Speaker Suggstions Appreciated

[Charbear]

Hi all! New to this website. It appears to be an awesome exchange of information. I have an older stereo system which I really like and do not want to change (old Adcom 200W Amp and Tuner/Preamp combo unit). My old Accoustic Research AR48BX speakers are finally tired. I've replaced the woofers once and now need to replace them again. Midrange cones have also deteriorated. I can't see replacing all of these in 15 year old speakers.

I'd greatly appreciate recommendations on $400 - $800 per pair speakers. Since the Adcom equipemnt is old (~20 years), there is no "surround sound", subwoofer output, etc. so I guess typical home theater systems are out as well as integrated or stand alone sub woofer systems, right?

Thanks, in advance, for any advise/recommendations.

 

[mazersteven]

Hi all! New to this website. It appears to be an awesome exchange of information. I have an older stereo system which I really like and do not want to change (old Adcom 200W Amp and Tuner/Preamp combo unit). My old Accoustic Research AR48BX speakers are finally tired. I've replaced the woofers once and now need to replace them again. Midrange cones have also deteriorated. I can't see replacing all of these in 15 year old speakers.

I'd greatly appreciate recommendations on $400 - $800 per pair speakers. Since the Adcom equipemnt is old (~20 years), there is no "surround sound", subwoofer output, etc. so I guess typical home theater systems are out as well as integrated or stand alone sub woofer systems, right?

Thanks, in advance, for any advise/recommendations.

I might be wrong with this, but since your Adcom has no output for a sub I thought of using a set of Definitive Technology BP7006 Bipolar SuperTower. They have a built in subwoofer in the speaker. I have never auditioned these Definitive's before, but have the BP7000's.
They retail for a little more then you wanted at $599 ea.

www.definitivetechnology.com

 

[bpape]

Or look to add something like the Outlaw ICBM that allows you to use a sub even without a sub output on your preamp.

What kind of music do you listen to? Room size? Listening habits? That will help give an idea of what might be a good choice for you.

Bryan

 

[Takeereasy]

You do also have the option of hooking your speakers to a subwoofer using speaker level inputs. You simply hook the sub to the receiver using the L & R speaker terminals and then hook the speakers to the sub using the L & R inputs. Then you set the crossover on the sub to the lowest point the speaker can play to and the sub will fill in the lows. Using a powered sub this way reduces the strain on your receiver as well since it is no longer throwing out the juice required to hit those low notes. I've seen the above connection used with very nice results, just figured I'd mention it. You must make sure that any sub you consider for this purpose has both speaker level and line level inputs. It seems more and more subs are coming with just line level inputs. I understand the reasons behind this, but I thought I'd make you aware of it as well. As for speaker suggestions here are a couple from myself:

PSB image 7pt (a dealer on Audiogon sells cosmetic blemish models for $700, great deal) the 6T is also a great speaker, check for it on soundcity.com

Athena f2.2 are $400 from audioadvisor.com (bargin buy)


Also a pair of nice bookshelfs and a sub set up the way I suggested above will do a great job of filling in the sound spectrum.

I'd suggest PSB 2Bs or B25s (2B's are cheap right now if you can find them)

Also Monitor Audio B2s

Energy Connoisseur c-3 (on for $300 a pair at audioadvisor.com)

You'd need to round these guys out with a Sub and I'd suggest the cadence X sub ($250 shipped from cadencesound.com),

An Hsu STF-2 for $400 plus shipping



There you go there are a few ideas I would consider if in your shoes. In order to get the best performance available you might want to consider spending at least most of the budget you've alloted. Good luck with everything and let us know the final decision.

 

[droeses58]

You might want to consider something like this:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Infinity_Beta_50__cherry_/4505-7869_7-31296960-2.html?tag=nav

Though you don't have, or need surround now, you may want to later and these combined with their bookshelfs would make a great system.

The price is a little more but I think if you check around enough you should be able to find them pretty close to your price range.

 

[Charbear]

Speaker Recommendations Appreciated

Thanks for the replies!

We watch a few DVD's (movies and concerts) but we mostly play blues, jazz and a lot of 70's - 90's hard rock, southern rock and "hair" metal (grew up on it and never grew out of it).

The BP7006's suggested by Mazersteven look good but not many discounts available and $1000+ is a bit more than I want to spend.

Takeereasy had very interesting suggestions. The subwoofer+bookshelf combo is interesting and doable for ~$700+-. However, is this a waste of some $$$/efficiency/quality due to the nature of how I must hook them up? Would I be better off to spend the same $$$ on a good set of towers like the PSB Image 7pt's or the Infinity Beta 50's (see below)

I have looked at Droeses58's suggestion of the Beta 50's. Regularly $499ea., I stumbled across the following at CircuitCity of all places.:

Infinity Floorstanding Speaker (BETA 50)
Price was: $499.99 You save: -$200.00 You pay: $299.99

Will do it this week so additional comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[droeses58]

If you can get these speakers [Betas] for 299 each at CC I would buy them, take them home and listen and if you don't like them you can always take them back. For that price I think it's a pretty good deal and the specs. say they play down to 35Hz which is all most really need for music.

 

[mike c]

is that 299 EACH or PAIR?

for each, its still a better price than what i paid for.

for pair, BUY BUY BUY

 

[Charbear]

The price I saw for the Beta 50's was $299 each (list is $499 each with some discounting available). Free shipping also.