Help on choosing 5.1 speakers for bedroom

[techigirl78]

I got a 42" plasma for my bedroom for Christmas. Now I'm trying to find some decent speakers that don't take up much room. I'm looking to spend around $1200 without sub or $1600 with sub. I haven't decided on a receiver yet, but am leaning towards the Marantz SR4002 due to the available 3 HDMI inputs. Here's the options I've considered at this point:

B&W VM1 - Look nice and can go to a local place and listen to them. Very little info available online regarding these speakers.

Paradigm Cinema 220/330 (price dependent) with ADP rears - Cannot listen to these, but local place does carry the 110s - would it pay to even listen to those for comparison sake?

Orb Audio Mod 2 - Cute speakers that would not take up much room and seem to get good reviews - can't listen to these in person.

What would you get or do? Any other options I should be considering? I'm a little frustrated as I can't go listen to these for comparison.

 

[jamie2112]

Are you looking for 5.1 or stereo speakers?

 

[techigirl78]

I'm looking for 5.1 as I'll use the room for primarily watching some of my HD TV shows and movies.

 

[Soundman]

Due to the price, I can't help but reccomend this deal:
http://store.audioholics.com/product/1866/17/emp-htp-351-5-1-speaker-system
You probably haven't heard them, but for this price, I don't know what can beat this. This would be a very nice bedroom setup, IMO. This would also leave you plenty of leftover funds to upgrade the sub if you want that extra effect for movies.

 

[Pyrrho]

I got a 42" plasma for my bedroom for Christmas. Now I'm trying to find some decent speakers that don't take up much room. I'm looking to spend around $1200 without sub or $1600 with sub. I haven't decided on a receiver yet, but am leaning towards the Marantz SR4002 due to the available 3 HDMI inputs. Here's the options I've considered at this point:

B&W VM1 - Look nice and can go to a local place and listen to them. Very little info available online regarding these speakers.

Paradigm Cinema 220/330 (price dependent) with ADP rears - Cannot listen to these, but local place does carry the 110s - would it pay to even listen to those for comparison sake?

Orb Audio Mod 2 - Cute speakers that would not take up much room and seem to get good reviews - can't listen to these in person.

What would you get or do? Any other options I should be considering? I'm a little frustrated as I can't go listen to these for comparison.

Speakers are a very subjective preference issue, so I advise you to go out and listen to as many speakers, and as many types of speakers, as you can stand to audition, that are in your price range and fit whatever other requirements you have (e.g., size, color, shape, whatever). The reason that speakers are very subjective is because they all are audibly imperfect, and it is a question of which imperfections are least annoying to you personally. So, unless you are not picky, are lucky, or really know what you are doing, buying without hearing is a very risky proposition.

One piece of advice that incidentally fits with your size idea: I recommend "bookshelf" speakers all around, as it saves money, and you will be using bass management to send all of the deep bass to the subwoofer anyway. This saves money on the main channel speakers, and allows you to either buy better main channel speakers or a better subwoofer, or both.

You are at a price point where you should be able to get something pretty good. It won't make everyone here jealous, but it should be pretty good.

 

[techigirl78]

After thinking about it more, I'm still hesitant to order online. With my last purchase, I went with Klipsch as I liked the brightness. For the bedroom, I want something a little more laid back so I thought paradigm may be a good fit. I'm going to go listen to Monitor Audio R225 tonight as I found a dealer in town. I can't listen to the paradigms as we don't have a dealer nearby that carries them.

 

[Soundman]

After thinking about it more, I'm still hesitant to order online. With my last purchase, I went with Klipsch as I liked the brightness. For the bedroom, I want something a little more laid back so I thought paradigm may be a good fit. I'm going to go listen to Monitor Audio R225 tonight as I found a dealer in town. I can't listen to the paradigms as we don't have a dealer nearby that carries them.

It's natural to be hesitant to order online, but don't let that hold you back if there's a speaker you're interested in and it can only be had online. Just make sure there is a good return policy so you can send them back if you don't like them. Many times you can find deals where they will pay shipping both ways. So, there is really no risk in trying them out in that case. Actually, there is an advantage to ordering online: You can see how they sound in your room instead of some demo room which probably doesn't sound anything like it will in your home. Unless of course you can find a dealer who will let you take them home and try them out first.

My point is that there are alot of great ID companies out there that make some great speakers too. Listen to some of them and see if you like them. I listened to several of them before deciding on my current set.

 

[Pyrrho]

It's natural to be hesitant to order online, but don't let that hold you back if there's a speaker you're interested in and it can only be had online. Just make sure there is a good return policy so you can send them back if you don't like them. Many times you can find deals where they will pay shipping both ways. So, there is really no risk in trying them out in that case. Actually, there is an advantage to ordering online: You can see how they sound in your room instead of some demo room which probably doesn't sound anything like it will in your home. Unless of course you can find a dealer who will let you take them home and try them out first.

My point is that there are alot of great ID companies out there that make some great speakers too. Listen to some of them and see if you like them. I listened to several of them before deciding on my current set.

Yes, there are a lot of great speakers one can buy online. I bought SVS subwoofers based upon the near universal glowing reviews of them, and I am glad that I did. I also purchased some Aurum Cantus (U.S. version) speakers that way, after researching them and getting a good enough price that I thought I would be able to resell them for about what I paid for them if I did not like them, and I am very glad I bought them, too. In both cases, it was after a good amount of research, and in both cases, it was after having long experience with audio equipment. I knew what kinds of things I liked in speakers, and what I did not like, so that helped. I already knew, for example, that I liked the sound of good ribbon tweeters, and I also knew that I was fine with their drawbacks, so when I bought the Aurum Cantus speakers, I already had some idea of what it was that I was getting. But I would not want to buy speakers online without such experience or without researching the matter with some thoroughness. Nor would I want to do so if I could not afford to make a mistake. If one has not already auditioned many different speakers, and many different types of speakers, I think it is a mistake to buy online. Obviously, others may have different opinions on this subject, and they are welcome to express their opinions. Certainly, one can sometimes get great deals on great equipment online. But for people who do not have a really good idea of what they want, I think they will be better served by searching locally, unless they live somewhere where there isn't anything decent to be had locally. After the local search, it may be good to look online, but I think only afterwards.

 

[techigirl78]

I was pretty content with going with a SVS or HSU sub just based on everything I read here. Hearing these comments makes me feel better about this decision.

I just don't want to be considering different types of speakers, so it would help to get that narrowed down. When comparing the wall mounted paradigms (cinema) or monitor audio (radius) to something like the smaller orb audio speakers, would I be correct in assuming the paradigms/montiors would perform better? They will cost slightly more and appearance wise I'm leaning towards the wall mounted ones. I just want to make sure I don't go down the wrong direction. I would consider bookshelfs, but for this application in a very small bedroom (10X13) I need speakers that don't stick out much on the walls or take up much room. However, I want to make sure they are good enough that if I knock a wall down in my house to expand the room to 13X17 they would still work well and fill the room with sound.

The roads are bad tonight, so I didn't get a chance to go listen to the monitors.

 

[fredk]

I agree about the bookshelves.

For in store, put PSB on your list. Either the Image or the new Imagine line.

For online companies Axiom and AV123 offer auditioning programs so if you can find someone local to you, you can give their speakers a listen. Apieron probably has the same, but also covers the shipping back if you don't like what you hear, so its risk free.

I havn't listened to any of the speakers you listed, but with Paradigm, after comparing the Monitor and Studio lines, I wanted something like the Studios, just not the price. That lead me to ID/online companies.

Axioms auditioning forum is here.

 

[Pyrrho]

I was pretty content with going with a SVS or HSU sub just based on everything I read here. Hearing these comments makes me feel better about this decision.

I just don't want to be considering different types of speakers, so it would help to get that narrowed down. When comparing the wall mounted paradigms (cinema) or monitor audio (radius) to something like the smaller orb audio speakers, would I be correct in assuming the paradigms/montiors would perform better? They will cost slightly more and appearance wise I'm leaning towards the wall mounted ones. I just want to make sure I don't go down the wrong direction. I would consider bookshelfs, but for this application in a very small bedroom (10X13) I need speakers that don't stick out much on the walls or take up much room. However, I want to make sure they are good enough that if I knock a wall down in my house to expand the room to 13X17 they would still work well and fill the room with sound.

The roads are bad tonight, so I didn't get a chance to go listen to the monitors.

At your price point, the SVS PB10-NSD would probably be a good choice:

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-10nsd.cfm

Just remember to look carefully at dimensions of things online, as some people are surprised at how big some of the SVS products are. Also, of course, a higher model would be better, so if you manage to save enough on the main speakers, you could go to a higher model. However, I would not want to go with anything less than this subwoofer, as I do not know of any subwoofer that is less expensive that is flat down to 20 Hz, and I like having all of the bass that is in recordings (or as much as possible) to actually be reproduced. Whether you need such deep bass or not depends upon the music to which you listen (most popular music does not have much going on so low), and your personal preferences.

I have heard good things about the regular (non-subwoofer) speakers from SVS, but I have not personally heard them myself. Again, for main speakers, I recommend listening to as many things as possible, as different people have different preferences, and all speakers are audibly imperfect, so it is a question of which imperfections bother you the least.


As for the receiver, I think the particular model you mention in your opening post does not support the new audio formats on Blu-Ray. If you are going to ever have Blu-Ray, I recommend that you only buy a receiver that has all of the audio formats that are on Blu-Ray (HD Audio format support: Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital TrueHD, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio). Anything else is already obsolete, though one can get a Blu-Ray player that decodes the new formats and outputs them as multichannel PCM via HDMI or as multichannel analog output via several RCA type connections. The analog method, however, means that you need to setup the system twice: Once with the receiver balance/delay settings, and once with the player's balance/delay settings.

As for the HDMI inputs, it is always possible to get an HDMI switch box to hook up more things, but it is not so easy to add new audio formats.

The least expensive receiver that I know of that has the new audio formats is the Yamaha RX-V663, though it only has two HDMI inputs:

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=567571&CTID=5000300

It is an excellent receiver for the money. But I wish it had more HDMI inputs.

 

[techigirl78]

Can you get too big of a sub for a system/room?

Yikes, that is kind of big. Given all the speakers I'm looking at will sound much better with a good sub, I will have to make room. After looking over the SVS site, I could fit the PB10-NSD or the PC12-NSD. I really like the look of the PC12-NSD and there is a special on it right now. Would the 12 just be overkill for a 10x13 room or the types of speakers I'm considering? If not, I think I'll go ahead and order the PC12-NSD as I would like to get going on committing to some decisions.

I'm going to go with the Yamaha and I know someone who sells these so I should be able to get a good price.

 

[Pyrrho]

Yikes, that is kind of big. Given all the speakers I'm looking at will sound much better with a good sub, I will have to make room. After looking over the SVS site, I could fit the PB10-NSD or the PC12-NSD. I really like the look of the PC12-NSD and there is a special on it right now. Would the 12 just be overkill for a 10x13 room or the types of speakers I'm considering? If not, I think I'll go ahead and order the PC12-NSD as I would like to get going on committing to some decisions.

I'm going to go with the Yamaha and I know someone who sells these so I should be able to get a good price.

What is overkill in a subwoofer depends upon how loud you like to play things, and on how you like the subwoofer set relative to other sounds, and the particular music or movies you watch. If a subwoofer is better than it needs to be, it never hurts anything, because you control the level that it is set. I recommend setting it for a flat frequency response, but many people like extra bass:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51109

Also, if a subwoofer is pushed to its limits, it will typically distort more than when it isn't, so having something that could play louder or deeper than it needs to can result in less distorted bass. It is when a subwoofer isn't good enough that you have a problem.

In my case, I have a pair of the old version SVS CS-Ultra subwoofers in a larger room, and I set things to flat. I could probably get by with just one, but since I have two, I will continue to use both. In doing so, the extra capability is there just in case it is ever needed. Again, if you buy a subwoofer that is better than it needs to be, it will not cause any problems. It just leaves you with less money for other things.

 

[lsiberian]

I got a 42" plasma for my bedroom for Christmas. Now I'm trying to find some decent speakers that don't take up much room. I'm looking to spend around $1200 without sub or $1600 with sub. I haven't decided on a receiver yet, but am leaning towards the Marantz SR4002 due to the available 3 HDMI inputs. Here's the options I've considered at this point:

B&W VM1 - Look nice and can go to a local place and listen to them. Very little info available online regarding these speakers.

Paradigm Cinema 220/330 (price dependent) with ADP rears - Cannot listen to these, but local place does carry the 110s - would it pay to even listen to those for comparison sake?

Orb Audio Mod 2 - Cute speakers that would not take up much room and seem to get good reviews - can't listen to these in person.

What would you get or do? Any other options I should be considering? I'm a little frustrated as I can't go listen to these for comparison.

I use Kef 2001.2s for my rears with a good enough receiver they have plenty of sound in my small living area. Plus they take up very little space. They put the tweeter inside the midrange woofer.

Just another option to look into. At your budget you may look at the KEF 3000 series too. I couldn't be happier with these as rears. Cnet I think picked those speakers as their top one for combining aesthetics and sound quality.

 

[fredk]

Sub overkill is a matter of personal perspective. A 10" driver has a hard time producing really low notes and probably produces more distortion getting there.

I have not heard the PB10nsd, but it sure sounds like a lot of sub for the money. Now if you put if up against a JL113 the JL would be a clear winner. Would you spend $2K+ on a sub though? I couldn't.

Its all about tradeoffs and how much you can spend.