Please suggest small speakers for music/movies!!

[arevee]

Guys,

I currently run Polk towers and book shelves for my HT. I live in an apartment. Are there any set of smaller speakers that would be as good for sound and for movies?? I am looking at about $300-400...

let me know please!!

 

[flyv65]

For $300 to $400 you might have a hard time fleshing out a 5.1 movie/surround music system...will you be keeping the Polk floorstanders in lieu of buying a subwoofer, or do you already have one? How small a speaker are you looking for? There are some very nice monitor/bookshelf speakers on the market for both music *and* movies, but I tend to think that speakers smaller than this size (shoebox, approximately) can be pretty bright-and will definitely need a subwoofer. Do you plan to hang the speakers on walls, in corners, on shelves or stands? Can you give a little more information, maybe?

Bryan...using floorstanding speakers no matter *how* small my room is...

 

[arevee]

I have the R50s and R30s tower speakers, R15 bookshelf, CSi20 center and PSW202. My living room suddenly seems too small for all this stuff alongwith a 51" HDTV. so, right now its a 7.1 setup witha Onkyo TX-SR602 receiver.

I like the cube design of "those speakers that we shall not name here" but is there an alternative?? I have seen some Kenwood HT kits..I can hold on to the sub!!

 

[audiovette]

small speakers

If you are looking for 5.1 system I would suggest two. They are around $800 but they are best for the money.
Infinity TTS-750
Or
Energy act 6
For around $500 you can get Energy Take 5, they are just great with movies and music.

 

[tbewick]

I'd suggest you spend most of your money on a good set of front stereo stand-mounted speakers. I'd bet that this approach would produce a better sounding speaker set up for music than going for an equivalently priced 5.1 speaker set.

I quite like my Bowers & Wilkins DM601 S1's, which are small but sound quite good. I saw a good review for some Wharfdale stand mounted speakers (which in the UK cost ~£200) in What Hi-Fi? some time ago.

If your also looking for some new surround units, you can cut corners here, because they really don't do very much work most of the time, and mainly add atmosphere to most music/films. You could buy a cheap centre speaker, which will sound fine, since it only really deals with dialogue. Just make sure that the centre doesn't sound too tonally different from the stereo speakers, or the front speakers won't blend together well.

 

[SilverMK3]

I know Athenas are recommended to death on these forums, and at the risk of sounding like a fan-boy, maybe you should audition the Micra 6 system. They can be had for dirt cheap right now (if you can find them) because everyone is clearing out their Athena stock in preparation for the new 2005 models coming out soon.

 

[Privateer]

If you have the money and you want to go small check out B&O.
http://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/

 

[Nick250]

Guys,

I currently run Polk towers and book shelves for my HT. I live in an apartment. Are there any set of smaller speakers that would be as good for sound and for movies?? I am looking at about $300-400...

let me know please!!

Paradigm Atoms. ~$200 a pair. Amazing sound for their price and size. And yes I do own a pair.

 

[corysmith01]

I'll second the Paradigms, even though I don't own them. But I'd suggest the Paradigm mini monitor. The performance series (atom, titan, etc) is nice enough for the budget minded, but if you have the budget, go for the monitor series. If you're coming from towers to bookshelves, you'll definitely want a sub, which I'm assuming you'll keep your psw202. At the same time, a bookshelf that can extend a little would be a bonus. The mini monitors, to my ears, had absolutely incredible low end to them when taking their size into consideration, not to mention a beautiful overall sound...it could be b/c they're 12" deep. Really nice sounding and a nice, compact size. I teetered on the edge deciding between these and my 601's...went with the 601's b/c of center channel speaker consideration. B&W 601 s3's, which go for about $450, are a little over your budget, but nice sounding enough, excelling at music really. Being that you're running a sub, the 600 s3's can be had for $350.

It just occured to me, is your budget $300-$400 for your bookshelves AND your center?...you'll want a matching center regardless of what pair/brand you buy, so is there an additional budget for that, or do you want L/R and Center for $300-$400?

 

[korgoth]

you said you like the cubes design.. but those are about 1300 bucks..

if you want speakers that are better and yet the same size its going to be hard to find for 400..

i think if you want the full 5.1 with decent quality youll have to spend at least 600-800

http://www.intellexual.net/speaker5.html

here is a list someone made for an alternative to the bose surround system, but they are at least 700 dollars msrp.. so you can probobly find them for 20% or so cheaper.

(Energy) Main x 2: Take 2, Center x 1: Take 1, Subwoofer x 1:Take 2 , Rear x 2: EXL-S:8

MSRP:$600

thats probobly one of the cheapest youll find on there.

 

[T2T]

You might also consider some of the options from Home Theater Direct. Their new/revised Level 3 speaker looks pretty nice @ $279 a pair.

 

[flyv65]

I have the R50s and R30s tower speakers, R15 bookshelf, CSi20 center and PSW202. My living room suddenly seems too small for all this stuff alongwith a 51" HDTV. so, right now its a 7.1 setup witha Onkyo TX-SR602 receiver.

Hmmmm, if you like the sound you're getting now but the room seems small, how about dropping back to a 5.1 setup with your current speakers, and move something into another room for Zone 2? That would free up a little space and not cost a penny.

I like the cube design of "those speakers that we shall not name here" but is there an alternative?? I have seen some Kenwood HT kits..I can hold on to the sub!!

If you are truly after some tiny speakers that perform well (in light of the inherent drawbacks imposed by their size), The Athena Micra 6 set up gets good postings here, and I've personally owned a set of DefTec Promonitor 80's with a Procenter 100 that was a tad bright for music, but a real overacheiver for movies. It's good that you plan on keeping your sub, 'cuz there isn't a mini out there that can get by without one...and that includes about 95% of all the bookshelf/monitor models every one has mentioned here, too.

Bryan...let us know what you decide...