Older Speakers

[Sir Charles]

I have a pair of old Rogers Sound Labs speakers (Yes, original RSL speakers, that I bought in their Chatsworth, CA, USA store in 1978) that I am using for my mains and a pair of Acoustic Research speakers I am using for my "B" speakers with an Onkyo DS-595TX 5.1 surround receiver. I'm debating about

1- whether to get rid of my existing speakers and buy a brand new 5.1 surround sound system with an extra set of B speakers.

2 - Buy a new set of 5.1 surround speakers and keep one pair of the older speakers for the B speakers.

3- Keep all four speakers and just fill in with a pair of surrounds and a sub-woofer.

My RSL speakers sound great after 30 years. I replaced the woofers about 10 years ago. My Acoustic Research AR1's also sound good but not quite as good as my RSL speakers.

I am looking at 5.1 speaker systems in the $1K to $1.5K range from Tannoy, AVS123, SVS, NHT, and Klipsch. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards the SVS or Tannoy.
Thanks everyone.

 

[DD66000]

Old speakers only work for a multichannel system if you stay with the same, because of the need for timbre matching.
As an example, I built up a stereo JBL L212 2.1 system into a 7.2 system. I did this by buying another complete L212 system, plus custom building the three front L212s. These speakers also date back to the '70's.

But forget trying to match speakers from the '70's with today's speakers. If you can't get more of the same speakers, buy all new.

 

[jcPanny]

HT speakers

I agree. Get a good HT speaker package like the options you listed and keep the RSL for use in a 2 channel system. Ascend and the new Emotiva speakers are also good options in your price range.

 

[Tomorrow]

I have a pair of old Rogers Sound Labs speakers (Yes, original RSL speakers, that I bought in their Chatsworth, CA, USA store in 1978) that I am using for my mains and a pair of Acoustic Research speakers I am using for my "B" speakers with an Onkyo DS-595TX 5.1 surround receiver. I'm debating about

1- whether to get rid of my existing speakers and buy a brand new 5.1 surround sound system with an extra set of B speakers.

2 - Buy a new set of 5.1 surround speakers and keep one pair of the older speakers for the B speakers.

3- Keep all four speakers and just fill in with a pair of surrounds and a sub-woofer.

My RSL speakers sound great after 30 years. I replaced the woofers about 10 years ago. My Acoustic Research AR1's also sound good but not quite as good as my RSL speakers.

I am looking at 5.1 speaker systems in the $1K to $1.5K range from Tannoy, AVS123, SVS, NHT, and Klipsch. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards the SVS or Tannoy.
Thanks everyone.

Yea! Another Oregonian! (OSU?) Welcome, Sir Charles.

I'll add one more voice to the suggestion of you acquiring a complete new set because of timbre issues. But keep those Rogers for 2-channel! I really like what he did with loudspeakers way back when. The AR need a new home....

No one else here will recommend them, but do yourself a favor and audition the JBL L-series. For your budget, these represent a fine value, and are neutral and very dynamic speakers that will give you a delightful HT experience. Pinnacle would be another good choice.

Happy hunting.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Speakers have come a long, long way since 1978. I think you will be amazed by how much better new ones will sound (even quite affordable new ones, if you stick to makes/models recommended here.)

 

[DD66000]

No one else here will recommend them, but do yourself a favor and audition the JBL L-series. For your budget, these represent a fine value, and are neutral and very dynamic speakers that will give you a delightful HT experience. Pinnacle would be another good choice.

Happy hunting.

No one else will! I certainly have and will continue to recommend JBL speakers. Of the brands I've heard, there is only 3, 4 others I would pick, in the respective price ranges JBL sells at.

Speakers have come a long, long way since 1978. I think you will be amazed by how much better new ones will sound (even quite affordable new ones, if you stick to makes/models recommended here.)

Yes, speakers have come a long way over the decades.
But, top of the line speakers of yesteryear, are still good speakers, as long as they have been maintained. And the best way to bring them into the 21st century, so to speak, is to replace the original crossovers with up to date ones, such as Charged-Coupled technology. I've done it and there are very few new speakers that can stack up against them, and maybe none in their price range.

 

[avliner]

+ 1 to recommend the Studio L Series from JBL!

 

[Midcow2]

I would get new speakers

Spend most of your money on the fronts and center. They should be of the same vendor so they match in Timbre and you have seamless sound. the Center is especially important if you watch TV or DVDs; that is main source of voice. There are lots of good front speakers in wide price range; not sure how much you want to spend ? $500, $1000, $1,500, more ??

Second, buy a good subwoofer. SVS and Hsu are some of the best brands. They are anywhere from $400-$1600. If you buy an inexpensive subwoofer you will very soon be unhappy with the sound. The sub woofer does not have to match the front and center spekaers.

Surrounds; Spend the least amount of money here. They are only for enhancement and don't have to match the fronts, center or subwoofer. They also don't add that much to the overall HT sound spectrum.

Cables: copper wire is copper wire. In most cases 14 gauge is more than sufficient. Good conenctions are a must. If you are handy with a soldering iron and can tin ( het wire and let it absorb rosin core solder) than bare wires are okay. You can also buy some banana plug connectors; monoprice has good inexpensive banana plug connectors. If cables looks is important , then blue jeans cables makes very good cables, abeit a little expensive.

 

[Gatsby191]

Nothing but praise for Tannoy Speakers!!

As you will see on my equipment list, I went 7.1 . Everything but the subwoofer, is Tannoys. It turned out that the Arena Highline 500C center channel speaker, matched up fantastically, with the Sensys DC 2's that are used as my front left and rights. Tight, not too bright, noticable power, great depth, and very attractive looking. All speech is perfect, and with the rest of the set-up playing, when I watch a live concert(especially the EAGLES), I really do feel like I am right there. Actually, I think it probably sounds alot better in my HT, and the added bonus of being able to hit PAUSE so I can get up and go ummm "Drain the Lily"(clean enough?), is a extra treat all in it's own...
All kidding aside, Tannoy Speakers are one of the most under appreciated speakers on this, and alot of other sites. And, after doing a few blind demos, and some others where I knew what speaker brand was playing, I have to say that Tannoy should be on alot of the short lists, that we all keep, of our best sounding speakers. IMHO Joe B.

 

[Sir Charles]

Hi Tomorrow,
Yep OSU grad, go Beavers! My wife's an OSU grad, my mother-in-law is an OSU grad and all my friends. Don't think we have a Duck in the bunch.

 

[m_vanmeter]

I may get "roasted" for this, but here goes.....before you purchase an entire new set of speakers, try using your existing speakers with a new subwoofer and a decent center channel speaker. Timbre matching the fronts is the "ideal", but it is not such a deal killer that you shouldn't try a setup with your existing equipment first.

The subwoofer can be used with any future speakers. Even your non-timbre matched center can go with a pair of your cast off existing speakers as a 3.0 setup for a "surround challanged" family member (because you are a nice guy) should you go the full up-grade route.

On a secondary system, I still use 30 year old Sansui 4-way speakers with a center and a sub for a 3.1 system. To my obviously "corrupted" ears, you just can't beat the full, classic sound of large 3 or 4 way speakers. There is just no substitute for "cone area" when you want full rich sound.

 

[Sir Charles]

Wow,
Thanks everyone. I guess I'll retire my RSL speakers to the music room. I'll be auditioning Tannoy and NHT next month, and will probably order some SVS and/or AV123 to audition too. I'll check out the JBL's, didn't realize they were still good speakers. They were some of the biggies in the 70's, JBL L19's. In fact my RSLs were created to look and sound like the L19's with a lower price.

I've already installed 14ga in-wall speaker wire from Impact and will install all the jacks after the drywall and paint is finished. One other thing I'm confused about is the speakers for the size of the room. It's basically a big rectangular cube 22' long x 13' wide x 8' high. Will smaller, bookshelf speakers work or do I need to go to towers for my mains?

 

[Tomorrow]

Hi Tomorrow,
Yep OSU grad, go Beavers! My wife's an OSU grad, my mother-in-law is an OSU grad and all my friends. Don't think we have a Duck in the bunch.

I'm sorry to hear that.

KUH...WHACK!!

 

[m_vanmeter]

for a large room there is no substitute for speaker cone area to displace larger volumes of air. Small speakers will "localize" and sound like point sources rather than creating a soundfield. Go with towers or large MTM style enclosures on stands......I prefer full size towers.

 

[AVRat]

Don't get hung-up on the bookshelf vs. floorstander debate. Speakers these days come in many different configurations. It's all about the design. For example, the Rocket 450 is more of a bookshelf hiding in a floorstander. But the Paradigm Studio 40/60 are one of each using the same components.

 

[Sir Charles]

Old Speakers

Thanks again,
I'm definitely getting excited about the new speakers. I think I'll audition the Tannoys this week or next. There's a Tannoy dealer in my town. I'll also see what our local stereo stores carry before driving up to Portland (OR).

Anyone have any info about SVS's SBS vs MTS speakers? I can't afford an entire set of MTS's but maybe getting the front tower speakers might be good.

 

[Bluethunder]

Speaking of old speakers, I bought a pair of Hartley (10" 2-way) back in he 70's and I still have them. Over the years, I've gone through quite a few pairs of speakers but I manage to keep the Hartleys. I am not much of an audiophile these days anymore since the college days. With this new surround business, do you suggest I try to match the Hartleys (use them as surround) or do you suggest I render them down to the basement as coffee tables?

 

[Gatsby191]

Speaker ethics...

Beautiful sounding speakers, can only be found in the ears of the beholder.

I like Tannoys myself! LOL!! Joe B.