Home Theater Speaker Recommendations

[humnwtrfal]

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.

Got ya, I think the 465 was around $380 each but it looks like its already gone. I saw that Emotiva is having a sale and I was debating getting the T2 since it was $700 a pair and the t1 was $500 a pair. I may also wait like I originally planned as I've heard that the THX 365Ts have gone on sale for $500 a pair recently.

 

[humnwtrfal]

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.

Thanks for your thoughts! I have mainly heard people talk about the Sierra 1s. What changes when you go to the LX or EX line?

 

[humnwtrfal]

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.

What did you think about the kef r3s compared to the ascends? I learned they are on sale for about the same price as the Emotiva t2s (which are also on sale so I was considering them). I can get them from best buy for 720 dollars.

 

[Jambarino]

What did you think about the kef r3s compared to the ascends? I learned they are on sale for about the same price as the Emotiva t2s (which are also on sale so I was considering them). I can get them from best buy for 720 dollars.

For that price I think they would be a steal,but I found them to be bright and fatiguing. They are very impressive in some ways,imaging is fantastic but they had an elevated treble response that I personally didn't care for. I'm sure I could have eq'd them but I generally prefer wider dispersion speakers than the KEF's.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks for your thoughts! I have mainly heard people talk about the Sierra 1s. What changes when you go to the LX or EX line?

Ascend has pretty good descriptions on their site, but basically a design/driver change (using the newer Klippel test devices, which they didn't have for the Sierra-1s), also a lot of info in their user forum. I have three Sierra-1s which I bought used, the previous owner had converted to the NrT tweeter for the center, and later I changed the other two to the NrT tweeters also. The LX still uses a somewhat traditional tweeter, altho different, and the EX uses Raal tweeters (ribbon type rather than dome).
This might be a starting point to follow the development of the series https://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?2649-Introducing-the-Sierra-1-!!!

 

[humnwtrfal]

Ascend has pretty good descriptions on their site, but basically a design/driver change (using the newer Klippel test devices, which they didn't have for the Sierra-1s), also a lot of info in their user forum. I have three Sierra-1s which I bought used, the previous owner had converted to the NrT tweeter for the center, and later I changed the other two to the NrT tweeters also. The LX still uses a somewhat traditional tweeter, altho different, and the EX uses Raal tweeters (ribbon type rather than dome).
This might be a starting point to follow the development of the series https://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?2649-Introducing-the-Sierra-1-!!!

Thanks for the link!

 

[humnwtrfal]

For that price I think they would be a steal,but I found them to be bright and fatiguing. They are very impressive in some ways,imaging is fantastic but they had an elevated treble response that I personally didn't care for. I'm sure I could have eq'd them but I generally prefer wider dispersion speakers than the KEF's.

Dang I went to purchase the KEFs and they were already gone. I decided to go with the Emotivas for my first pair. I'll definitely keep Ascend in mind for when I have more money to spend on expanding my setup.

 

[humnwtrfal]

Thanks for the link!

So while I missed getting the r3s I noticed that best buy has the r2c center still on open box for 55% off. Do you have an opinion on that center?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

For that price I think they would be a steal,but I found them to be bright and fatiguing. They are very impressive in some ways,imaging is fantastic but they had an elevated treble response that I personally didn't care for. I'm sure I could have eq'd them but I generally prefer wider dispersion speakers than the KEF's.

Here is the ASR measurement of the KEF R3.

KEF R3 Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the KEF R3 stand-mount (bookshelf) speaker. It is on kind loan from a member who sent a pair to me at great cost (they come two in a box). The R3 costs US $1,999 for a pair. The R3 is an example of superb industrial design by KEF: It oozes...

www.audiosciencereview.com

We can see that the FR is very linear/flat and tapers down after 10kHz. So the R3 should not be bright at all.

 

[Jambarino]

Here is the ASR measurement of the KEF R3.

KEF R3 Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the KEF R3 stand-mount (bookshelf) speaker. It is on kind loan from a member who sent a pair to me at great cost (they come two in a box). The R3 costs US $1,999 for a pair. The R3 is an example of superb industrial design by KEF: It oozes...

www.audiosciencereview.com

We can see that the FR is very linear/flat and tapers down after 10kHz. So the R3 should not be bright at all.

These are my in room measurements,with the KEF R3 in black,BMR in Blue and Criton 1TDX in red and the R3 definitely had an elevated treble response after 3khz in my room that I personally found bright. YMMV. Also attached is the pir that shows a mid range dip followed by a rise that can also lead to the speaker sounding bright. Amir even commented as such.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

These are my in room measurements,with the KEF R3 in black,BMR in Blue and Criton 1TDX in red and the R3 definitely had an elevated treble response after 3khz in my room that I personally found bright. YMMV. Also attached is the pir that shows a mid range dip followed by a rise that can also lead to the speaker sounding bright. Amir even commented as such.
View attachment 62052View attachment 62053View attachment 62054

That looks like a deviation of -1dB to +2dB, which is an average FR of +/-1.5dB. Not many speakers are going to have a more linear FR.

From your room FR, it looks like the graph from 200Hz - 1kHz is HIGHER than above 1kHz.

It would be a different story if the FR above 8kHz is way above the FR BELOW 1kHz. But it’s not.

 

[Jambarino]

That looks like a deviation of -1dB to +2dB, which is an average FR of +/-1.5dB. Not many speakers are going to have a more linear FR.

From your room FR, it looks like the graph from 200Hz - 1kHz is HIGHER than above 1kHz.

It would be a different story if the FR above 8kHz is way above the FR BELOW 1kHz. But it’s not.

So is Amir's take that it may be bright and my opinion that I perceived it as being bright invalid? I'm sorry if that bothers you that much. I prefer not to clutter the op's thread with this. I'm moving on.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So is Amir's take that it may be bright and my opinion that I perceived it as being bright invalid? I'm sorry if that bothers you that much. I prefer not to clutter the op's thread with this. I'm moving on.

Just discussing, man. That’s the purpose of this forum.

When someone say a speaker is bright, these are some examples I think of. Definitely not +/-1.5dB. But even so, it doesn’t mean they are “bright” to everyone.

 

[isolar8001]

This is why I never respond to "what's the best speaker for....???..."
When I sold speakers and someone came in and asked me what my best ones were, I would just tell them "If you buy any of these...those ones."

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

This is why I never respond to "what's the best speaker for....???..."
When I sold speakers and someone came in and asked me what my best ones were, I would just tell them "If you buy any of these...those ones."

For sure. Very subjective. Some may prefer more, some less. And even measurements don’t guarantee what a person likes more.