New Home Theater Speakers suggestions!

[JEDI]

Very glad I found this website.

I currently have a really basic Home Theater speaker set up that I put together while back in high school...6 or 7 years ago. It's comprised of a Jamo Center 200, Jamo 68 book shelf speakers for the fronts, Jamo SAT200 II for the rear, Velodyne CT-120 Sub, all powered by a Pioneer VSX-D906S. Now that I am out of University life and have a real job, I would like to upgrade.

I was thinking of Mordaunt-Short Avant 900 series for my new theater ( I also listen to quite a bit of music as well). Since I want to do a 7.1 setup, I was going to use either two 906s or two 908s for the fronts, 905 for the center, 903 for surrounds, 902s for the rear, and keep my Velodyne CT-120 for the sub. I was going to use a Pioneer Elite VSX 52,54, or 56 reciever.

Am I making any obvious mistakes? All of the speakers come out to about $1700 but are there better speakers for that range? What about the reciever? Should I get a new Sub? Anything I should be aware of?

 

[tes918]

Best advice is to listen to the system you want to buy . Do it in way that represents how you will use them. Bring your own favorite music or movie to audition these speakers. If it sounds good buy it.

 

[flyv65]

Sound advice from Tes918, but I would add the caveat that if you plan to listen to *any* music at all, then music should be the bulk of your audtion material. My reason for this stance is that I have heard some pretty nice speakers for home theater that weren't terribly good for music: but I've never heard a set of speakers that impressed me musically without also doing an admirable job for home theater.

Bryan...the MD's are quite good ast their price point...

 

[victoriacoffee]

Audition, audition, audition. There have been many posts describing how good x speakers sound at the sales room but when they arrive at home, don't have the same feel. Most reputable and confident vendors will let you try speakers at home. I auditioned Axioms and never sent them back. Great value for the price.

Good luck and chose patiently.

 

[JEDI]

Thank you for the replies! I appreciate them.

 

[soniceuphoria]

I think that you should seriously consider magnepan as a serious alternative. They have been it the audio business for 30 years producing some of the most beautiful sounding speakers (especially for the price). They have many lines to choose from and myself being a maggie owner can vouch for their reliability and quality. Their customer service is great, and more than likely your local hi fi dealer (If they are any good) will have some maggies you can check out for yourself.
Happy listening.
Greg

 

[Fastnbulbous]

Interesting, I'd never heard of Magnepan before. Apparently the cheapest planar/ribbon speakers you can get. I'd be curious to hear them.

I've done a bit of research and listening to speakers in this price range. I'm building gradually, and decided on a pair of Rega R3 for the front ($795). I might have considered others if it weren't for my severe space restrictions, but for what I needed, I'm really happy. They're front-driven so I can place them against the wall, and look and sound great. I was also pleased to see that Hi-Fi Choice magazine featured them as a Best Buy speaker and had very nice things to say about their sound. The R5 ($1,195) has a 7" bass driver rather than 5", but with my Sunfire subwoofer, it didn't matter much to me.

My one dilemma is Rega doesn't really make proper surround speakers. The R1s are too big. So I'm considering either Wharfedale Evolution bipole surrounds and center, or Mordaunt-Short's Avant. I like the idea of keeping them out of the way on the rear wall, and they're actually made to be surrounds. I know some seasoned audiophiles would have a cow that I'm not matching the speakers properly, but I just don't see the necessity. I listen to music on two channel (screw that 5.1 SACD gimmickry), and in watching movies, the center speaker is the most important.

Other ones in the price range that sounded good were Paradigm, Monitor Audio and Polk.