Salk, Philharmonic, Ascend.... what else?

[ryanosaur]

Hi all! Some of you guys have already helped me out a lot on my quest to redo my Kit. Thanks again!!!
Little background:
8000'3+room, listening area is in about 1/4-1/3 of that space, of center side walls and no rear wall for another ~35'
Marantz SR6012 AVR
Probably going with Emotiva amp for Front 3. But that will depend on the speakers.
Budget for Front 3: ~$3k preferred. Lower is better. Willing to stretch upwards a little if the value is there.
80%Music, 20%HT... love jazz, orchestral, rock, and hip hop

I've looked at lots of stuff on paper and will be auditioning speakers starting next week. Mostly what I would call the mass market stuff. My current front runners (what I'm most excited to hear) are Monitor Audio Silver 500s.

Since I only learned about Ascend in the last two days and like what I see... Got me thinking, what else is out there? I know a lot of the cats I've chatted with really like Salk and Philharmonics, but I'm uncertain if they ar right for my situation..

Is there anything else I should check out before I make a final decision? Thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks to all!

Cheers!

 

[speakerman39]

@ryanosaur you have a very big room. The likes of Salk, Philharmonic, and Ascend are very well received. Are you thinking towers -OR-standmounts? I also see that your preference is mostly on music. But, you still do watch some movies as well. What speakers have you heard/owned? Most prefer a neutral/flat sound signature. There are many others you might want to consider such as KEF, B&W, Wharfedale, and Chane. Once we know what your preference is in terms of towers or standmounts, then maybe we can be a bit more specific. I do think that you are headed into the right direction!


Cheers,

Phil

 

[ryanosaur]

Are you thinking towers -OR-standmounts?

Definitely towers up front. Gonna go for at least a 5.2 kit. 7.2 preferred. My games like those rears. Atmos is in my future, too, but not such a big point for me right away.

 

[Jeff R.]

If you are going to buy without audition I would check out accessories4less.com. I bought the large Canton Vento Towers and matching center for right 3k if I recall correctly. I absolutely love them!! Great bang for the buck on them and them will be great for that large space


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[speakerman39]

Definitely towers up front. Gonna go for at least a 5.2 kit. 7.2 preferred. My games like those rears. Atmos is in my future, too, but not such a big point for me right away.

I see. To be honest, I am not a tower guy. As such, not really the best to advise. Towers do make more sense given the size of your space. Atmos seems to be really taking off. What have you owned in the past? Or, is there any brand that you are familiar with? JBL has the Studio 590's on sale quite often. Here is a link:

https://www.jbl.com/loudspeakers/STUDIO+590.html?cgid=loudspeakers&dwvar_STUDIO 590_color=Black-USA-Support#start=1

They would work well for both music and/or HT. They also will be more dynamic than a typical standmount. Do you really like to rock out at absurd levels? I like to rock out myself from time to time. But, never at insane levels.......LOL!!!! However, some people just like it loud. There should be some good deals to be had closer to the holidays. That is when I would make my move if I were you.


Cheers,

Phil

BTW, JBL usually sells the 590's at half price when on sale. It is a tremendous bargain when they do.

 

[shadyJ]

Many other good manufacturers here. RBH, Revel, KEF, Paradigm, Hsu, SVS, JBL, etc..

 

[Swerd]

There are fewer stores, and more Internet Direct speaker companies, making it hard to listen before buying. So it comes down to just where you live and how far you're willing to travel to hear speakers.

If I remember correctly, you live somewhere out west. Jim Salk is near Detroit, MI and Dennis Murphy is in Maryland, nearby me. I would be comfortable recommending any of their speakers without an audition, but I get it that you want to hear speakers before buying. As a guess for your room size, I'd recommend the Song3 (3-way towers), or the SongTower (MTM towers).

Ascend Acoustics is in San Clemente, CA. about half way between Los Angeles and San Diego. Their products are well received, but I haven't heard them in a long time, and I wonder if their largest speaker, the Sierra Tower will work well in your large room. If you are near enough, they are worth a listen.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

What, no love for JTR? - these would be great such big space.

 

[Swerd]

What, no love for JTR? - these would be great such big space.

I've heard them – no love is about right.

Another internet direct model I've heard that isn't bad is the SVS Ultra tower. When I heard them at an audio show, I couldn't directly compare them to any Salk model, but I did think they were decent.

 

[shadyJ]

Other manufacturers that I have heard and enjoyed are Tannoy, Dali, Dynaudio, Aurum Cantus. ATC and Adam are probably out of your budget but are solid manufacturers. The Emotiva Stealth 8 is a nice sounding monitor and within your budget.

 

[TheWarrior]

@ryanosaur
You are SO close to huge sales! Just hold out and see just what kind of excellent loudspeakers you can nab, especially being wise and starting with the front 3, and go from there!

With the length of the walls in your room, you are probably going to want an LFE subwoofer crossover below 80 hz, which means you need satellite speakers that can accommodate that - meaning they need to have a frequency response which extends as low as you can find!

 

[speakerman39]

@ryanosaur are you willing to go with B-stocks? Or, even used if they are in excellent shape? Sometimes you can find a good deal going B-stocks and/or used. As mentioned above, there will be some killer deals to be had closer to the holidays. I also have read good things about the Canton Ventos of several forums. Acc4Less is highly respected here and elsewhere. Personally, I can NOT recommend them enough.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[ryanosaur]

Ok... first after looking at everything...
Acsend still holds my interest. Called this morning, No answer. They called back! +1 CS! Awesome converation, too.
RBH SV series. Looks like I could play in that neighborhood.
Paradigm Premier: is there too.
Strangely, I started looking at SVS, wrote them off a bit, but by many of your suggestions, am back. So Ultra Towers and Center at least, maybe Primes for surround duty?

Emotiva. OK. Seriously. What is up with Airmotivs? @shadyJ, you mentioned the powered monitor...
But anybody out there: what about the T2, C2, and such? Gimmick? Passable? Worthwhile? Ugly as @$$, yeah. But how do they perform? (Curiosity killed the cat, I know, but what is up here!)

And yes Shady, I'm still going to possibly travel through SLC and check out the scene at the big TD. Even in light of that other conversation we are a part of. Unless I drink the koolaid, I'll be fine. The UT koolaid I wanna drink involves High West, BTW!

The others: JBL, JTR, Canton, Tannoy, Dali, Dynaudio... Not hitting the right balance between possible affordability and availability.

BTW, are JTR prices ea. or pair?

Revel and Kef are on my med-short list. I'll call Salk tomorrow and inquire.

(Subs right now are likely to be Rythmik or SVS or Outlaw X13.)

I'm actually leaning toward wanting a 4-Ohm Kit. Ive heard some different opinions about 4 vs 8 ohm technology... anybody care to chime in pls? (I get impedance... its not a question of that per se, unless I'm missing something much more fundamental).

Again, Thanks to all for your suggestions. Some of these are definitely new companies to me... Like I said, I only learned about Ascend 2 days ago. Now I've got two more I will look at deeper!

Rock on Amigos y Amigas (if there's any of the latter out there!)!!!

 

[shadyJ]

Ok... first after looking at everything...
Acsend still holds my interest. Called this morning, No answer. They called back! +1 CS! Awesome converation, too.
RBH SV series. Looks like I could play in that neighborhood.
Paradigm Premier: is there too.
Strangely, I started looking at SVS, wrote them off a bit, but by many of your suggestions, am back. So Ultra Towers and Center at least, maybe Primes for surround duty?

Emotiva. OK. Seriously. What is up with Airmotivs? @shadyJ, you mentioned the powered monitor...
But anybody out there: what about the T2, C2, and such? Gimmick? Passable? Worthwhile? Ugly as @$$, yeah. But how do they perform? (Curiosity killed the cat, I know, but what is up here!)

And yes Shady, I'm still going to possibly travel through SLC and check out the scene at the big TD. Even in light of that other conversation we are a part of. Unless I drink the koolaid, I'll be fine. The UT koolaid I wanna drink involves High West, BTW!

The others: JBL, JTR, Canton, Tannoy, Dali, Dynaudio... Not hitting the right balance between possible affordability and availability.

BTW, are JTR prices ea. or pair?

Revel and Kef are on my med-short list. I'll call Salk tomorrow and inquire.

(Subs right now are likely to be Rythmik or SVS or Outlaw X13.)

I'm actually leaning toward wanting a 4-Ohm Kit. Ive heard some different opinions about 4 vs 8 ohm technology... anybody care to chime in pls? (I get impedance... its not a question of that per se, unless I'm missing something much more fundamental).

Again, Thanks to all for your suggestions. Some of these are definitely new companies to me... Like I said, I only learned about Ascend 2 days ago. Now I've got two more I will look at deeper!

Rock on Amigos y Amigas (if there's any of the latter out there!)!!!

I haven't seen any measurements for the Emotiva speakers, except for the Stealth 8s. I can tell you that most AMT tweeters have a bit of a ragged response. But there are exceptions like the Aurum Cantus tweeters in the RBH SV speakers which were excellent.

The only speakers that JTR makes in your price range are the coaxial 8" bookshelf speakers. I have long been curious about those. They might be good.

As for 4-ohm vs 8-ohm, that has no bearing on acoustic performance. I wouldn't worry about that. That only matter if you are using budget amplifiers. They can have problems driving lower impedance loads. So if you have a cheap AVR, try to avoid 4 ohm speakers.

 

[ryanosaur]

@ryanosaur are you willing to go with B-stocks? Or, even used if they are in excellent shape? Sometimes you can find a good deal going B-stocks and/or used. As mentioned above, there will be some killer deals to be had closer to the holidays. I also have read good things about the Canton Ventos of several forums. Acc4Less is highly respected here and elsewhere. Personally, I can NOT recommend them enough.


Cheers,

Phil

Whatup! Speakerman!

Depends on the circ's... B-stock, not so worried... but I'm really wanting to land forever speakers, if you will... like puppies and kittens need forever homes?! So used, not likely. esp if someone is moving them cos they don't like them. I'm a chef. I have trust issues. *shrugs

Def lookin more at the above speaks and accesories4less. that was a new one for me.

Best!

 

[ryanosaur]

But there are exceptions like the Aurum Cantus

Shady, do you know a source for these... their site wasn't working too well for me and I'm on my way out... is there a better place to look / known US dealer?
Thx!

 

[speakerman39]

Whatup! Speakerman!

Depends on the circ's... B-stock, not so worried... but I'm really wanting to land forever speakers, if you will... like puppies and kittens need forever homes?! So used, not likely. esp if someone is moving them cos they don't like them. I'm a chef. I have trust issues. *shrugs

Def lookin more at the above speaks and accesories4less. that was a new one for me.

Best!

I understand. Just so you know I have bought many AVR's from Acc4Less all w/o a hitch. They are awesome people to deal with as well. I have also owned a lot of B-stock gear over the years and have had good luck doing so. Nothing like saving money.

Every now and then a good deal will also pop up on Audiomart and/or Audiogon. As such, I will keep my eyes out for you. I applaud you for doing your homework before pulling the trigger. Keep us all posted.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[shadyJ]

Shady, do you know a source for these... their site wasn't working too well for me and I'm on my way out... is there a better place to look / known US dealer?
Thx!

Do you mean the RBH speakers with Aurum Cantus tweeters or just the Aurum Cantus speakers? Aurum Cantus manufacters both.

 

[Alex2507]

I'm really wanting to land forever speakers

I'll call Salk tomorrow and inquire.

That ought to settle that.

I can't imagine not wanting to keep Salk speakers. I know it happens. The guy who sold me mine, moved onto Phil 3's. So that worked out.

 

[snakeeyes]

I have Canton Vento books in my bedroom system and they are very nice. Accessories for less is a great company. I think the towers for your space though. Good Luck!