New Speakers Best bang under $500?

[CDogg]

FWIW I just set up an audio system in our living room with a pair of Infinity Primus P252s and an Infinity Primus PC350 center. I don't know the size of your room but our living room is 14x11, the Infinitys really sound great, very crisp and clear. For the price for all three, this is the best bang for the buck for the money.

 

[gene]

Well, anything under 200Hz is probably due to the room. Even so, it's a 5dB room-bass "hump".

What about the EMP's 10dB Dip at ~ 230Hz? Again, like the P362, is due to all kinds of room reflections?

Of course, the P362 has a lot more graphs & farther off-axis measurements.

The EMP does look much better.

But I seriously doubt the EMP sounds better. Comes down to price and aesthetics.

The dips in the 200-300Hz range is a measurement anomaly and is NOT product related. Had I measured the speaker using Groundplane below 300Hz, the issue wouldn't be there but I also would be missing port contribution. Going forward I will likely do this when measuring in-room or perhaps do a summed nearfield of all drivers + ports.

Infinity is sending me a pair of P363s to review. If my friend lets me, I will bring them over to his house and directly compare them to his EMP E55Tis. I suspect the EMP's will throw off a larger soundstage and be able to play much louder but the Infinity's will probably produce deeper bass response. I can't wait to compare.

 

[blazerboy]

Why is bass even important in speakers if you have a subwoofer capable of delivering generous amounts of it...more than all the speakers combined can do.

 

[gene]

Why is bass even important in speakers if you have a subwoofer capable of delivering generous amounts of it...more than all the speakers combined can do.

It's a very valid point that I've been considering for a long time. The EMPs don't play that low but they play extremely loud and you can't bottom out the woofers as a result. If you mate them with 1 or 2 subs and run them full range, you get plenty of deep bass and lots of mid bass slam from all the woofs in the EMP towers. It's a really good combo.

In 2CH without a sub though, people may prefer a speaker that is bass heavier such as an Axiom or Klipsch or possibly the Infinity's.

 

[blazerboy]

So I got the infinity's plugged in, the highs seem to be a bit harsh at higher volumes, like knob past half the tweeters seem to be blaring almost...too loudly. Any suggestions? Do they have a break-in period?

Edit: They seem a tad bit better, but now im going from computer - receiver- speakers instead of strictyl receiver-speakers adjusted EQ a tad bit down on the high end to avoid that annoying harshness and it seems (at least i think it does) to be a bit better...unless im going deaf to it after having it blaring in my ears for the past 20 minutes haha.

Any further suggestions?