Matching speakers for Harman Kardon 7550hd

[Asl1]

Hi All!

I have yet to receive my Harman Kardon AVR 7550hd but have started looking for expert opinion on best matching Floor Standers or 2.1 to start with. My Budget is close to 1K $ and I am basically a music person and although viewing and listening percentage forms 50-50, my priority is still 100% Music. I trust if it sounds good for music, it will sound alright for HT needs too. Would love to get opinion from present and past users of Harman Kardon. I know everyone has a different taste but then I live in part of India where there is negligible availability of different speakers to test it with. I like soft rock, alternative, classic, almost every genre. I like it warm and crisp but not too warm. Please give your firm opinions to help me take a decision. so far I ve narrowed it down to KEF, Klipsch & Paradigm but still very open.

Thanks

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Hi All!

I have yet to receive my Harman Kardon AVR 7550hd but have started looking for expert opinion on best matching Floor Standers or 2.1 to start with. My Budget is close to 1K $ and I am basically a music person and although viewing and listening percentage forms 50-50, my priority is still 100% Music. I trust if it sounds good for music, it will sound alright for HT needs too. Would love to get opinion from present and past users of Harman Kardon. I know everyone has a different taste but then I live in part of India where there is negligible availability of different speakers to test it with. I like soft rock, alternative, classic, almost every genre. I like it warm and crisp but not too warm. Please give your firm opinions to help me take a decision. so far I ve narrowed it down to KEF, Klipsch & Paradigm but still very open.

Thanks

HK has extremely reserved AMP section rating on their receivers and amp, so then HK tells you it's 110W 7.2 it's probably 140-150W on other receivers.
btw: This AVR cost in US around $1200-1400 - If I'd to match speakers to such avr in ballpark of 3-5 grand...

However to stick with your 1k budget - one of better choices would be to look at KEF Q700 if you find them locally..
Infinity Classia C336 is another very good value speaker.


Klipsch have strong musical signature and would be good choice for HT, but I'd look elsewhere for musical speakers.

 

[its phillip]

I don't know how flexible you are with that budget, but I would buy these for $1200 if I had the money available:
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/542145304

 

[Asl1]

Thanks ! After your suggestions I feel I should increase my budget to usd 1500 or even 2000$ if I don't want to compromise my taste and not think of upgrading soon. So Kindly suggest accordingly.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

now 2G will give you nice pair of Jim Salk's Song Towers or KEF Q900
http://www.salksound.com/songtower home.htm

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would get 2 KEF Q900 for $1,140 shipped.

Plus Rythmik F12 for $856 shipped.

Total = $1,996 shipped.

Or you could increase the sub budget to the F15 for $989 shipped.

Total budget = $2,129 shipped.

http://ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/subs/f15.html

http://ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/subs/f12se.html

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I didn't recommend a sub, since I don't think he could get same deals in India...
As far as I know he could pay for Q900 it's full MSRP or more
I heard Jim Salk is willing to do international shipping, but shipping 50lbs speakers from US to India will surely cost OP an Arm and a Leg

 

[its phillip]

Oh, I didn't realize that he was in India. I don't know what to recommend for the money then.

 

[Asl1]

KEF Q900 or iQ90 OR Salk Song Towers

I can't decide which is better out of the two - KEF with a Sub or Song Towers. Firstly out of KEF iQ90 and Q900, I like the iQ90 better for the looks and secondly The Salk Song Towers base price is 1895 and additional 700$ for Ribbon tweeters or 100$ for OW4 upgrade. I also read about Dali & Energy, seems nice but not sure where do they stand in front of the salks or KEF's. I couldn't even find a comparison thread b/w kef and salk

 

[Asl1]

HELP again

Hi Again.....I finally recd the receiver early mid october but got busy coz of festive season in India. Recently I auditioned (no calibration done and in an open music shop) Klipsch RF 82II and Jamo 805. Klipsch were really dull, maybe didn't match with the receivers output or whatever and Jamo's mid range was on the hyper side . After going through lot of reviews on net I m considering Salk SongTowers and Aperion Verus Grand Towers but I'm afraid if they don't match my receiver just like the Klipschs that have received good reviews by so many users/owners.

I invite Harman Kardon AVR owners to come up and recommend 2.1 setup.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Hi Again.....I finally recd the receiver early mid october but got busy coz of festive season in India. Recently I auditioned (no calibration done and in an open music shop) Klipsch RF 82II and Jamo 805. Klipsch were really dull, maybe didn't match with the receivers output or whatever and Jamo's mid range was on the hyper side . After going through lot of reviews on net I m considering Salk SongTowers and Aperion Verus Grand Towers but I'm afraid if they don't match my receiver just like the Klipschs that have received good reviews by so many users/owners.

I invite Harman Kardon AVR owners to come up and recommend 2.1 setup.

The only thing I would be concerned about is the power section of the AVR.

I think your AVR has enough power to drive most speakers in the 4-8 ohms range, as long as your room is not a stadium/arena.

There is no warm/forward matching or such.

It's about the speakers, not the amp or AVR.

Great speakers will sound great with any capable AVR like your HK.

Salk speakers would be a great choice. Another idea is the Philharmonic speakers. Dennis Murphy is the crossover designer for Salk speakers, & he is now producing speakers.

philharmonicaudio.com