Best starter/budget towers?

[lovinthehd]

Curious as to how much auditioning of such speakers have you done? Not easy for me to do so where I live....

 

[Dim3nsion]

Curious as to how much auditioning of such speakers have you done? Not easy for me to do so where I live....

Not enough. I probably should look around for places to do that, but I know I can’t find any of the internet direct brands in store anywhere and def not the Cantons.

 

[snakeeyes]

Even though I suggested Canton and love mine, the JBL refurb deal sounds like a great deal and no speaker stand necessary.

I also wondered if you could put the entertainment setup on a different wall without blocking the wood stove?

 

[Pogre]

The JBL's are a nice looking speaker. Love my Ultras, but If I had found the JBL's first I probably would've pulled the trigger and been just as happy.

 

[Dim3nsion]

Even though I suggested Canton and love mine, the JBL refurb deal sounds like a great deal and no speaker stand necessary.

I also wondered if you could put the entertainment setup on a different wall without blocking the wood stove?

I’d have to use the back wall the couch is on and then the couches would be in front of the fireplace. I really couldn’t figure out any other way to lay it out. The home designer was an idiot haha. But I bought the house for the area and other reasons. Wasn’t so concerned about living room. Plus it’s my first home that I own, so just doing what I can

 

[Dim3nsion]

The JBL's are a nice looking speaker. Love my Ultras, but If I had found the JBL's first I probably would've pulled the trigger and been just as happy.

Those were high on my list, but now Shadyj has me contemplating finding some wide dispersion speakers, since with how my tv and speaker would be positioned it’d really only give the first seat or two good sound

 

[Pogre]

Those were high on my list, but now Shadyj has me contemplating finding some wide dispersion speakers, since with how my tv and speaker would be positioned it’d really only give the first seat or two good sound

I've defaulted to Shady's wisdom more than once and he's yet to let me down.

 

[lovinthehd]

Might get @KEW to comment on his 580s and placement. I just looked at your room pics....that's a challenging space. While I don't think the 590s are particularly focused dispersion, how you place them will be much different than mine (my fronts/590s are at the long end of a 15 x 32 ft room). I always like to place my L/R farther apart than it looks like your display/placement will allow. My room also has challenges, I do what I can.

 

[HTfreak2004]

Screenshotting them worked

Definitely a different and difficult room to optimize.

Personally I would Custom build two wall brackets to mount two good quality bookshelf speakers to for LR.
There’s a lot of foot traffic right there from the stairs to the dining room. With what looks like a gas fireplace below your TV.

Probably raise the tv a bit could open room for a sound bar that only receives
Centre channel signal from the AVR.

 

[Dim3nsion]

Definitely a different and difficult room to optimize.

Personally I would Custom build two wall brackets to mount two good quality bookshelf speakers to for LR.
There’s a lot of foot traffic right there from the stairs to the dining room. With what looks like a gas fireplace below your TV.

Probably raise the tv a bit could open room for a sound bar that only receives
Centre channel signal from the AVR.

Yeah, I’m still in the process of moving in, so hadn’t looked at the location very much. Looking now a tower or bookshelf on a stand is going to be in the way on the left of the tv. I’ll have to somehow get mounts to wall mount L & R above the tv. I could raise the tv, but it’ll be a bit more work. The studs are at the far edges so i had to mount plywood that i painted to those and then the mount onto the plywood. I guess at the time I was trying to stay low since I don’t like TVs mounted above fireplace as is, but kinda kills running a center this low, unless I use a shelf. How bad would that be having L/R a bit higher than the center?

You have any suggestions on quality bookshelves? Those cantons that Shadyj mentioned look nice, if i want to spend a little under $800.

 

[Pogre]

Yeah, I’m still in the process of moving in, so hadn’t looked at the location very much. Looking now a tower or bookshelf on a stand is going to be in the way on the left of the tv. I’ll have to somehow get mounts to wall mount L & R above the tv. I could raise the tv, but it’ll be a bit more work. The studs are at the far edges so i had to mount plywood that i painted to those and then the mount onto the plywood. I guess at the time I was trying to stay low since I don’t like TVs mounted above fireplace as is, but kinda kills running a center this low, unless I use a shelf. How bad would that be having L/R a bit higher than the center?

You have any suggestions on quality bookshelves? Those cantons that Shadyj mentioned look nice, if i want to spend a little under $800.

Tell you what, I love my SVS Ultras. If you keep an eye on their outlet you can pick some scratch n dents for $399 apiece. I bought all of mine that way. The bookshelfs do pop up in there pretty regular (in all 3 finishes) and I needed a bright light and careful scrutiny to see the marks on mine. 45 day return period, on their dime if you don't like 'em and full warranties.



Here's an example of the "blemish" on an oak veneer cabinet of one that's in there right now.

To me that's pretty minor. Mine are gloss black and I found 3 of them with smaller marks than that. These are very good speakers at 399 apiece. I ended up buying the matching towers when funds became available.

 

[Dim3nsion]

A guy is selling 3 used R5Bis. I think for $225 plus shipping probably end up being $275. Not sure how good those are and i think they were only $100ish new anyhow.

 

[Dim3nsion]

Tell you what, I love my SVS Ultras. If you keep an eye on their outlet you can pick some scratch n dents for $399 apiece. I bought all of mine that way. The bookshelfs do pop up in there pretty regular (in all 3 finishes) and I needed a bright light and careful scrutiny to see the marks on mine. 45 day return period, on their dime if you don't like 'em and full warranties.



Here's an example of the "blemish" on an oak veneer cabinet of one that's in there right now.

View attachment 30507

To me that's pretty minor. Mine are gloss black and I found 3 of them with smaller marks than that. These are very good speakers at 399 apiece. I ended up buying the matching towers when funds became available.

Thanks, I’ll read up on those. Yeah, that blemish isn’t bad at all.

 

[Pogre]

A guy is selling 3 used R5Bis. I think for $225 plus shipping probably end up being $275. Not sure how good those are and i think they were only $100ish new anyhow.

I'm not familiar with those but RBI gets a lot of love around here. I found some here, FWIW. Not familiar with that site. Just the first one that popped up when I did a search.

 

[Danzilla31]

Good luck on your hunting I love my JBL studio 5's I have 3 of the 590's and 2 of the 580's and I must say that they threw out a huge soundstage and imaging. BUT I had all my seating in one row and all 3 590's for the front 3 so there were advantages to getting them to spread out the sound from seat to seat in that configuration.

I'm with Shady on going with the Klipsch but if you need more wide dispersion I'm gonna have to get back to you I've totally fallen in love with horn loaded speakers for right now in my audio journey. I gotta run me some research lol

I did own the polk S60's awhile back those were pretty good for the price but there is better so I'd check all your options off before going with those.

They are a good bang for the buck tho if your just looking for a starter speaker but only if the polk are discounted they get discounted all the time. If not then they are close to the cost of the SVS prime towers which I do have set up in my bedroom right now.

The prime towers are great I've found in smaller rooms but in bigger room I've found the tweeter can get a slight harshness to them if you really push them and I dont mean crank them to there limits either get them loud enough you'll hear that tweeter But in a room like my bedroom where they have plenty of headroom they sound great image well put out a nice soundstage. They might be out of your budget tho. Also it depends on your room size

Those Emotiva T2 's are a seriously good speaker for the money from what I hear I've never listened to them myself so take that with a grain of salt. But I've heard a lot of good feedback from other people about those

 

[Dim3nsion]

Good luck on your hunting I love my JBL studio 5's I have 3 of the 590's and 2 of the 580's and I must say that they threw out a huge soundstage and imaging. BUT I had all my seating in one row and all 3 590's for the front 3 so there were advantages to getting them to spread out the sound from seat to seat in that configuration.

I'm with Shady on going with the Klipsch but if you need more wide dispersion I'm gonna have to get back to you I've totally fallen in love with horn loaded speakers for right now in my audio journey. I gotta run me some research lol

I did own the polk S60's awhile back those were pretty good for the price but there is better so I'd check all your options off before going with those.

They are a good bang for the buck tho if your just looking for a starter speaker but only if the polk are discounted they get discounted all the time. If not then they are close to the cost of the SVS prime towers which I do have set up in my bedroom right now.

The prime towers are great I've found in smaller rooms but in bigger room I've found the tweeter can get a slight harshness to them if you really push them and I dont mean crank them to there limits either get them loud enough you'll hear that tweeter But in a room like my bedroom where they have plenty of headroom they sound great image well put out a nice soundstage. They might be out of your budget tho. Also it depends on your room size

Those Emotiva T2 's are a seriously good speaker for the money from what I hear I've never listened to them myself so take that with a grain of salt. But I've heard a lot of good feedback from other people about those

Thanks for the input and suggestions man. As much as I wanna go with towers it just won’t work good for my space. Maybe one day I’ll hook up the bonus room with a nice setup. As for the Living room I’m better off finding some bookshelves now after doing a bit more measuring and looking. Will have to mount those above the tv and try to extend out as far as I can to each side of it. So now I’m kinda back to square one trying to figure out what bookshelves to go with lol.

 

[Danzilla31]

Thanks for the input and suggestions man. As much as I wanna go with towers it just won’t work good for my space. Maybe one day I’ll hook up the bonus room with a nice setup. As for the Living room I’m better off finding some bookshelves now after doing a bit more measuring and looking. Will have to mount those above the tv and try to extend out as far as I can to each side of it. So now I’m kinda back to square one trying to figure out what bookshelves to go with lol.

Totally understand the need to make compromises in the main area were all there sometimes. Good luck on the hunt on bookshelves! Which ones are you looking into or have you not got that far in your research?

 

[Dim3nsion]

Totally understand the need to make compromises in the main area were all there sometimes. Good luck on the hunt on bookshelves! Which ones are you looking into or have you not got that far in your research?

Man not really. Have seen so many different options haha.

A few others have mentioned and I’ve looked into.

Ascend HTM200 SE
Outlaw BLSv2
Canton Vento 826
SVS Ultras

I’ve gotta look into those more. Don’t wanna spend a ton of money just since it’s my first setup, just something that sounds good

 

[Pogre]

Thanks, I’ll read up on those. Yeah, that blemish isn’t bad at all.

This article from right here at Audioholics, Gene and Hugo's video below and some input from @KEW is what nudged me in that direction.

They're good speakers at $499 each and they're really good speakers at $399. I was patient and kept an eye on the outlet and I'm glad I did. If there are any marks they post images and point them out like the photo I posted earlier. I have one still that we can't find the mark on it. Full warranty and their Customer Bill of Rights. 45 days to audition and they'll pay the shipping if you decide you don't want them. You're only out for your time.

Marshall reviews the towers here, but talks a little about the bookshelfs. He was impressed with them, stating they were all you need (with a subwoofer).

*However, from a performance standpoint, I think the real star of the show are the Bookshelves. They retained the best of the towers, including composed and natural response even at high volumes, while sacrificing only the lower register in frequency response. Mated with one of SVS's subwoofers, this becomes a non-issue and at $499 each, you have a beautiful looking and performing system. In a multichannel system, if your setup allows for the form factor, I think this is the only speaker you need.

 

[lovinthehd]

Man not really. Have seen so many different options haha.

A few others have mentioned and I’ve looked into.

Ascend HTM200 SE
Outlaw BLSv2
Canton Vento 826
SVS Ultras

I’ve gotta look into those more. Don’t wanna spend a ton of money just since it’s my first setup, just something that sounds good

I've got the Ascends and would suggest their 170SE or Sierra-1 over those (I have all three models). The Sierra-1 is more comparable to the SVS Ultra.