

As far as bookshelves go, I'd be looking at Soundfield Audio personally

 

[lsiberian]

I'm pretty happy with my RC-series Energy speakers, but at normal pricing there are definitely some better options out there. If you wanna get a sample of how they sound, you can get a pair of RC-10s for $200 from amazon/vanns. I think they're an excellent deal at that price

They have some amazing clearance deals on them right now because they are being discontinued.

 

[3db]

Which PSBs are you looking at?

 

[Matt34]

Which PSBs are you looking at?

The dealer in town has the Imagine, Image and some Synchrony. I've listened to the T5/T6 and some of the Imagine line but never the Synchrony so the One B and Two B will be the priority.

 

[KEW]

I'm pretty happy with my RC-series Energy speakers, but at normal pricing there are definitely some better options out there. If you wanna get a sample of how they sound, you can get a pair of RC-10s for $200 from amazon/vanns. I think they're an excellent deal at that price

I don't know what Klipsch is doing with Energy, but if you check Vann's, they have many models of Energy's top of the line Veritas running 60+% discount.

 

[3db]

The dealer in to has the Imagine, Image and some Synchrony. I've listened to the T5/T6 and some of the Imagine line but never the Synchrony so the One B and Two B will be the priority.

It will be interesting to to see if your ears align with their sound aka if you like their sound..

 

[its phillip]

I don't know what Klipsch is doing with Energy, but if you check Vann's, they have many models of Energy's top of the line Veritas running 60+% discount.

Yeah, I've seen them. They do look very attractive, but they are killing the Veritas name. They look like shinier versions of the RC-series speakers and nothing like the original Veritas speakers

 

[pg_rider]

The dealer in town has the Imagine, Image and some Synchrony. I've listened to the T5/T6 and some of the Imagine line but never the Synchrony so the One B and Two B will be the priority.

The dealer here in the Springs (Listen Up) has 1B's set up to listen to. They said they have 2B's, but I didn't see them. The 2B's are 40% off right now -- amazing deal. I'm tempted to sell my Paradigm Studio 10's and buy up to the PSBs....

 

[3db]

PSB one an award at CES.

Slideshow: Best Products of CES 2012 - PSB T2 Loudspeaker - CE Pro

 

[j_garcia]

IMHO, the Studio line and the Sig line from Paradigm aren't even on the same playing field, so it won't do you any good to use one to get an idea of the other.

I personally would like you to go listen to the Epos Epic 2 because I haven't heard them and want you to tell me what you think