Budget speakers with descent bass, (<$200, 20-100RMS watts-ish)

[mjs454]

Hi All!

You may cringe at this, but I've been using remnant satellite speakers from two old Logitech speaker systems that had the subwoofers go out. On my limited grad school budget I'm looking to upgrade...

Driving the speakers, I have a few old amps:
- For my small office (~100sq. ft) I have a Technic SA-120 which can drive 35RMS watts. I think that's sufficient for the small space, but I'm open to feedback.
- For my basement work area, which is much larger, I have a Yamaha AV-34 which can drive 100RMS watts to the front channels (I've heard good things about this old amp).

At the moment, my biggest complaint with the logitech satellites is the muddy low-end... They were obviously designed to run on a crossover with a separate sub to handle the bass. For my office, I'm not going to be driving anything too loud, but I want to improve the overall sound quality, hopefully without needing a beefy new amp to go with. Any suggestions <$200?

The basement, I'm willing to potentially spend a little more. <$300 I stumbled across these (Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 450 Pair Home Audio Speaker - Newegg.com) on Newegg, which has nothing but great reviews. I'm particularly drawn to the feedback and design notes regarding the bass capabilities on these. I'm trying to avoid going all out on a separate sub as well...

What do you all think?
Thanks!!
Mike

 

[slipperybidness]

That's a good price on the DTs. I have the smaller 350 and they are great speakers.

Other good budget choices are the Infinity Primus range (especially if you have a Fry's nearby) and the Pioneer Andrew Jones BS22

 

[afterlife2]

Sale on these and bass is said to be good too: Boston Acoustics CS260-II - Tower Speaker (Black) | Paul's TV

 

[jcl]

NewEgg has the older model Andrew Jones Pioneer towers for $199/pr with free shipping. Tigerdirect has the latest model towers for $130 each, shipping not included.
I think you would find the bass on these towers to do better than the DefTechs. While they do have good low end for their size, I think if you have the room the towers will be better.

 

[j_garcia]

The BS22s don't have a ton of bass but they will be a significant step up over Logitech speakers. For the size and price they'll be tough to beat.

Wattage rating is not a good way to choose a speaker; you can all but ignore that spec since it really doesn't mean too much.

 

[Teh3morejekt]

Since this is close to my question I figure this might be the place for it. I am looking for tower speakers to form the fronts of my 7.1 Onkyo system. The budget is $400 for both shipped and everything. I had been looking at the Martin Loagn vision 10's from amazon. and The Klipsch RF42. Both are about $170 plus shipping. Of those which would better work withing a basement apartment.

 

[slipperybidness]

Since this is close to my question I figure this might be the place for it. I am looking for tower speakers to form the fronts of my 7.1 Onkyo system. The budget is $400 for both shipped and everything. I had been looking at the Martin Loagn vision 10's from amazon. and The Klipsch RF42. Both are about $170 plus shipping. Of those which would better work withing a basement apartment.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/general-av-discussions/87049-received-my-carnegie-csb1s-today-lot-people-wanted-know-what-i-thought.html

 

[Teh3morejekt]

Those do sound nice, but I was really hoping for floor standing tower speakers. My Ht is an Onkyo HTs5400 7.1

 

[ImcLoud]

You want your front 3 to match, being of matching timbre is very important with your front theater soundstage...

So buying a pair of towers and a center channel for $400 is going to limit your options...
Amazon.com: Jamo S 426 HCS 3 WENGE 5-Piece Home Theater System (Wenge): Electronics
or a pair of these Amazon.com: Pioneer SP-FS52-LR Andrew Jones Designed Floor standing Loudspeaker (each): Electronics and this center Amazon.com: Pioneer SP-C22 Andrew Jones Designed Center Channel Speaker: Electronics
or
BOSTON ACOUSTICS A250 2-Way Dual 5.25" Floor Standing Speaker EA Black | Accessories4less
with this center BOSTON ACOUSTICS A225C 2-Way Center Channel Speaker Black | Accessories4less
or
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO S70 5" 3-way Floorstanding Speakers Each Dark Oak | Accessories4less
with this center comes in a little higher than 400 CAMBRIDGE AUDIO S50 4" 3-Way Center Channel Speaker Dark Oak | Accessories4less
or if you dont care about soung quality and matching timbre heres a decent tower set for 400 KEF C7 Two Way 6½" Floorstanding Speakers Each Black | Accessories4less

I think the best bet is the Bostons or the cambridge set but they are going to push your budget around a little...

 

[zieglj01]

As stated above - look at the at the Boston and Cambridge Audio

 

[Teh3morejekt]

Okay then thanks. So for the best results get the set of fronts and center? I do not know too much on how this works, so why is it that this works best this way?
I think I will go with the Boston Acoustics then.

 

[afterlife2]

Too bad you didn't get that deal I posted earlier they were a steal for 100 each and now sold out, still those mentioned are good too.

 

[ImcLoud]

Okay then thanks. So for the best results get the set of fronts and center? I do not know too much on how this works, so why is it that this works best this way?
I think I will go with the Boston Acoustics then.

When you dont match your front three speakers you will not get seamless integration between the three front speakers that sometimes play the same material, having a different center will make the front end sound terrible, I have tried it and would rather run center phantom than have mismatched timbre...

If sound quality is important to you, match your front end, them boston 250s are nice speakers, you wont be sorry with that purchase, look around see if you can find them cheaper elsewhere {amazon, ebay, ect} but I doubt you will...

edit I just checked, cheapest I found was almost double the price that a4l is selling them for...

 

[mjs454]

Sorry for the late reply! Thanks all for the feedback!! You all gave me some good thoughts!
In the end I ended up going with a set of Definitive StudioMonitor 350's for their compact size and good bass extension with flat frequency characteristics. I hooked them up yesterday, and I am very impressed. They are perfect for my small office.

For the basement, I'll be looking into some of your other comments for a larger setup.
Thanks!!!
Mike