Need good 2ch speakers.

[jmanlp]

Im looking for some good 2ch speakers for music listening. My budget is ~$250. These will be powered by an older 85watt x2 pionner integrated amp. Thanks for you recomendation.

 

[patnshan]

For that price, I would look at the BIC DV-64's. If you can stretch the budget a bit, the 84's(they are $280 shipped at amazon right now!). They will get you near full range without a sub. I cannot think of anything else near full range for that price.

I am sure you may get some other suggestions. You can certainly get some nice bookshelves for that price, but I like a sub with those. Floorstanders would be preferred, IMHO, if you only have 2 speakers.

Pat

 

[j_garcia]

If you can stretch your budget a bit, the Mordaunt Short 902s and NHT SB-2s are both on sale at www.ac4l.com for $299 with free shipping. They also have the Canton LE102s new for $249, but shipping isn't included. These are all very decent musical speakers at the price. www.audioadvisor.com has the Athena AS-B2.2s for $199

 

[agarwalro]

Might want to go 2.1

For 2 channel music you will need full range speakers. BIC might have someting to offer - http://www.bicamerica.com/

Personally, $250.00 is a bit less for speakers that will do justice to 2-ch audio. Might want to think of going 2.1, by getting decent bookshelf (BIC Venturi DV62si) speakers and adding a subwoofer in the future.

 

[jaxvon]

Killer deal here:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1137618743
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1137344762

Also, I'm a big fan of Phase Tech:

http://onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?sHist=12-110,6-30&Sort=lowBrand&id=16834

Those are priced each. They have bass response down to 56Hz. There also the towers, bu they're a little out of your price range:

http://onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?sHist=12-110,6-30&Sort=lowBrand&id=16832

 

[jmanlp]

Ok I can go as high as $400 for a pair hopefully shipped. Could that get me something better? I looked into the mordaunt shorts but they won't play low enough. I was using some of my klipsch sb-3s which play down to 52hz and I think thats where I want to be at (or lower) as far as the low end goes.

 

[j_garcia]

If you have a small-ish room, the 902s have better bass than the specs would suggest. They are -3dB at 55Hz, so that isn't much different than your Klipsch. I use mine with no sub and they do just fine, but if you're looking for more bass, you'll need to look at something that goes lower. The tower version, the 904, goes to 50Hz and they are actually on sale for $249/pr, but shipping is not included.

 

[markw]

New in box and with free shipping.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=ATHASF2.2

 

[j_garcia]

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=ATHASF2.2

If you're going to expand your budget to $400, I think these guys would do quite well. The highs aren't as clean as the MSs but the midrange is sure to be clean (I had a pair of B1s), and they are fairly high sensitivity at 93dB.

 

[einsteinjb]

SVS plus Dayton

Take a minute to check out the new bookshelf speakers coming from SVS, the SBS-01. Pre-order pricing of $210/pair plus shipping will become available this week (though you'll have to wait til late December for your speakers). Check their news page for info.

Add a Dayton sub from (see below) and you'll have a full-range system that just fits within your budget, with the placement flexibility of a sat/sub system. The SVS speakers are expected to be amazing and you can always upgrade the sub at a later time. Dayton offers a 10" sub for about $100 and a new 12" model, the Sub-120, for $120 and change. I haven't heard either of them but a quick search of this forum will show you that lots of people like them for the price. (Of course a quick search of the forum will also find you MANY threads discussing good 2-channel speaker choices within whatever budget you like.)

Wow I just previewed my post and discovered the forum won't let me post these URLs! How rude! Well you're just going to have to go to partsexpress dot com and find them yourself!

 

[jmanlp]

I talked to my wife and I can only get bookshelf speakers because of the way she is doing this particular room. Thanks for all the suggestions so far though I'm looking more closely at the bookshelf recomendations. More recomendations are always helpful. Should I consider the smaller Axiom bookshelfs at all?

 

[jmanlp]

I was looking at the modaunt short speakers and it looks like the ms912 has a 6 1/2" driver but the same exact specs as the avant 902. At least thats what it says at ac4l.com and the modaunt short page. Are these newer or older than the avant 902s? And shouldnt they play lower with that larger driver?

 

[rikmeister]

look on www.audiogon.com for used qual 11L or 12L they

definitely have WAF. also could look for used paradigm studio 20. you might be able to get 800.00 of speakers for 400.00 on that site. well worth your time and trouble.

 

[einsteinjb]

I talked to my wife and I can only get bookshelf speakers because of the way she is doing this particular room. Thanks for all the suggestions so far though I'm looking more closely at the bookshelf recomendations. More recomendations are always helpful. Should I consider the smaller Axiom bookshelfs at all?

I'm soon going to be buying a pair of Ascend Acoustics CBM-170s from www.ascendacoustics.com to compare with the SVS SBS-01s I'm getting. While neither pair is really full range (I'll be matching both with a sub), the Ascends should play just a bit lower than the SVSs and the reviews are outSTANDING. I'm sure they'll sound fine for music without a sub unless you're a bass hound, plus you can always sneak a little sub like the Dayton in there later, stick it under a table or behind the couch or someplace. The Ascends are $345/pair shipped.

You basically have two choices when you're limited to budget bookshelf sized speakers since none of them will really reproduce true bass. 1, buy a pair that artificially bumps up the mid/upper bass (say, 60 - 100 Hz) to compensate for lack of real bass and fools your ears into thinking they've really got bottom (these almost always use a ported/bass reflex design), or 2, buy a higher quality pair like the Ascends or SVS that play truly flat down to their natural limits and don't try to do anything more than that (these might be ported or sealed). With the first choice, you might be happy using them without a sub, but if you've got really good ears you will probably not love the unbalanced, somewhat unnatural quality. With choice 2, they'll probably sound somewhat weak in the bottom end but they will have a more natural balanced sound with excellent midrange and highs, leaving you to live with that or add a sub. Obviously I'm a fan of choice 2.

One more thought -- I'll echo the recommendations to look for better speakers used, but be VERY careful of the seller's feedback rating (if possible) to make sure they're for real and you're not buying junk or even getting scammed. I have a beautiful pair of B&W DM602 S2s that sold for close to $600 new that I got from a friend for $400. Something like that would definitely do the job for you. They're huge for bookshelfs, but they will sit on a big shelf or speaker stands and they sound fine without a sub. Plus they'll play LOUD without distorting and they have a gorgeous sound. The S3s sound even better than my S2s and you might find them for $450 used or so.

Hope this helps.

 

[sts9fan]

I would check out Bohlender-Graebener Radia Z1's. Wonderful speakers and cheap!

 

[j_garcia]

I was looking at the modaunt short speakers and it looks like the ms912 has a 6 1/2" driver but the same exact specs as the avant 902. At least thats what it says at ac4l.com and the modaunt short page. Are these newer or older than the avant 902s? And shouldnt they play lower with that larger driver?

I was confused by that too. I read MSs site and it said the driver has a larger motor structure to handle more power, but the cabinet tune and likely the driver's natural roll off is the same so they have the same -3dB point.

The B&W 602 is a fine speaker also. The Studio 20s are good also, but generally would like something fairly potent, though I'd suspect your integrated would probably do OK with them. I'll second that about being cautious with buying used. I've had mostly good luck with Audiogon, but I've had two bad transactions as a seller. As long as you check the person's feedback and ask a lot of questions, I don't see a problem with used at all, and I feel it's a great way to get better speakers.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Are you concerned with size or asthetics? If you aren't and you want fairly full range, I'd recommend looking on Ebay for classic speakers. A pair of Polk Audio Monitor 10s from the 1970s go down to 25 hz and probably sound as good as anything new put out today. Just a little boxy looking compared to the thin things today. And they can be had for bargain basement prices.

 

[jmanlp]

Since I'm married looks matter. I showed my wife the mordaunt shorts and she said those are good. Now if I show her anything else she says she likes the little ones. I made a mistake and it looks like im gonna end up with a pair of avant 902s. I've only briefly listened to these and I liked them but I have no idea how they will sound in my 10'x11' room. Any thoughts?