Replacing stolen speakers and can't audition them, need help.

[BoredSysAdmin]

I auditioned tons of Polk bookshelfs at stereo shop deal few years ago, but until I got to [STRIKE]insanely expensive[/STRIKE] highly overpriced LSi/9 everything cheaper sounded to me like crap

 

[dem beats]

Mrceolla, Granteed gave you an option that will ship everything to your door with NO commitment, for well under the cost you came up with.

Your resistance to looking elsewhere doesn't make sense considering that everyone else here has said you will get much better quallity looking at products that are NOT on that list. Same with your sub situation.

I can't figure out what is going on other than you're concerned about the size of your front speakers. Is there something else causing a problem, or maybe could you describe what you want from the speakers so we could help you out better?

I get that the insurance company is telling you that they are giving you a good deal/dealer price, but I assure you that they do not have your interests in mind in this offer.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have not listened to every Polk speakers & JBL speakers, but all the ones I've auditioned at Best Buy sounded terrible to me.

I wonder why Best Buy doesn't sell the Infinity P363s?

I think your insurance company should just give you a check for the amount that was loss in the burgulary. Then you could buy your own speakers yourself, even if it costs a little more.

Insurance companies know nothing about quality; they just know quantity.

 

[mrceolla]

New price list:

Fronts
JBL L880 Black $799.98 pair
JBL L890 Black $899.98 pair
JBL ES90 Black $599.98 pair
Polk RTi A9 Black $871.46 pair
Polk RTi A7 Black $580.96 pair
Polk LSi9 Black $555.53 pair
Polk LSi15 Black $944.41 pair
Boston Acoustics RS 326 Black $1,000.00 pair
Boston Acoustics RS 334 Black $700.00 pair

Centers
JBL LC1 Black $249.99 each
JBL LC2 Black $319.99 each
JBL ES25C Black $179.99 each
Boston Acoustics RS 244C Black $250.00 each
Polk CSi A6 Black $232.38 each
Polk CSi A4 Black $145.22 each
Polk LSiC Black $311.09 each

Rears
JBL L810 Black $269.94 pair
JBL L830 Black $399.99 pair
JBL L820 Black $650.00 pair
JBL ES20 Black $199.99 pair
JBL ES30 Black $299.99 pair
Polk RTi A3 $232.38 pair
Polk LSi7 Black $444.42 pair
Boston Acoustics RS 230 Black $250.00 pair
Boston Acoustics RS 260 Black $400.00 pair

Sub
Polk microPRO 3000 $805.53 each

They corrected some prices and added the Polk LSi line.

I just learned today that I can get Definitive Technology at roughly 1/2 of MSRP. Are those any good?

I'm not married to any of the above speakers and do not have to buy through them, but these are the brands they get discounts on so I'm trying to determine if any of the discounts are worth grabbing. Otherwise we're looking at ANYTHING else at regular, internet prices.

Granteed, yes I understand there are many other factors that come into play regarding a subs sound/performance. What I meant to say was, all things being equal, the same motor will be able to drive a 8" cone more accurately than a 15" cone. It's simple physics. But maybe simple physics doesn't come into play with subs. I'm no expert. Also, I didn't mean to say "deep is for HT, otherwise it's musical." What I mean to say was that a musical sub is more important to me than a super low/deep sub.

digicidal, good info on the RTi line, thanks. Have you tried any of the LSi line? What Polk sub did you used to own. I didn't like any of their other subs myself. But their microPRO sounded way better to me. And c'mon now. You really think a center channel is going to go lower than 24Hz @ -3db? That just sounds like foolishness to me.

I will start looking into the Aperions. The Verus Grands seem a bit out of my price range if I went with the tower. Are the Fortes any good? What main differences between those lines other than driver count? I see the Grand is backordered and unavailable for over a month. :-( Are the Forte and Grand lines timbre matched? And are the Forte's still better than anything in the list above? Please specify if you've acutally listened to them before commenting.

BoredSysAdmin, I just had them price out the LSi series for me. What did you all compare them to?

dem beats, I am looking elsewhere. That's what this thread is all about. But I can't simply take Joe Shmoe's opinions as gospel when there are so many other Shmoes that don't have the same opinions. And it's also hard to listen to someone say speaker A sucks compared to speaker B when they never heard speaker A. Kinda takes away their credibility. I've read enough posts about this sort of things to know that people can get very opinionated and closed minded when talking about which speakers are better. So I'm just looking to understand what these opinions are based on.

You are correct about the size of my fronts. I had it in my mind that I wanted towers. But now I'm second guessing that. Maybe some high quality bookshelf speakers would sound better. Maybe I should get a 2nd sub. I don't know. I almost wish I didn't have any choices ;-)

So going forward, if possible, please explain what speakers you like and what you compared it to before choosing the speakers you did. And I mean via an in person sound test/comparison. This is the kind of information I'm looking for. Not just, "Get these speakers. They're awesome." Some have given this kind of advice already and I thank you for that.

AcuDefTechGuy, yes, BB speakers pretty much all suck. And yes, the insurance company has already given me a check for the replacement cost of all items stolen. Of course I was a bit at their mercy for determining what the replacement prices would be. But thankfully I got an additional $4000 out of them after some arguing.

Thank you all again for taking the time to post. I really do appreciate it!

 

[darien87]

I just learned today that I can get Definitive Technology at roughly 1/2 of MSRP. Are those any good?

Cue AcuDefTechGuy in 3, 2, ..................

 

[darien87]

You are correct about the size of my fronts. I had it in my mind that I wanted towers. But now I'm second guessing that.

Don't immediately discount bookshelfs as fronts. Remember most people cross their subs over around 80Hz so as long as your bookshelfs will play to that level you're basically wasting the extra frequency response.

JGarcia uses GR-Research MTM bookshelfs as his mains and they sound great. Granted those speakers are DIY and above most bookshelfs you will find in most B&M stores. Unfortunately you don't really save floor space when going with bookshelfs since you have to put them on stands, but they can make for a great 5.1 system.

 

[digicidal]

New price list:
Granteed, yes I understand there are many other factors that come into play regarding a subs sound/performance. What I meant to say was, all things being equal, the same motor will be able to drive a 8" cone more accurately than a 15" cone. It's simple physics. But maybe simple physics doesn't come into play with subs. I'm no expert. Also, I didn't mean to say "deep is for HT, otherwise it's musical." What I mean to say was that a musical sub is more important to me than a super low/deep sub.

digicidal, good info on the RTi line, thanks. Have you tried any of the LSi line? What Polk sub did you used to own. I didn't like any of their other subs myself. But their microPRO sounded way better to me. And c'mon now. You really think a center channel is going to go lower than 24Hz @ -3db? That just sounds like foolishness to me.

I will start looking into the Aperions. The Verus Grands seem a bit out of my price range if I went with the tower. Are the Fortes any good? What main differences between those lines other than driver count? I see the Grand is backordered and unavailable for over a month. :-( Are the Forte and Grand lines timbre matched? And are the Forte's still better than anything in the list above? Please specify if you've acutally listened to them before commenting.

BoredSysAdmin, I just had them price out the LSi series for me. What did you all compare them to?

You are correct about the size of my fronts. I had it in my mind that I wanted towers. But now I'm second guessing that. Maybe some high quality bookshelf speakers would sound better. Maybe I should get a 2nd sub. I don't know. I almost wish I didn't have any choices ;-)

I can't speak for BSA, but I would compare the LSi series favorably to most major brands in their pricerange with the possible exception of the cheaper Infinity's (which I liked better) and the JBL's which I actually liked far less. Not saying that they were inferior from a technical, FR-accuracy standpoint - but just that they were a little more in-your-face... but somehow in a good way.

I think the real key is for purpose. The primary reason that I ultimately went with the Aperion Grand Verus line, and the reason that I nearly pulled the trigger on some Ascend Sierra 1's - was because like yourself I'm more of a music listener that likes to watch a good movie now and then. That was actually also the reason I went with the Ultra12's for subs - on the one hand they were a fantastic deal because they were on sale - and on the other they were sealed cab subs which I've always preferred for music.

The Polk sub I had was the regular pro 500 (I think that was it... It was the newish 10" ported model if that helps). I listened to the Micro Pro subs as well, but I decided if I was going to look for a small sub I wanted the Velodyne MicroVee which I felt sounded better than the MicroPro 2000 I listened to and was slightly cheaper when free shipping and no sales tax were added into the equation.

I would love to comment on the Forte's - however, I cannot because I haven't heard them. I do believe they were designed to be voice-matched to the Grands - but I would expect differences because the driver complement (tho very similar) is not identical. What I can say based on my own experience with the company and their products as well as the experiences of many other owners, is that you will be very hard pressed to find a company with speakers at any pricerange that has better customer service and support. Couple that with the fact that they have yet to release a product that has not been praised by nearly every reviewer or customer to put their hands and ears on a set... and I think you'd be fine with the Forte's.

And yes... I was joking about the center hitting lows comprable to the sub... however, a center channel that can maintain high levels well into the 60's is all you really ever need for multichannel - music especially, but even with movies. I was merely exaggerating for the sake of impact... it's really a great center channel and I would put it up any of the $1000+ models from B&W, Klipsch, Polk, etc... without hesitation.

I would highly recommend listening to some of the Def Techs that you mentioned you can get a deal on through the insurance. I personally didn't care for them - but part of that was due to the "full-sock" design that I feared would look too much like a cat tree to my other 'roommates'. I did think that the DT dipoles had some very nice sound and seemed to be very accurate and a good balance between "providing exciting presence" and "disappearing completely". Ultimately I decided that if I ever was truly in the market for them (i.e. I get my man-cave built with a no-cats rule) then I would still rather have the Magnepan 1.7s... but it would be a close call.

 

[BillCinLR]

Since you have money in hand, just hang on to it and spend more time on this and other forums (AVS) until you feel comfortable with a speaker line by REPUTATION and personal feedback. If you read enough threads, you should be able to get a FEEL for each brand/model.

You will most likely NOT ever audition the better speakers that you read about, so get over that. If you can't make a decision based on MANY "Joe Schmoes" opinions in the forums, then just get whatever BB pushes the hardest.

Good Luck,

Bill C

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

BoredSysAdmin, I just had them price out the LSi series for me. What did you all compare them to?

Basically most of Rti and monitor series bookshelfs

@digicidal
Well maybe OP can get LSi/9 at half of MSRP of $1000/pr, which actually could be a good choice vs other models OP listed, but at $1000/pr there are plenty of better choices including Ascend CMT-340, Emotiva EMR 6.2, EMP E5Ti and plenty of others..

 

[zieglj01]

We all have our favorites and I know what I would pick.

We can not break down speakers for you - we listen with our ears and
personality. The only thing this will accomplish, is that you will go around
in a circle. Pick one or two that you are most interested in - and use the
30 day return policy. In home audition is the best. In general and not
always, the more expensive speakers will have more resolution and tend
to measure better.

 

[dem beats]

I would for sure check out the def tech product. I was not a fan.

When I auditioned them they didn't sound natural to me, but it could have been the room and not the speakers. A good friend owned a pair and I wasn't impressed there much either, but they for sure got loud without sounding stressed, and made a ton of bass.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Cue AcuDefTechGuy in 3, 2, ..................

Ha, Ha, Ha.

Very funny.......

And here is the kicker.....

Drums please............................................................................


.............................................................................................

I NO LONGER OWN ANY DEF TECH SPEAKERS

And I wholeheartedly feel the Def Tech BP7000 & 7001 sound better than the B&W 800D, 802D, 803D, MartinLogin Vantage, Dali Euphonia MS5, Krell Resolution One, Paradigm Studio 100, and PSB Imagine T.

The only 3 speakers I've auditioned that sounded better are the Linkwitz Orion, Revel Salon 2, and RBH T2R/P.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just learned today that I can get Definitive Technology at roughly 1/2 of MSRP. Are those any good?

I think they sound great, but your opinion is the only one that matters.

Try to locate some Def Techs at Magnolia/Best Buy or better yet at Ultimate Electronics (who is going out of business).

 

[dem beats]

The liquidators at UE were charging more for product than UE had as sticker the first and second week.

I was so sad because I had a great connection there.

 

[digicidal]

Well maybe OP can get LSi/9 at half of MSRP of $1000/pr, which actually could be a good choice vs other models OP listed, but at $1000/pr there are plenty of better choices including Ascend CMT-340, Emotiva EMR 6.2, EMP E5Ti and plenty of others..

Oh I couldn't agree with you more - I was simply saying that within the list of speakers that he seems to be restricting himself to that they would be a good buy IMO. When it came time to spend my own money - the LSi's weren't a serious contender even before auditioning the Aperion Grands... afterwards they wouldn't even make a footnote.

However, it seems he's restricted either by the insurance or by the desire to have a well-represented name-brand speaker rather than 'gamble' on an ID brand.