New Stereo Speakers For Mainly Hard Rock, $1200 to $3000 max

[mibson]

Hi, I need new speakers. Planning on spending $1200 to $3000 max. I will set up a 5.1 or 7.1 system eventually but my main focus is 2.0 for music.

My room is a vaulted loft about 22 x 28 feet, carpet floors, wood underneath, with cedar walls and ceiling. Ceiling is 5 feet high at sides rising to 12 feet in the middle.

I listen mostly to hard rock, TOOL for example. But I do like classical and East Indian instrumental music also.

My price range is as it is because my brother, serious audiophile, suggested some new JBL "full range" speakers that are about $1200 and also some Paradigms, and some PSBs that are $3000.

I will buy any amp I need to work best with my speaker choice.

Any suggestions?

Note: I should add that I seem to be unusually sensitive to "bad" "harsh" treble, could be minor hearing damage from playing drums or live shows; I find when other people find the music sounds good, that the very high end hurts my ears a bit...(I now am smart enough to protect my ears during drumming and live shows)

 

[rnatalli]

Speaker selection is very subjective and only you will know what you like so try to get out and listen to as many as possible. That said, for rock music, some on my list would include Axiom, Klipsch, Aperion, RBH, Mordaunt-Short. Paradigm and PSB are great speakers too.

 

[tcarcio]

Well if you like hard rock then some JTR's would be nice....http://www.jtrspeakers.com/triple8.html

 

[fredk]

Here's what I would do. Listen to the speakers on your list, and add something in the B&W line, from the 800 series if possible and then come back and post your impressions.

I think that will tell us a lot about what you like and don't like.

 

[Davemcc]

From my listening auditions, the Salk Songtower (ribbon tweeter version) would be at the top of my list. The others that I would seriously consider are the Dynaudio Focus 220, the Era D14 and the Focal Chorus 826v.

 

[Matt34]

JTR triple 8s with a sub would rock like very few commercial speakers can.

 

[dapack69]

Man, shopping for speakers is like finding the perfect woman. There are so many choices and hard its to test them all.

 

[highfigh]

Man, shopping for speakers is like finding the perfect woman. There are so many choices and hard its to test them all.

But we have to try, right?

 

[3db]

I would take a serious audition of PSB's Synchrony Towers speakers. They've received rave reviews from all the audio mags out there including Stereophile, HT Magazine.

http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/408psb/index.html

 

[mibson]

PSBs are nice bit $4500

I like the PSBs alot but out of price range. $3000 is an absolute max.

 

[jostenmeat]

I like the PSBs alot but out of price range. $3000 is an absolute max.

You can find those within your budget. Heck, 4.5k can land you their flagship model.

Really, you have to listen to some speakers for yourself.

I personally believe classical music specifically, and acoustical music in general, is a lot more difficult to reproduce. I mean, so far as sounding realistic to us. The natural decay of various instruments are difficult if only because we are so familiar with them. (Like with the voice for example. It's not scientifically more difficult to produce; it just seems like it because of your extreme familiarity with the human voice, something we have heard just about everyday of our lives).

If you listen to 99% rock music, then go for that. But, if you listen to 50 rock, 25 classical, 25 east Indian, then I would audition with the latter materials. JMO.

 

[jdmccall]

Time To Get Horny!

From the description of your room, and considering the importance of your speaker's ability to do hard rock, I would recommend a pair of klipsch cornwall III's. List price is a bit above your 3K limit, but deals can be found...and they are available used, in the original or "II" incarnation for reasonable prices. Check eBay and AudioGon. The cornwall is aknowledged by most klipsch fans as the best rock'n'roll speaker in the klipsch "heritage" line. They have tons of slam and weight with that 15" woofer...and 100+ dB sensitivity doesn't hurt when crankin' the tunes, either!

To flesh out into a full surround system, many folks use klipsch heresys for center and surrounds.

 

[njedpx3]

Look at Definitive Technology Tower speakers

Mythos STS Super tower MSRP $1499 each
Mythos One MSRP $999 each
BP7002 MSRP $1199 each ( my favorite because I have them)

BP7002s paired with C/L/R 3000 ( MSRP $1099) is awesome!

Usually you can get 15-25% off MSRP

http://www.definitivetech.com/


Audition, audition, audition and get what sounds best to you!

 

[mibson]

Thanks for the tips! Lots of auditioning ahead of me!

I was going to buy without listening, based on my brothers experience and knowledge but that would be a mistake. I know he has different "ears" than me.

His system is amazing and I want mine to sound like his but I cant spend nearly as much as he has (he spent about $25,000).

Im looking at $3000 MAX for front speakers, planning on using my old pioner or sony amp until I can buy a proper matching amp in 6-12 months.

I need speakers without "harsh" treble so the JBLs I was thinking about wont work for me.

There is a very good store in town with a VERY knowledgeable salesperson and Im going to go in and see him.


Question: Can I damage new speakers that can handle much more power than my current older amp? My old (1980) pioneer is 4ohms and 100w max per channel...


Also were is a good place to buy used speakers? Here (Edmonton Alberta Canada) I dont see many good speakers for sale in the classifieds. Im nervous about buying on ebay. (should I be?)

 

[popotoys]

Hey fellow Canuck

IMO, take that 3 grand and split it up. Buy a pair of speakers and one Mark Seaton Sound SubMersive1.

 

[tcarcio]

Question: Can I damage new speakers that can handle much more power than my current older amp? My old (1980) pioneer is 4ohms and 100w max per channel...




Short answer Yes, If you try to push the amp to hard it will creat distortion which could do damage to the speakers. If you take it easy and don't overdrive the amp you should be fine but a more powerfull amp that matches better with your speakers will give you better performance out of them. IMO.

 

[fredk]

100 wpc is a good amount of power for any speaker of average sensitivity. How big is your room? How far away from the speakers will you be when listening? How loud (in db if you can) do you like to listen?

Its very easy to get a good ballpark of what power you need by answering these questions and plugging the values into a power calculator. For rock you only need about 6db of headroom for peaks for classical you can double that.

Personally I think you will be just fine.