speaker help? please

[mloew1]

Hi all, I am helping my son who just moved into his first place. He started his home theater awhile ago, he has a Pioneer 5020 I believe, display. It is still a fantastic TV to this day. He is looking at the new Pioneer VSX-1021-K receiver, that I think will get him by for awhile. I have been telling him I think he should spend his budget on speakers. We have listened to many different brands, we both drove many miles last night to listen to Focal Cinema Pack and Focal Sib/Cub2 home theater systems. We were both impressed with the sound, but I have not been able to find much info on them. What I have found it seems that these are older speakers. I think these are JM Lab. These are in his price range of $1000-$1600. What do you experts think? Any other suggestion's? We live in a more rural area so there is not allot of places we can go to audition speakers. Thanks for any help. Mike

 

[dkane360]

What size room would these be used in?

 

[mloew1]

What size room would these be used in?

Oh sorry, he lives in a condo, the living room is open to the dining room and kitchen, So he is not going to be able to blast it anyways (unless he wants to get evicted) and move back home the actual room size the speakers will be in is about 18'x14'

 

[AVRat]

The Focal sub is weak in the low end, where it adds audio ambience to the HT experience, and the speakers seem small for the room size. The budget isn’t too tight so some good options are available.

An Ascend Acoustics CBM-170/CMT-340C/HTM-200 combo and an Epik Legend would complement the Pioneer display nicely.

 

[mloew1]

Thank you, I will see if these are available any where locally.

 

[jostenmeat]

Thank you, I will see if these are available any where locally.

They are ID; internet direct. I am not a fan of Focal speakers, but there are plenty here that are; what matters is if you* like them.

The 5020 is excellent display, and yes JM Labs = Focal.

I like the Ascend 170SE suggestion, but be warned they aren't the prettiest speaker you've ever seen. I like its performance for the money a lot though.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

they aren't the prettiest speaker you've ever seen

That is one issue with most of these speakers.

What are some speakers that look beautiful, sound great, but don't cost > $5,000?

I guess everyone will differ on opinion, but I can't find any.

Some of them look decent, but not beautiful IMO.

 

[GranteedEV]

What are some speakers that look beautiful, sound great, but don't cost > $5,000?

Under 1000 - EMP e55ti
Under 2000 - ...?
Under 3000 - Salk V3 ( or at least... I think it looks good <_< )
Under 4000 - Vapor Cirrus
Under 5000 - Pioneer S-3EX

 

[AVRat]

The EMP E5T/C/Bi setup should also fit within the budget.

 

[mloew1]

Thanks again guys, AVRat I have been doing allot of reading on your suggestion of the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170/CMT-340C/HTM-200 combo and an Epik Legend sub, both have great reviews. It is a little scary ordering something we cant listen to or see before purchasing, But we may do this. The speakers are a little bigger than I have been looking at but with the optional stands for the front and rear speakers they may work well. I have a Velodyne CT120 sub in my system, would the Epik Legend be about the same Quality and sound? Thanks to everyone again for the help.

 

[jostenmeat]

That is one issue with most of these speakers.

What are some speakers that look beautiful, sound great, but don't cost > $5,000?

I guess everyone will differ on opinion, but I can't find any.

Some of them look decent, but not beautiful IMO.

Yeah, but it doesn't have to be all or nothing; like you said, he could find "decent" with this budget. IMO, the Ascends are not offensive at distance, or as wall/ceiling mounted. However, in a nice piece of furniture, well let's just say the first thing comes to mind is truck bed liner material.

Thanks again guys, AVRat I have been doing allot of reading on your suggestion of the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170/CMT-340C/HTM-200 combo and an Epik Legend sub, both have great reviews. It is a little scary ordering something we cant listen to or see before purchasing, But we may do this. The speakers are a little bigger than I have been looking at but with the optional stands for the front and rear speakers they may work well. I have a Velodyne CT120 sub in my system, would the Epik Legend be about the same Quality and sound? Thanks to everyone again for the help.

I have got to believe the % on Ascend returns has got to be next to nothing. In any case, there is a 30 day back guarantee I'm pretty certain.

You should also look into Aperion speakers, as not only are they also guaranteed 30 days, but they offer free shipping BOTH ways (in case you don't like them, and again I must imagine the % of returns has to be extremely low). Then again, sometimes the trick is to get them into the home to begin with for a high success rate of sale. Well, after all, the majority of the speakers we talk about blow away what most people have ever listened to.

 

[AVRat]

The Epik Legend performs much better. Being that your son lives in a condo, an Aurulex Subdude will help isolate the sub from the structure.

http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_subdude/subdude.asp
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001140OZ0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=AIMZUKBRH6H15

Another option: Infinity P163/C351/153. Can be purchased from the Audioholics store.

 

[mloew1]

Thanks again guys, my son is willing to up his budget a bit and wants to order 4 ASCEND ACOUSTICS CMT-340 SE and 1 CMT-340 SE center and 4 of their speaker stands, along with the Epik sub. Is bigger better in this case, instead of going with the smaller rear surrounds, such as the 200s or 170s as suggested, and going with all matching 5 speakers? Thanks again for the advise.

 

[AVRat]

3/340s up front will work great, but unless he listens to a great deal of multi-channel music, the 340s for the surrounds are really unnecessary. Most of the time, a movie's soundtrack is primarily focused in the front soundstage. You'll find the vast, vast, vast majority of theaters use smaller surrounds.

 

[ahblaza]

Thanks again guys, my son is willing to up his budget a bit and wants to order 4 ASCEND ACOUSTICS CMT-340 SE and 1 CMT-340 SE center and 4 of their speaker stands, along with the Epik sub. Is bigger better in this case, instead of going with the smaller rear surrounds, such as the 200s or 170s as suggested, and going with all matching 5 speakers? Thanks again for the advise.

I have the Legend and am extremely happy with it, good company and good people to deal with. I'm in the process of ordering the Ascends, three 340's up front and 170's for surrounds, this setup will fill that room with wonderful satisfying sound, and Dave at Ascends is a true gentleman, I have been talking to him for the last six months concerning my speaker purchases, he is always available to answer any questions you may have, and I believe his return % is non existant. Hope this helps.
Jeff

 

[mloew1]

Well thanks to all your help and esp AVRat we are going to order the Ascend Sierra-1 for the front 3 and the CBM-170's for the rear. The only problem left to solve is the speaker stands. Unfortunately Ascend does not match there speakers color wise, My son will have to get Piano black for the sierra-1 and matte black for the CBM-170's as that is the only choice. And to make it worse the stands from Ascend, for the sierras, only come in matte black? And they don't carry the stands any longer for the 170s. So hopefully someone can recommend 4 matching stands. 2 for the front sierra-1 and 2 for the rear surrounds. I think if I could find 2 piano black for the sierras and 2 matching in matte black for the rears it would look the best. Thanks Mike

Oh forgot to mention the reason we are going with the sierras is the 340s are backorder for awhile and Ascend told me they would give me 15% off the sierras and that still keeps him in his budget. We also just got the Epik sub, it is a monster.

 

[AVRat]

Mike, trying to keep cost down, these are what I came up with: http://www.racksandstands.com/Plateau-RT-30-PT0006.html

 

[Pyrrho]

That is one issue with most of these speakers.

What are some speakers that look beautiful, sound great, but don't cost > $5,000?

I guess everyone will differ on opinion, but I can't find any.

Some of them look decent, but not beautiful IMO.

I don't know if the U.S. versions are still available or not, but I rather like the U.S. versions of Aurum Cantus speakers. These retail for only $1500 per pair (without stands):

http://www.kellsieavdesign.com/products/Leisure2SE.htm

They look like they cost more.

For a subwoofer, I would forget about beauty and go with an SVS.