Comparing Speakers

[tyhjaarpa]

Excited to announce I went with the Elac B5's. I am now in the process of finding the receiver.

Should be really nice speakers. Out of curiosity, did you read the comparison I linked?

 

[noflers]

Should be really nice speakers. Out of curiosity, did you read the comparison I linked?

I did, but as someone else mentioned, it goes against other reviews I've read ie: http://www.thorntonhifi.com/the-cheap-speaker-shootout-elac-b5-vs-elac-b6-vs-nht-superone-21-vs-boston-a70-vs-klipsch-kg5-vs-monoprice-bookshelf-vs-dayton-b652-vs-micca-m42x-vs-pioneer-sp-bs22-lr.html

 

[-Jim-]

Excited to announce I went with the Elac B5's. I am now in the process of finding the receiver.

I'm certain if you are patient you can find a decent used Home Theater Receiver. One thing you need to determine is if you like HD sound codecs from Blu-Ray Disks, and how likely you are to watch them. (I'm a nut for them but I don't want to lead you astray.) If you are positive on these soundtracks, then you should look for a used Receiver with HDMI inputs /output. There should be a decent entry level one available for 50% of new. I'd be looking for something from Denon, Sony, Marantz, and maybe Pioneer. I'd stay away from Onkyo as they've had major issues with HDMI boards.

How much are you looking to spend?

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I did, but as someone else mentioned, it goes against other reviews I've read ie: http://www.thorntonhifi.com/the-cheap-speaker-shootout-elac-b5-vs-elac-b6-vs-nht-superone-21-vs-boston-a70-vs-klipsch-kg5-vs-monoprice-bookshelf-vs-dayton-b652-vs-micca-m42x-vs-pioneer-sp-bs22-lr.html

In that comparison they don't have AA monitors included.. So you can't say it is against it.

 

[noflers]

In that comparison they don't have AA monitors included.. So you can't say it is against it.

Yeah, if I don't like the speakers then I don't keep them. That's on me... There's not really any more comparison reviews of the two speakers available.

EDIT: Realized I may have come off ass offensive, didn't mean that. However, from the reviews I have seen, I think I'll enjoy the speakers and hope that I do in fact like them.

 

[noflers]

I made an impulse purchace, $20. I only had a couple minutes to look it up before I bought it, but it looked like it would serve my purpose.

Am I okay having my studio monitors and the jbl es250p hooked up like this?

EDIT: After looking through the manual I am wondering if the receiver will put out too much power for the Elacs that I'll have tomorrow.

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/htr/htr-5280_black__u/

 

[noflers]

I'm certain if you are patient you can find a decent used Home Theater Receiver. One thing you need to determine is if you like HD sound codecs from Blu-Ray Disks, and how likely you are to watch them. (I'm a nut for them but I don't want to lead you astray.) If you are positive on these soundtracks, then you should look for a used Receiver with HDMI inputs /output. There should be a decent entry level one available for 50% of new. I'd be looking for something from Denon, Sony, Marantz, and maybe Pioneer. I'd stay away from Onkyo as they've had major issues with HDMI boards.

How much are you looking to spend?

I think somewhere in the range of $100-$200 is in my budget for the receiver. I keep hearing about Amazon doing a yearly 50% sale on Denon gear, I'll probably pick one up then.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I made an impulse purchace, $20. I only had a couple minutes to look it up before I bought it, but it looked like it would serve my purpose.

Am I okay having my studio monitors and the jbl es250p hooked up like this?

EDIT: After looking through the manual I am wondering if the receiver will put out too much power for the Elacs that I'll have tomorrow.

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/htr/htr-5280_black__u/

Your speakers will be fine unless you decide to crank your receiver all the way up and even then if your speakers start to sound bad turn volume down immediately. Those wattage ratings on speakers are maximum wattage they can handle and on receiver side maximum they can out put. In normal listening you are only using few watts so you will be just fine. It is actually better to have more watts on receiver than not enough as often when you have to drive your receiver too hard you have risk of receiver clipping and damaging your speakers.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

I think somewhere in the range of $100-$200 is in my budget for the receiver. I keep hearing about Amazon doing a yearly 50% sale on Denon gear, I'll probably pick one up then.

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html

 

[-Jim-]

I made an impulse purchace, $20. I only had a couple minutes to look it up before I bought it, but it looked like it would serve my purpose.

Am I okay having my studio monitors and the jbl es250p hooked up like this?

EDIT: After looking through the manual I am wondering if the receiver will put out too much power for the Elacs that I'll have tomorrow.

http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/htr/htr-5280_black__u/

Wow, $20 usually doesn't get you much these days. I hope it works well.

What are your Studio Monitors? It seems they must have their own amplification as you are using the preamplifier RCA (fixed) output connections. If so, they won't hurt your speakers.

Take your time in deciding what if any Receiver you want. Lots of Black Friday Deals in November if you wait that long!

 

[noflers]

Wow, $20 usually doesn't get you much these days. I hope it works well.

What are your Studio Monitors? It seems they must have their own amplification as you are using the preamplifier RCA (fixed) output connections. If so, they won't hurt your speakers.

Take your time in deciding what if any Receiver you want. Lots of Black Friday Deals in November if you wait that long!

I pretty happy with the receiver, everything seems so work great. It will do me just fine for now, but in the future I do want to go with something that's got hdmi support.

Thanks for the input everyone, I'll be auditioning the speakers tonight, I think all the drunks will enjoy them. I've already noticed a few weak spots in the speaker output, and I may end going for the AA's. Without the grills on (one over the tweeter, and the main grill), the quality is better, especially in the high range.

 

[-Jim-]

noflers,

Just a suggestion. When you are listening to the Elacs (or any decent setup for that matter) make sure you have good source material. Preferably not some MP3 at low bit rates. If you are into Digital go for FLAC Files or another Lossless Codec. I noticed that Yamaha Receiver you bought had a Phono input. Maybe give some good vinyl a spin! Remember => Garbage in => Garbage Out!

 

[tyhjaarpa]

noflers,

Just a suggestion. When you are listening to the Elacs (or any decent setup for that matter) make sure you have good source material. Preferably not some MP3 at low bit rates. If you are into Digital go for FLAC Files or another Lossless Codec. I noticed that Yamaha Receiver you bought had a Phono input. Maybe give some good vinyl a spin! Remember => Garbage in => Garbage Out!

Even a flac or CD can have garbage.. It is more about the recording itself and how it has beed mastered.

 

[-Jim-]

Agreed, but I never try to comment on a person's taste in music. Some artists do incredible recordings and have a fabulous production team and studio. Others seem to have cranked it out in their garage. I always assume folks interested in sound enough to become members here at Audioholics know what good sound should be.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Agreed, but I never try to comment on a person's taste in music. Some artists do incredible recordings and have a fabulous production team and studio. Others seem to have cranked it out in their garage. I always assume folks interested in sound enough to become members here at Audioholics know what good sound should be.

I know some artists that record on their own without a studio and do everything themselves and yet they sound really good! In other end there are some bands that are working for studios and yet they sound pretty awful because the mastering is done poorly. This same problem is out there for any music genres and it is really unfortunate that some good bands end with bad studio's and get the job done poorly.

 

[noflers]

Well I'm tossing the B5's to the curb (not literally), seeing as how I'm on a budget, nothing gets thrown away, ever. I made the decision to get the Philharmonic AA's before I had a chance to hear them, but yesterday I did hear them and that solidified my decision.

I'm now looking ahead and have started shopping for a solid set of front floor standing speakers. The only thing that's caught my eye so far are the Pioneer FS52's. Will they match up well with the AA's? (AA's in back, FS52's in the front)

Also, am I on the right track? Or should I be looking into a center channel speaker next?

 

[-Jim-]

I'm glad you are returning the B5's if they aren't a fit for you. I hope the AAs work out better.

As far as what's next, conventional wisdom is if possible you decide the speakers as a system up front so that the tonal qualities all match up. This is tends to almost always be from a single OEM. Hence that's why I suggested ELACs Bs as their whole 5.0 system is well thought of. I'm not up to speed on what Philharmonic Audio has available to fit with the AAs in regards to a center channel speaker, or floor standing units.

Perhaps other will chime in with some guidance here.

Regards,

Jim

 

[noflers]

I'm glad you are returning the B5's if they aren't a fit for you. I hope the AAs work out better.

As far as what's next, conventional wisdom is if possible you decide the speakers as a system up front so that the tonal qualities all match up. This is tends to almost always be from a single OEM. Hence that's why I suggested ELACs Bs as their whole 5.0 system is well thought of. I'm not up to speed on what Philharmonic Audio has available to fit with the AAs in regards to a center channel speaker, or floor standing units.

Perhaps other will chime in with some guidance here.

Regards,

Jim

Let's just say that Philharmonic doesn't have a center, and if any of his floor standers were in my budget I wouldn't be looking at the AA's

That's kind of a bummer to hear, I'm hoping someone else has any ideas.


Keep the B5's although I'd rather have the AA's, and also back out of the deal with Dennis.

Or get the AA's and hope I can find some good speakers to match.

 

[-Jim-]

Hi noflers,

"Hope" is not a good plan. I hope to win the Lottery so I can retire in comfort. I certainly would not use that as my Retirement Plan!

Maybe you should rethink it all before rushing off to buy something else, and give the folks here an idea of the overall budget you can / will spend on a HT speaker system. One thought is wait on a good Sub for last, the other camp would be to buy it with, or right after your bookshelves, especially if this is going to be a long process to get funding accumulated. There is a dramatic impact when you add a good sub to reasonable bookshelf speakers. You don't have to rely on them for the bottom end so much - especially if your receiver has decent Bass management.

I know it's hard to put this altogether when a lot of what's out there is not available to audition in a bricks and mortar store. But will a little planning, patience, and then you still may have to return some speakers after auditioning, you should be able to satisfy yourself on a cost effective system.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Let's just say that Philharmonic doesn't have a center, and if any of his floor standers were in my budget I wouldn't be looking at the AA's

That's kind of a bummer to hear, I'm hoping someone else has any ideas.


Keep the B5's although I'd rather have the AA's, and also back out of the deal with Dennis.

Or get the AA's and hope I can find some good speakers to match.

You could ask Dennis if he can sell you 3/5 of those AA monitors for 5.1 setup to get matched front/surround sound.