Suggestions for a Good Pair of Towers

[Jeff R.]

All

I just got the OK from my wife to expand my family room stereo. I am looking for a pair of towers that will be used only for music. I will pair a sub with them so I will have some assistance on the low end. A few requirements:

Room Size - 18' x 18' x 15'(peak of the Vault)
Appearance - Needs to be a nice furniture grade cabinet finish.
Budget - $600-700.
Music - Mostly Rock, some Jazz or Acoustical styled music also. Also some Rap for the late night parties.

I will be powering this pair with an older HK AVR7000 receiver with is a pretty strong amp, rated at 110 W in stereo. It has been running an entire QLS MB Quart suround system for the past 9 years. So I am not concerned about a 4 ohm load.

Right now I am leaning toward the X-MTM Encore, however I just read a few reviews and am a little skeptical about the imaging on them, however the review was before the new crossover and tweet was put in.....so maybe that has improved.

Anybody have any other suggestions.....

 

[dgshtav]

I know you said towers. But still, I will go ahead and recommend AV123 Ref-1 in your budget. They stoppped making those now though, so used would be your only option.

Some other similar speakers that I have read good things about...
Swan Diva 2.1SE (About $650 New Piano Finish Rosewood. Piano Black about $50 less)
Ascend Sierra 1s

I have also heard the Swan Diva 6.1 and they are only very slightly beyond your budget from OZHomeTheater.com (Shipping was free up until very recently. But maybe you can talk to them and see what they can do)

 

[Jeff R.]

I checked out some Swan Speakers. They also have a Diva 4.1, I found those for $709/pr which seems reasonable. Not sure about the sound though.

 

[nova]

A really good tower at that price is gonna be tough. I'd suggest you audition some PSB Alpha T1 and,.... ummm,.... well,.... if you already have a sub, you may want to consider some book shelf speakers. On the other hand, there is always Infinity, Klipsch, JBL, et al.

 

[ski2xblack]

If you like av123, I would suggest you consider the x-SLS. You won't face the lobing issue that the MTM's have given their simpler two driver setup, so would probably image well and be pretty darn acceptable. Plus, they look gorgeous, as you know, and are less expensive. The only sacrifice is efficiency and bass output, which should not matter given your HK and sub.

I am basing this on a pair of x-ls I purchased for a family member and have extensive listening time with. They are enjoyable speakers, and I suspect sound as close to the x-sls' as anything.

 

[zeuiax]

KEF IQ7 @400/pair at vaans.com
PSB T45 (I own and love em) @499/pair

 

[Jeff R.]

ski - What are exactly do you mean the lobing issue? Are you referring to excess bass or poor imaging. I am not very familiar with the term.

 

[jostenmeat]

ski - What are exactly do you mean the lobing issue? Are you referring to excess bass or poor imaging. I am not very familiar with the term.

The two drivers laid out horizontally means that with any significant offaxis angle you have with the speaker, the two mid drivers are at DIFFERENT distances from you. The way the freq's then overlap each other will result in boosts and cancellations of random sets of freq's, depending on the exact angle offaxis you are, in regards to the speaker's own characteristics.

A horiz MTM can be better designed by having these two mids closer together (as the distances are less differing in such case), and having the xover point be lower (ideally, lower than the dialogue freq range).

You will see some better designs like WTMW. You still get lobing, but because the xover point betwen the mid and woofers is lower than dialogue, you are much less sensitive to it. With MTM, the only xover is between tweeter and mids.

The KEFs that are mentioned sidestep lobing, by using coincidental drivers.

The one problem that I see with an upright bookshelf for center is the lack of power handling, depending on the application. For me, I doubt its enough.

here is a good AH article:
http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/vertical-vs-horizontal-speaker-designs

 

[ski2xblack]

ski - What are exactly do you mean the lobing issue? Are you referring to excess bass or poor imaging. I am not very familiar with the term.

I am referring to how MTM speakers project an image with limited vertical dispersion, and wider horizontal dispersion...this is actually desireable for HT (IIRC such a dispersion pattern is a qualification for THX certification for speakers, I think). MTM driver arrangements produce a football shaped ideal listening zone, which hopefully coincides w/ your couch. If you stand up, however, the tonal balance can change quite a bit due to comb-filtering. I think that a two way, which would be more akin to a point-source, would image better over a greater area, which would be better for music. Some speakers are more pronounced with this lobing effect than others. The review I saw for the x-MTM bagged on them for sub-par imaging, and bloated, tubby base. The x-ls I'm familiar with image pretty well, at least for speakers at their price point, in a large, lively room.

For what it's worth, I think the KEF's that zeuiax mentioned sound better than x-sls'.

Oops, looks like someone beat me to it. See above post.

 

[Jeff R.]

I understand now thanks for clarifying. I have a pair of polk monitor speakers that have the same MTM arangement, I believe they struggle with similar issues.

I have been continuing to look, right now I am really leaning toward going with the Swan Diva 4.2. I am getting a 3 way speaker and also a great finish. I have only read really outstanding reviews on the swans.

Anybody have these?? or ever listened to them?

 

[-Kevin-]

+1 for swan divas.
I have not heard them myself. However, I have read MANY good things about them. Particularly the 6.1 model.

You can find them at www.ozhometheater.com
and
www.theaudioinsider.com

Hope this helps!

 

[3db]

A really good tower at that price is gonna be tough. I'd suggest you audition some PSB Alpha T1 and,.... ummm,.... well,.... if you already have a sub, you may want to consider some book shelf speakers. On the other hand, there is always Infinity, Klipsch, JBL, et al.

For $700, he can get the PSB ImageT45s which is great musical speaker. Having a paair, I can attest to their performance.

 

[Jeff R.]

I checked out the PSB, unfortunatly I am thinking that the PSB is a little to short for my room size and I am not so sure about only being able to get the Black or Sierra finish in the US. So right now I am leaning away from the PSB's.

 

[zeuiax]

I checked out the PSB, unfortunatly I am thinking that the PSB is a little to short for my room size and I am not so sure about only being able to get the Black or Sierra finish in the US. So right now I am leaning away from the PSB's.

You can still get Maple finish for 499 at dmc-electronics.com

 

[lsiberian]

If you can find some Infinity Beta towers that would be sweet. I love the Beta series and heart me some Beta 50 towers. Match them with a 360 center and my front sound stage just got an upgrade.

 

[MatthewB.]

A tad pricey but I highly recommend the AV123 Strata Minis. I use my pair in my office/guestroom and these babies were made for music. The built in 350 watt subs in each tower are very tight and controlled (for muisc mind you, not so much for movies) But sitting in the sweet spot, I can close my eyes and you can actually pinpoint where each bandmember is playing, it is that precise. I use mine strictly for music, but my GF watches her stupid soaps in the guestroom (the system is setup to be very easy to use (for her) so she DVR's everything in there, but she loves the sound also. They are great four way speakers.

 

[Jeff R.]

I think the Strata's are way out of the budget for now. Thanks for the suggestion.

I will have to check out the PSB in maple, although I am still concerned they will be to short. I have vaulted ceilings in the room and also it an entertaining area where everyone mostly is standing am moving about. I am concerned they will sound great while seated but once standing the tower is only waist high.

 

[lsiberian]

I think the Strata's are way out of the budget for now. Thanks for the suggestion.

I will have to check out the PSB in maple, although I am still concerned they will be to short. I have vaulted ceilings in the room and also it an entertaining area where everyone mostly is standing am moving about. I am concerned they will sound great while seated but once standing the tower is only waist high.

You should be fine with most towers. But if you are concerned about a wide sound stage. Look into the Kef iQ5s or 7s they are going on clearance at vanns and accessories4less. The iQs do a good job of dispersing sound over a wide area.

 

[chgo36]

Psb T55's

Jeff,

I recently bought a pair of the PSB T55's and they are awesome. i have a large listening area, approx 18 x 24 with 10 foot ceilings and they fill the room very well. What I really like about them is that they have enough low end that I can listen in two channel without the sub and they sound very good. I paid $700 for the pair in Siena.
As far as height, I think you will find that most of the towers in this price range will be of similar height.
If you are concerned about filling the large space, you might want to think about putting a couple nice in-ceiling in the rear portion of the room. I have a pair of Boston Acoustic in-ceilings I use as rears and also sometime use them in a 5 channel set up for music with a large group at home.