Front 3 to replace HTIB

[snowmanstu1110]

Back in November I purchased an Onkyo HT-S6100 HTIB because it was the easy route and I didn’t know too much about the whole home theater scene. Since then I’ve been digging hard into forums trying to grab up any information that I could and that’s leaving me with the desire to get a set of LCR speakers to see if I can even tell a difference from the HTIB speakers. I’m thinking about $500-700 for the 3. Would I be able to get something that is noticeably better then the onkyo’s for that price?

Pertinent info:

Room is 14’Wx17’L with cathedral ceilings (seating position is directly below the apex of the ceiling), carpeted, open to the dining room to the right of the system and fairly open to the kitchen to the right rear of the seating position. Seating position is about 11’ from the fronts. 90% HT/gaming, 10% music. Will be using the Receiver from the onkyo.

Bookshelves are preferable….not sure if I could get towers passed by aesthetics committee. The center would preferably have to fit in the upper drawer area of this stand.

cymax.com/Prepac-Manhattan-60-Audio-Video-Console-EMP-6200.htm

We originally had it on top but it was constantly blocking the IR to the TV so I removed the front of the drawer and placed the speaker in there. Would this degrade the sound quality?

So I guess to summarize, 1)is $500-700 enough to get a noticeably better sound, 2) could I get a few recommendations please?

Thanks!

 

[m_vanmeter]

just to point out how repressive an "esthetics committee" can be, probably one of the best deals out there now for two towers and a center
http://www.wwstereo.com/#/ecommerce/store/Speakers/33/144790/9_1_-1_103__0_0_0_-1/

but back to your point, another option from SV Sound, look at the "front three" option with SCS-01(m) speakers (note: stands shown are optional)
http://www.svsound.com/products-spks-scs01.cfm

 

[snowmanstu1110]

Thanks for the reply.

I've run across that Jamo deal. My only thought is that they are 6 ohm impedence and 120-170 watts. My reciever is 8-16 ohm and 130w continuous. But I don't know exactly what the ohm spec translates to. Is it still able to use a lower ohm'ed speaker? Does the watt discrepency matter too much?

The SVS set, however, is 8 ohm and 20-120W so it seems that would work.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[autoboy]

Ohms and watts are pretty meaningless stats to the average speaker shopper. I don't know why they even mention it.

Ohms measures the resistance of the speaker to power. It is a highly technical and complicated measurement that you really don't need to worry about

Total power handling is a little more useful and simply states the total power a speaker can handle before blowing itself up. This is not a measure of how much power it takes to run it. Just how much power it would take to blow it up. You can pretty much ignore this also.

Total power of the amp simply means how much power it can drive without blowing up. Also a pretty irrelevant number for most speaker shoppers unless it is really low.

A speaker will only use whatever power you send it. For example, if you set your volume at 1/3 rotation on the dial you may be sending the speaker 1W of power. The amp is sending the speaker 1W, and your speaker is using 1W. With a speaker sensitivity of 90db/w, your speaker will play at 90db. 90db is a pretty loud volume. One that your wife will likely start to complain at. So, you will never really need to worry about total power and ohms.

Pick the speaker that sounds good to you, fits your room and decor, and listen to it critically before buying. Then you will be all set.

 

[snowmanstu1110]

Thanks for the info autoboy. Definitely good to know. I think what I'm going to do is auditions some sets from companies that do free shipping both ways and I think the Jamo Set. Just looks to good to pass up.

Are the any companies other than TSC and aperion that do FS both ways?

Thanks for the help and please feel free to offer any other advice or recommendations.