Beginner questions...

[DJ in TX]

Hello All,

I am new to this website and forum and this is my first post here. I am virtually an audio novice (with the one exception of having a really nice pair of Klipsch CF-1 floor speakers back in college powered by a Sony A/V receiver.)

I have been reading alot of info the last week or so on Gizmodo.com about loudspeakers and stereo equipment as they are running a week long tribute to music (or something like that). Anyway, I have always been very into music, and am now ready to begin assembling a good audio system to do some serious listening. Hopefully you all can put me on the right path and provide some guidance.

Here are some of my objectives. I can't afford to assemble a great system, so I am settling for a good system, hopefully. I am not going for a home theater at this point, but it may evolve into that, Also, I am interested in small scale system so that I don't have multiple large speakers all over the living room, and so I don't have to add much to my already cramped entertainment center.

Basically, I want a simple two speaker setup and can do without a subwoofer for now. I think I want to to spend about $300ish on speakers, and I am pretty much set on a pair of Polk RTiA1 bookshelfs that have received glowing reviews, including from Stereophile. Of course i still plan to listen to them first and make sure my ears agree.

So here is the part that I am struggling with... I don't want to spend a whole lot on additional components. I currently have a Sony DVD/CD player that I can use if I need to, but ideally I would really like to find a single component, possibly a bookshelf or micro stereo unit that would have an AM/FM tuner, a CD player, and have enough internal power to drive the Polk speakers mentioned above to a decent degree without having to purchase a standalone amplifier, or A/V receiver. Although if an AV receiver is the only way, then I am at least hoping there might be some that are compact and not big bohemoths like I see on all the audio websites.

It seems like this may not be possible, but I wanted to check with you all. If a bookshelf or micro stereo isn't really enough to power these speakers, then do you have any suggestions on how to do this for not much money and maybe a single compact component?

Thanks for your help.

 

[jostenmeat]

All you really need is a "stereo receiver". However, they usually cost more than your present speaker budget, and almost no one here will advocate doing that. For instance, the Outlaw RR2150 I think it's called is about twice your speaker budget.

So, I will vote for an entry HT receiver, because they are cheaper and will still do what you want. You did mention that you might eventually* flush out your system some more, and only the HT receiver will do that for you in this scenario, whether it be adding a subwoofer for LFE, or a center speaker.

 

[DJ in TX]

I agree that a entry level receiver will do what I need (except for play CD/DVDs)...but all of the ones I have seen are huge, and I just don't have room in my entertainment center for it. So what I am hoping for is maybe you or someone else here knows of a smaller solution. I don't mind it being a receiver, as long as it is smaller.

Or, if that just doesn't exist, are there any regularly sized receivers that have integrated CD/DVD players? At least this would allow me to git rid of my current DVD unit so that the number of components I have stays the same.

Any thoughts?

 

[jamie2112]

I am going to go ahead and throw this out for thought http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33172&highlight=Teac+review Its in your budget...

 

[lsiberian]

Hello All,

I am new to this website and forum and this is my first post here. I am virtually an audio novice (with the one exception of having a really nice pair of Klipsch CF-1 floor speakers back in college powered by a Sony A/V receiver.)

I have been reading alot of info the last week or so on Gizmodo.com about loudspeakers and stereo equipment as they are running a week long tribute to music (or something like that). Anyway, I have always been very into music, and am now ready to begin assembling a good audio system to do some serious listening. Hopefully you all can put me on the right path and provide some guidance.

Here are some of my objectives. I can't afford to assemble a great system, so I am settling for a good system, hopefully. I am not going for a home theater at this point, but it may evolve into that, Also, I am interested in small scale system so that I don't have multiple large speakers all over the living room, and so I don't have to add much to my already cramped entertainment center.

Basically, I want a simple two speaker setup and can do without a subwoofer for now. I think I want to to spend about $300ish on speakers, and I am pretty much set on a pair of Polk RTiA1 bookshelfs that have received glowing reviews, including from Stereophile. Of course i still plan to listen to them first and make sure my ears agree.

So here is the part that I am struggling with... I don't want to spend a whole lot on additional components. I currently have a Sony DVD/CD player that I can use if I need to, but ideally I would really like to find a single component, possibly a bookshelf or micro stereo unit that would have an AM/FM tuner, a CD player, and have enough internal power to drive the Polk speakers mentioned above to a decent degree without having to purchase a standalone amplifier, or A/V receiver. Although if an AV receiver is the only way, then I am at least hoping there might be some that are compact and not big bohemoths like I see on all the audio websites.

It seems like this may not be possible, but I wanted to check with you all. If a bookshelf or micro stereo isn't really enough to power these speakers, then do you have any suggestions on how to do this for not much money and maybe a single compact component?

Thanks for your help.

Don't buy the speakers before you listen. Don't sell yourself on them even. Just go listen find what you love. Save up till you can afford em with cold hard cash. If you don't get there then you don't need to be buying speakers anyway. This isn't a time to be wasteful with money.

Save up a 1000 dollars then come back and be ready to do it right.

If you can save 100 a month for 10 months. You will have made it to a good budget for buying a pair of speakers and a nice receivers. I settled and regret it now. I ended up selling many of my speakers and receiver.

If you need something in the mean time. Get a pair of nice headphones. Etomyics research makes very nice 70 dollar headphones. They have improved my hearing sensitivity and quality. Follow instructions carefully when using them.

 

[DJ in TX]

Hi all.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice. At this point I am not sure what I want to do. I do want a system, but it is sounding like either I can spend a sizable chunk of money to accomplish what i want, or i spend what I can afford and I end up with a sub-par system.

The link that Jamie provided to the Teac micro system was really helpful though. Being able to save money by buying just the stereo unit and no speakers is exactly what i was looking for, seeing as I would want to choose my own speakers anyway. I guess what I need to know from here is how well will this Teac or similar small stereo unit power a nice pair of bookshelf speakers? Is a standard AV receiver for $300 or less from Sony or Pioneer or Yamaha going to blow this out of the water, or is it an incremental improvement?

 

[kantririsen]

hai admi



i am neubine to this site .i have home theatre .i need 5.1 audio out put songs ...

thanks in advance

 

[lsiberian]

Hi all.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice. At this point I am not sure what I want to do. I do want a system, but it is sounding like either I can spend a sizable chunk of money to accomplish what i want, or i spend what I can afford and I end up with a sub-par system.

The link that Jamie provided to the Teac micro system was really helpful though. Being able to save money by buying just the stereo unit and no speakers is exactly what i was looking for, seeing as I would want to choose my own speakers anyway. I guess what I need to know from here is how well will this Teac or similar small stereo unit power a nice pair of bookshelf speakers? Is a standard AV receiver for $300 or less from Sony or Pioneer or Yamaha going to blow this out of the water, or is it an incremental improvement?

I don't want to scare you off, but I want you to consider everything involved in this. For your budget I would get a pair of Behringer 2030p and mod them like Wmax suggests.

 

[fast1]

Don't buy the speakers before you listen. Don't sell yourself on them even. Just go listen find what you love. Save up till you can afford em with cold hard cash. If you don't get there then you don't need to be buying speakers anyway. This isn't a time to be wasteful with money.

Save up a 1000 dollars then come back and be ready to do it right.

If you can save 100 a month for 10 months. You will have made it to a good budget for buying a pair of speakers and a nice receivers. I settled and regret it now. I ended up selling many of my speakers and receiver.

If you need something in the mean time. Get a pair of nice headphones. Etomyics research makes very nice 70 dollar headphones. They have improved my hearing sensitivity and quality. Follow instructions carefully when using them.

i agree with him, don't let your heart rule over your head, you will regret it in the near future.

 

[DJ in TX]

I don't want to scare you off, but I want you to consider everything involved in this. For your budget I would get a pair of Behringer 2030p and mod them like Wmax suggests.

I am not sure who Wmax is or why I would want to mod any speakers, or even what would be involved with modding them. As for the speakers you mention, I googled them and they do seem to have a good price point (around $130-150) so that would save me money. The hard part is that I have never heard of Behringer and I'm not sure if I would trust them. One of the things I like about the Polks is that they are made of wood, and not only apparently sound really good, but they also look really high end. My klipsch speakers in college were wood and I really preferred it. I'm not sure about the behringers, but they look like hard plastic or something similar.

i agree with him, don't let your heart rule over your head, you will regret it in the near future.[/IMG]

Don't worry, I would never buy a speaker without hearing it first. When I make my purchases I am very thorough, methodical, and sometimes even indecisive. My wife would prefer that I just make a decisoin already, but I have to be sure its the right choice.

 

[lsiberian]

I am not sure who Wmax is or why I would want to mod any speakers, or even what would be involved with modding them. As for the speakers you mention, I googled them and they do seem to have a good price point (around $130-150) so that would save me money. The hard part is that I have never heard of Behringer and I'm not sure if I would trust them. One of the things I like about the Polks is that they are made of wood, and not only apparently sound really good, but they also look really high end. My klipsch speakers in college were wood and I really preferred it. I'm not sure about the behringers, but they look like hard plastic or something similar.



Don't worry, I would never buy a speaker without hearing it first. When I make my purchases I am very thorough, methodical, and sometimes even indecisive. My wife would prefer that I just make a decisoin already, but I have to be sure its the right choice.

DJ most speakers are built using wood and drivers. Their exterior appearance is a matter of finish. I know this because I build my own speakers these days. Most are built with MDF, some are built with Cabinet Grade Birch Ply. Most speakers are poorly dampened and braced. Including the Behringer's. By simply upgrading the stuffing and bracing you can make a low end speaker a high end speaker. This is the poor man's way to hi-fi.

Wmax is one of our foremost experts on speaker building he has personally tested many products and built many speakers and designs. If you see his post read it. If he recommends a speaker it's probably a good choice. However from what I can tell you seem to prefer horn type speakers.

I suggest you take your time and find your favorite horns. Once your ears like something then buy it.

 

[DJ in TX]

DJ most speakers are built using wood and drivers. Their exterior appearance is a matter of finish. I know this because I build my own speakers these days. Most are built with MDF, some are built with Cabinet Grade Birch Ply. Most speakers are poorly dampened and braced. Including the Behringer's. By simply upgrading the stuffing and bracing you can make a low end speaker a high end speaker. This is the poor man's way to hi-fi.

Wmax is one of our foremost experts on speaker building he has personally tested many products and built many speakers and designs. If you see his post read it. If he recommends a speaker it's probably a good choice. However from what I can tell you seem to prefer horn type speakers.

I suggest you take your time and find your favorite horns. Once your ears like something then buy it.

Thanks for all the good info. I'll keep an eye out for WMax's posts. What you said about stuffing and bracing was interesting. I never would have thought of this myself. I would have believed that a bad speaker is a bad speaker.

I didn't realize the polk booshelves I mentioned were considered horn speakers. I know Klipsch is known for their horn technology, but I didn't see anything on the polks or in their literature that would indicate it was a horn speaker. What other types are there besides horn speakers?

As for what I prefer in a speaker...mainly I prefer a speaker that has a very wide range. I like crisp melodic highs, and deep full bass...basically just want to fill the room with natural sound. I don't want to rattle the windows or piss off the neighbors with sirens, i just want good rich accurate sound. I slso like wood that has a nice wood finish. It just looks more high end.

 

[lsiberian]

Thanks for all the good info. I'll keep an eye out for WMax's posts. What you said about stuffing and bracing was interesting. I never would have thought of this myself. I would have believed that a bad speaker is a bad speaker.

I didn't realize the polk booshelves I mentioned were considered horn speakers. I know Klipsch is known for their horn technology, but I didn't see anything on the polks or in their literature that would indicate it was a horn speaker. What other types are there besides horn speakers?

As for what I prefer in a speaker...mainly I prefer a speaker that has a very wide range. I like crisp melodic highs, and deep full bass...basically just want to fill the room with natural sound. I don't want to rattle the windows or piss off the neighbors with sirens, i just want good rich accurate sound. I slso like wood that has a nice wood finish. It just looks more high end.

I'm getting brands mixed up on the horns. You can tell right away.


Many drivers are held back by the design and interior quality. Upgrading these factors can take a Behringer 2030p to the level of a much higher quality speaker.

According to Wmax a properly built box will be braced every 3 inches on every axis and dampened with at least 2 inches mineral wool or OC 705. At 300 dollars you can't buy a speaker like that, but you can buy a speaker that can be improved.

Examples are the Infinity Primuses and the Behringers. I believe both have been improved by Wmax.

I am like you in that I want the most natural sound and don't need rattling bass, but when you watch a movie or get a deep instrument you do want to feel it. And a DIY sub option like a small JL Audio 8w7 build is capable of doing that while not taking up valuable floor space.

Another option is to build your own speakers. However this is difficult time consuming and the mark of our hobby.

For consumer speakers. My favorite line are KEFs. Currently Accessories4less has a great deal on iQ1s. You can get a pair for around 250 shipped. They are very nice small bookshelves. If you have a KEF dealer in the area give them a listen.

 

[DJ in TX]

Hey Siberian,

Thanks for pointing out that website and the KEF speakers there. I had previously been looking at KEFs reference series as I had heard great things about KEF. Although I am learning that "reference" is code for, really expensive. I think the design of the KEF reference 201/2 speakers is really nice, but after i saw the price at some online retailers it scared me straight. I assumed all KEFs were out of my range, so this is good info.

As for the KEF iQ1 on accessories4less, I'm am curious, based on specs alone, are these speakers better, worse, or about the same quality as the Polk RTi A1 speakers I was originally asking about?

Also, seeing as I prefer wood grain finish as opposed to black birch, do you know if the iQ1s came in wood finish, or only black? If I determine the iQ1s are a good deal and decide to go for them, I'm not sure how quick I need to act to avoid missing out on them or if it should be easy to find them again later.

 

[lsiberian]

Hey Siberian,

Thanks for pointing out that website and the KEF speakers there. I had previously been looking at KEFs reference series as I had heard great things about KEF. Although I am learning that "reference" is code for, really expensive. I think the design of the KEF reference 201/2 speakers is really nice, but after i saw the price at some online retailers it scared me straight. I assumed all KEFs were out of my range, so this is good info.

As for the KEF iQ1 on accessories4less, I'm am curious, based on specs alone, are these speakers better, worse, or about the same quality as the Polk RTi A1 speakers I was originally asking about?

Also, seeing as I prefer wood grain finish as opposed to black birch, do you know if the iQ1s came in wood finish, or only black? If I determine the iQ1s are a good deal and decide to go for them, I'm not sure how quick I need to act to avoid missing out on them or if it should be easy to find them again later.

The iQ1s actually do come in cherry finish. And the surrounds that match them iQ8s are cheaper in cherry.

If you are asking me then I would chose the KEFs, but I'm not a Polk fan at all. Don't get me wrong some people like em I don't. I love Coaxial drivers. And when I build my dream speakers I plan to use coaxial drivers for all of them. My ears say KEFs sound better than any other brand at their price point that I've heard. Plus they look nice IMO.

If I were buying my new fronts I would buy a pair of iQ1s and an iQ2.

 

[DJ in TX]

So for the sake of thorough discussion, lets just say that I decide the KEF iQ1s are the right speakers for my needs.

From there, what do you think about using these speakers in conjunction with the TEAC micro stereo mentioned earlier in this thread? SInce I could buy it without speakers I could get it for a pretty low price. I just wonder about its performance. Will its internal stereo receiver/amplification power these KEFs sufficiently? Or would a standalone AV receiver in the $200-$300 range blow the Teac out of the water?

If it is helpful, they would be the only speakers in the mix, used primarily for FM radio and CD playback, and I would have them in my living room which is approximately 16 feet by 14 feet.

Thoughts?

 

[SAMSUNG HUNG]

Check out FLUANCE speakers EXCELLENT SPEAKERS!!!!!!!

 

[j_garcia]

Check out FLUANCE speakers EXCELLENT SPEAKERS!!!!!!!

LOL. Not better than DIY speakers or any of the ones being discussed.

 

[DJ in TX]

Siberian, any thoughts on my most recent questions? Or anyone else?

 

[lsiberian]

So for the sake of thorough discussion, lets just say that I decide the KEF iQ1s are the right speakers for my needs.

From there, what do you think about using these speakers in conjunction with the TEAC micro stereo mentioned earlier in this thread? SInce I could buy it without speakers I could get it for a pretty low price. I just wonder about its performance. Will its internal stereo receiver/amplification power these KEFs sufficiently? Or would a standalone AV receiver in the $200-$300 range blow the Teac out of the water?

If it is helpful, they would be the only speakers in the mix, used primarily for FM radio and CD playback, and I would have them in my living room which is approximately 16 feet by 14 feet.

Thoughts?

I see no reason why it couldn't, but I'm not super familiar with the product mentioned. KEFs can take a lot of power. I will comment tonight when I get home further.