Enter to Win: HardBody 160 CD case from Slappa

[Tom Andry]

Slappa is giving away five (5) SLAPPA HardBody 160 CD cases in Camel this month in our dedicated forum contest to be used on their website for purchasing Slappa merchandise.

To be eligible to win, you must: 1) Be a registered Audioholics forum member, 2) Have USA or Canadian Residence 3) Answer the following question in this contest thread

Contest Question: Who do you think makes the best speakers for home theater systems?

Note this contest ends on October 31, 2005. Winners will be drawn shortly thereafter

Have fun and good luck!

 

[Tomorrow]

I doubt anyone here has heard every speaker, so let me be the first to give my subjective opinion as to which speaker is best. I have been a bit sheltered due to my rural location, but here goes.

The best I've heard, perhaps by a large degree are Aerial Acoustics. They were 7B's mated to their surround/center/sub package. Be still my throbbing heart! Richness. Fullness. Clarity. Presence. Soundstage. Power. Suhhhmooooth! If my wife hadn't been there giving me "THE LOOK", I might even have swapped her for them.

 

[brian32672]

I agree with above, nobody has heard all speaker manufactures.

When they first came out, I really thought BOSE made good speakers. I had auditioned them quite a few times years ago. Clearly they are overpriced.
I have not heard that many brands, and I have heard more car speakers and subs than any home speakers.
Car-Phoenix Gold, Orion, SoundStream, Kicker, Pioneer, Sony, JBL, etc(and more).. come to mind. (Kicker was best sounding, but not best built)
Home-Pioneer, Bic, Bic Acoustech, Klipsch Consumer and Reference, Sony, BOSE, B&W, Fluance, JBL, SDAT, Fisher Reference (studio speakers), etc(and more)...

I've heard a lot more, and even super expensive speakers. But usually when I see an outrageous price tag I just turn away. I have been to quite a few Audio Specialty shops, but anyhow..


Honestly for the super low price I paid for the system I have now, Acoustech's I am very happy with them. Considering they are compared to Klipsch Reference but at half the price (sound similar to me, and much better than the Synergy cheap series). However, I'm sure you can pay $7,500 for a single speaker. But truly is it worth it? I think not. Well, not unless you have serious amount of money and time to waste. IMO...

EDIT:: I had posted below supervij, but thought I would delete that and just add what I said onto this statement. So I would not be double posting on a contest thread.

I had posted:
Yeah I forgot about Athena and Yamaha. The Athena's I heard were ok. Yamaha's were overpriced IMO.
Anyway this is an add on statement, clearly I can't remember every speaker I heard...
Thats certainly why I put in "etc..."

OOPS also add Velodyne.
However I still say the Acoustech's are great, specially the H100 sub desinged by Dr. Hsu.
Its built like a brick, very sturdy... So clearly you could say I have even heard HSU, or at least something of very close design.

 

[supervij]

The first one I ever heard were Bose. One of the high-end stores in Toronto has a Bose showroom in which Bose does music and movie demonstrations. I have to admit, I was pretty knocked out by the sound. Then I saw the price tag. I left the store.

I only recently got into this whole home theatre thing, and did a bunch of research. Unfortunately, when I went auditioning speakers, I was limited to what I could afford (no point in auditioning stuff I couldn't afford), and of those brands, I had a really hard time telling the difference between a lot of brands. I listened to some Yamahas, some Sonys, and wound up liking the Athenas the best. And they were less expensive than the others! Hurrah!

So personally, I think Athena makes wonderful speakers for home theatre. My friends have all been wowed by my setup (even though it's pretty low-end to those on this forum), and by the sound. For both movies and music, Athena is lovely.

cheers,
supervij

PS: The one brand I listened to that I really liked above the others was Totem. They were miles beyond my budget, but if I could have had whatever I had wanted, I think I might have chosen Totems.

 

[Daz3d&Confus3d]

I would have a tough time narrowing it down to one brand. My first HT setup (1997)...I had a Mitsubishi 5.1 receiver (made by Onkyo) and two l/r polk towers and a polk center and I was very pleased with them. That was still pre-dvd pretty much...wow!

Recently, I rebuilt my HT with Klipsch Reference (rf-35's) series and I really am please for the bang-for-the-buck. Though I think I would be equally pleased with Axiom's.

I like the Klipsch better than the Polks so I would go with either Klipsch or Axiom in a sub $2000 class. And since that is where I live and dwell, that is my recommendation. In the higher price ranges I can't give a recommendation.

 

[aarond]

JBL synthesis

 

[jaxvon]

I'd have to go with Phase Tech, but I really need to get out and listen more. I'm sure I could find something better.

 

[Brandst]

Haven't really heard enough to say for sure. The JBL set that I've had for the last 10 or so years has been great, especially with an upgraded sub. Some of the Klipsch systems I've heard have been good as well as Paradigm, B&K and a handful of others. I am going to be purchasing a set from Ascend Acoustics and hope that they work as great for me as for others.

Steve

 

[agabriel]

I think Klipsch builds the best sounding speakers. I am a resident of the US.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Meridian is the best that I have ever heard. Perhaps a toss up then between B&W and the JBL Synthesis system. The Syn stuff is really a package deal though and I'm not sure that it outperforms the B&W Nautilus series, but it definitely is an agressive contender.

But, at reference levels in an A-B test, I could actually hear the Meridians clean up sound that B&W just wasn't up to. Very amazing.

On more of a budget? Definitive Technology. Period. Since so much money is spent on 'pretty' cases, people end up paying a lot for the look of pretty woods instead of paying for good acoustics from their speakers. Or, they pay a lot more to get the same acoustic levels that Def Tech offers for a much more reasonable price tag. This is, of course, for home theater, and NOT critical two channel listening. If I had lots of cash? Sure, B&W, Meridian, lots of others... But, on a budget, Def-Tech is one tough cookie to beat.

 

[Nomo]

Of the speakers I've listened to, a relatively small handful, I'd take B&W.

 

[BobBart]

I haven't heard very many speakers. I currently own some from selahaudio and they sound fantastic, I hear avalon mentioned alot. Personally any of the smaller diy places make really great sounding speakers for a fraction of the cost.

 

[majorloser]

Contest Question: Who do you think makes the best speakers for home theater systems?

Well, I've heard so many REALLY good speakers. And yet there are so many more that I have not even had a chance to see that are highly rated. Most of these speakers are far out of my fiscal means.

But when I was buying my speakers I narrowed my choice down to B&W, M&K, Canton, Definitive Technology and Mirage. I truly enjoyed the sound of all. Needless to say I ended up buying Canton.

 

[Mr. Lamb Fries]

Bose...Thats all I gotta say!

 

[L-Jay]

I gotta go with what I know, and I know Energy C-Series.

 

[Wabbit_Swayer]

From the very few I've actually heard and listened to seriously, the answer is simple--RBH. Maybe in the near future I'll get my hands on a pair of Status Acoustics, only then will my opinion change I'm sure.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

The best home theater speakers I have heard in my price range are made by either Polk or Klipsch.

I am searching out more dealers in my area and saving more money to broaden my horizon.

 

[Pyrrho]

Aurum Cantus is my choice for best speakers. Aside from great sound, they have several small models that are an honest 8 ohms and of reasonable efficiency, so they work well in most situations. Naturally, as has been stated by many others, I have not heard everything. I may add to that that I have not heard everything that I have heard under fair conditions; i.e., I have not heard things always in the same room, with the same music, at near enough the same time, etc. There are many good brands, and if I were to pick another, it would be Magnepan, though with their impedance and lack of efficiency, as well as their size, they are often not ideal for the space and equipment that people typically have.

 

[MrMezz]

The best speakers I heard that I could afford are Anthony Gallo. The best I've heard that I couldn't afford are Vandersteens. I see an upgrade in my future.

 

[mlbillow]

Well, I am pretty partial to Klipsch (just outfitted my home theater with the RF35 system) but there are a lot of good brands out there. At times I wish I would have had the chance to audition more type of speakers before I bought the Klipsch. Once line of speakers I would like to hear sometime is Axiom. I dont know anyone that has them, but sooner or later I will come across someone.....

Thats is just for speakers, but when it comes to a subwoofer, I would have to say SVS. I have a Klipsch right now, but am saving up for the PB12-Plus/2 or Ultra.