Speaker Upgrade

[lucassean]

Hello everyone!

I have Infinity Beta 50 Towers as my fronts. They're definitely good, but I was thinking of upgrading. My budget is around $2000.00 to 3000.00. There are so many choices out there, it's mind boggling. I've read good things about Axiom and Paradigm. I'd like to achieve audiophile reference sound for aas little $'s as possible if that's doable. Any suggestions? Thanks, lucassean.

 

[Tomorrow]

Hello everyone!

I have Infinity Beta 50 Towers as my fronts. They're definitely good, but I was thinking of upgrading. My budget is around $2000.00 to 3000.00. There are so many choices out there, it's mind boggling. I've read good things about Axiom and Paradigm. I'd like to achieve audiophile reference sound for aas little $'s as possible if that's doable. Any suggestions? Thanks, lucassean.

Hello and welcome to the forum.

There are dozens of good speakers out there in your price range. Since speakers are the most subjective element of audio, I (and others will) suggest you audition as many as you can. Only your ears can decide on what sounds best and what is an upgrade.

Here's a little reading to get you started.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22802&highlight=upgrade+high

Happy hunting!

 

[mike c]

tomorrow is right, speakers sound quality is purely subjective (only your ears can tell you which is good)

what we can do is give you a list of speakers you can try to listen to that is within your budget:

Monitor Audio GS20/GS60
KEF, B&W (whatever falls into your budget)

or personally, I'd get a great 1000-2000$ bookshelf, add a 1000-2000$ musical subwoofer from the Velodyne SC/SPL-R/DD series

 

[whitestone]

Ofcourse you might also want to check av123.

 

[emorphien]

tomorrow is right, speakers sound quality is purely subjective (only your ears can tell you which is good)

Exactly. Audiophile sound quality means different things to different audiophiles.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as the saying goes.

 

[lucassean]

Thanks Everyone

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to go to a high end dealer at lunch. They're close. They sell Gallo amongst other stuff. I'll see how they sound. Thanks again.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Hello everyone!

I have Infinity Beta 50 Towers as my fronts. They're definitely good, but I was thinking of upgrading. My budget is around $2000.00 to 3000.00. There are so many choices out there, it's mind boggling. I've read good things about Axiom and Paradigm. I'd like to achieve audiophile reference sound for aas little $'s as possible if that's doable. Any suggestions? Thanks, lucassean.

What do you have for a subwoofer?

After just replying to cka's very similar post, I felt I had to ask because you may be in a similar situation.

 

[lucassean]

I have an Infinity PS-8.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

It took a lot of time and money for me to learn that neither "different" nor "more expensive" neccessarily equate to "better". You really need to think about what (if anything) you don't like about your current speakers before upgrading, and then look for models that address those particular issues.

 

[lucassean]

Hi,

I auditioned some Gallos 3.1's and LSA2 towers today. The LSA's were incredible - very rich, tight present base, fully enveloping detailed sound. At $2500.00 a pair they're contenders

When I got home I tried my infinity Beta 50's. They're not as rich and even sounded tinny to me.

I still am very interested in the Axioms. Does anyone have any experience with them versus the above sound of the LSA's?

Thanks

P.S. My source receiver is a Yamaha HRT-5960. Is this OK?

 

[jaxvon]

Hi,

I auditioned some Gallos 3.1's and LSA2 towers today. The LSA's were incredible - very rich, tight present base, fully enveloping detailed sound. At $2500.00 a pair they're contenders

When I got home I tried my infinity Beta 50's. They're not as rich and even sounded tinny to me.

I still am very interested in the Axioms. Does anyone have any experience with them versus the above sound of the LSA's?

Thanks

P.S. My source receiver is a Yamaha HRT-5960. Is this OK?

I would recommend against Axioms. They're of mediocre build quality at best. To be honest, there are other speakers in your price range that are much better. I'm personally a fan of Vandersteens, despite their somewhat poor off axis performance (due to the crossover design). The build quality and sound are far above many other speakers in the price range, and many in the $3k-$4k range (yes, I've actually compared).

 

[mike c]

When I got home I tried my infinity Beta 50's. They're not as rich and even sounded tinny to me.

your comparison isn't accurate, since the speakers you are comparing are in two different environments, the room adds or deducts to a speaker's overall sound.

three factors are messing with your comparison:
1) room acoustics
2) your acoustic memory is not accurate (the time going home is definitely a long time to wait to compare speakers)
3) in the store, you are straining to hear "new" stuff, that your mind tries to tell you that "yeah that's new" "and that too". (what you really need is an A/B comparison using a switcher or at the very least somebody switching it for you - without you knowing which is which)

you'd be surprised how much your mind makes up things with regards to audio, you think you hear something there, but when really really compared, the difference isn't really "NIGHT and DAY"

P.S. My source receiver is a Yamaha HRT-5960. Is this OK?

powering which pair of speakers? if it's the beta 50's, you need to set them to small and use a decent subwoofer.

I have an Infinity PS-8.

in MY opinion, changing your sub will give you a bigger upgrade for less money. (you really need to get rid of that sub. the beta 50's might be capable of pumping more bass than that tiny woofer)

FYI, I have the Beta 50's as well, and Beta 10's, and Polk Audio Rti4's. and KEF Q1's, and have A/B'ed the Monitor Audio speakers (BR2 and RS1) with the ones I own.

 

[KC23]

Hi,

I auditioned some Gallos 3.1's and LSA2 towers today. The LSA's were incredible - very rich, tight present base, fully enveloping detailed sound. At $2500.00 a pair they're contenders

When I got home I tried my infinity Beta 50's. They're not as rich and even sounded tinny to me.

I still am very interested in the Axioms. Does anyone have any experience with them versus the above sound of the LSA's?

Thanks

P.S. My source receiver is a Yamaha HRT-5960. Is this OK?

I have the Axiom M60s. They are comparable with the BW 703s, but better imho in mids and highs, not quite as good in the lows, but a good sub takes care of that issue easily.

The Axiom M80s have more base. Axioms are very unforgiving of bad recorded material because they give a very flat response curve (that's a good thing). You certainly would save some serious cash with the axioms unless you went for the upgraded finishes.

The M80s are 4ohm speakers and I'm not sure your receiver could handle that. The M60s are easy to push and would work well with your receiver.

 

[flippo]

Check these speakers out. They are awesome!

www.miragespeakers.com/v2/product_page.php?open=lines&subid=666&id=667

 

[jcPanny]

AV123 Strata special

AV123 is running a special on a 5.0 system with the Onix Strata Minis, a Ref 100 center, and a pair of Ref 1's for surrounds for $3k shipped. The Stratas are audophile 2 channel speakers and also good for HT. They have powered woofers, but a sub is not included.

Check it out:
http://www.av123.com/specials.php