First-time Buyer: Looking for Home Theater Speakers

[love2drive335]

Hello all. I'm a self-described music fanatic who's looking to piece together my 'first' home theater setup, and just not sure what this market has to offer.

I'm one of those guys who's always tweaking my EQs when listening to music, trying to perfect the sound (DSP with 15-band graphic DEQ in the car, DIY cMoy amp, line out and graphic eq app on my iphone/ipad with a dozen presets depending on the music genre and which of my 6 headphones I'm using). I'm limited to shopping online for the time being, but I've already purchased a new receiver (Pioneer VSX-1021-K, because I'm an Apple fanboy and the price/performance ratio is very good from what I've read), and I'm trying to decide on which speakers to purchase. I would like to hit a sweet spot between value and performance around $2000, but I would be willing to allocate a little more for a 5.1 setup, minus the sub (5.0?).

The little bit of shopping I've done so far has me wanting a complete Klipsch RF-82 II setup, but I'm wondering if that might be a bit of an overkill for my goals. Since my setup will be focused towards music moreso than theater, I believe I will want the RF-82 front floorstanding speakers for the output and staging, but I'm not sure I really need the RC-62 center and RS-62 surrounds. I'm considering this mainly for cost savings. Would it be a bad decision to reduce the center to an RC-52 and the surrounds to RS-42's or even RS-41's?

I realize much of speaker selection is subjective, but are there 'better' options out there for the same or less money? I've even been drawn into the ads for the Verus Grand series speakers here on the forum, given the fantastic reviews. I might even consider spending a little extra to get the full setup, but again, I'm curious if there would be a negative side-effects of going for the Versus Grand front towers with the Versus Forte center and surrounds and putting the extra cash towards a second or better sub?

Can someone shine some light on this subject for me?

-Jason

 

[sholling]

What type of music? How big is the room? I'm also confused about your budget. $2000 for a 2.0 system? Or $2000 for a 3.0 system? Do you already have a subwoofer? The Pioneer limits you to 6 or 8ohm speakers which unfortunately eliminates Salk's speakers. On the other hand it should easily drive the Verus Grand Tower speakers that you were looking at or the RF-82. I haven't heard the Aperions but the reviews are impressive. I'm just not sure I'd mix and match product lines across the front three. That's because the mains and center need to be as close to an exact match as possible.

Klipsch are very much a love them or don't love them at all speaker and it usually takes an extended listening session to decide which camp you sit in. That's because some find them fatiguing or a bit harsh. Others love them for their dynamics - especially for metal or movies. It's personal taste but I would spend some serious time listening to them before plunking down any money. That's not a bad idea anyway and while you're exploring audio stores I'd listen to some Boston Acoustics, and DefTechs, and PSB, and Paradigm, and everything else that they have in your price range. Take your own music, music that you know very well, and plan to spend at least a lot of time listening to each and comparing the side by side.

As an alternative - if you already have a subwoofer and the room isn't huge then 3 Ascend Sierra-1 bookshelves with the unadvertised NrT tweeter upgrade would sound really good. That should set you back about $850/pr for the mains, $440 for the center, and $600 ($200ea) for the three upgrades. Total $1900.

 

[love2drive335]

My taste in music varies widely. Eva Cassidy to Lil Wayne, Yellowcard to Kenny Chesney, Zimmer to Tiesto. The room is fairly sizeable at 19x24 with 16' cathedral ceiling, listening position/TV fairly centered and directly infront of each other. I would like to keep things around $3400, but that includes ~$1000 for a sub, plus all my wiring, so I'm looking at $2000-2400 for the speakers. Right now, I'm considering Velodyne for a sub, either MiniVee 10 or DEQ-R 15; maybe adding a second one later on if I feel the need.

I'm sorry if I was unclear about my desired setup. I'm wanting a 5.1 setup for theater, but I'll be using it for music only about 70% of the time. There will be times when I just want to sit center stage on the couch and really crank it up as I scroll through my music, but I'm not sure how much the center and surrounds factor into the music listening experience, so my initial (read: inexperienced) thought is that my sub(s) and front channels will be doing the majority of the work.

I'm deployed to Afghanistan right now, so I won't be able to actually listen to any setups in person for another couple months. I do understand what you said about requiring extended listening to decide whether they're your taste or not. I'm one of the Ultrasone S-logic owners over on the Head-fi forums, so I'm all too familiar with the love/hate relationships people have with some brands. Thank you much for the recommendations. I will be sure to look for the names you mentioned when I have the opportunity.

 

[sholling]

First thank you for your service.

Your instincts were correct - a room that size will need likely towers.

That's right around 7000cuft and it's going take some serious subs. I'd look at either 2 Hsu Research VTF-2 subwoofers or possibly 1 or 2 Elemental Designs A5-350s. I'd contact both companies with the dimensions, including attached spaces open to the room, and have them make suggestions. Neither will try to oversell you.

 

[love2drive335]

One last question. In the pro-review on this site, it was shown that the Versus Forte line had dips in its impedance at certain frequencies. If my receiver is rated to run 6 ohm speakers, do you think this will be an issue? I do see that Aperion offers free shipping and a 30-day in-home audition, but I would hope to avoid this if it's going to be an issue. Thanks for all the help!

 

[gene]

One last question. In the pro-review on this site, it was shown that the Versus Forte line had dips in its impedance at certain frequencies. If my receiver is rated to run 6 ohm speakers, do you think this will be an issue? I do see that Aperion offers free shipping and a 30-day in-home audition, but I would hope to avoid this if it's going to be an issue. Thanks for all the help!

The 4 ohm dips shouldn't be much of a problem for you, especially since they occur above 80Hz and the speakers are relatively very efficient. We found these to be one of the best available speakers sold internet direct for what its worth though I'd consider a sub from SVS or HSU if you looking solely at internet direct brands.

If you later need more power for these speakers, go with an Emotiva amplifier (XPA-2/5 or UPA-7). You can't go wrong.

 

[love2drive335]

On somewhat of a side note, I looked into the subs that you two recommended, but the prices were a bit steeper than what I was hoping for.

I ended up purchasing two MiniVee-10's from the AAFES base exchange for under $1200 shipped to my door. I'm hoping they pack enough punch to satisify my taste. If not, it shouldn't be too much trouble to return them at my local exchange store back home. :fingers crossed:

I'm still debating whether it's worth splurging an extra $1400 for the Verus Grand line fronts and center over the complete 5.0 Verus Forte setup. I think I'm just hung up on looks and potential output of having the Grand front towers (and matching Grande center), but I probably don't even have the amp to drive the Forte towers to their potential without adding an emotiva amp like Gene said. Ugh...

 

[GranteedEV]

On somewhat of a side note, I looked into the subs that you two recommended, but the prices were a bit steeper than what I was hoping for.

I ended up purchasing two MiniVee-10's from the AAFES base exchange for under $1200 shipped to my door. I'm hoping they pack enough punch to satisify my taste. If not, it shouldn't be too much trouble to return them at my local exchange store back home. :fingers crossed:

I'm still debating whether it's worth splurging an extra $1400 for the Verus Grand line fronts and center over the complete 5.0 Verus Forte setup. I think I'm just hung up on looks and potential output of having the Grand front towers (and matching Grande center), but I probably don't even have the amp to drive the Forte towers to their potential without adding an emotiva amp like Gene said. Ugh...

I would certainly get the Verus Grand fronts over the Verus Forte. Don't worry about amplification; there's people who run 85db / pure 4 ohm speakers off of 80wpc amps and never need more power. Sure there's weak receiver amps out there but it's really not an issue. How much power you need is dictated by

1) what do you listen to (where are the major power demands situated?)
2) how far do you sit from the speakers?
3) how "live" is your room? (the more live, the more perceived volume you will experience)
4) how loud do you even listen?

all of the above taken into account, you're better off spending more on speakers and not getting the "full potential" out of them rather than spending less on speakers just because you can get their "full potential". imo.

Honestly, I don't think a pair of underdamped 10s like those minivees will be enough for your large room. You won't likely get a world of room gain down low and they'll be struggling for output at any general distance IMO. And if the minivee 10s have the same inductance characteristics as the minivee 8s that Gene measured, then you're probably stuck with a 60hz crossover to the verus speakers to get a seamless match.

 

[love2drive335]

I ordered the Verus Grand fronts and center last week. The more I read about them, the more excited I get! I will have to look into the surrounds later, but they're not high on the priority list at the moment. From what I hear, the center and fronts will provide great imaging by themselves to make movie watching enjoyable even without the surround drivers.

Honestly, I don't think a pair of underdamped 10s like those minivees will be enough for your large room. You won't likely get a world of room gain down low and they'll be struggling for output at any general distance IMO. And if the minivee 10s have the same inductance characteristics as the minivee 8s that Gene measured, then you're probably stuck with a 60hz crossover to the verus speakers to get a seamless match.

I'm hoping to get the entire system setup in a month or so when I get home and have a listen to the subs. My room has a high ceiling, but it's a cathedral/sloping ceiling with 16' only at the peak. Unless I'm extremely displeased with the output, I intend to keep them for now. I don't expect to get that pressure wave feeling of moving air, although that would be nice.

 

[LAB3]

Hello all. I'm a self-described music fanatic who's looking to piece together my 'first' home theater setup, and just not sure what this market has to offer.

I'm one of those guys who's always tweaking my EQs when listening to music, trying to perfect the sound (DSP with 15-band graphic DEQ in the car, DIY cMoy amp, line out and graphic eq app on my iphone/ipad with a dozen presets depending on the music genre and which of my 6 headphones I'm using). I'm limited to shopping online for the time being, but I've already purchased a new receiver (Pioneer VSX-1021-K, because I'm an Apple fanboy and the price/performance ratio is very good from what I've read), and I'm trying to decide on which speakers to purchase. I would like to hit a sweet spot between value and performance around $2000, but I would be willing to allocate a little more for a 5.1 setup, minus the sub (5.0?).

The little bit of shopping I've done so far has me wanting a complete Klipsch RF-82 II setup, but I'm wondering if that might be a bit of an overkill for my goals. Since my setup will be focused towards music moreso than theater, I believe I will want the RF-82 front floorstanding speakers for the output and staging, but I'm not sure I really need the RC-62 center and RS-62 surrounds. I'm considering this mainly for cost savings. Would it be a bad decision to reduce the center to an RC-52 and the surrounds to RS-42's or even RS-41's?

I realize much of speaker selection is subjective, but are there 'better' options out there for the same or less money? I've even been drawn into the ads for the Verus Grand series speakers here on the forum, given the fantastic reviews. I might even consider spending a little extra to get the full setup, but again, I'm curious if there would be a negative side-effects of going for the Versus Grand front towers with the Versus Forte center and surrounds and putting the extra cash towards a second or better sub?

Can someone shine some light on this subject for me?

-Jason

I have the Klipsch RC-62II and the RS3-II Reference series to go with my Pop's old Cornwalls for my 5.2 HT set up. I am really happy with I have pieced together. I was going to get the RF for the fronts but when I set all my speakers on "Small" everything "Balanced" out. I have such a very small den.. wow.. even my 2 entry level Klipsch Sub 12 350/600 Bash shake the den.
The size of your room will make a Big difference on how it all sounds. I purchased my Reference center and rears on Flebay "B" stock and saved a lot of money doing this.

 

[love2drive335]

On the topic of surround speakers, I'm not overly concerned about running wires behind the sitting area, but I was still taking an interest in using the Zona wireless system as a low cost (lower than the Verus Grand Bookshelf) surround option. After reading about my receiver's outputs, it turns out I don't have pre-outs for my surround channels. So I went ahead and ordered a pair of Verus Forte Bookshelf speakers for my surrounds, and decided to pick up a Zona wireless set to use as my second zone from my receiver since I'm not using it as a 7.1 setup. Hopefully with this setup, I'll be able to enjoy Aperion's sound in my bedroom, or maybe even outside for cookouts and social events.

I'm really hoping this setup works well together. On a good note, I also learned that my receiver supports bi-amping the front channels via the second zone speaker outputs, so if I end up using the Zona speakers elsewhere with my computer or iPad, I can feed even more power to the Verus Grand Towers.

 

[LAB3]

On the topic of surround speakers, I'm not overly concerned about running wires behind the sitting area, but I was still taking an interest in using the Zona wireless system as a low cost (lower than the Verus Grand Bookshelf) surround option. After reading about my receiver's outputs, it turns out I don't have pre-outs for my surround channels. So I went ahead and ordered a pair of Verus Forte Bookshelf speakers for my surrounds, and decided to pick up a Zona wireless set to use as my second zone from my receiver since I'm not using it as a 7.1 setup. Hopefully with this setup, I'll be able to enjoy Aperion's sound in my bedroom, or maybe even outside for cookouts and social events.

I'm really hoping this setup works well together. On a good note, I also learned that my receiver supports bi-amping the front channels via the second zone speaker outputs, so if I end up using the Zona speakers elsewhere with my computer or iPad, I can feed even more power to the Verus Grand Towers.

Sounds like a good idea. I read a thread where a member did this too only to have some interference with his PC wireless connection causing the wireless speakers to not play clean music. They were different speakers etc so maybe this will not be a problem for you.