Opinions and advice wanted

[EWINS]

I've gotten the "ok" from my wife to put together a HT system. It'll have to be fairly low-end but it'll be an upgrade from the tv speakers and altec-lansing 2.1 sub/sat pc speakers that I'm currently using.

I'm leaning towards one of the digi-amps currently out like the panasonic xr50, or the JVC (can't remember the model)

For speakers, I'm considering the infinity Primus 150's as mains and center or the HK 6 b's (good deals on ebay right now). I'm not sure about the sub...I may even leave that out completely for now and just go with the LRC for now. The use will be about 80/20 movies/music.

I need to keep my speaker budget between $200-$300 and about the same for the receiver.

I'm to any and all opinions and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

[Mort Corey]

You might want to listen to some of the Athena offerings. They're a pretty darn nice speaker and in your price range (or less, depending). I just bought a pair for my granddaughter and am really impressed price/performance wise.

Mort

 

[EWINS]

They sell those at best buy, right?

I keep hearing good things about Athena. I remember seeing them at best buy a couple of weeks ago when I was wandering through. Maybe I should go back and give them a listen.

 

[outsider]

if you're on a budget and don't mind ordering online check www.aperionaudio.com
They've got some nice speakers at good prices.

 

[Timma]

deal on infinity

I just discovered that infinity now has a deal on crutchfield which gives a free pair of alpha 150 speakers away with the purchase of any infinity speaker package over $398 (with few exceptions). I was just looking at the infinity alpha 250s when I happened across this deal. Circuit City has a similar deal which I believe only encompasses the specific 250s. Off the bat this seemed like a great deal but I just started searching for a speaker solution. So now naturally, I'm looking for the counterargument before I run out the door and buy them. If anybody can provide a better option at a similar price please let me know. Thanx.

 

[Leprkon]

Infinity 150's

the only possible problems with the Infinity 150's coming to you as freebies for the surrounds is size and weight. They are decent speaker for the budget-conscious, but are fairly deep and a little heavy. take a good look at the spec sheets before you jump for them. They are actually a bookshelf speaker as opposed to many of the normal suround cubes and are not easy to hide as part of many HT set-ups.

 

[Timma]

thanx

I appreciate the input, but I tend to worry less about size than performance. In addition, the speakers I currently have are probably just as big anyways. Will the 150s perform well as surround sound speakers? More importantly, will the 250s be a suitable upgrade for the money? I would be willing to spend a couple hundred dollars extra if another set of 4 will make a large difference. Thanx again.

Another question I meant to ask was whether getting 2 250s will sound much different than just getting all 4 150s when accepting about 100 Watts per channel. If so, how would they be different?

 

[Leprkon]

Infinity 150's and maybe Mordaunt's

I use a set of 150's in my master bedroom setup. They work really well with the Alpha 20's for main and Alpha Center. I wouldn't use them for mains, but they make great surrounds. I just wouldn't hang them using the $ 8 brackets you find at Walmart... you might find pieces of your wall or ceiling on the floor in the morning.

You might check this package out.. I'm not familiar with Mordaunt 900 series but maybe somebody can kick in... the couple of posts I've seen hold them in pretty high regard. The price seems to be a really great buy... Everything including the sub for about $ 750... Everything is listed as new, except the sub, which is a refurb... The rears are bi-polar and they even give you enough 12 gage wire for your fronts & center.

http://www.accessories4less.com/Amazing/customkititems.asp?CartId=6817127-EVEREST-BSVYW460&ic=MORD-903

 

[Timma]

Infinity not for me

I recently went to my local Circuit City to check out the above mentioned Infinity 250s and 150s and am sorry to say that I was totally unimpressed. The 150s put out a small but definitely noticeable noise distortion at all volumes when compared with the 250s. Also, 250s seemed to be choking on the 100 Watts being supplied to them by the onkyo 701 receiver. When the volume was turned up to anywhere near the reference point, there was significantly noticeable distortion, especially on the mid to low range frequencies. It actually seemed like this amount of power would blow the speaker with occasional use at this level due to the visible and audible overworking of the woofers. On a far lesser powered HK receiver (not sure exactly which one offhand) the sound was much clearer due to the lower volume levels. I cannot say for sure that this did not have something to do with the way that the speakers were connected but I can say that in my personal opinion these were NOWHERE NEAR the quality I had been told to expect from these speakers (even to a relatively amateur audioholic like myself) due to the fact that I like my music loud and powerful. Don't get me wrong though, they seemed excellent at lower levels.

Following this, I went next door to Best Buy and ran into a seemingly somewhat knowledgable clerk who suggested that I check out Boston Acoustics or B&W for much better and warmer sound quality but also said that they would run me MUCH more money and he suggested that I check the local Ensemble (not sure I remember the name correctly) and Tweeter stores. Any suggestions along this line of thought for clear power hungry speakers at a good bargain price for mostly music but some movie and computer video game playback (open to refurbished and open box suggestions from dependable dealers)?

By the way, I apologize to Leprkon for not fully listening; you were totally right. Those speakers are HUGE. The funniest part about this is that I am actually currently using those same $8 brackets someone just referred to for my crappy RCA starter system, hahahaha. You guys were right again. Thanx for the input man. Keep it coming if you would be so kind.

Also, the link from the last post isn't responding for me, what model were u speaking of?

 

[Leprkon]

cut-off link

sorry about that

go to

http://www.accessories4less.com/

look on the right side for Mordaunt-Short Speakers

go to the set maked MORDAUNT SHORT 903 5.1 W/BIPOLE REARS

I guess they time out all the links.

BTW, I've noticed that any combination of speakers and receivers that CC (or the two in OK City, at any rate) has outside their magical (ie expensive) room usually sounds like crap for some reason. It kept me from buying the Onkyo 701 receiver there, although a friend has one and it's very good. I can;t help but wonder if their "rack stuff" soundboard is done that way to intentionally make the expensive stuff sound better. I haven;t has any problems with my 150's, other than the size, as we've discussed. I'm running them as rears on a seven year old Sony STR-DE915 100w 5.1 receiver...

 

[BuddTX]

For speakers, consider Axiom Audio

For a receiver, consider buying online the Pioneer VSX-1014TX-K THX Select A/V Receiver with MCACC

 

[plhart]

The Primus 150's were designed by one of Harman's most talented systems engineers. They are flat response down to about 70Hz so you absolutely would need to use the matching sub for movies. A 5 1/4" woofer just can't put out decent movie sound SPL's but they are the best size to use for left and right satellites because they do get down to the 80Hz crossover point which kicks in when you're playing a Dolby Digital or DTS movie.

The Alpha 250s were European designed and built and are a closeout model. The Alphas never went through the mandatory double blind testing that the Primus' went through. The Alpha models I evaluated while at Harman had nice cabinet construction but the drivers did not appear to be up to the standards of the Primus line which is built in China under the direction of Harman Asia personnel.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to what others have heard in a dealer's showroom. Mass market retailers don't know how or don't care how their sound rooms are set up most of the time. And their employees certainly don't usually maintain them. Your own ears in you own room will tell you more than anything you read.

As for using monopoles as surround speaker I recommend mounting the Primus 150 at 110 degrees plus or minus from the center channel and aiming them into opposite corners to provide an immersive effect. Movies are mixed for this immersive effect, not for the pinpoint localization that aiming a surround speaker at your head will provide.

I would stay away from the dig-amps. The cheap ones only work best with a constant impedence crossover network whose curve approximates a resistor. Stick with the majority of good solid "analog" amp receivers from better known manufacturers like Yamaha, Denon or Onkyo. The Primus' were designed to work best with these more traditionally powered receivers.

 

[Rob Babcock]

One caveat to this: so long as you stay away from the really flakey speakers with goofy impedances, there's not problem with even the cheapest digital amps. The Griffin Powerwave, the Teac DR-L700 (Tripath amp) & the Sonic Impact T-Amp will all work splendidly with such speakers despite the fact that the most expensive of them is only $99. As you move up into the $200-$300 range, I know several people getting superb results driving more difficult speakers.

I feel we're on the cusp on a revolution in digital amps that's gonna make regular ss amps in receivers, well, "boat anchors", to use the term of a fellow digi-amp affectionado.

Time will tell.

 

[Timma]

thanx

Thanx again, I have actually been considering the pioneer 1014 as my frontrunner so far, based solely on user and critical reviews and board posts. It seems to be a terrific receiver for the money but I recently messed around on my buddy's onkyo 701 and it seemed easy to use and feature-packed except for the lack of 7.1. However, this receiver costs about $250 more than the pioneer and I was curious as to what it would bring to the table that the pioneer could not. I also heard good things about the yamahas, i.e. the 5760. Any comments on these or maybe another similar one.

As for the axioms, they seem a lil pricey for me but the mordaunt package appears to be a good value at about $750, especially due to the great reviews they've gotten. However, I would like a more powerful subwoofer than the 100 Watt 907 included. Is it possible to deduct pieces from the speaker packages on the accessories 4 less website? Does anyone have a similarly priced alternative suggestion?

Thanx, I appreciate all the input.

 

[Timma]

Got it narrowed down i think

Ok, I think that I'm going to pull the trigger on a pioneer 1014txk and the mordaunt short package on accessories4less website with 903 dipole rears. The one change that I have been mulling over due to the serious price hike is the addition of a subwoofer. I called the website yesterday to ask if the speaker package was configurable and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was. So now I have to decide whether to take the seemingly underpowered 907 (package=$750), the possibly overpowered 909 (package=$900, expensive but excellent deal), or leaving out the sub altogether in favor of a cheaper outside solution such as the velodyne cht-10 (package without sub=$530) among others. This decision is absolutely killing me because the 909 seems like an outrageous deal due to the high acclaim I have found everywhere but may be somewhat overkill. Somebody please help me with this final decision so I can get on with my listening goodness at long last (I'm so f***ing anxious its ridiculous!).