Thoughts and recommendations for a new stereo setup.

[theblackangus]

Hello everyone!
I have been thinking about getting a pair of nice speakers for my living area.
The living area is a fairly large area - a Living room, kitchen and dinning area all share one large space of around 27'x24'.
The main listening position would be about 14' from the speakers.
Use will be focused on music, but they will also serve as speakers for the TV as well.
WAF is a medium factor.

System budget in full: (Glad to spend less, but I want to get some quality sound here too! =)
Speakers: <5000$
Amp: ~1000$
Sub: ~1000$
Currently I have an Onkyo NR-3007. This will be used initially to power the speakers until I get some money for the amp, if it ends up even being needed. Then lastly I will supplement with as it seems that a sub will help fill in the low frequencies for a bit more full musical sound. We listen to all types of music more or less.
May want to expand to a 3.1 setup some day but....


From the listening I have done so far:
B&W - CM9/10 - Liked the most but haven't listened yet to the CM10's. (Used 804D's?)
Martian Logan: Theos - Was very good, but seemed to be lacking some mid-range detail that the CM9s had.
Magnapan: 1.7s - Sounded good but the space requirements make them a no-go for me.

Others that I'm interested in but haven't yet/cant easily listen to:
Revel: F206/208
Salk: Veracity HT2-TL
PhilHamonic: ???

AMP:
Rotel
ATI
Parasound

Subs:
SVS
HSU
Velodyne

Any recommendations around:
Other speakers that I should be considering.
Amps that would power them nicely to a fairly loud but clear level.
Sub suggestions to match the speakers, what is the right power for a large area etc.

Thanks!

 

[kini]

Can't really help with the speakers, but for a sub the Ryhmik F or E 15HP or SVS SB13 Ultra would be a good choice.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

3007 is extremely capable as an amp so unless you choose speakers like maggies I highly doubt you're going to need an external amp (better spend money on better sub)

and speaking of subs (this is the easy part) - drop the velodyne - they are simple not match for svs/hsu/rythmic dollar for dollar. Pair of identical subs will go a long way smoothing room response. Like Power Sound XS15 x2 subs will be great in your large room

Speakers wise - I think you wont be dissapointed in having identical 5.0 with Ascend Acoustics SE340's setup - they are not much to look at, but performance is outstanding
Going up the price: Verus Forte Towers for front and bookshelfs for rear

Now getting to cream of the crop. I have yet to see a single person who did not liked Salk speakers, in fact yours truly was absolutely floored by performance of SoundScape8 towers
Philharmonics supposed to be quite similar in sound properties to Salk audio since same person designed the crossovers - a vital part of speakers sound.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would get a system from Revel Performa3 series, KEF R-series or RBH SX-series.

 

[shadyJ]

One speaker I would look at in this range are some Pi Fours with upgraded drivers and a nice wood finish. You could get a set of three for $5k. They will have far greater dynamic range than Salks or KEFs or anything else mentioned thus far. They can look nice and hit THX Reference levels at your listening position, which is not something any of the other speakers will be able to do. The advantage to this even if you aren't interested in high output levels is they will have zero distortion at anything other than crazy output levels. Totally clean sound as the drivers are just breezing by. They measure very well on and off axis, and they are a easy load for any amp so your Onkyo would be more than enough to get great performance out of them, no need for a separate amp. Take your amp money and get another subwoofer. I would recommend two subs, not for loudness, but for a more even sound across your listening area, ie more accuracy and a better sound. Two subs also do a lot to defeat subwoofer localization, where the sub draws attention to list position and messes up the sound stage. At $2k, I would go for a pair of VTF15h subs if you like it loud. If you need something with more WAF, check out a pair of ULS-15 subs. I would also bee looking at a pair of Rythmik E15s as well.

 

[theblackangus]

I would get a system from Revel Performa3 series, KEF R-series or RBH SX-series.

Thanks!
I like the looks of the KeF speakers and the specs seem pretty good. Sadly no where anywhere near to me to listen.
I'm going to listen to the 206/208's.

 

[theblackangus]

One speaker I would look at in this range are some Pi Fours with upgraded drivers and a nice wood finish. You could get a set of three for $5k. They will have far greater dynamic range than Salks or KEFs or anything else mentioned thus far. They can look nice and hit THX Reference levels at your listening position, which is not something any of the other speakers will be able to do. The advantage to this even if you aren't interested in high output levels is they will have zero distortion at anything other than crazy output levels. Totally clean sound as the drivers are just breezing by. They measure very well on and off axis, and they are a easy load for any amp so your Onkyo would be more than enough to get great performance out of them, no need for a separate amp. Take your amp money and get another subwoofer. I would recommend two subs, not for loudness, but for a more even sound across your listening area, ie more accuracy and a better sound. Two subs also do a lot to defeat subwoofer localization, where the sub draws attention to list position and messes up the sound stage. At $2k, I would go for a pair of VTF15h subs if you like it loud. If you need something with more WAF, check out a pair of ULS-15 subs. I would also bee looking at a pair of Rythmik E15s as well.

Well you got the nerd in me interested.. hard for me to spend the money there when I have no idea how they will sound. That said.. I just want to buy a pair to build them anyway! =)

On the subject of sub's, which of HSU, Rythmik, SVS will be the most musical?
Will 2 smaller subs be better than 1 bigger sub (Musically?) (Eg. 2xSB-2000 vs F15?)

 

[shadyJ]

All those subs will be musical in that they will have lots of output with relatively low distortion. In a room of your size I would go for a pair of 15"s or 13"s in SVS' case. SVS's Ultra and Plus sub drivers have so much throw they are like 15"s. I don't think I would bother with 12"s from any of these manufacturers in a room like yours, but if I did, I would go for the ported 12"s. I would probably go for dual Hsu VTF3s and run them in 2 port mode. Be aware that none of these subs would have the dynamic range of speakers like Pi Fours. The Pi speakers could easily outdistance any of the subs sold from any of those companies. However, if you aren't looking to bring the house down, those subs should keep up with Pis just fine. A couple subs which have relatively good WAF and also the dynamic range to keep up with the Pis to a higher level would be either a Seaton Submersive or a Funk Audio 18.0. They go from $2.5k to $3k or more depending on what options you pick.

Your room size is going to be a real hurdle against bass. In fact I would urge you shift some of the speaker budget over to the subwoofer budget. And I am not even talking about getting real heavy bass in there so your living room sound like an imax theater, I am just talking about getting a decent amount of high quality bass without over-stressing the subs. If you only want bass for music, you might as well stick with sealed subs. If you are interested in deep bass for movies at all, you will need to get some ported subs.