A boy, a budget and his girl

[Mudcat]

What is wrong with the Polks you already have?

You said you have three speakers two polk S10 towers that are at least 15 years old, and a polk CS275 (age unknown).

Is there anything wrong with the S10s?

If not, is your receiver a 5.1 or 7.1?

If nothing is wrong with the S10s, just buy two or four small speakers for surrounds (plus wall mounts or stands and cable).

I've got new speakers (relatively speaking - less than 5 years old); Mirage Omni 7s (front R&L), Mirage Omni Center.

I've got old speakers; dBx Soundfield Vs from the mid 80s.
I've got very old speakers; Criterion L8s from the early 70s.

All still work nicely, sound good (even at high SPL), do not appear to have any deterioration. So if it is just their age!

 

[lsiberian]

I need to start smearing some dirt and dust on my new stuff before I bring it in. Never even thought about that until now.

bad idea. Women know where every particle of dust is in the house. It's like a laser vision. Best bet is to say that you cleaned it when asked. In fact just clean the living room. That way she has a nice surprise and is distracted from the rack.

Another way is to build a small compartment in the attic and put your stuff up there while leaving the old stuff down stairs. Then when she finds that the current receiver doesn't seem to work. You can say it's broke and then bring down the new one.

 

[lsiberian]

You said you have three speakers two polk S10 towers that are at least 15 years old, and a polk CS275 (age unknown).

Is there anything wrong with the S10s?

If not, is your receiver a 5.1 or 7.1?

If nothing is wrong with the S10s, just buy two or four small speakers for surrounds (plus wall mounts or stands and cable).

I've got new speakers (relatively speaking - less than 5 years old); Mirage Omni 7s (front R&L), Mirage Omni Center.

I've got old speakers; dBx Soundfield Vs from the mid 80s.
I've got very old speakers; Criterion L8s from the early 70s.

All still work nicely, sound good (even at high SPL), do not appear to have any deterioration. So if it is just their age!

They would make a nice bedroom setup. Then he would have a reason to still buy new speakers.

 

[annunaki]

This is one of the reasons I went to DIY. I spin it that it is cheaper, and I can make the finished product look the way she wants. Compromise solved!

 

[Chopin_Guy]

I enjoyed reading through this thread and thought I would give some suggestions...First off you haven't mentioned what AVR you have---this might have some effect on what speakers you are going to be able to power. Next given the size constraint you mentioned initially you might want to consider a pair of nice montiors coupled with a subwoofer which will easily solve the problem and give you full-range reproduction.

Really, you have to go out and listen as we can suggest good options in the $1,200 price bracket but your ears have to be the end judge for the matter. If you like Polk the new RTiA series are supposed to be good (I enjoy my RTi's) and someone mentioned the LSi9 monitor but unless you have a very capable amp in your AVR or a seperate amp already---you won't get the most out of the LSi series as they are difficult to power.

You mentioned Av123 I believe which is a good company as well. With your price range you may also want to consider Swan, Paradigm, SVS, Klipsch, and there are plenty of others but those would be a good start. Would you consider having a sub and are you looking to buy all front three channels and move the old speakers to the rear for 5.1???

 

[emrliquidlife]

You said you have three speakers two polk S10 towers that are at least 15 years old, and a polk CS275 (age unknown).

Is there anything wrong with the S10s?

If not, is your receiver a 5.1 or 7.1?

If nothing is wrong with the S10s, just buy two or four small speakers for surrounds (plus wall mounts or stands and cable).

I've got new speakers (relatively speaking - less than 5 years old); Mirage Omni 7s (front R&L), Mirage Omni Center.

I've got old speakers; dBx Soundfield Vs from the mid 80s.
I've got very old speakers; Criterion L8s from the early 70s.

All still work nicely, sound good (even at high SPL), do not appear to have any deterioration. So if it is just their age!

The S10s work great. I took good care of them. I could stay with them up front and buy some rears, but I was hoping to step up to a nicer speaker for stereo listening.

My receiver is a 5.1. It is a Pioneer DSX-412. While it is okay, I have an older VSX-901 circa 93. That unit sounded way better, but doesn't have optical inputs. I do plan on upgrading my receive in the long run.

The CS275 I bought approx 2001.

I really wanted to go with a nicer set of mains and keep the center channel and move the s10s to rear fill.

I don't envision going to 7.1. When I watch movies and TV I'm really not so focused on the sound. I don't have blue-ray etc. I generally buy the movies from the cable company to watch. I don't have a lot of faith in time warners sound quality with the HD receiver I have.

Ed

 

[emrliquidlife]

I enjoyed reading through this thread and thought I would give some suggestions...First off you haven't mentioned what AVR you have---this might have some effect on what speakers you are going to be able to power. Next given the size constraint you mentioned initially you might want to consider a pair of nice montiors coupled with a subwoofer which will easily solve the problem and give you full-range reproduction.

Really, you have to go out and listen as we can suggest good options in the $1,200 price bracket but your ears have to be the end judge for the matter. If you like Polk the new RTiA series are supposed to be good (I enjoy my RTi's) and someone mentioned the LSi9 monitor but unless you have a very capable amp in your AVR or a seperate amp already---you won't get the most out of the LSi series as they are difficult to power.

You mentioned Av123 I believe which is a good company as well. With your price range you may also want to consider Swan, Paradigm, SVS, Klipsch, and there are plenty of others but those would be a good start. Would you consider having a sub and are you looking to buy all front three channels and move the old speakers to the rear for 5.1???

I really liked the AV123 speakers, but when googling I found quite a few instances where the company was slow to ship speakers.

I may buy a sub down the road...but ehhh. I'm not an enthusiast of bass heavy sound.

Ed

 

[Chopin_Guy]

AV123 does have supply issues as you can commonly find stock dates on their website as is the issue with several of the Rocket series at the moment I believe. As for your ideas of putting all the money into the mains---I like this idea in terms of the long run, but know you will very likely have timbre issues in the front end if you have a critical ear.

If you can wiggle a little on your previous size constraint then getting a nice set of towers would be your best bet without wanting to integrate a sub with a pair of monitors (BTW, properly integrated sub is not 'bass heavy' and when it comes to watching movies you are missing an entire element of the theater experience not to mention the dedicated bass channel...).

I would look at the SVS M-series 'mid-tower' as they have been well regarded and are the smaller end of the tower category. There are other possibilities of course but these will give you alot of performance for your money...

 

[emrliquidlife]

Oops, just made the mistake of listening to the Morel OCTAVE 5.2.

God almighty. What a wonderful, wonderful speaker. In such a small space.

Cool thing was the significant other was there and had the same reactions. The bad news...I'm totally blowing the budget, and I wouldn't have a sub, and the rears...Lets not get started.

For those that have heard this speaker...is there a right priced equivalent?

Ed

 

[Shock]

She and I are soul mates....did I just type that? Fawk.

Gay


I'n all honesty though, If you want to go with something that's going to be some sort of "show piece" then it has to look good. The AV123 speakers do look, and from what I've heard sound very good. You might also want to consider something from HiVi, which make some of the best looking speakers period.

http://www.theaudioinsider.com/product_info.php/loudspeakers/original-swan-diva/p/swan-diva-6-1/cPath/21_30/products_id/48

For example.