which speakers to get

[giacona]

I am in the process of setting up a home theatre in my living room. I'm not sure what speakers to get though. I know I want a 5.1 system, just not sure what brand to go with. A friend of mine had a nice set of bose similar to what I am looking for and they sounded decent, but from what I have been reading, it sounds like bose are overpiced for the quaility you get. The size of my room which will be for home theatre is about 14X15. I also hear difinative technology are good but when I was in best buy the other day it looked like one speaker was priced about 1,100, so thats out of the question. I plan to give myself a 2,000.00 budget but hoping to spend less to get a decent system.

I don't want floor standing speakers, Id perfer to get the ones that I can attach to the wall or celling with a bracket. I'd appreciate some recommendations that will be decent without breaking the bank.

I'm not sure if I have that much of a trained ear to tell the difference between a bose and a definative technolgy speaker system, but I will definatly go to some stores and sample.

I once had a car stero system and a friend of mine who did it recommened mb quart speakers. I feel so in love with these speakers and they were resoanabley priced compared to other higher end speakers.

 

[mazersteven]

I'm not sure if I have that much of a trained ear to tell the difference between a bose and a definative technolgy speaker system.

Yes you do.

 

[Adam]

You're sure to get recommendations here, and if you peruse past threads on the forum you'll see a lot of them. You'll also see a lot of advice (that I truly believe) that you really need to listen to speakers yourself to know what is best for you. Try out as many as you can, or at least as many as you have patience for. Why? Here's an example. Paradigm comes highly recommended, but I haven't heard one yet that I like (and believe me, I tried). Other people, however, love them. That's just an example of how personal taste really should drive your decision.

Axiom gets a lot of attention here, so do Paradigm, DefTech, B&W, SVS, Hsu, Onix X-ls (from av123.com), and others. If you go with an internet direct company, look into how much shipping you'll have to pay to send them back. Right now, av123.com has a no-risk trial on their x-ls speakers in which they'll pay shipping both ways if you don't like them. The x-ls might be too big to mount on the wall, though.

Shop around, and have fun.

EDIT - I forgot to mention that I think that MB Quart also makes home speakers.

 

[mazersteven]

Any pictures of your room? Where is your seating position located. Middle of room, against the wall? Is this for HT only? Music?

 

[giacona]

Music & HT

Basically my couch is against the rear/exterior wall with 2 windows behind me. I do not have any pictures at this time. I will be facing the Tv and entertairnment unit where everything will be stored. That will be up against another wall. I plan to listen to music and use these speakers for home theatre as well.

 

[Leprkon]

something like this might be the ticket...

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/satellite/acoustic-research-home-decor

 

[mazersteven]

Basically my couch is against the rear/exterior wall with 2 windows behind me. I do not have any pictures at this time. I will be facing the Tv and entertairnment unit where everything will be stored. That will be up against another wall. I plan to listen to music and use these speakers for home theatre as well.

You mentioned wall mounting. Do the mains (fronts) have to be wall mounted?

 

[autoboy]

Placing satelite speakers in the corner of your room might look ok, but it will not sound great. Yeah, you can get some decent satelite systems that will blow Bose out of the water, I'm partial to the Velodyne Deco system because my friend designed them, but placing them in the high corners of your room like bose does creates resonances off the corner that can color the sound. Another problem is that the corners of the room are not in the right place for accurate stereo separation of the fronts. Also, the center should be directly above or below the TV as close as possible to anchor the sound at the TV.

I actually find that speakers can add a lot of visual candy to any room if they are properly chosen for the decor. My wife loves the look of my Def Tech Mythos Twos sitting on my dresser in the bedroom. The black aluminum and glass stands brings a sexy, modern appearance to the room and compliments my Sony 40" LCD. Since you are not super familiar with high end sound, most of the recomendations here will be suitable for your needs. Just about anything sounds better than the muffled sound from Bose speakers ( I admit I have a bose center channel that I used for 5 years and I never complained until I knew what real speakers sounded like). My Axiom towers in my living room are not as sexy, but do not look out of place and compliment the decor, though I wish they looked as sexy as the Mythos.

Talk to your wife a bit, go check out some beautiful bookshelf speakers. See if they will fit in your room. An attractive tower or bookshelf, can look awesome. I suggest you check out the Def Tech Mythos line, The Mirage Omni line, the axiom linuep because it sounds awesome, and that Kef lineup that just got reviewed. I've never seen the Kefs offline but the pictures look amazing.

 

[giacona]

I'd perfer all of the speakers to be wall mounted. If I had to have floor standing speakers for the fronts I'd consider it. Would I get better quality that way? Is it more cost effective?

 

[mazersteven]

I'd perfer all of the speakers to be wall mounted. If I had to have floor standing speakers for the fronts I'd consider it. Would I get better quality that way? Is it more cost effective?

IMO you would have a better system with bookshelf speakers on stands as mains. Something like this

If you already have electronics this. I don't recommend the sub so you can take that out of that recommendation.

Titan Monitor system

http://www.paradigm.com/en/paradigm/rec-systems-2-1-2-4.paradigm

If you need electronics. Again I would recommend a different sub.

Mini Monitor system

http://www.paradigm.com/en/paradigm/rec-systems-14-1-2-4.paradigm

Since your couch is up against the back wall I recommend the ADP rears.

 

[EJD]

If I had to have floor standing speakers for the fronts I'd consider it. Would I get better quality that way? Is it more cost effective?

As a general rule, yes you will get better quality from a floorstanding or bookshelf speaker than ones that can be wall mounted. Most wall mounted speakers tend to have fairly small drivers and fairly small cabinets so that they are lighter and don't stick out from the wall as much.

This is not to suggest that there can't be wall mounted speakers that sound good - but my experience has been that people who choose wall mounted speakers do so because it looks better or has a higer WAF - not because they sound better.

 

[Pheaton]

Hi,
Since I just went through the process of demoing several on-wall speakers I will throw in my 2 cents. I listened to eight different manufacturers of on-wall speakers and came to the conclusion that the sound quality was not for us. My wife and I moved to towers because we liked how they sounded. So I would agree that you get better sound quality out of a floorstanding tower over a wall mounted speaker. BUT, you and your wife need to go and listen to some wall mounted speakers. Just because they were not right for us does not mean that they will not be right for you. Try to listen to as many speakers as you can and pick the ones that fit your budget and sound the best to you. Good luck with your search.

Pheaton

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Check out the Studio L series from JBL. You could get their 5.0 system and then add a good SVS or HSU sub.

 

[flippo]

Mirage Omnisat v2 Satellites

The Mirage Omnisat v2 Satellites can be wall mounted (mine are) and they sound very good with a very large soundstage and a good presence. They are very well built and have a good WAF factor. The enclosures are made of aluminum. I purchased mine from Crutchfield as there is no store close to me that sells Mirage (very good sister company with energy, athena). I purchased without listening (to this model of Mirage) knowing I could always return if not happy. Here is the mirage website for the speakers:

http://www.miragespeakers.com/v2/product_page.php?open=lines&subid=613&id=614

Hope this helps.

P.S. They cost $500 for a pair and do need a subwoofer for the low end (the satellites go down to about 70hz).

 

[Reorx]

I've seen quite a few bookshelf speakers that are wall mounted, and sound great.
Much better then cheap satalites.

I'd recommend both the RBH MC-6C and Ascend Sierra 1's. I've heard both now, and am having a hard time choosing between them.

Audioholics is supposed to be doing a bookshelf shootout this summer. I thought it was going to be in June. But am not 100% sure on that.

 

[jcPanny]

Bookshelf speakers

A quality bookshelf system will sound better and play louder than satellite speakeakers. Some of them, like AV123 Onix X-series are available in real wood venner when can give them a higher WAF rating.

SVS also has their 5.1 system in white or silver on sale for $800. Both are great option and would leave you plenty of funds for the receiver, DVD player, and cables.

 

[flippo]

The Mirage's can and do fill the room without any struggle.