Best 5 speaker setup $800 or less will buy?

[Aporetic]

I haven't heard the EMPs but I do have the RBH version and they sound great. The RBHs are sleek and modern looking and mount easily to the wall. They don't go real low, but you'll have a nice sub to take care of that.

I also got some RBH WM-30's (on "clearance" from the EMP online store) and I'm very pleased with them. I couldn't resist their offer of $119 each so I got 7 of them for my home theater setup. They aren't "surrounds" as such, but I don't have to worry about timbre matching, and to me they sound great with a good sub. They also look good; nice quality and very unobtrusive.

 

[bacchus99]

Ya'll have me looking at the SVS system. It looks like it'd be a good buy. For those who own it: How do you like it soundwise and appearance in your house? I'll mainly use them for movies but how do they sound with music? I mainly listen to modern rock and country music.

 

[mazersteven]

The SVS's are not bad for music. There are better sounding budget speakers on the market. But IMO unless your going to sit in front of them for critical listening the SVS's will do just fine.

 

[bacchus99]

I like the looks of the entry level Axiom home theater speakers too. There probably alittle out of reach pricewise however. I found a store in town that carries Paradigm speakers. Might try and swing by there and demo some and see what those would cost. I hate that I have a finer taste for things sometimes!

 

[Shicks18]

I'm telling you man.. go 2 channel with your $800 and add-on later!!! Your gonna get the upgrade bug no matter what you do, so do it right the first time!!!

No one is ever 100% satisfied and content with there first setup, and always go back for more. $800 spent on a 2 channel will sound better than that money sprinkled out on 5 speakers.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I'm telling you man.. go 2 channel with your $800 and add-on later!!! Your gonna get the upgrade bug no matter what you do, so do it right the first time!!!

No one is ever 100% satisfied and content with there first setup, and always go back for more. $800 spent on a 2 channel will sound better than that money sprinkled out on 5 speakers.

I totally agree with this in theory. In practice, however, I have never heard a pair of speakers for $800 or less that sounded better than the Alesis Monitor Ones (and I have heard a lot of speakers!)

 

[jcPanny]

AV123 X-series

The AV123 X-ls encore speakers are on sale for $200/pair in black or $220/pair for real wood veneer making them well within the budget. Looks like they are curently out of stock, but they might be worth the wait.

 

[mazersteven]

The AV123 X-ls encore speakers are on sale for $200/pair in black Looks like they are curently out of stock, but they might be worth the wait.

I heard these this weekend. I would say yes they are worth the wait.

 

[Tex-amp]

The new Ascend 200SEs are the best thing I've heard in that price range so far.

 

[gus6464]

I totally agree with this in theory. In practice, however, I have never heard a pair of speakers for $800 or less that sounded better than the Alesis Monitor Ones (and I have heard a lot of speakers!)

Mackie HR824MKII

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Mackie HR824MKII

The built-in amplification could be an advantage in certain situations. Coupled with a good amp, however, the Alesis sound just as good.
(In fact, since all studio monitors have ruler-flat frequency response, wide dispersion, and vanishingly low distortion, they all have the same sound. Really, this must necessarily be the case, because if monitors sounded different from each other there could be no standard within the recording industry.)

 

[3db]

The built-in amplification could be an advantage in certain situations. Coupled with a good amp, however, the Alesis sound just as good.
(In fact, since all studio monitors have ruler-flat frequency response, wide dispersion, and vanishingly low distortion, they all have the same sound. Really, this must necessarily be the case, because if monitors sounded different from each other there could be no standard within the recording industry.)

So if ALL studio monitors have ruler-flat frequency response (which they don't) have wide dispersion, and all have vanishingly low distortion, then why do they NOT all sound the same.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

So if ALL studio monitors have ruler-flat frequency response (which they don't) have wide dispersion, and all have vanishingly low distortion, then why do they NOT all sound the same.

Simple. They do. (Or at least the dozen or two that I have heard all do.)
Again, they have to, or there would be no standard to use wwhen making recordings!

 

[3db]

Simple. They do. (Or at least the dozen or two that I have heard all do.)
Again, they have to, or there would be no standard to use wwhen making recordings!

Which dozen would those be?

 

[Spkr_Bldr]

The built-in amplification could be an advantage in certain situations. Coupled with a good amp, however, the Alesis sound just as good.
(In fact, since all studio monitors have ruler-flat frequency response, wide dispersion, and vanishingly low distortion, they all have the same sound. Really, this must necessarily be the case, because if monitors sounded different from each other there could be no standard within the recording industry.)

This quote is nowhere near an accurate representation of truth. If you're going to make broad strokes generalizations like this, then be prepared to back it up with some data.

The only generalization you can say about "all studio monitors" is that they're designed for near-field listening. Other than that it would be the same as saying "All high-end stereo speakers have ruler-flat frequency response, wide dispersion, and vanishingly low distortion, because people who spend that kind of money demand it".

 

[WmAx]

The built-in amplification could be an advantage in certain situations. Coupled with a good amp, however, the Alesis sound just as good.
(In fact, since all studio monitors have ruler-flat frequency response, wide dispersion, and vanishingly low distortion, they all have the same sound. Really, this must necessarily be the case, because if monitors sounded different from each other there could be no standard within the recording industry.)

Studio monitors may tend to be on average, flatter, than home audio speakers, if you were to do a large cross sample analysis. But even if all or even most studio monitors had a ruler flat frequency response(which they don't), there is a lot more to what you hear besides an on-axis response curve.

And there is no standard, btw.

-Chris

 

[Soundman]

The built-in amplification could be an advantage in certain situations. Coupled with a good amp, however, the Alesis sound just as good.
(In fact, since all studio monitors have ruler-flat frequency response, wide dispersion, and vanishingly low distortion, they all have the same sound. Really, this must necessarily be the case, because if monitors sounded different from each other there could be no standard within the recording industry.)

No 2 speakers sound exactly the same. This is what makes things interesting. Every system sounds different.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Which dozen would those be?

While it is obviously impossible to remember them all, I know that I have listened to various models from Mackie, Behringer, Yamaha, KRK, and Dynaudio, among others. As I said, none sounded better than my Alesis (or even different.)

 

[Joe Schmoe]

And there is no standard, btw.

Ridiculous. Of course there is a standard. If there were not, no producer could ever mix successfully, because it would be impossible to guess how the mix would translate to other systems.
Without a standard, why have studio monitors at all? Might as well mix/master on Bose!

 

[WmAx]

Ridiculous. Of course there is a standard. If there were not, no producer could ever mix successfully, because it would be impossible to guess how the mix would translate to other systems.
Without a standard, why have studio monitors at all? Might as well mix/master on Bose!

Ever notice that almost no two albums sound alike?

As for Bose.. actually... some of the top mastering engineers use Bose units to do a check of 'consumer grade' equipment; that is, how the final version will sound on common consumer equipment. It is common for mastering engineers to check the final version on car stereos and other consumer gear during the final stage.

-Chris