Back in the market

[krzywica]

Also I don't mind buying used gear from ebay or audiogon or what have you...

 

[krzywica]

Would something like this work?

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc.pl?ampstran&1198809949

 

[3db]

have you tried auditioning the PSB Image T65s? yet?

 

[krzywica]

No I couldn't find a dealer in my area. I live in Green Bay WI now. what would you guys suggest to be the most beef for your buck reciever these days.

 

[mazersteven]

No I couldn't find a dealer in my area. I live in Green Bay WI now. what would you guys suggest to be the most beef for your buck reciever these days.

What speakers have you chose to go with?

 

[Guangui]

No I couldn't find a dealer in my area. I live in Green Bay WI now. what would you guys suggest to be the most beef for your buck reciever these days.

Depends what you are looking for. HT control and decoding features or a mix of sound and features. Also, in what price range. I would say that most people are willing to pay $300 to $500 for a decent receiver. Control and Decoding I would look for offerings from Onkyo (605) and Yamaha. Mix of sound and features Denon and Marantz, with Marantz having the best Sound Quality (SQ). But, in order to get a Denon or Marantz with similar features to Onkyo and Yamaha at the same price, you will probably have to check refurbished units.

HK AVR-247 for around $350.00 refurbished probably offers the best of both worlds (HT control and decoding, plus SQ)

 

[Warpdrv]

You should get in touch with Annunaki http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/member.php?u=2836
He might have some products for you to listen to...
He is in Appleton or close to there...


I am just north of Milwaukee
I have Paradigm Studio .v4's and SVS MTS speakers on the way, you are more then welcome to come have a listen if you like...

Nothing wrong with having a set of mid-tower speakers with a good quality sealed sub to augment the bass department...

I also have a number of the SVS subs here for you to check out if you so desire. SB12-Plus PB12-Plus and PB12-Plus/2

I find the SB12-Plus to be a great clean and powerful sub for the money..

 

[krzywica]

I might take you up on that offer. After some more consideration I may end up going with some bookshelves and a sub, I think it would be a lot easier to integrate into a different environment, as I am now planning on moving into a house next fall.

Do you have any SVS models for sale? My friend had the PB 12 ultra? I think? It had dual woofers and was around $3000, that thing was rediculous!

I'm going to a brick and mortar in a few minuets so I will post back with the speakers that I have chosen.

 

[krzywica]

I took a listen to the PSB B25's yesterday and I really liked them. I think I am going to go with a pair of PSB B25's, but I'm not sure which center channel to get. Is the C60 worth the extra $100 if it will not be used in a large room environment? Or is there a difference in clarity and detail as well. They both appear to use the same drivers.

I will also be purchasing an SVS sub, probably the PB10 NSD. I don't think I would need the extra oomph that a 12" driver would offer, as I will probably have the PB10 dialed down quite low as is. If I can find a used SVS that would be even better!

And finally I am going to try and find a used reciever to drive everything. I would like to find something with HDMI functionality, but I don't want to spend much more than, if even $400. I was looking at the Marantz recievers and they looked nice. I have owened a Yamaha HTR, and a Pioneer in the past. Both were nice units but I was looking for something more on the amplification end, as most companies seem so skimp on nice clean power and focus more on features and "peak" power numbers. That is why the Marantz units looked very attractive.

What do you guys think?

 

[Guangui]

I took a listen to the PSB B25's yesterday and I really liked them. I think I am going to go with a pair of PSB B25's, but I'm not sure which center channel to get. Is the C60 worth the extra $100 if it will not be used in a large room environment? Or is there a difference in clarity and detail as well. They both appear to use the same drivers.

I will also be purchasing an SVS sub, probably the PB10 NSD. I don't think I would need the extra oomph that a 12" driver would offer, as I will probably have the PB10 dialed down quite low as is. If I can find a used SVS that would be even better!

And finally I am going to try and find a used reciever to drive everything. I would like to find something with HDMI functionality, but I don't want to spend much more than, if even $400. I was looking at the Marantz recievers and they looked nice. I have owened a Yamaha HTR, and a Pioneer in the past. Both were nice units but I was looking for something more on the amplification end, as most companies seem so skimp on nice clean power and focus more on features and "peak" power numbers. That is why the Marantz units looked very attractive.

What do you guys think?

I'm the wrong guy to give you advise on your post, as I have PSB and Marantz, and I can sound like Tony the Tiger: "They're Greeeeeeat"!!!!!

C60 is probably overkill for your room, and not worth the extra $100.00. C40 uses 5-1/4" drivers, while C60 uses 6-1/2", same size drivers as the B25's, but C60 is a midrange, while B25's is a woofer. Some people will tell you that it is best if you match exactly the drivers, but in this case the difference, if any, cannot be heard unless you have super ears.

As for the receiver, I have Marantz SR-5001 (Refurb $399.99 from Acc4Less). This receiver is awesome, has plenty of power (80W), and I have no complains using it as my AV control unit. My TV speakers are never used, I hear and control everything with my SR-5001. I use it as 5.1, so the extra surround channels are used to power some outdoor Advent speakers in my backyard terrace, and the sound is totally different as to what they sounded when powered by a 45W Sony receiver (STR-DG125). You can also go for an SR-4001 ($299.99 Refurb from A4L), which is a 5001 with less features.

You will see here lots of people talking about all the features they get in their Onkyo (605) or Yamaha or Sony, but IMO they don't sound like Marantz and if you ask them they don't know what each feature does, nor they use 50% of their receivers features. If you have BR or HD-DVD, yes, you might want to go with a newer series, like Marantz SR-4002 or 5002, Denon's ending in 08, or an Onkyo 605, to take advantage of the new surround formats DD Plus and DTS HD. I have not seen Marantz 02's out in the Refurb market yet, but I have seen Denon's 08's at Dakmart. Onkyo's are so lousy, that they have been available for awhile in the Refurb market (www.shoponkyo.com and www.accessories4less.com). HK-247 is also a good receiver (Refurb www.harmanaudio.com).

(That Onkyo remark was for fun, I'm sure some people won't even read this sentence and will start bashing me for my comment)

 

[krzywica]

No actually you are the right guy. Exactly what I wanted to hear. I had been eyeing the Marantz SR-4002 and it looked like a perfect match for my hardware. I will run most of my content through my HTPC which I built, that has an LG combo HD-DVD/Blu ray drive which is absolutely golden IMO. Which will get put on a 50" 720P plasma LG TV. I wil probably be getting a STB eventually (all OTA brodcasts right now) and an Xbox 360 in a few months. So the advent of HDMI inputs/output would be very welcome. I would agree that even "high end" recievers these days sound sub par at best, but do have an amplitude of features. I will probably end up going with the Marantz, as I can't afford seperates, and this seems to be the best route for audio quality. But I have also heard good things about the clarity and power of HK products.

Oh and thanks for your input about the center channel, I will probably just get the smaller one as the C60 is just plain overkill.

 

[Guangui]

No actually you are the right guy. Exactly what I wanted to hear. I had been eyeing the Marantz SR-4002 and it looked like a perfect match for my hardware. I will run most of my content through my HTPC which I built, that has an LG combo HD-DVD/Blu ray drive which is absolutely golden IMO. Which will get put on a 50" 720P plasma LG TV. I wil probably be getting a STB eventually (all OTA brodcasts right now) and an Xbox 360 in a few months. So the advent of HDMI inputs/output would be very welcome. I would agree that even "high end" recievers these days sound sub par at best, but do have an amplitude of features. I will probably end up going with the Marantz, as I can't afford seperates, and this seems to be the best route for audio quality. But I have also heard good things about the clarity and power of HK products.

Oh and thanks for your input about the center channel, I will probably just get the smaller one as the C60 is just plain overkill.

Good...

Regarding HK, I like HK, but never owned one, you will probably get more with the 4002, than with HK's in the same price range. Even though HK has excellent sound and clean power, apparently they tend to have reliability issues, but that is just hear say.

 

[3db]

I took a listen to the PSB B25's yesterday and I really liked them. I think I am going to go with a pair of PSB B25's, but I'm not sure which center channel to get. Is the C60 worth the extra $100 if it will not be used in a large room environment? Or is there a difference in clarity and detail as well. They both appear to use the same drivers.

I will also be purchasing an SVS sub, probably the PB10 NSD. I don't think I would need the extra oomph that a 12" driver would offer, as I will probably have the PB10 dialed down quite low as is. If I can find a used SVS that would be even better!

And finally I am going to try and find a used reciever to drive everything. I would like to find something with HDMI functionality, but I don't want to spend much more than, if even $400. I was looking at the Marantz recievers and they looked nice. I have owened a Yamaha HTR, and a Pioneer in the past. Both were nice units but I was looking for something more on the amplification end, as most companies seem so skimp on nice clean power and focus more on features and "peak" power numbers. That is why the Marantz units looked very attractive.

What do you guys think?

The C40 will work well the B25s and I doubt you'll hear and difference in timbre between them.

The Image Series are very easy to drive, and have a fairly high sensitivity rating. Yamaha's HTR6060, HTR6050 will have more than enough power to drive them to insanely loud levels despite their 6 ohm rating. I have a cheapy Technics receiver and they drive my PSB based system to insanely loud levels without breaking a sweat. So dont worry about Yamaha not being able to produce enough clean power for them.

 

[jlahk]

Anyone have a comparison between:

Axiom M60 v2 vs Polk Rti 10's

I'm looking into new front speakers. I'm ready for some higher end stuff.

Does anyone have an opinion on this comparison--or just straight up on the Axioms?

 

[mazersteven]

I have no experience with Axiom. But from that talk around the forums, Axioms tend to be a more forward (brighter) speaker, and may cause listening fatigue after some time.

I have auditioned the RTi's. The Polks RTi tweeter is slightly forward of sounding neutral, but without any harshness IMO. Excellent low end.

 

[jlahk]

Thanks, Mazer. Is there any truth to the RTi12s requiring a lot of power? I was planning on buying the Emotiva XPA-5 (5x200) when it is available. And do you happen to be familiar with the Def Tech Mythos STs? Or is that apples and oranges.

 

[krzywica]

Deals!!

Ok guys so I decided to go with the PSB image b25's. But when I went to my local A/V store that carries them they only had the b15's. BUT they were on clearance for only $199, which is awesome!! I am probably going to pick these up and if they turn out to be not quite enough the salesman said I could get full credit and upgrade to something bigger/better. Like the b25's or some floorstanders in the image line. They also had a lot of other stuff on clearance, but I didn't have time to check it all out, but they had the T65's there for $700, if I recall correctly, but those things where gigantic for my current room, not to mention the receiver I purchased would not drive them very well.

Also I just picked up an AVR 147 to drive them and maybe a center channel, but I am going to hold off on the center channel for now and see how well the imaging is on the b15's. But I have a feeling with how many movies I watch that I am going to want a center channel sooner than later.

I will also be picking up a sub, I'm not sure if I am going to have someone build one, or go with the SVS PB12-NSD.

 

[Guangui]

Any PSB will probably have one of the best imaging in its class. Sometimes I have my T45's playing in stereo, and I see myself walking to the center (C40) to check that is not working, as I swear it is working.

B15 is a good speaker, somewhere in between an Alpha B, and the B25. If they offered that great price for them, I would keep them, and try them, as they also offered you a great trade in deal. If you don't like them get the B25's, or T45's, or T55's.

Why don't you try those T65's with your receiver. Do they have a demo pair they are willing to loan for a day or two???

BTW, have we managed once again to drive someone to the ledge of the overbudget precipice??? Aren't the T65 out of your budget, even at that clearance price???

 

[krzywica]

Any PSB will probably have one of the best imaging in its class. Sometimes I have my T45's playing in stereo, and I see myself walking to the center (C40) to check that is not working, as I swear it is working.

B15 is a good speaker, somewhere in between an Alpha B, and the B25. If they offered that great price for them, I would keep them, and try them, as they also offered you a great trade in deal. If you don't like them get the B25's, or T45's, or T55's.

Why don't you try those T65's with your receiver. Do they have a demo pair they are willing to loan for a day or two???

BTW, have we managed once again to drive someone to the ledge of the overbudget precipice??? Aren't the T65 out of your budget, even at that clearance price???

Thanks a lot. I live in a decent sized apartment right now, but the den is only 10x12, and they only have b15's and the T65's in stock.......so as I would love to pick up the t65's for the house I am moving into at the end of this year....they are simply overkill for me right now. And my original budget for my mains was around 1k, thats including the center channel if need be. But I have been thinking that I might just pick them both up and store the T65's and then when I move I can use the T65's for my mains and the B15's for my surrounds. Oh and I checked out the c60 today as well.....holy crap that thing is HUGE!!! My amp doesn't come in till next week.....so I will have to wait to get back to you guys with my results.

Oh and I am REALLY REALLY torn between my 2 sub choices. I was considering the SVS PB12-NSD or the Outlaw LFM-1 EX, I have heard the Outlaw is much more musical than the SVS and they are about equal for H/T. What do you guys think....I have heard a few SVS subs in the past and have always been impressed.

 

[3db]

If your moving into a house in a year's time, snag the T65s (as long as they're in your budget) and just store them under your bed until your in the new place.

BTW. What kind of amp will you be getting? The entire image line has a fairly high sensitivity and despite being 6 ohms nominal, they are easy to drive. I have an entire PSB setup with T45s, 1B (B15 replaced them) and an 8C (C40 replaced it) all being driven from a Technics A/V receiver. The receiver doesn't even break a sweat when running them at a good volume. My receiver is not what I call a powerhouse.

I wish I could help you with your sub purchase but I haven't heard any of them. The only thing I know is what I have read about them as mentioned in this forum. My sub is PSB Subsonic5. Its not bad, its not great. There are better subs for the money out there. I just didn;t know about them at the time.