Blown speakers - need to replace within existing system

[Stephen Peepels]

I moved to Hong Kong, and brought my system with me. The system is a Denon AVR X3000 surround sound amp, and Kef speakers for all but the two floor standing main speakers. Those were a pair of Polk Audio RT16, that are comparably old to many of contributors, I expect!! The system survived the move, except the movers destroyed the old Polks (which people old enough seem to revere).

Anyway, I have to replace them. My a/v guy says to go with Revel F12 mains and that I should also replace the center speaker to match them with a Revel C12.

I haven't heard about the Revels, but I read online that (1) they are well regarded, but (2) have been around for 10 years. He will charge me US$1200 for the F12s and US$600 for the C12. I asked him why he recommending such dated speakers, and his reply was "still the best choice when you consider price and performance".

Do I go with his recommendation? Keep in mind things are probably a bit more pricey here - I'm less focused on the absolute number than having a good system. I am the definition of a novice, so would love to hear your views.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Did you listen to the speakers? Did you like how they sound? I would say best thing to do is go audition all speakers available in your price range and get mathing LCR from what ever sounds best in your budget. Listen to songs that you are familiar with to get best idea how they compare to each other.

 

[KenM10759]

Hong Kong? Isn't that the headquarters location of Gold Peak Acoustics, the parent company of KEF? Head over there and insist they work a bargain for a long term customer.

 

[Stephen Peepels]

Did you listen to the speakers? Did you like how they sound? I would say best thing to do is go audition all speakers available in your price range and get mathing LCR from what ever sounds best in your budget. Listen to songs that you are familiar with to get best idea how they compare to each other.

My question is more about matching whatever I buy with the denon amp I already have, and whether the F12 speakers are something anyone is familiar with? For example, I assume buying a pair of really great floor standing speakers would be stupid with that amp? I read that a lot of people really admired the old Polk Audio RT16s, and I have no idea how the F12s that he is recommending would compare?

 

[tyhjaarpa]

My question is more about matching whatever I buy with the denon amp I already have, and whether the F12 speakers are something anyone is familiar with? For example, I assume buying a pair of really great floor standing speakers would be stupid with that amp? I read that a lot of people really admired the old Polk Audio RT16s, and I have no idea how the F12s that he is recommending would compare?

You have a quality receiver and you don't need to worry about matching speakers with it unless you are going for speakers that demand a lot power and it is quite rare. So best advice is to get speakers that sound best to you.

 

[lovinthehd]

I once considered picking up a pair of F12 used for considerably less (but am in the US not HK and have no idea what values are in HK for such), but they were sold before I could go and look at them.

Your Denon should be able to handle those speakers well enough, similar sensitivity altho nominal impedance rating is 6 vs 8 compared to your Polks (from the little I found on the Polks). Here's the measurements http://www.soundstage.com/measurements/revel_concerta_f12/ and a review http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/revel_concerta_f12.htm

 

[KenM10759]

From those measurements done by Soundstage @ the NRC lab, they sure do look good. Ears tell everything though.