Ok, here is the never ending question...What speakers to buy at my price range? $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 without Subwoofer.
I live in Puerto Rico, and freight can be a killer if you don't know what you are doing, and I've found out that most of the companies that brag about shipping worldwide, even though PR is considered a domestic market by some, they don't know much about what to do. When they mention customs and brokerage fees, or that there is too much paperwork involved to ship USPS, I immediatley know they don't know squat. As PR is a US Territory, and there is no customs or brokerage fees from the USA, and shipping via USPS is the same procedure and rates as shipping to another State.
Personally, I have been in Import and Export since I was 18 yrs old and rather take care of shipping procedures myself, but many of these companies don't want you to do that because they cannot stick it to you by overcharging freight...This is especially true for companies doing business on EBay.
On the other hand, local hi-fi stores are geared towards the High End sector of the market, and tend to inflate prices, or keep in stock high-ticket items. As an example, I bought a Marantz SR-5001 (after lots of research) for $399.00 refurbished ($499.00 New), and the three local Marantz dealers asked over $700.00 for the same discontinued unit (new).
Anyways, now you know what receiver I have (Marantz SR-5001), which replaced my 1998 HTIB Sony receiver, but I have not replaced the speakers yet. I have always used the receiver as the video control/switching unit, and it is always on. My TV set is a Philips 50" Plasma with 2 ea. HDMI inputs, plus the usual modern connections. DVD/CD is a Toshiba 1080P upconverting DVD-R unit, and I just purchased a new Marantz DV-6600 DVD/CD/SACD/DVD-A 1080i upconverting unit for $250.00 from the local dealer (liquidation), this will be used mainly as a SACD/CD/DVD-A player. The Toshiba unit will do until the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD war is more defined, or until dual players become more reliable.
Finally, need these forum members expert help as to what speakers to buy, subwoofer is not needed for the time being, as I have a 1998 Audiosource 150Watts 8", which by audiophile standards is crappy, but will do for a few months until I can buy a good one. Main use will be HT, but I like to hear all types of music every now and then. I am in the process of adding space to my home, and there will be a dedicated HT/music room (14' W x 20' L x 8' H), but that will not be completed until mid 2008. For the time being I would like to purchase a 5 speaker system that I can use in my family room (12' W x 16' L x 12' H) which has lots of doorways and an open area leading to the kitchen. As an example, the surrounds will have to be placed in a wall about 3' behind the main seating position, and at a height of 8'+, and some 4' from the center of the wall to each speaker. Stands are out of the question.
Due to space and the famous WAF, extremely important, I had considered on wall speakers for the LCR duties, I considered Paradigm Cinema 220's, maybe 330's if budget allowed, Monitor Audio R225's, and Klipsch RVX-42's. By the way, the local dealer sell the RVX's for $279.00 ea., while I see people paying on EBay $400.00 ea., as if it was a great deal. For surround duties I was thinking Dipole/Bipole, but due to the position a good bookshelf speaker with a wall mount directed towards the listening position might be a better alternative.
I auditioned all the mentioned on-walls, and I was split between Klipsch and Paradigm with Klipsch having the winning edge. But, then the Monitor dealer made me audition Monitor's Silver system...why??? At $1,000.00/pair for the mains, $499.00 ea. for the center, and $699.00/pair for the SFX surrounds, they are out of my budget range. But, they sounded so sweet with everything (HT, Latin Music, Heavy Metal, Jazz, Pop)!!!
So, now I am thinking...What if I sold the large AV cabinet where the Plasma used to sit (now is on-wall), purchase a nice equipment rack (Soundsations or similar), so there is more space to accomodate floor standing speakers (right now there is no space)??? My original idea was to purchase the on-wall system, and later buy a pair of good bookshelfs for Stereo music ($1,500.00/pair budget for that); Monitor Audio, Paradigm, Linn, etc.
Finally, here are the questions?
1. From the mentioned on-wall speakers, what are your recommendations? And, if I wanted to add main bookshelfs for stereo music, what would you recommend?
2. Heard of AV123.com Rocket series, and Axiom. Don't like too much AV123, because, even though beautiful and apparently good reviews, they don't seem to stock much. All I heard from Axiom is good. Do you guys recommend any of these in particular???
3. What type of surround (monopole, bipole, dipole, adapted dipole, etc.)?
