newbie, ready to buy, need some advice...

[Snacky]

Hello all,

I am looking to upgrade my living room system and I’m looking for some advice. I work for a commercial audio integration company so I’ve got some knowledge of the audio world but not in home audio and I haven’t heard many good home systems.

I guess I’ll start by describing the room.

• Its 22’ wide by 14’ deep.
• A 60” LCD is mounted in the middle of the long wall
• The couch sits directly across from the LCD, backed all the way to the wall.
• Its kind of hard to explain but this is the only possible configuration of the room given wher the doors, windows, etc. are.
• The room is carpeted
• Standard ceiling height

I currently have a Bose 2.1 system (oops) which is ok for what it is but it leave a lot to be desired, I think it will be perfect for my master bedroom.
Anyway, I have already acquired a Denon 5.2 ch receiver with 140w per channel.

I am looking to purchase a sub, front L R, center, and rear L R speakers.
I’m not interested in purchasing any additional gear at the moment, for now just speakers that I’ll be happy with for the next 10+ years.

I don’t want to have any regrets, like when I came home a couple years ago with a new 46” LCD and months later I deeply regretted not forking out the extra dough for a larger one. I also don’t want to overdo it cause for one, I don’t like wasting money and two, I don’t want additional size if I don’t need it.

When I bought my 2.1 I convinced myself it was perfect because the system would fit nicely In my small house, my strategy was to buy everything smaller to make the house bigger… like less bulky furniture etc.
With my new home system, I am willing to go with whatever size components are best suited for my needs.

I want good movie and music quality but movie sound quality is far more important to me by a landslide! Odds are, if I’m listening to music, my butt won’t be planted on the couch, I’ll be moving around the house doing chores or something so I would seldom enjoy the benefits of a system selected for music listening criteria. For movies I want highly intelligible vocals, explosions I can feel, great surround experience, the preview voice guy to sound awesome like he does in the theater, and most importantly NO MUD.

Ok, now there’s so much out there to choose from!!! My company is a Klipsch dealer so I can get Klipsch speakers at around half of the retail price! For this reason, and for the fact that they seem to have a good reputation, I am leaning strongly toward Klipsch speakers. I may be a able to get great pricing for some other good vendors, but I’ve just started looking in to this so right now Klipsch is the only one I know of for sure.
I get a little confused when I look at the Klipsch product lines… Reference, Reference II, reference premier etc. I think Palladium is probably out of the question.

Now budget:
I’m willing to spend around $1000 (remember, I can get Klipsch at half retail price).

As mentioned, I need to buy the five speakers and the sub, I already have a receiver and cabling.

Right now this is what I’m looking at, but its all just a guess so I am here to get any suggestions anyone has:

• Klipsch R-26F for front left and right
• Klipsch 2-25C for center channel
• For surround left and right I’m not sure, since the couch is against the wall I should be looking at either some in-wall speakers (like Klipsch R-5650-S II) or something that could be mounted up high and point down (like the CP-4 or CP-6) right? Perhaps I’m overthinking it and the R-14S would be fine, mounted just above seated head height?
• Klipsch R-12SW subwoofer, would the R-112SW really be worth the extra dough for me?

There you have it, I’m eager to hear any/all suggestions… sizes, brands, series’ etc…

If you only want to respond with a simple opinion on just part of my post that’s great too

Thanks

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If you want to reduce the risk of regret or buyer's remorse, then you should try to audition as many other speakers as you can. Audition speakers from Revel, KEF, B&W, RBH, Martin Logan, Vienna, PSB, Paradigm, Definitive Tech, Golden Ear, and whatever is available.

If you still think the Klipsch sound just as good as the other brands that cost more, then you can buy the Klipsch @ 50% off MSRP knowing that even if you paid a lot more for other speakers, they won't sound any better to you than the Klipsch.

Otherwise, you may end up regretting.

In the audiophile world, there is bashing of Klipsch, Definitive Tech, Golden Ear, B&W, Vienna, and Paradigm for whatever reasons. But if you have heard all these speakers, then you will not have to wonder, question, and doubt yourself.

Everyone has an opinion. But the only opinion that matters is the buyer's/owner's opinion.

So listen to as many other brands as you can and compare to the Klipsch.

As far as subwoofers, I think the general sentiment is that 2 subwoofers are better than 1 subwoofer, and 4 subwoofers are best depending on your room and the placement of the subwoofers. So perhaps 2 subwoofers of slightly lower price are better than 1 subwoofer of slightly higher price.

 

[Hobbit]

In the audiophile world, there is bashing of Klipsch, Definitive Tech, Golden Ear, B&W, Vienna, and Paradigm for whatever reasons. But if you have heard all these speakers, then you will not have to wonder, question, and doubt yourself.

It's interesting how this works. Take B&W for example, I know quite a few people who really love them and highly recommend them. Yet, many others dis B&W. These, and the list you mention, don't always have the best measurements. They're quite the polarizing speaker brands.

On the other hand there are brands like NHT which is really hard to find anything but excellent review of. Their measurements are very good. Yet, on all the web boards, while they're not bashed, another brand is almost always recommended over them. What gives?

Unfortunately for me, besides Listen Up, there are very few opportunities for me to go listen to many brands. When I go in Listen Up they always push the B&W line (the other -anti-B&W- shop closed years ago....).

I'm not always convinced there's a one size fits all speaker system. I like my Def Tech surround system. Especially for home theater. The bipolars seem perform nicely for this purpose. OTH, for more critical listening I seem to prefer the accuracy of my NHT Classic 2 bookshelves.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It's interesting how this works. Take B&W for example, I know quite a few people who really love them and highly recommend them. Yet, many others dis B&W. These, and the list you mention, don't always have the best measurements. They're quite the polarizing speaker brands.

On the other hand there are brands like NHT which is really hard to find anything but excellent review of. Their measurements are very good. Yet, on all the web boards, while they're not bashed, another brand is almost always recommended over them. What gives?

Unfortunately for me, besides Listen Up, there are very few opportunities for me to go listen to many brands. When I go in Listen Up they always push the B&W line (the other -anti-B&W- shop closed years ago....).

I'm not always convinced there's a one size fits all speaker system. I like my Def Tech surround system. Especially for home theater. The bipolars seem perform nicely for this purpose. OTH, for more critical listening I seem to prefer the accuracy of my NHT Classic 2 bookshelves.

Like I always say, you got to find that personal perfect-fit system, which is different for everyone.

For some people, that means 2 or even 3 different systems. For others, it may be just one system.

For most people, it means adding 1 or more subwo. For others, it means no additional subwoofers at all.

For some, that means smaller speakers. For others, it means large 51"-61" big bad towers.

I do have 2 separate systems in my house - one high-end system just for me and my wife and one cheap system for the guests and for KARAOKE.

 

[zieglj01]

Try a pair of the Klipsch bookshelf speakers, to see if you like their sound
Yes, they are better than Bose - however, it still does not mean that they
would float your boat. If you like them - then work it out to complete your
system - since your prices are good.

 

[markw]

To keep it simple, listen to as many speakers as you can. Listen to music in stereo, not movies.

Don't use a subwoofer. Just two main speakers.

Use to music you're familiar with. Movies sound spectacular on anything. Good music sounds real on good speakers. That's what you want.

Then, when a pair sounds good to you, try a pair in your home for a few weeks with the option to return them (keep all packing material).

Repeat until you find a pair that satisfy you and then get the matching center and surrounds.

Then, get the best sub you can afford.

 

[nacheswheelin]

As far as subs im a man of 3 letters svs