Best 5/7.1 for under 15k?

S

Saiyaman17

Audiophyte
Hi all,

I currently have 2 Paradigm Studio 10's which I was very happy with during college but am now ready to upgrade. I was looking at getting 2 Paradigm 95f's, 1 55c, 2 25s's, 1 SVS PB-2000 and throw the 2 studio 10's in the back.

In your experience is this one of the better setups for my budget or am I missing something. In full transparency I do not know what sound profiles I should be looking for and my studio 10's have always sounded great to me, but I admit I am an amateur. It would be 80% for movies and video games.

Thanks!
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
That isn't what I would get with 15k. While I loved the Paradigm Persona speakers, I am not impressed with the 95F's frequency response. It is abysmal for the price. In fact, I would avoid the entire prestige line. Also, I like the SVS 2000 series subs, but a 15k system really needs something better than that.

Questions: is this for a dedicated listening room or home theater? Do the speakers need to look nice or be living room friendly? Are you in the USA?
 
agarwalro

agarwalro

Audioholic Ninja
If there's some speaker out there that you'd like better, how would we know? I can come up with 20 different alternatives. You'd have to take them at face value. Which kinda leaves us in a stalemate.

Audition audition audition. That's a budget most here dream of. You'd do yourself a disservice buying something without listening to a huge bunch of options.

Is this a dedicated HT room (no consideration for looks) or living room setup (need something that looks better than a black coffin)?

What kind of equipment are you using to drive them?

How big is the space? The subwoofer recommendation depends on that info.

Edit 1: That unintentionally comes off as snarky and I can't fix it in text.
Edit 2: shady ninja'd me.
 
killdozzer

killdozzer

Audioholic Samurai
Maaaan... 15k!? I'd have a filed trip!

Throw some info on your room dimensions and your sitting position. Gaming often implies moving closer to the screen for all the tiny details, movies, however, do not, nor does the music. This, obviously, depends on the screen dimensions.

If it's 80% gaming and movies, many here would tell you to think 'outstanding sub', preferably more than one, but only if matched with some pretty darn detailed mains.

On a very broad and general notion, people here advise not to spend more than one third on your electronics. With your budget you could go even less than one third and still have everything you could wish for. Get some real value speakers rather than fancy looking boxes. Speakers will bring real joy to your listening.

Even with a budget like yours, don't go crazy for 300$ decoupling rubber feet for the speakers or some Swarovsky encrusted cables. That's BS, no one here will tell you to spend a lot on these things. Don't think too much about separate DAC's, some esoteric electricity purifiers, some BS tube stages to be placed between your CD player and your Amp to make CD's play like vinyl. That's all just fecal matter.

According to your room, you will get some superb speaker set. This set will dictate the amount of power needed which will, again, be dictated by the amount of noise you like in the room you have.

Start with speakers that can deliver what you like in the amount you like. Go and audition speakers and always ask for a way to hear them at your place.

Describe the shape of your room here and state the specs, W/D/H, and people will have a much easier task helping you.

If you think your current mains might do a good job as satellites, keep them. You'll have even more room in your budget for the mains, center and subs.

I remember SVS having some sort of discount when buying matching two of their subs. It's worth checking.

Keep in mind; you can do more with two medium quality subs than one excellent.
 
2

2channel lover

Audioholic Field Marshall
I have some experience with the 95f...demoed them....it's a nice speaker but if I were going to go the OEM route...I like the Monitor Audio Gold300 and the Revel F208 much better than the 95f.

If you have the time to wait (you still have the S10s I assume) you could get;

A pair of Salk Sound...Song3A mains and Song 3 Center...roughly $6200 shipped. Get two HSU 15" subs...the vtf3 mk5 (roughly $1750 shipped) or the bigger VTF 15h mk2 (est $2100 shipped)

For about $8300, move your S10s to the back, and you've got a speaker system that is killer for all but the largest of rooms.

With a 15k budget just for speakers, I would be tempted to ramp up to the Soundscape 8s, but would probably get 4 subs and stick with the Song3A instead.
 
Mitchibo

Mitchibo

Audioholic
Hi all,

I currently have 2 Paradigm Studio 10's which I was very happy with during college but am now ready to upgrade. I was looking at getting 2 Paradigm 95f's, 1 55c, 2 25s's, 1 SVS PB-2000 and throw the 2 studio 10's in the back.

In your experience is this one of the better setups for my budget or am I missing something. In full transparency I do not know what sound profiles I should be looking for and my studio 10's have always sounded great to me, but I admit I am an amateur. It would be 80% for movies and video games.

Thanks!
Revel,Revel,Revel! For 5k-7k you will find some mighty fine speakers. High end klipsch and B & W will be safe choices. Absolutely get multiple subs.
 
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