$1000 to use on L/R speakers, any suggestions?

[RaT]

My sister in law is requesting my assistance in the purchase of a left and right front speaker. Any suggestions where I might start? They are to be used in a 5.1 system. Comments on surrounds and subs welcome.

 

[VS540]

Here are a few to get you started.

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=3.1 <---- one of the best deals out there, from a sound, price, and customer service perspective.

http://store.yahoo.com/plazaaudio/monaudsils8.html <--- great speaker that can be found locally at many dealers.

http://store.yahoo.com/plazaaudio/moausis6hoth.html

http://store.yahoo.com/plazaaudio/snxaflspsy.html <--- nice looking to boot.

http://store.yahoo.com/plazaaudio/encoc9se.html

http://store.yahoo.com/plazaaudio/miom260om.html

http://store.yahoo.com/plazaaudio/cale109flsp.html

http://store.yahoo.com/plazaaudio/detebptosp.html

http://www.aperionaudio.com/products/product-detail.aspx?id=14

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340m.html <---can get matching stands from them too.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/m80ti.html

You can also check out stuff from B&W, Paradigm, NHT, PSB, etc.

Bottom line is try to go off of what's best sounding to you and your sister in law, not what others say. Speakers like the Rocket 550 MKII and Axiom can be auditioned if you ask people over at their respected forums. You can also go to audioenvy.com to try to find a Rocket owner near you, and if there isn't one just go to the forum and ask.

Also all these can be added onto later to have a 5.1 HT, as they all have matching centers, surrounds, and subs available.

Best of luck your search.

 

[cbraver]

Like VS540 said, speakers are a matter of preference. I would recommend M&K speakers for both music and home theater. They are simply fantastic. I have the S-150s and put them on the M&K stands (extremely heavy, made by the barbell company York). But it's my peference ... in general I enjoy studio monitors and speakers the best. It's a matter of taste in sound. You and her should go demo some speakers!

I noticed the recommendation of the Monitor Audio S8 speakers... One of my dad's home theaters had Monitor Audio speakrs, Silver S8 speakers L and R, and while they were good, I didn't feel they were a very good home theater speaker. I was kind of unimpressed in that aspect. (see?! It's all preference)

It should be noted that the M&Ks are great, but they need a badass sub. I have a Velodyne HGS-18" in my home theater with the S-150s and he has an Apogee Profressional Subwoofer in his (he just uses that room for movies, so, no worries about a musical sub there).

So, my basic recommendation for your system's sound reinforcement is M&K S-150s (left, right, center) and M&K rears, either dipole or tripole, depending on your setup and the room. For a sub, I would look at Velodyne, M&K and Genelec.

Good luck with your search!
-Chad

 

[bray]

Take a look at the Axiom M60ti ($800.00 shipping included). I'm very pleased with mine. Super great customer service also.

 

[RaT]

Thanks for the comments. I can have her listen to the various speakers I have picked up over the years from some ADS, KEF 103's, Sonus Faber Minuetto's, MK 150's etc, but my listening area doesn't even come close to resembling hers. Of the ones I have, I give the nod to the KEF 103's, no longer available as they are products of the mid 80's. I am leaning towards a manufactuer like Axiom or AVS123's Rocket speakers as it would seem the trial period of 30 days should allow them adequate tiime to access the sound between the room and the speakers. I have now found out they are very much in favor of towers like the Definitive speakers they saw and listened to at a local shop. The M&K's definitely sound good and definitely benefit from the addition of a subwoofer(s). Thanks again for the comments

 

[cbraver]

If she likes towers I recommend looking into Dynaudio.

Just a side note: Definitive Technology is by no means a bad speaker company, BUT, because most models have an active subwoofer driver integrated, they often fool new listeners (who, even if its subconsious, heavily weight bass volume into their decision of what good sound is) because they later system to a tower that has no sub without the addition of a subwoofer. I'm not sure how in tune her ears are, perhaps she has a lot of experiance, but I just thought I would throw that out there.