Looking for speakers, 3g budget, stuck between 3.1 and 5.1

[zieglj01]

For a tight budget, all you need is an AV receiver with a sub pre-out, that feeds the
signal to the built in subwoofer amp. You set the crossover in the receiver, between
the speakers and the sub. If you buy a second subwoofer in the future, all you need
is a Y-Adapter.

 

[walter duque]

You have to get away from that car audio. I was running 10k car audio systems in the late 70's. Here you are looking to spend a couple k on a home system. What exactly are you looking for? 3k is not a lot of money. My living room is 12x14 and I am running dual 15" isobaric subs in the front and dual 8"(400 watt) subs for the rears. Do they kick, yes. But they don't come in at 3k.

 

[ImcLoud]

Easy Walter, $3,000 isn't a bad budget, thats 3 months full time take home salary for some people...

You can get a fine system for that..

On another note $10K in the 70's for car audio systems!!!! WOW, what gear was that? I thought they started going high end mobile audio in the late 80's and 90's I can't even imagine what they had in the 70's....
I cant imagine this guy costing more than 80 bucks...

I had a couple subs back in the day, Orion 2250 amplifier with some 15" JL Audio w1's, long long time ago, mb court components, alpine headunit all in my maxima, lol... came a long way, now I wouldn't dare touch the stereo's in my cars, lol...

 

[bilesteve]

Carnegie and Energy Veritas

I'm stuck, mainly because the only thing I've ever listened to is the Klipsh reference line. I'm big on music and listen to music more often then I watch tv. I want to go full surround but I'm a car audio guy and much rather prefer front stage only, then surround. I'm thinking that I'll just upgrade my towers, center and sub, then add surround later on if I feel like it. My receiver is ok, but that will get upgraded next, first I want to get rid of these JBL speakers I got at good will.

I just don't know what to pick or what home theater brands cater more to home music listening and if I should just go ahead and suck up and get rear speakers as well. Right now I'm looking at the Klipsh but that is all I know. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I do plan on driving to Atlanta to go and look around and do some listening but I would like to have a list of things to listen to instead of just driving to ATL blind to figure something out.

I bought the Carnegie towers and center channel for Christmas and like them very much. I also have the Energy Veritas 6.2 towers, 5.2 center channel and 5.1 rear surrounds, which I also like very much and do not find them bright, nor have any of the listeners in my house. The Energy's also have a vastly better appearance in rosenut than do the shiny black Carnegie's (dust magnet).

The Carnegie's do have a very nice planar tweeter and the towers do have more bass than do the Energy Veritas 6.2s

I don't know if it is kosher here or not, but will be selling the Energys if you are looking for a deal. (there is only so much room in an apartment)

Now if the Carnegie towers were in Rosenut like the Veritas, that would be a winner.

 

[walter duque]

Easy Walter, $3,000 isn't a bad budget, thats 3 months full time take home salary for some people...

You can get a fine system for that..

On another note $10K in the 70's for car audio systems!!!! WOW, what gear was that? I thought they started going high end mobile audio in the late 80's and 90's I can't even imagine what they had in the 70's....
I cant imagine this guy costing more than 80 bucks...

I had a couple subs back in the day, Orion 2250 amplifier with some 15" JL Audio w1's, long long time ago, mb court components, alpine headunit all in my maxima, lol... came a long way, now I wouldn't dare touch the stereo's in my cars, lol...

Nakamichi front end at that time (cassette deck) was $1800.00 with a couple Zapco and Audiomobile power amps, EQ and ADS 400C sub woofers and a few more ADS speakers right around 10K. What I am trying to get at is that car audio is not comparable to HD. SPL levels that the OP is looking for in that space 3K is not going to get it. That's a big room. I am not saying 3k can't get you a great system. BTW my 79 Trans Am was 8k. 3k is a good budged if done right.

 

[ImcLoud]

Nakamichi front end at that time (cassette deck) was $1800.00 with a couple Zapco and Audiomobile power amps, EQ and ADS 400C sub woofers and a few more ADS speakers right around 10K. What I am trying to get at is that car audio is not comparable to HD. SPL levels that the OP is looking for in that space 3K is not going to get it. That's a big room. I am not saying 3k can't get you a great system. BTW my 79 Trans Am was 8k. 3k is a good budged.

That is awesome, so after adding the stereo your transam was worth $5,000 lol... Very cool, life used to be so simple, a trans am a cool stereo and cheese burgers without worrying about the cholesterol.... I was born in 80 so I wouldn't know anything more than the pictures I remember of my parents where my fathers hair was just as long as my mothers, and they wore the same jeans......

 

[walter duque]

That is awesome, so after adding the stereo your transam was worth $5,000 lol... Very cool, life used to be so simple, a trans am a cool stereo and cheese burgers without worrying about the cholesterol.... I was born in 80 so I wouldn't know anything more than the pictures I remember of my parents where my fathers hair was just as long as my mothers, and they wore the same jeans......

Now, are you making fun of me or what? I'll be 62 in a few months. Are you calling me an old man?

 

[ImcLoud]

Now, are you making fun of me or what? I'll be 62 in a few months. Are you calling me an old man?

No such thing as an old man, just a man with old stories... I have yet to be taught anything valuable by someone younger than me and I know a good amount, so you do the math, I have a lot of respect for experience and that is only earned with time....

 

[walter duque]

No such thing as an old man, just a man with old stories... I have yet to be taught anything valuable by someone younger than me and I know a good amount, so you do the math, I have a lot of respect for experience and that is only earned with time....

Now back to the OP. I would recommend (for music) a sub with a passive radiator. I don't know if you would call it sealed or ported sub. I just sold one (to my regret) 1000 watt 12" driver with a 12" passive radiator 14"x 14". small cabinet but very powerful. Integrated very well. Did not sound like a sub at all, just an extension of the towers.

 

[ImcLoud]

I have had bad luck with pr's, all were older but prone to mechanical noise for some reason...

 

[karl.all90]

I understand that I need to get away from the car audio. I am not looking for the same results in my house that I am in the car. If i spent more time in my house in front of the tv and less time in the car then 3g would turn into 12g or more. I like having nice audio and good sound quality in my house and car, so 3g is the most I'm willing to spend right now. I'm still new to home audio and the car audio side is helping me understand a few things here and there. 3g is nothing for audio, but I feel like I can get a nice sounding HT system for that. My front speakers in my car were almost 3g if I'm not mistaken. So I know what 3g can get and I want the best bang for my buck as we all do.

@Walter - Almost 62? I really like meeting the older guys in audio, without yall our generation wouldn't have anything. Prime example, car audio. Nobody wants to do anything other then add a sub and amp to their cars. Nobody even knows what spl is or sq (I hate spl) or 2 way or 3 way comps. You say 2 or 3 way and they think of the speakers all stacked in each other and that a $150 set of speakers is expensive. My wiring cost more then that.

 

[zieglj01]

Now, are you making fun of me or what? I'll be 62 in a few months. Are you calling me an old man?

Do not ask my age.

 

[zieglj01]

If i spent more time in my house in front of the tv and less time in the car then 3g would turn into 12g or more. I like having nice audio and good sound quality in my house and car, so 3g is the most I'm willing to spend right now.

3q can get you a nice 3.1 system - some designers are putting more into it now.

 

[Jcharger13]

I just came from a similar boat as you, am into SQ car audio, DSP, 3 way scanspeak setup, Zuki amps, etc.

Getting into the whole home audio side of things was an eye opener to me. So many brands where do you start. I read, then read, then read some more. On a similar budget as you also. Went to local HiFi shops for some demos a few times and eventually took home a pair of bookshelfs (paradigm studio 20.5's and a lower end Yamaha Aventage receiver). Am very happy with the purchase, no buyers remorse. Added a center channel also a few weeks later.

Almost went with a Marantz AV reciever and some Kef bookshelfs online but nowhere around here to demo them. From what I read these are a good way to go. Some of the lower end Dynaudio bookshelfs were tempting also. Just wish there was more places to demo all this wonderful gear. Buying on someone else's word only is a hard thing for me to do.

Researched subs and put in an order for a SVS SB-2000 yesterday. Not sure how it'll sound but can let you know in a few days I hope. I love the idea of them paying to send them back if I am not happy with it.

Good luck!

 

[walter duque]

I understand that I need to get away from the car audio. I am not looking for the same results in my house that I am in the car. If i spent more time in my house in front of the tv and less time in the car then 3g would turn into 12g or more. I like having nice audio and good sound quality in my house and car, so 3g is the most I'm willing to spend right now. I'm still new to home audio and the car audio side is helping me understand a few things here and there. 3g is nothing for audio, but I feel like I can get a nice sounding HT system for that. My front speakers in my car were almost 3g if I'm not mistaken. So I know what 3g can get and I want the best bang for my buck as we all do.

@Walter - Almost 62? I really like meeting the older guys in audio, without yall our generation wouldn't have anything. Prime example, car audio. Nobody wants to do anything other then add a sub and amp to their cars. Nobody even knows what spl is or sq (I hate spl) or 2 way or 3 way comps. You say 2 or 3 way and they think of the speakers all stacked in each other and that a $150 set of speakers is expensive. My wiring cost more then that.

You can do very good with a couple of k. Some of these guys on this forum can put a hell of a system together for you. Car audio to HT is about a 1 to 10 ratio for me. 5k car audio system to 50k HT system, might be close, maybe a little more than that for the HT (that's just to be in same same ball park or to get the same rush). You're filling a much larger space. Come to think of it "British Steel"-(Judas Priest) sounded best in my car. A great sub should not be more than an lower extension of your towers.

 

[Cos]

My suggestion is to give golden ear a listen.

Triton 3 Fronts (built in Subs)
GoldenEar Technology TritonCinema Three Speaker System | Sound & Vision

Triton SuperCenter XL Center (Very good Center, pleased with mine so far)

Aon 2's for Surrounds

List is about 3500 but if you are buying that amount you should be easily able to get a 15% discount on the purchase which brings it a tad over 3k.

I have a similar setup but 7.1 and I use the Triton 7s(no subs)

I have been listening to them more for music, but now that GoldenEar has finally come out with a solid center channel they do equally well in HT.

They to take a lot of tweeking, to get in to sound right and a lot depends on your room setup, but once properly configured they sound amazing.

When I move to my new house in July I am going to redo my HT (Man Cave). I was originally going to spend about 8-10k on fronts and new center, but now I am going to go with the new Triton 1, which will be released in the may timeframe.

 

[karl.all90]

Jcharger- I know what you mean, ask me anything most car audio and I can either answer your question or point you in the right way. This home audio stuff is a lot more broad it seems like, along with being a little bit more technical. Yes, please do let me know how those subs sound.

Walter- I'm only 23, maybe one day I'll be able to afford a home theater system like that

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it but do keep it coming.

 

[crossedover]

I personally don't like Klipsch {I feel they are too bright and sound thin and too forward, this is on purpose so they jump out in the showrooms, BUT casuses fatigue in short order when they are set up at your house}... I also don't like mixing ht and critical listening music systems but I realize this is a must for most users...

Just a note...Klipsch speakers are NOT designed to "jump out in showrooms" for the op's edification. While I will agree that a majority of there (klipsch) speakers tend to be harsh on the upper end there have been seem that are less so. Take the advise to listen to as many speakers as you can, and preferably an in-home audition. Suggestions are nice but are subjective as to how speakers will sound to you.

 

[ImcLoud]

Just a note...Klipsch speakers are NOT designed to "jump out in showrooms" for the op's edification. While I will agree that a majority of there (klipsch) speakers tend to be harsh on the upper end there have been seem that are less so. Take the advise to listen to as many speakers as you can, and preferably an in-home audition. Suggestions are nice but are subjective as to how speakers will sound to you.

Welcome to the forum... just a note... Most reviews you find on Klipsch {most of their lines} will say things like "bright and snappy, but ultimately fatiguing" or one of my favorites "so harsh I had to leave the room"... I have owned klipsch products {one of my first ht setups was yammy/klipsch $5000 worth} and they sounded awesome in the showroom, jumped out at me and played music with crazy definition and "zest" I was impressed... Brought them home and after the first day it became obvious I made a mistake, the salesman said "you will get used to it, play with the placement, placement is key" and he was rite placement was key, they are placed in someone elses house now far away from my ears....

So I have to disagree, they are designed to be bright, forward and harsher than most other speakers available, if not for the reason to sound good on the shelf, than why, to sell aspirin? could they be in cahoots with Advil, because I know I had to take a few after each movie I watched...

Sorry about the "cahoots", I watched dukes of hazards yesterday and I have been talking like a mtn boy ever since...

 

[zieglj01]

The Klipsch still jump forward to me, in the showroom - their horn
still has that somewhat forward and bright character and the blaring
sound, and part of that stands out, due to them lacking some detail
and definition in the midrange - I have owned some different models
of the Klipsch speakers. Their so-called clarity tends to ring to me.

However, if one likes them - then continue to enjoy them.