5.1 System Speakers with 3,000-3,300 Budget

[MidnightSensi2]

Posting on behalf of a friend that asked me, but, honestly, I'm a little stuck.

He is looking at this:
SVS Ultra Speaker System | Home Theater

He wants bookshelfs/sub-sat setup, not towers.

I haven't heard that system, and, whenever I read a review like that, I'm a little skeptical (b/c Home Theater says stuff is amazing that isn't all the time). That said, SVS has been highly regarded here.

Here is his mix:

Home theater: 30% (Action)
Music: 70% (Electronic, jazz, rock)

Couple things I'm thinking:
1) For electronic and rock, especially at high volumes he likes, basically your down to just the left and right bookshelf. That system for movies the larger center channel will offset a lot, but, I think of mid-field music listening, he might be better off getting all matching speakers and having the left and right be more powerful.

If he watched more movies, then the large center channel with smaller L and R could be an okay tradeoff.

...

What do you guys think? What other options are in this pricerange?

I'm thinking like a good sub, that he could buy a second later as price permits. So, a good subwoofer, but leave room for the main channels.

So many options..

Oh, it's a new Denon receiver, stable to 6-ohms. So, something to consider also. I forget the model, but, it's a higher end one. Still only designed for 6-ohms I remember.

 

[psbfan9]

He could try 5 of these

StudioMonitor 55 | Definitive Technology®

Amazon.com: Definitive Technology SM55 Bookshelf Speaker - Black: Electronics

With a Hsu VTF-3-MK4...

VTF-3 MK4 Subwoofer

I had 5.1 set up with 4 Def Tech SM450's and loved it. Because of my room situation, I had to switch to towers. I have two SM 450's as surrounds and they're very good.

 

[shadyJ]

The SVS Ultra speakers look good, but I wouldn't want the SB12 subwoofer, especially for a guy who likes action movies and electronic music. I would be more partial to KEF or Philharmonitors speakers as well. I would get monopole surrounds, not dipoles or bipoles. If your friend has room for a big sub, this is what I would be looking at. Aside from that, I would be looking at maybe dual Hsu VTF2s or VTF3s or Rythmik FV12s, or a single Rythmik FV15HP.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

5 CBM-170 SE High Performance Bookshelf Loudspeaker
1x HSU VTF-15H Sub

swap 170's to 340 for larger rooms

Emotiva XPA-5 to power the speakers

 

[SearchofSub]

Posting on behalf of a friend that asked me, but, honestly, I'm a little stuck.

He is looking at this:
SVS Ultra Speaker System | Home Theater

He wants bookshelfs/sub-sat setup, not towers.

I haven't heard that system, and, whenever I read a review like that, I'm a little skeptical (b/c Home Theater says stuff is amazing that isn't all the time). That said, SVS has been highly regarded here.

Here is his mix:

Home theater: 30% (Action)
Music: 70% (Electronic, jazz, rock)

Couple things I'm thinking:
1) For electronic and rock, especially at high volumes he likes, basically your down to just the left and right bookshelf. That system for movies the larger center channel will offset a lot, but, I think of mid-field music listening, he might be better off getting all matching speakers and having the left and right be more powerful.

If he watched more movies, then the large center channel with smaller L and R could be an okay tradeoff.

...

What do you guys think? What other options are in this pricerange?

I'm thinking like a good sub, that he could buy a second later as price permits. So, a good subwoofer, but leave room for the main channels.

So many options..

Oh, it's a new Denon receiver, stable to 6-ohms. So, something to consider also. I forget the model, but, it's a higher end one. Still only designed for 6-ohms I remember.

For the front 3 I'd go with the Tekton bookshleves since he is planning to listen at high volumes. The tekton speakers are high effiecient so will go very loud. (can be a very long wait though) and a pair of OMD 3's for sorrounds(omnipole) that usually goes for about $300 on Ebay. Then get the Outlaw 975-9075 preamp/amp combo, it seems like from the pro reviews that the outlaw 975 does an excellent job of seamless sorround processing even with speakers that use different tweeters.
Then I'd either go with the Hsu ULS sub since he's 70% music or a Tekton 12'.


You can always play with the volume channel for the center to left and right, so a more powerful or less powerful center wouldnt really matter. But the pro's prefer to do it with all of the same speakers at the front 3 and have them at the same height for the panning purposes. If your friend has the room for the center and dont mind having the center channel upright, this should be the way to go.

How big is your friends room?

 

[ImcLoud]

With that budget..
Ascend seirra 1 front 3 with 200se surrounds thats about $1550 then a pair of HSU vtf2's $1050 pair (need to call to get them to dual drive discount them for you)... That would be under budget and I think better than the svs, although I haven't heard anything except the center and the towers (not super impressed by any means)

 

[MidnightSensi2]

He could try 5 of these

StudioMonitor 55 | Definitive Technology®

Amazon.com: Definitive Technology SM55 Bookshelf Speaker - Black: Electronics

With a Hsu VTF-3-MK4...

VTF-3 MK4 Subwoofer

I had 5.1 set up with 4 Def Tech SM450's and loved it. Because of my room situation, I had to switch to towers. I have two SM 450's as surrounds and they're very good.

These look very interesting. I do want to stick with established brands, simply because I don't want the phone call if things go wrong hehe.

If he Amazon's them, can return them really easy if he doesn't like them too. This is the front runner right now.

Why did you have to switch to towers?


...

He likes it loud, how are these with high output?

I was also looking at these, not for the extension but for the midrange punch:
StudioMonitor 65 | Definitive Technology®

1500 for LCR, then 55s for the rear. Still leaves room for a good subwoofer.

 

[MidnightSensi2]

On further inspection, I'm thinking 55s for the LCR and then 45s for the rear. The 65s seem to have the same tweeter, likely not much advantage in output if that limits it?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

NHT Absolute Zero x 5. They had a $175 each sale last week, so ask them to match that price. Very accurate +/-0.9dB from 100Hz-10kHz. Total $875.

Rythmik LV12 x 4 . With 10% discount, that comes to $2120 delivered. Very accurate servo sub from 20Hz-300Hz.

Total 5.4 system $2995 delivered.

"The Absolute Zero’s listening-window response (a five-point average of axial and +/–15-degree horizontal and vertical responses) measures +0.94/–0.82 decibels from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz. The –3-dB point is at 83 Hz, and the –6-dB point is at 72 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 5.19 ohms at 192 Hz and a phase angle of –46.25 degrees at 111 Hz."

The AZ is flat to 83Hz, but is superbly accurate where is counts and allows the accurate Rythmik subs to handle the accurate and powerful bass. I would set the XO to 100Hz, like I do with my speakers.

He should place the subs wherever it's optimal in the room, but with 4 subs he could place 4 NHT on stands atop each of the four subs like a modular tower speaker system (like $60K RBH 8T towers). Four subs spread around the room will mean very smooth bass response, especially with Audyssey DEQ.

 

[MidnightSensi2]

He likes the Def Tech's, plus its amazon so can return hehe.

Got 1500 left over for a subwoofer or two...

Kind of in that debate now. Half of me says get one in the 1500 range and save up for a second, the other half says better off to just get two for 1500 for better bass control in the room. Also while those bookshelves are a deal, not sure the ratio of 3,000 in subs to those mains makes sense. So, thinking two for 1500 right now, plus his room really needs some smoothing (I brought over a pair of subs to test one and two, and, with one I really struggled to even get a respectable response in his room).

Thinking 2x:
VTF-15H Subwoofer (have him push his budget a bit...)

or...
2x:
https://www.svsound.com/subwoofers/ported-box/pb12-nsd#.UhNYW2TXTtA

 

[MidnightSensi2]

SVS, smarter in sales..hehe...the dual deal:

https://www.svsound.com/dual-subwoofers/dual-pb12-nsd#.UhNZX2TXTtA

That's right there! What do you guys think?!

 

[shadyJ]

Better yet, dual VTF3 mk3s, $1517 shipped. SVS is known for it's flat response, but check this out:

Bigger output, more configurability, and beautiful frequency response.