Help With Speaker Choices

[practal]

I have recently purchased a new home and I am looking to upgrade the system for my living room. I have been using 3 PSB GT1's for my front sound stage for about a year now. I want to get away from the 3 towers and 2 subs in the living room and migrate to a wood finish instead of piano black. The PSB's will be going downstairs for a home theater I will be putting in next summer.

The rest of the system will be an Emotiva XPA-2 for the mains, Emotiva UPA-1 for the center, Emotiva UMC-1 pro, and dual Rythmik F15HPs. All of which I currently own and am using with the PSBs. I have been using 3.2 for some time and I want to stick with this until next summer. I plan on doing some work to the home and using in-wall speakers for the surrounds.

This will be used in the living room so it will handle both music and HT. However, my primary concern is music since I will end up having a dedicated home theater. I listen to mainly metal and I am hoping to find a bigger sound then what I am getting from the PSBs. I do want a set of mains that have a matching center since it will be used for some tv.

My living room and kitchen are actually one large room at this house, guessing 40x30x11-ish since I do not have exact measurements yet. The PSB's do not fill the area like they did at my previous residence and I'm sure this is due to the increased size of the listening area. I also have hardwood floors and some of the wall are dry wall and two others are cement with wood inlays, not certain if this matters.

The speakers are currently about 8 feet out from the wall to accommodate the TV stand. This also makes them around 8 feet from the couch, primary listening position. I have noticed that the audio sounds better at the kitchen table then it does from the couch. I want to go with a set of speakers that have a traditional center so I can push the speakers back and begin to correct the issues. I have other treatments to do but I want to start with the speakers since I am looking to upgrade anyways.

My budget is up to $4k for just the 2 mains. I certainly would not be upset if it were less but I would like to purchase a set of speakers I can be happy with for many years. The mains must have a matching center that is easily available to purchase a few weeks after the mains. I played hell with the PSB GC-1 and do not want to relive that experience again. I spent months attempting to purchase it but could never locate it, hence the reason I have a 3 tower set-up.

I have had large driver speakers in the past and have missed them since having the PSBs. I do love the clarity of the PSBs but they seem to be missing some power. I am not ruling out smaller driver speakers just stating my preference. I would love to have the best of both worlds.

I have been looking at the Aperion Verus Grand, Swan F2.2, and Swan F1.1. I have also looked at the Salk Archos and the Philharmonic 3 but I don't believe they have a center channel? The Swan F1.1 seems to be my top contender at the moment, I have seen it dip into my price range a few times. I am not certain if it is the best choice for my budget and I'm looking for the opinions of the pro's.

The PSB's were my first venture into good audio equipment and I need some help due to inexperience. I live way up north and I do not have any options to audition speakers. I do have a Paradigm dealer about 3 hours away but I have contacted them and it's they do not have a large selection for auditioning.

Any better ideas then the options I have listed above? Or opinions on what I have been looking into?

 

[PicoB]

That's a huge room... Can you audition the speakers you mentioned? Nothing beats checking them out yourself.. and oh that room is huge - wait did i mention that already?

 

[3db]

Your GT1s are not small speakers by any stretch and anything smaller than Paradigms Signature series or PSB's Synchronoy series will not work. You have a serioulsy big room. Maybe you should augment them with a sub OR TWO and off load their bass response to the subs.

 

[puckhead]

I would just move up to the Synchrony Ones.

I have a similar type of room layout (living room open to the kitchen), perhaps a tad smaller than yours, and I'm running a pair of the Ones with an XPA-2 and it fills the entire area (and then some) with plenty of clean volume. You shouldn't have any issues in that regard, especially with dual subs taking some of the load off the XPA-2. While they are rear-ported, they don't need to be placed way into the room (mine are only about 18 inches from the front wall), and you can play with the port plugs to tailor the bass response if needed.

They are available from authorized dealers for under/around your $4K budget. And the center channel of the One is readily available -- typically in the $1.5K-$1.8K range. Used Ones do appear on Audiogon as well.

You also mentioned the Philharmonic 3's -- based on what I've read, I believe Dennis Murphy has designed a matching center for those so you may want to keep them on your short list. If in doubt, I'd just contact him directly to confirm. Although I haven't heard them (yet), by all accounts they should be very impressive and a great value.

Good luck with your decision -- you've already got some great gear so I'm sure you'll make another wise choice!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Maybe you should augment them with a sub OR TWO and off load their bass response to the subs.

If Op has "dual Rythmik F15HP" - I don't think he needs more sub , the issues is he want to remove them???

Thou i'd consider GT1 a small speakers for this space. Something like Statements would do so much better...
Statements

But it's a DIY project - OP could make any finish he likes - fully custom

Of commercially available speakers.... hmm.. how about Klipsch RF-7 II ??

 

[3db]

If Op has "dual Rythmik F15HP" - I don't think he needs more sub , the issues is he want to remove them???

Thou i'd consider GT1 a small speakers for this space. Something like Statements would do so much better...
Statements

But it's a DIY project - OP could make any finish he likes - fully custom

Of commercially available speakers.... hmm.. how about Klipsch RF-7 II ??

I hate it when I get interrupted at work and destroys my concentration on my post. I was soo off on this one.

 

[ski2xblack]

Maybe these? $3300 for three across the front, with your Rhythmic subs, for a 3.2 system that could likely rip your clothes off.

JTR Speakers |  Triple 8HT

 

[lsiberian]

For speakers you got a ton of options at 4k for a stereo setup. Almost everything is on the list. I would recommend looking at B&W, Salks, SVS(MTS), Aperion, Ascend, Infinity Primus all would be a good start.

As far as amps go for stereo I'd get a Yamaha P series pro amp. Quiet operation unlimited power. Quad is another great option TLS has some of those and said they are built to last.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Maybe these? $3300 for three across the front, with your Rhythmic subs, for a 3.2 system that could likely rip your clothes off.

JTR Speakers*|* Triple 8HT

+1 , JTR will blow you away, just add bigger amps, not too pretty tough

 

[GranteedEV]

I, too, recommend two JTR Quintuples + 1 JTR Triple 8HT-LP center.

Don't be fooled by the fact that they can play loud. No they won't have the supreme finesse of a $10000 but it's not like they cost that much, either.

 

[zieglj01]

Look into the JTR - they would be cheaper than this JBL
However, the JBL Everest looks nice
Everest DD66000 Details | JBL Synthesis

 

[practal]

Thanks, I'll look into the ones mentioned. I have no wood working skills so I don't see DIY turning out well for me.

The sub's would only be removed because of the finish. They are the SE model so they are piano black to match the GT1s. They would eventually migrate to the home theater with the PSB's.

I would probably move onto something like the Seaton Submerssive when I do upgrade. I have some cool wood work built into two of my walls and I would like to try and get an audio system that matches. The piano black just seems out of place in the new living room.