Newbie Help with 2.1 Setup Please (Need to Choose Between a Few Speakers)

[mikesalami]

So I've done some research and chosen a few different speakers to choose from, but need help making a final decision.

First, this will be for an area of approximately 10x10 ft (however it opens up into a larger area), so generally a pretty small place. I won't be getting a subwoofer now, but will probably add one sometime in the future. I have a receiver chosen that I'm pretty sure is suitable for most of these speakers... I think.

So the speakers are:

KEF Q150B - $398 CAD
ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 - $369 CAD
CHANE A1.5 - $488 CAD
Klipsch RP-400M - $599 CAD

There are a number of higher end models I was considering, however I'm not sure if they're worth it for my space, i.e. KEF Q350, ELAC Uni-Fi UB5, Klipsch RP-500M, Klipsch RP-600M.

Now part of what I'm confused about is how all these speakers match up. Based on price I think my original list of speakers are all in about the same league? I'm not sure.

Then would it be worth it to upgrade? Maybe the KEF Q350's would be worth it for the money instead of the 150's. And what do the 350's compare to? Klipsch 500 or 600? ELAC UB5?

I've heard the UB5's are very hard to drive, and probably wouldn't work with the receiver I have, so those are probably out.

I love the look of the Q150 and 350's, but not sure if the higher price is worth it for 350's.

I've heard very good things about the ELAC B6.2 and Chane A1.5, but would those compare to the KEF Q350 or the Klipsch 500 or 600M's?

I guess that's it, lol. Basically confused as you can see. Not sure which model to get or whether the bump up in price would be worth it.

Also of note, these will mainly be used for listening to classic rock music (Black Sabbath, Cream, Allman Brothers, Derek and the Dominos, etc.). I like anything that accentuates guitar, especially electric guitar and guitar solos. I supposed I'm more high or treble oriented than low-oriented. Bright is good, but not too bright that it will get irritating to the ears.

Thanks very much anyone for any input!

Edit: the receiver I would use would be the Yamaha RX-A740 (free from brother) or the Yamaha R-N303 (have to buy). I'm assuming the A740 is the better receiver, however I do like the integrated bluetooth in the N303. However overall I'm not sure which of these would be best for the speakers I'm getting or if it would make any difference.

 

[Pogre]

I think if you're going without a sub for a while you're going to want the bigger speakers, like the KEF Q350s. In my opinion it is worth the extra expense for the deeper bass extension, and I mean that for just regular music that doesn't necessarily have a lot of bass too. The smaller speakers are going to sound thinner where the larger ones will have a more full sound.

 

[mikesalami]

Hey thanks very much. If I were to add the Kef 8" subwoofer with the 150's would that be a better set up than the 350's alone?

Also out of the speakers I listed what would you say the Kef 350's are equivalent to? Maybe the Klipsch 500 or 600?

 

[Pogre]

Unfortunately, I cannot really say from personal experience. I know by reputation I think you picked a pretty good group to choose from. I would probably narrow that down to the KEF Q350 or the Klipsch RP600. I've heard great things about both. Especially the new Klipsch RP series (I know, the most expensive one, lol). Klipsch has a reputation for being a bit on the bright side due to their horn tweeters but I hear the RPs are much more accurate and sound very pleasant.

I was reading a post by @KEW just a little bit ago and he's been a little underwhelmed with some of Elac's (Andrew Jones) offerings lately, but a very interesting review for the Elac DBR-62s popped up here recently that just caught his, and therefore my attention. Amirm, who runs the site and does the testing is known for being overly harsh on some of the equipment he reviews so to see him "happy to give his strongest recommendation" is a good sign they might be something special. I think KEW ordered a pair and is going to be doing a review on them soon...

As for a sub, I would look elsewhere. Like one of the ID companies that specialize in subs like SVS (I think they're available for you canucks) or maybe Paradigm. I'm a little rusty on what's available in Canada but someone here will know. I think you're going to need bigger than an 8" sub for sure too. I say that because your room is open to more space. A subwoofer will try to fill all of the space open to it and a little 8 incher would be woefully inadequate for all but the smallest of rooms. Even then I think I'd want 4 of them, lol. But yes, with a sub in the mix a smaller speaker can work really well.

 

[Gmoney]

yeah what Pogre said! 8” sub? umm bigger the better no less than a 10” or like most of the old timers on AH would say go big or go home when it comes to a HT sub, 12” up to 15” nothing can replace Volume like a 15 sub can. As for your choice of speakers yeah you picked some good ones out and the two that Pogre recommended are the two winners I would’ve pick out the bunch. Best if you could get your ear on one or two of those nothing like hearing first hand. Specs and Recommendations only goes so far you may like one or two of the other’s. As for prices? Pretty much Mute point cause they are all close in price point with each other. If I may make a Suggestion if you could up your speaker Budget a few Benjamins and go up the food chain and pick a higher end speaker say like umm the Klipsch 6000 or even the 8000 now your getting into a better speaker to dollar Ratio. happy hunting m!

 

[mikesalami]

Hmmm... very difficult decision.

And ya was just reading about subs and the KEF's aren't great anyway, lol. Didn't realize the 8" was so tiny either. From what I see my best bet may be BIC F12.

Thanks for the info on the Elac, and the rest!

Klipsch 6000... definitely out of the picture for now .

Also can't really test any of these out for the moment due to corona. I'll just bit the bullet and get something. I highly doubt I'll be unhappy with whatever I choose.

Edit: I did come across these posts which say that the Q350's may not be much better than the Q150's, so not sure what to think about that.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/bnzvh2/_/enc498u
https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/bjwa25/_/emc96cg

 

[Gmoney]

Hmmm... very difficult decision.

And ya was just reading about subs and the KEF's aren't great anyway, lol. Didn't realize the 8" was so tiny either. From what I see my best bet may be BIC F12.

Thanks for the info on the Elac, and the rest!

Klipsch 6000... definitely out of the picture for now .

Also can't really test any of these out for the moment due to corona. I'll just bit the bullet and get something. I highly doubt I'll be unhappy with whatever I choose.

Edit: I did come across these posts which say that the Q350's may not be much better than the Q150's, so not sure what to think about that.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/bnzvh2/_/enc498u
https://www.reddit.com/r/BudgetAudiophile/comments/bjwa25/_/emc96cg

I Definitely feel ya on the speaker thing, when I got into HT not talking about two channel HT takes up a lot more coin cause you gotta factor in center, surrounds and sub not to mention a AVR or even Separates. So I went the way of the Compromising thing. Got me by but was already wanting to upgrade after just 6 months or a year. The one thing I learned the hard way was buying speaker’s L/R mains was where I should have put the most coin at first. Sure you can do up a nice setup for not a lot of coin. say 1200 to 1500. but if you put that same coin on L/R mains get them in your hands and a few months down the road coin up for a mid AVR and a mid leave Sub now you have the start of a really nice system that’ll stay put for a few years or so. Yeah I know it’s a Decision Easier said than done. A 3 channel setup LCR upper end speakers with a nice mid level AVR say around 8 or 9 Benjamin’s will out Perform a lower end setup of 5.1 to start. But hey if your not wanting to wait or spend that much on mains and a center first, than by all means keep researching and match up your dollars worth and enjoy!

 

[mikesalami]

ok thanks a lot!

 

[Paul DS]

Good luck on whatever speaker you choose. In regard to a sub may I suggest the Dayton Audio Sub-1200 12". It is a very good sub for a very small amount of money.

 

[Old Onkyo]

I Definitely feel ya on the speaker thing, when I got into HT not talking about two channel HT takes up a lot more coin cause you gotta factor in center, surrounds and sub not to mention a AVR or even Separates. So I went the way of the Compromising thing. Got me by but was already wanting to upgrade after just 6 months or a year. The one thing I learned the hard way was buying speaker’s L/R mains was where I should have put the most coin at first. Sure you can do up a nice setup for not a lot of coin. say 1200 to 1500. but if you put that same coin on L/R mains get them in your hands and a few months down the road coin up for a mid AVR and a mid leave Sub now you have the start of a really nice system that’ll stay put for a few years or so. Yeah I know it’s a Decision Easier said than done. A 3 channel setup LCR upper end speakers with a nice mid level AVR say around 8 or 9 Benjamin’s will out Perform and lower end setup of 5.1 to start. But hey if your not wanting to wait or spend that much on mains and a center first than by all means keep researching and match up your dollars worth and enjoy!

A lot of wisdom here ^

 

[mikesalami]

Well I can't spend what I don't have. I have a free AVR (Yamaha RX-A740), and then I'd have maybe $800 or so max for speakers. I could spring for Klispch 600's (about $800 CAD), but not 6000's for sure.

Also again this is mainly for music not movies. How important is a centre channel for music instead of just LR?

 

[lovinthehd]

To stretch budget you could also look at used speakers so someone else takes the initial depreciation hit....a free avr is nice to have, tho If you're primarily listening to 2ch music the center may not mean much to you, but if you like to upmix 2ch or use multich music (or particularly for movie dialog) then the center may make sense. Keep in mind the typical center is generally a compromise so it can be horizontal and fit under a tv....ideally you'd use identical LCR....

 

[Gryph]

Well I can't spend what I don't have. I have a free AVR (Yamaha RX-A740), and then I'd have maybe $800 or so max for speakers. I could spring for Klispch 600's (about $800 CAD), but not 6000's for sure.

Also again this is mainly for music not movies. How important is a centre channel for music instead of just LR?

I’d give the free Yamaha receiver a shot for sure and put that money towards some better right left speakers.
Used speaker market, your money will go way farther as well.

And not to worry, that receiver has plenty of wireless connectivity.

Yamaha RX-A740 Digital and Streaming Music Options:
built-in Wi-Fi for listening to music from a networked PC, free Internet radio, and music services
Wireless Direct lets you stream music and control the player from a smartphone or tablet without a wireless home network
includes support for Pandora, Rhapsody, and vTuner (subscription required for some services)
Spotify Connect lets you play Spotify's streaming music library through the receiver via your smartphone or tablet (requires Spotify app and a premium subscription)
Apple AirPlay for streaming music from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or computer running iTunes
HTC Connect for wireless music streaming from a compatible HTC smartphone
front-panel MHL-ready HDMI input for accessing content from select Android smartphones and tablets
front-panel USB input for connecting an iPod, iPhone, iPad, or thumb drive
direct digital connection for iPod or iPhone bypasses the device's digital-to-analog converter for better sound
plays high-resolution digital music files via USB storage device or a networked computer (up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution)
DLNA 1.5 certified for streaming music wirelessly from compatible computers and network-attached storage (NAS) drives
gapless playback of WAV, FLAC and ALAC files from USB thumb drives and networked computers

 

[mikesalami]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I could look into the used stuff on kijiji, but again I'd have no idea if what I was getting would be any good or worth the money.

Keep in mind this is for a small place. About 600 sq ft, with the listening area about 10x10 (however it opens up into the kitchen which is a bunch larger).

Good luck on whatever speaker you choose. In regard to a sub may I suggest the Dayton Audio Sub-1200 12". It is a very good sub for a very small amount of money.

I did some research and did see that one suggested a few times .

Edit: any opinion on these?

StudioLab Reference Protege
Klipsch Reference Series High Performance Tower Speakers RF82 IV
B&W 3-Driver Floor-Standers DM603
Paradigm Tower Speakers Monitor 9 v4
1979 Vintage Ditton 442 speakers
Klipsch Reference Series Floor-Standers RF-62
Klipsch Synergy Towers F-30
B&W dm7 mk2 speakers
ma4 monitor audio speakers series 1
Monitor Audio Bronze 2

Sorry didn't plan on posting so many lol.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I could look into the used stuff on kijiji, but again I'd have no idea if what I was getting would be any good or worth the money.

Keep in mind this is for a small place. About 600 sq ft, with the listening area about 10x10 (however it opens up into the kitchen which is a bunch larger).



I did some research and did see that one suggested a few times .

Edit: any opinion on these?

StudioLab Reference Protege

Not familiar but this article might help https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/studiolab_reference_one.htm

 

[mikesalami]

Thanks! Just posted a few more options what I found on local kijiji.