Very confused about speakers!!!!

[Unregistered]

I bought a Yamaha 5760 receiver and the JBL SCS136 home theater speaker package. I am not too impressed with the performance of the JBLs and am looking for a replacement. While the speakers sound good (not great) on movies, they are really not impressive for music. My budget is $800 (Canadian). Are there any good options that anyone can suggest for this budget? I've checked a few sites, i.e. Polk (6700), Paradigm, Athena (Micra 6), Infinity (TSS-450) and PSB (A Intro LR); and have also ended up seeing speakers like Energy that exceed my budget. Are there speakers out there for $800 that will sound great for music and movies?

 

[av_phile]

I am not so sure that those speakers you mentioned will have a better impression over what you have. Often, room accoustics and speaker placement can make or break a speaker's perceived quality at the listening position. Perhaps you may want to do some room tweaking.

Admittedly, there are speakers that are excellent in movies but so-so in music, given the same adequate room accoustic conditions. My personal dogma on this when choosing any appliance is "what is good in music is also good in movies, but not the reverse." So I often audition using just very familiar CDs with exacting sonics. Having said that, it is quite difficult to recommend brands that I haven't owned already. None of the brands you mentioned do. I would suggest that you audition them and read the specs carefully. But I really wouldn't give too much weight on in-store demo as their accoustics can be totally different from what you have at home. Often, when you reach home and hook those new toys, you often find yourself wanting the sound that you heard at the store. So if you can have a speaker demo at home, better. Without that, I often find myself relying on documented specs and loads of consumer reviews. Auditioning does the final arbitration, but I would have no illusion that what impressed me at the listening shop would be the same when I unpacked it at home.

 

[3db]

800 is a tight budget

The JBLs that you have. Are they towers or bookshelves? Do you have a sub? Are you only looking to replace the L, R. and center channels? Need more info

 

[outsider]

Paradigm makes some nice sounding speakers for a lower budget. I've listened to many of their lower end speakers and have always been impressed with overall SQ.

 

[cbraver]

I think 800 Canadian is like 650 USD. It's like a .75 exchange rate or something. That might help people answer your question better.

Also, we need more info on what you have. I'm not, and it seems others are not, familiar with your model.

JBL makes awesome PA speakers (for club and concert applications), but outside of the pro-realm, they aren't so good as you found out.

I second the recommendation of Paradigm in that price range. Klipsh also offers the SF-2, which I believe is between 600-700USD MSRP.

-Chad

 

[Unregistered]

The JBLs that you have. Are they towers or bookshelves? Do you have a sub? Are you only looking to replace the L, R. and center channels? Need more info

These are satellite speakers. And the sub is included in the speaker package. The package details are available at
http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.asp?ProdId=SCS136SI&SerId=SCS&sCatId=
I am looking to replace the entire package.

 

[Unregistered]

Thanks a lot for all your responses.The speaker details can be found at
http://www.jbl.com/home/products/product_detail.asp?ProdId=SCS136SI&SerId=SCS&sCatId=

Please let me know if there are speakers out there that you've used and I am missing, speakers that I can try and demo at my place.

Thanks

 

[nova]

It is my opinion that a lot (not all) of the mass market, high volume speaker companies produce speakers that sound very good for movies, but produce very few speakers that excell in music. I'd recommend just replacing the mains for now, then the center, sats and sub later as you can afford it. I believe in spending as much as you need to in order to find a speaker that sounds good to you. So if you happen to find a whole set for 800 that you like, buy them. Otherwise look into just buying a pr. of mains. 'Course thats just my opinion, it's your opinion that counts ;-)

 

[markw]

Two simple observations, to either embrace or ignore.

1) Larger speakers tend to do music better. If you limit yourself to these cute, tiny speaker systems, you may well be disappointed in the overall musical ability. While they are adequate for the SFX in a movie, their non-musical heriatge tends to be more obvious when playing "real" music.

2) When auditioning speaker systems, ignore the HT aspect andconcentrate on their musical attributes. Virtually any multi channel system will sound impressive on movies but, as you discovered, they may well lack on music. It's heartbreaking to see how many realize this too late,

That said, if full size speakers are not out of the question, Check out the Athena Auditon series at AudioAdvisor or possibly (don't laugh) Best Buy.

For your budget you should be able to score a pair of AS-F1 (or F2's if they are on sale), AS-B1 or B2's for surrounds and the C1 ? center speaker. You can always add a subwoofer later, should you feel it's needed with this combo.

 

[Unregistered]

I forgot to mention. I do have a constraint on space and am looking for good small speakers. Big speakers are not an option

 

[Unregistered]

Psb

I think the PSB image series is great, they have the new 5ts that just came out but they dont have the tight bottom like the old image 5s did, I am really happy with them, no contest between them and Paradigm. The new image line will run about $800 but if you can find the old 4 or 5ts they will be a few hundred less on closeout.

 

[Unregistered]

has anyone had any experience with the klipsch rsx-4's? http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=709

 

[3db]

Being biased towards PSB

I recommend the PSB's alphas and a subzeroe. The image series is PSB's next level up in the price range and maybe out of your price range. If not snag the Image 1Bs or 2Bs (2Bs are larger then the 1Bs ) and a Subsonic5. If they are to expensive, get the Alphas. The Alpha's are an amazing speaker for the money and they integrate well with the sub to give a nice coheesive sound.. Give them a try.