Best looking 5.0 systems under $2000?

[InTheIndustry]

I went back to the site, I now see they do have specs for them. Pardon my ignorance on this matter.

Edit: I checked again, they are morons apparently. Every speaker they sell has the "system frequency response" thing for the FR. I am not saying their speakers suck, just that they should try harder to provide accurate and reliable specifications for their speakers, meaning individual frequency responses measured and done with +/-3dB.

You're correct. They do all say system frequesncy response. It should just say "Frequency Response" for the individual speakers and "System Frequency Response" for the dARTS systems.

The reason the dARTS systems don't show individual specs is because each speaker performs differently depending on the room. The speakers in dARTS don't have internal cross overs. That's all done digitally in the amp.

 

[autoboy]

I could do towers. My room is 14x16 and I have Axiom M60s in there right now. I don't listen to much music, and you are going to kill me for this, but I mostly listen to internet radio when I'm hanging out in the kitchen cooking dinner or something. Other than that, my music listening is pretty limited. I NEVER sit down and listen to music on my own. I'll sit and play a concert in HD once in awhile, and watch American Idol, but all my music I listen to critically is from the TV.

I watch a good amount of TV and movies. This is the most important factor for me and is why I think some of the higher end speakers are a little much for my usage. I have no problem throwing money around, but I feel like you can get a good system for around $2000 so why spend more? It should suit me just fine. I don't have a super high income, but I made great money in the boom markets of 2000 and I really don't dip into it much.

I was planning on getting Mythos 4 towers, a Mythos 3 center, and Mythos Gems for rears. That so far is what I am leaning towards. I checked out the Paradigms and loved them too, but they are pricey and silver. I was thinking black.

I've worried about the Mirage speakers in my room since one wall is partially open to the kitchen and lots of sound would head out in that direction, just to get lost, but their look is ok and they are supposed to be great with movies so I thought I would consider them.

I like the look of the Polk RTi A series, and actually I have a 2 pairs of RTi4s and a CSi3 (before they got the nice tapered cabinet) that I just picked up for $350 for the whole set. But they are really bright and I don't have a good set of stands for them. I thought I would give them to someone I know. The cherry didn't match my dark maple Ethan Allen TV stand either.

The Jamos look great. I'll see if there is somewhere in the Bay Area that I can audition them.

The Mini Energies on that stand look like just what i am looking for. They are a little small though. I would be worried they wouldn't be able to fill in the low end enough to match well with my sub. The SVS PB-12 NSD is not known to be the most musical sub in the world. I would prefer to keep the crossover at 80 and not 100 or 120. Energy claims 80hz +/-3db. Maybe they could work.

BTW, I have a Onkyo 875 powering everything. I'll take a picture when my GF gets home and I can find the charger for the camera.

 

[Warpdrv]

I may be biased because I own them, but I think the era speakers look very good if you get good stands for them (the towers are outside the budget).

Era is definitely a major contender... They have an engineer from Aerial Acoustics designing their drivers, and I'm sure much more...

And we all know what Aerial brings to the table...

To date, the Aerial 9's are on my very short list......

 

[armaraas]

I've been looking around the same budget, not as concerned with looks, but I've cut and pasted below speakers I'm looking to audition this spring. I might have to include Mythos One's as well, although BB doesn't have their Mythos labeled, and there's never anyone around when I go through....

KEF (Accessories4Less.com) ~$1700
Fronts- IQ9
Center- IQ6C
Rear- IQ1

These two I found some pricing online, but may not be reliable or accurate-
Energy (Audioexcellence-they are not an authorized dealer) ~$1950
Fronts- RC-50 (middle tower of the line, an authorized dealer online has RC-30's for about $600-700)
Center- RC-LCR
Rear- RC-10

Dali (Spearit Audio is no longering carrying them and has their remainder stock listed online)~$2050
Fronts- Ikon 5 (lowest level tower of the line, could go Ikon 2's for bookshelves)
Center- Vokal 2
Rear- Ikon 1

 

[Warpdrv]

good list, have patience, and be persistence...

sound like you have it well thought out so far...

 

[autoboy]

The Era's look really nice. Nobody really sells them except for a store in San Fransisco and Berkeley. That is a little far for me to go from San Jose. The design 4s are sporting a 83db sensitivity! Wow, good thing I have pretty good power.

 

[3db]

I levae the looks to the receiver and the other components with flashy light thingies.

Speakers I buy on sound alone. If they sound good then they are beautiful to look at. If they sound like crap but look prettyto someone else, they would look crappy to me. My PSB T45s look like a plain Jane but when I take off the grills and sit in teh sweet spot, I get moony eyed for them all over again.

I gues I'm not a good one to answer this post .

 

[autoboy]

Speakers that look good do not have to sound like crap. I'll leave the crap to Bose. These speakers are going in my main room where I spend 50% of my time when I'm not sleeping. I want them to sound good, AND look good.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Speakers that look good do not have to sound like crap. I'll leave the crap to Bose. These speakers are going in my main room where I spend 50% of my time when I'm not sleeping. I want them to sound good, AND look good.

I agree. Speakers, receivers, amps, TVs, blu-ray, and everything else must also look good to me. Sound quality is the most important, but aesthetic is right up there in my book.

 

[3db]

Speakers that look good do not have to sound like crap. I'll leave the crap to Bose. These speakers are going in my main room where I spend 50% of my time when I'm not sleeping. I want them to sound good, AND look good.

I'm not saying that. I'm saying that speaker looks aren't important to me. Just the sound matters. If two speakers were equal in the sound department, one ugly, one pleasing, I'd take the pleasing one of course if prices were equal. However, if the ugly one had slightly better performance than the pleasing one, then I would take the ugly one.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think the key issue is "good looking", and not "best looking".

As long as they look good and the sound is great, then I will be happy. They don't have to be the best looking or the sexiest looking.

But they cannot be UGLY and they cannot look cheap.