Looking for Advice

[hifly]

Hi,

I'm in the market for some speakers. I purchased a Yamaha HTR-5960 receiver a while back, but didn't purchase any speakers at the time. I'm interested in purchasing a decent set of speakers for listening to music. Home theater will be something I will do in the future, but for now I'm much more concerned with accurate music reproduction. I'm trying to keep my budget around $500, but I'd be willing to extend the budget to around $1000.

I'm not exactly sure where I will be placing the setup, but the lower level of my house is an open floor plan with hardwood floors.

I am fairly particular about accurate reproduction of music. Several years ago I invested in a decent set of in ear monitors (Westone UM2s). I also have a pair of Shure IEMs (E3Cs), but the UM2s are dual driver and do a better job at the low end.

Based on my budget I'm leaning towards reviewing the Axiom M22 v2s, Ascend CMT-340s, or Ascend Sierra-1s. (And yes I see there are some sales going on right now, my birthday is coming up in two weeks. )

Obviously there is a lot out there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not opposed to floor standing speakers either.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[MinusTheBear]

Since you are interested in the M22, just to let you know they are currently offering a $100 gift certificate for spending $500 or more (Nov 28- Dec 1).

 

[the grunt]

Hi,

The M22s are a very clean sounding speaker. I often use them in lieu of my M80s when I don’t want to annoy my apartment neighbors. Which brings up their one drawback, that they need to be paired with a subwoofer to pick up the lowest end. However, I think all three of your choices would really need that, but since you plan to move into hometheater a subwoofer would be your next logical upgrade IMO.

I’m not sure if any Axiom owners are offering M22 demos in your area but if you check out the first thread in the “Hearing Things” subforum in the Axiom forums you may find someone who will let you have a listen.

Another accurate speaker brand to consider is Focal. These are in your price range but they would also need a subwoofer at some point:

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/14478

Cheers,
Dean

 

[hifly]

Thanks

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Best way to buy speakers is to listen. I went to an excellent local shop (Spearit Sound in Northampton, MA) to listen to various speakers within my price range. I listened to speakers from Epos, B&W, and Dali. After listening I settled on some Dali Suite 1.7s.

Thanks again,
Scott

 

[mazersteven]

I'm interested in purchasing a decent set of speakers for listening to music. Home theater will be something I will do in the future, but for now I'm much more concerned with accurate music reproduction. I'm trying to keep my budget around $500, but I'd be willing to extend the budget to around $1000.

Based on my budget I'm leaning towards reviewing the Axiom M22 v2s, Ascend CMT-340s, or Ascend Sierra-1s. (And yes I see there are some sales going on right now, my birthday is coming up in two weeks. )

I have never auditioned the Axiom speakers. But from what I know of their sound signature they do not fit the description of your needs (accurate music reproduction).

The Ascend speakers would be an excellent choice on the other hand.

And since your willing to extend your budget to $1K. I will also recommend the SVS MBS-01 speakers.

http://www.svsound.com/products-spks-mts01.cfm