Home Theater Speaker Recommendations

[humnwtrfal]

Hello,
I'm looking to build a 5.1 system for the new tv I bought. I have some old speakers from a roommate in college that I plan to use initially and upgrade over time (assuming they still work). I have already selected my subwoofer and receiver as those were the most pressing pieces I needed to buy. I decided to go with the RSL 12s and and Denon 760h. I wanted to spend more money on my speakers initially as I hope to use them for much longer than the receiver. I was hoping to get some opinions on what speakers to choose for when I upgrade.

My main purpose for this system will be for movies and tv shows, then streaming music or playing vinyl. My music preferences include metal, blues rock, and folk rock. Examples of bands I listen to include Iron Maiden, Journey, Dream Theater, The Heavy, Kaleo, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, The Revivalists, and Hozier.

The room size is ~16ft by ~19ft. My target budget is $400-600 per individual speaker but would be willing to go to $700 per speaker if it would make a difference. Some speakers/brands I'm interested in include:

RSL CG5/CG25
Ascend Acoustic Sierra
Elac (From what I understand they have a few options in my budget range)
Q Acoustics
SVS Ultras
Kef
Monoprice

I am partial towards the RSL speakers since they have a very good reputation and I already went with their subwoofer. Do you all have any comparisons for the speakers I mentioned? Are there any other options I should look into? Also would it be worth looking into tower speakers? Thanks for any advice!

 

[shadyJ]

Look at the Monoprice Monolith THX 365 series as well as the Hsu Research CCB-8. Also look at the Outlaw Audio BLS V2 and LCR V2, criminally under-rated speakers.

 

[lovinthehd]

Hello,
I'm looking to build a 5.1 system for the new tv I bought. I have some old speakers from a roommate in college that I plan to use initially and upgrade over time (assuming they still work). I have already selected my subwoofer and receiver as those were the most pressing pieces I needed to buy. I decided to go with the RSL 12s and and Denon 760h. I wanted to spend more money on my speakers initially as I hope to use them for much longer than the receiver. I was hoping to get some opinions on what speakers to choose for when I upgrade.

My main purpose for this system will be for movies and tv shows, then streaming music or playing vinyl. My music preferences include metal, blues rock, and folk rock. Examples of bands I listen to include Iron Maiden, Journey, Dream Theater, The Heavy, Kaleo, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, The Revivalists, and Hozier.

The room size is ~16ft by ~19ft. My target budget is $400-600 per individual speaker but would be willing to go to $700 per speaker if it would make a difference. Some speakers/brands I'm interested in include:

RSL CG5/CG25
Ascend Acoustic Sierra
Elac (From what I understand they have a few options in my budget range)
Q Acoustics
SVS Ultras
Kef
Monoprice

I am partial towards the RSL speakers since they have a very good reputation and I already went with their subwoofer. Do you all have any comparisons for the speakers I mentioned? Are there any other options I should look into? Also would it be worth looking into tower speakers? Thanks for any advice!

I am very happy with my Sierra-1s, and would love to have some of the newer versions. It's a good list of possibilities, altho by brand alone isn't too helpful.

 

[humnwtrfal]

Look at the Monoprice Monolith THX 365 series as well as the Hsu Research CCB-8. Also look at the Outlaw Audio BLS V2 and LCR V2, criminally under-rated speakers.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have never heard of the Outlaw Audio or HSU Research brands!

 

[humnwtrfal]

I am very happy with my Sierra-1s, and would love to have some of the newer versions. It's a good list of possibilities, altho by brand alone isn't too helpful.

That's fair, there were a lot of brands I saw being discussed but it was across multiple products. Thought I'd see if what others would recommend from the brands I mentioned.

 

[lovinthehd]

That's fair, there were a lot of brands I saw being discussed but it was across multiple products. Thought I'd see if what others would recommend from the brands I mentioned.

I just would rather see specific models you're interested in particularly. Brands are fine, but not bullet proof if that makes sense.

 

[humnwtrfal]

I just would rather see specific models you're interested in particularly. Brands are fine, but not bullet proof if that makes sense.

I definitely agree. I may have went about this out of order. I started to read into the available speakers and then decided to ask for opinions for my price range. I had hoped to narrow my options since there are a lot of speakers to choose from.

 

[lovinthehd]

I definitely agree. I may have went about this out of order. I started to read into the available speakers and then decided to ask for opinions for my price range. I had hoped to narrow my options since there are a lot of speakers to choose from.

Well I would expect you to do most of the legwork

 

[humnwtrfal]

Well I would expect you to do most of the legwork

haha I'll try and do some more research before coming back with other speakers I am interested in!

 

[humnwtrfal]

Look at the Monoprice Monolith THX 365 series as well as the Hsu Research CCB-8. Also look at the Outlaw Audio BLS V2 and LCR V2, criminally under-rated speakers.

ShadyJ, I was wondering if you could comment more on a few of your suggestions. After looking into them more I am very interested in the Outlaw Audio speakers and the Monolith THX speakers. I was hoping you could comment on how you thought they compared to either of the RSL 5 series speakers, the Ascent Sierra speakers, or the Elac Uni-Fi speakers.
I was also wondering how you felt about the Atmos speakers on the Monoliths and how hard it is to drive them compared to the other speakers with a higher impedance.

 

[lovinthehd]

ShadyJ, I was wondering if you could comment more on a few of your suggestions. After looking into them more I am very interested in the Outlaw Audio speakers and the Monolith THX speakers. I was hoping you could comment on how you thought they compared to either of the RSL 5 series speakers, the Ascent Sierra speakers, or the Elac Uni-Fi speakers.
I was also wondering how you felt about the Atmos speakers on the Monoliths and how hard it is to drive them compared to the other speakers with a higher impedance.

Curious if you've already checked out his reviews of those speakers here on Audioholics?

 

[shadyJ]

ShadyJ, I was wondering if you could comment more on a few of your suggestions. After looking into them more I am very interested in the Outlaw Audio speakers and the Monolith THX speakers. I was hoping you could comment on how you thought they compared to either of the RSL 5 series speakers, the Ascent Sierra speakers, or the Elac Uni-Fi speakers.
I was also wondering how you felt about the Atmos speakers on the Monoliths and how hard it is to drive them compared to the other speakers with a higher impedance.

If you want something with a wide dynamic range, the Monolith THX is a very good choice. It probably has the best 3-way center speaker out there that is anywhere near that price. The Outlaw Audio speakers are just really solid 2-way speakers that sound good. They probably aren't able to match the Monolith stuff for sheer dynamic range, but they look nicer and are a lot smaller. The RSL 5 speakers are OK but I am not a fan of the port system they use. It boosts the bass up by a lot, too much for my tastes. However, that would be EQ'd by your Denon's Audyssey, if you use that to calibrate your system. I have not heard the Ascend Sierras, but I would bet they sound very good. I don't remember if I heard them or not, but I think the ELAC Uni-Fis would be good, although some have complained about their limited dynamic range.

 

[humnwtrfal]

Curious if you've already checked out his reviews of those speakers here on Audioholics?

Yes! They have been very helpful in narrowing my choices. Since the reviews don't normally compare different products I was curious what he thought about the specific speakers I was interested in.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes! They have been very helpful in narrowing my choices. Since the reviews don't normally compare different products I was curious what he thought about the specific speakers I was interested in.

Sometimes hard to compare different speakers experienced at different times (especially if rooms or other factors change). FWIW I haven't relied on any kind of subjective comparative thing in my choices; if I can actually compare speakers that's one thing, but very hard where I live so I mostly rely on measurements and user experiences (not reviewers particularly). Getting some actual experience with various speakers if you can can be helpful. Well measuring speakers can be less risky if just ordering over the internet like I've often done (but nice to hear a great deal of satisfied users of various sorts). YMMV.

 

[humnwtrfal]

Sometimes hard to compare different speakers experienced at different times (especially if rooms or other factors change). FWIW I haven't relied on any kind of subjective comparative thing in my choices; if I can actually compare speakers that's one thing, but very hard where I live so I mostly rely on measurements and user experiences (not reviewers particularly). Getting some actual experience with various speakers if you can can be helpful. Well measuring speakers can be less risky if just ordering over the internet like I've often done (but nice to hear a great deal of satisfied users of various sorts). YMMV.

I wish I knew of somewhere near me to listen to different speakers. Most of my experience with decent speakers has been through roommates or friends before I moved. This is my first real foray into setting up a system. I now make enough money that I'd rather buy nice parts up front that will last a long time and minimize the chance I want to change the set up early. Hence the reason for this post and my interest in hearing how people compare different speakers. Do you have any recommendations for looking up places I could go listen speakers?

 

[humnwtrfal]

If you want something with a wide dynamic range, the Monolith THX is a very good choice. It probably has the best 3-way center speaker out there that is anywhere near that price. The Outlaw Audio speakers are just really solid 2-way speakers that sound good. They probably aren't able to match the Monolith stuff for sheer dynamic range, but they look nicer and are a lot smaller. The RSL 5 speakers are OK but I am not a fan of the port system they use. It boosts the bass up by a lot, too much for my tastes. However, that would be EQ'd by your Denon's Audyssey, if you use that to calibrate your system. I have not heard the Ascend Sierras, but I would bet they sound very good. I don't remember if I heard them or not, but I think the ELAC Uni-Fis would be good, although some have complained about their limited dynamic range.

Thanks for you thoughts on them! I was looking into the monoliths and noticed that the 465T models are ~50% off through open box on Monoprice's website. Do you think they are a worthy upgrade over the 365Ts? Also should I be wary of Monoprice's open box products? I've heard they have questionable customer service.

 

[lovinthehd]

I wish I knew of somewhere near me to listen to different speakers. Most of my experience with decent speakers has been through roommates or friends before I moved. This is my first real foray into setting up a system. I now make enough money that I'd rather buy nice parts up front that will last a long time and minimize the chance I want to change the set up early. Hence the reason for this post and my interest in hearing how people compare different speakers. Do you have any recommendations for looking up places I could go listen speakers?

It's a several hour drive from where I live to find any sort of choice (we do have a Best Buy without any type of dedicated audio setups about 45 minutes away, but not much selection plus the warehouse environment makes that a waste of time). Where do you live?

I've had good experience with a few internet direct vendors, particularly Ascend Acoustics and SVS. SVS even has a round-trip shipping service if you want to return them during the trial period. Best place to audition is really your own room. While I haven't experienced anything recent from RSL, my brother had a pair of their speakers in their first iteration, very nice speakers.

 

[humnwtrfal]

It's a several hour drive from where I live to find any sort of choice (we do have a Best Buy without any type of dedicated audio setups about 45 minutes away, but not much selection plus the warehouse environment makes that a waste of time). Where do you live?

I've had good experience with a few internet direct vendors, particularly Ascend Acoustics and SVS. SVS even has a round-trip shipping service if you want to return them during the trial period. Best place to audition is really your own room. While I haven't experienced anything recent from RSL, my brother had a pair of their speakers in their first iteration, very nice speakers.

I'm in upstate NY. Our bestbuy doesn't have many options. I've been tempted just now to order the Emotiva T2 speakers as they are on sale right now and it sounds like this is lower than normal. I've heard decent things about the T2s. I'm tempted to try them out

 

[Jambarino]

I can vouch for and recommend the Ascend Sierra LX's,especially for HT and TV and the genres of music you listen to. I recently did an in home demo between the Sierra LX's,KEF R3's,Philharmonic BMR's and a pair of CSS Criton 1TD-X's that I built. It was essentially a tie between the Sierra LX's and the BMR's,I chose the Sierra's based on a few personal preferences and factors. The LXs are great speakers for HT,especially in small to medium rooms. They do have low sensitivity,but they still have great dynamics and low distortion. You can demo them for 30 days,just have to pay return shipping if your not happy with them. Dave at Ascend is very friendly and helpful if you ask him any questions.

 

[shadyJ]

Thanks for you thoughts on them! I was looking into the monoliths and noticed that the 465T models are ~50% off through open box on Monoprice's website. Do you think they are a worthy upgrade over the 365Ts? Also should I be wary of Monoprice's open box products? I've heard they have questionable customer service.

I don't know how Monoprice handles open box stuff. I think The 465 will have a modest dynamic range increase over the 365. If they were close to the same price, I would jump on the 465, but I wouldn't bother if the cost increase was significant.