60' x 30' Great Room suggestions

[shadyJ]

If subs are not being considered for now, that frees up some some money for towers. A couple more to consider are the Rocket RS850, on sale now for $1,199. Those are supposed to be great towers.
Or maybe some of these, Aperion Intimus 6T towers, $700 each but have free shipping. If you have a good amp, look into Emotiva.

By the way, the sub you are considering, the SVS SB12, is a relatively weak subwoofer from SVS, and I think if you place it anywhere but right next to you, the bass will get lost in that room. Quite honestly I would go with any other subwoofer SVS carries for your situation. The SB12 is meant for a small room where floor space is at premium, and sound quality is desired much more than output. For it's purposes I am sure it is a great sub, but for your purposes, umm...

Like Firstreflection said, if you want bass throughout your entire room, you have to be able to pressurize the entire room. It's not possible to do that with your room without spending obscene amounts of money (at least if your not willing to go the DIY route). Bass isn't like other frequencies, it does not distribute evenly. I would guess that, even if you corner loaded a subwoofer, most areas in your room would only be slightly affected sound-wise. At this point, the only way you are sure to get a nice bass sound is through near-field placement; the subwoofer has to be close to the listener. And I would not get a sealed 12" design, which is what the SB12 is. A ported design would do so much better for your situation. The companies to look at for the best subwoofers are, with HSU Research and SVS already mentioned, Outlaw Audio, Elemental Designs, and Epik.

 

[mattblalock]

Well, if I did go the DIY route, what kind of equipment are we talking? I don't know a thing about that. Something like a 12" sub, how would it be powered?

Those amplifiers by Emotiva looks amazing. I'd love to have one of those. Does anyone know a good place to learn about the preamplifier/amplifier/receiver/etc. process? Or how that all works? I'd love to learn about that.

As for the ERT-8.3 Reference Tower: they look wonderful, the specs are nice, I just wonder how they sound. I'd hate to be shipping those bad boys around at 70 lbs each...


Matt

 

[mattblalock]

Just checked out the Rocket RS850's. The specs on those are nice, however, I cannot deal with the rosewood. My kitchen is a dark cherry and the floors are a light oak, two woods are too many, three is a terrible idea.

Plus, I keep hearing nothing but garbage about AV123...

Matt

 

[lsiberian]

Well, if I did go the DIY route, what kind of equipment are we talking? I don't know a thing about that. Something like a 12" sub, how would it be powered?

Those amplifiers by Emotiva looks amazing. I'd love to have one of those. Does anyone know a good place to learn about the preamplifier/amplifier/receiver/etc. process? Or how that all works? I'd love to learn about that.

As for the ERT-8.3 Reference Tower: they look wonderful, the specs are nice, I just wonder how they sound. I'd hate to be shipping those bad boys around at 70 lbs each...


Matt

You're on the right site to learn.

You can power a sub with a plate amp or a pro amp. Pro amps have more power, but plate amps are preferred for aesthetics.

 

[mattblalock]

I'll do some searching!

Does anyone have an opinion on either of these receivers? I'm feeling pretty good about my trip to audition. I think I will be able to make a decision on speakers.

As for receivers:

I have identified these as candidates due to prices and features:
(all are refurbished or used)

Marantz SR7001 - $500
Marantz ZR6001SP w/ 5 clients - $450
Onkyo TX-SR806 - $600
Marantz SR8001 - $700

These were picked because I like Marantz and everyone says get Onkyo.

 

[lsiberian]

I'll do some searching!

Does anyone have an opinion on either of these receivers? I'm feeling pretty good about my trip to audition. I think I will be able to make a decision on speakers.

As for receivers:

I have identified these as candidates due to prices and features:
(all are refurbished or used)

Marantz SR7001 - $500
Marantz ZR6001SP w/ 5 clients - $450
Onkyo TX-SR806 - $600
Marantz SR8001 - $700

These were picked because I like Marantz and everyone says get Onkyo.

If you like Marantz than get a Marantz from accessories4less. Don't be stupid about this one. The amp sections are all pretty much the same.

 

[shadyJ]

Matt, I think the Emotiva's would be great towers. If you want to know their sound characteristics, I would head on over to the Emotiva message board and ask owners how they sound with respect to other speakers they have owned. However, with those speakers you would really want to make sure your amplifier is up to the task. They are four ohm speakers, and there will be occasions where you will need to turn them up, so it will push a weaker receiver/amplifier hard. I would not pair those up with a cheap or weak amp.

 

[fredk]

Those Aperions may well be a good match for you. From what I have heard, their wood finishes are very nice. Shipping covered both ways means you are only out the effort of repacking and getting the speakers back to a shipper if you don't like the sound.

 

[mattblalock]

As per the Emotivas. How do you think the Marantz will work with those? Probably the Marantz SR8001 or similar. I'd have to be using it's internal amp for a while.

I'll head over to the forum there and ask around.

lsiberian and Tomorrow, would you like to weigh in on the Emotivas? I will wait until I have heard the KEF and the Era's, but they do look quite nice...

The Aperions, according to what I've read are very nice, but a much more bright sound, or as we'd say in photography, their "cool" (as apposed to warm... ha).

 

[fredk]

The Aperions, according to what I've read are very nice, but a much more bright sound, or as we'd say in photography, their "cool" (as apposed to warm... ha).

Accurate might be another word to use. They will reproduce whats on the disc without colouration. Kodachrome (RIP) vs Fujicolor.

Before you make judgements, go out and listen to some speakers with music you are very familiar with.

 

[mattblalock]

Just referring to them as a Kodochrome equilivent makes me want them, I miss that stuff. I have one roll in the freezer I'm a savin!

That's the plan, with going in and using the ears to decide and not my rational mind. I just want to be able to go in and not look like a doofus.

 

[Tomorrow]

Those Aperions may well be a good match for you. From what I have heard, their wood finishes are very nice. Shipping covered both ways means you are only out the effort of repacking and getting the speakers back to a shipper if you don't like the sound.

^ Plus 1

Good suggestion.

 

[fredk]

Just referring to them as a Kodochrome equilivent makes me want them, I miss that stuff. I have one roll in the freezer I'm a savin!

Thought that would get you. Its been a long time since I played with film, but I sure did love my Kodochrome.

 

[walter duque]

That's a tough one. My cousins great room is 1900 square feet with I would say close to a 20' ceiling. He is running a total of 12 RBH inwalls with 150 watt multichannel amp for music only. As big as the room is he couldn't set up a HT. It's just an odd setup. Well to get to the point, it sounds terrible. The best that system is good for is a little back ground music. IMO to fill that room with sound you need at least 12 good speakers and a minimum of 4 subs, that's a big room to fill with sound.

 

[Tomorrow]

That's a tough one. My cousins great room is 1900 square feet with I would say close to a 20' ceiling. He is running a total of 12 RBH inwalls with 150 watt multichannel amp for music only. As big as the room is he couldn't set up a HT. It's just an odd setup. Well to get to the point, it sounds terrible. The best that system is good for is a little back ground music. IMO to fill that room with sound you need at least 12 good speakers and a minimum of 4 subs, that's a big room to fill with sound.

Walter, that's not a great room. That's a GREAT ROOM! That room would swallow my entire house.

I agree that ultimately, if Matt wants a full-blown, high quality and delightful sound system for his room, he will require 3 or 4 subs and a beefy amp pushing large speakers. But let's not scare him off too soon. With care and patience he can continue a gently budgeted progress toward a great system.

PS...Matt, a tip. When you audition speakers this week, make sure you take along some music cd's that you are familiar with and represent the kind of music you listen to. Also, insist that the salesman (or you) match the volume level of the speakers as closely as possible. Louder speakers will sound better than quieter ones as a general rule. You need to level the playing field with amps/receivers driving the speakers, too, if you can. And because your room is much larger than the listening rooms you'll be auditioning in, crank the volume up and make certain the speakers can take increased amplitude without breaking up or flattening out.

 

[mattblalock]

An update:

So I went auditioning today. I didn't make it out to Audio Advice in Raleigh, although I still plan to maybe this weekend. I had a fantastic experience at Big Kids Toys in Greensboro. I happen to drop by on a day that he was having some representatives from PS Audio in, so there were some really cool people hanging around (plus some good beer, to boot!).


I sat for about two hours listening to these: http://www.magico.net/?d=03_Products/02_V3

Incredible speakers. At a painful $36k, they should be. Listening to some hi def recordings, I could hear things in music I've never heard before. These speakers were running from a Krell Evolution two to a Krell Evolution 302 Amplifier. Some serious kit. Way more than I could even imagine buying. The bloody speaker cables were some kind of $4k deals.

I will admit, the setup rocked my world. Unfortunately nothing else Big Kids offered tickled my fancy. I listened to some PSB, Totem, LSA, and something else that sounded for garbage. These were across three listening rooms on three different (albeit very nice) setups. Two of three rooms seemed to have fantastic acoustics.

The speakers I auditioned:

Totem Sttaf. I didn't mind these speakers with other people in the room. Alone, they sounded hollow and muddy. The highs were dull and boring, the lows didn't exist. Very underwhelmed by this speaker.

PSB Synchrony Two. These were much better. The soundstage was full, the imaging was desirable. I kept calm. These were speakers I could enjoy listening to, but they were not... a dream. They weren't something good enough for me to say, I'll take them!


Second to the PSB's were the LSA2 Signature Editions. They were quite beautiful. They had a beautiful and real soundstage, not quite like the Magico's but, pleasant. They had a fantastic range, the bass was present but not boomy. They were very responsive, more in the midrange and high, but the lows were nothing to bash. Of the many I auditioned, these were my preferred speaker. Yet again, they were not enough for me to say, yes sir, two pair please, but they were nice. I will be keeping these in mind.


I suppose I am still on my journey for awesomeness in a speaker.

PS. I hate LSA's ribbon tweeter. Murdered my ears.

 

[NicolasKL]

Do you really have a ~18' long sofa?

 

[mattblalock]

Yes, I actually do. Haha. It seats about 6 or so comfortably. I got it at a consignment shop about a year ago. Everyone says "wow, that thing is huge."

 

[Davemcc]

Further to Tomorrow's comments, re: Era speakers, I have the Era D5 which could be had very near the $1K budget in his original budget estimate. For a room that size, I would suggest the D5 over the D4. The D4 is a beautiful sounding little speaker but the D5 has more prominent bass characteristics that would help the main speakers blend into the subwoofers properly in that space. They share many familial characteristics but the D5 has the advantage in a large room due to it's larger size and larger drivers.

I wouldn't worry too much about using a bookshelf sized speaker in this case. With the use of multiple subs to handle the bass duty, you only need the mains to produce the mids and highs. Most of a tower speaker's cabinet is only required to produce bass. When that is being handled by the subs, bookshelves are perfectly adequate to reproduce those mid-high frequencies assigned to them. However, when the time to upgrade comes around, the D14 would be a nice, although not necessarily required upgrade.

The things I like best about the Era, aside from the prominent and smooth bass, is that they do not have sharp high frequency reproduction. They are very balanced and the high end comes off as rather smooth and subdued, while still being detailed and accurate. But the best part of the Era is that they will take any amount of power that you want to give them and remain sounding fantastic. I can drive the heck out of my Era and it's like they're saying, "What, is that all you got?" I've never seen any instance of breakup or speaker related distortion. If you really want to drive the heck out of them, I would plan somewhere down the road on getting a separate amp because they are not altogether efficient, but many of the best speakers are 4 ohm or not that efficient anyway. At any rate, the Era will take a tremendous amount of power without complaint and function perfectly, you just need to be sure that you're feeding them a good signal.