Way too many speakers out there I must say!

[gixxerific]

Jostemeat again never fear if they start pushing amps or cables or having me look at the newest line of "Digital" speakers they might get a foot up their ***.
I've been in the car audio world forever, i have also been in and out of the HIFI forums for a long time I know enough to be dangerous, not nearly as much as some of the guy's on here. I would say I'm fairly educated on the technical side of audio. Oh how I love going into places like BB and baiting them, listening to there **** then shutting them down with the truth.

Oh and I will be bringing a notepad. I want to take notes on each speaker, I even thought about bringing a camera, though I may just take pics with my phone. I will try to do a write up on each experience, I am not the best reviewer but I will try.

By lovely music I suppose you mean Death Metal or just plain noise freaky stuff right?

Dono

Oh and to justify the 11 brand SHORT list I will not be making a purchase until around tax time next year. So I have plenty of time to shorten the list. Those I mentioned are just a few hard ones there are others that float in and out. I just need to go listen and not look at specs or peoples opinions, that is when the fun will begin.

 

[ChrisJam]

My list:
Axiom
Monitor Audio
Salk
AV123
Energy
Pradigm
Jamo
Dynaudio
B&W
Focal

You've listed some good speaker companies. I just bought av123 x-statiks (a great buy and I LOVE them), an x-cs-enc center (I need a shielded center, so an x-voce will have to wait till my big, old Sony CRT dies), and an MFW-15 sub. On my short list were Salk Song Towers and Canton Ergos, among others. I hated the B&W 700 series. I never heard Axioms, but I was never thrilled, based on many anecdotal stories. (That said, many people love them.)

Chris

 

[gixxerific]

You've listed some good speaker companies. I just bought av123 x-statiks (a great buy and I LOVE them), an x-cs-enc center (I need a shielded center, so an x-voce will have to wait till my big, old Sony CRT dies), and an MFW-15 sub. On my short list were Salk Song Towers and Canton Ergos, among others. I hated the B&W 700 series. I never heard Axioms, but I was never thrilled, based on many anecdotal stories. (That said, many people love them.)

Chris

To tell the truth I only keep Axiom on there because they are the cheapest of the bunch. I realy can't get down with vinyl either. Not too sure on those.
I have heard mixed reviews. The B&W shop will be my first stop I believe they have Paradigm there as well. The 2nd stop is gonna be sweet they got the Dyn's and Monitor Audio and something else I can't think of right now maybe it was Boston Acoustics.

It may be a two weekend or mora deal there are 8 places I will be going by. With Dyn, Martin Logan, Focal, Meridian, James, NHT, B&W, Kllipsch, RBH, Dali, Triad, Gallo Acoustics, Monitor Audio, Paradigm and Boston. Maybe others but that is what I know they have I called each store to find out what they had and if they required an appointment. Some do the appointment thing but oh well they will be last, if at all.

 

[EJ1]

Keep us posted. I'm interested in hearing your opinions.

 

[highfigh]

By lovely music I suppose you mean Death Metal or just plain noise freaky stuff right?

Do you have anything by Bjorke? Melodic Speed Metal?

 

[3db]

There are really only 3.

Dynaudio
Paradigm
B&W.

Raising the stakes and throwing in my PSB chips!!

 

[3db]

Seriously I would also take a long hard look at PSB's new Imagine and Synchrony series. I saw both of them and auditioned them briefly while picking up my new receiver and both sound very VERY nice.

To make it easier for you on buying a new speaker, I would use a systematic approach. and do the following;

What I would do is to take a pad of paper with you, write down the make and
model of each speaker you audition and what you liked and disliked about the
speakers you were auditioning. Was the bass tight and deep or was it boomy and loose sounding? Were the mids life like or were they hollow or just too pronounced? Was the treble irritating and harsh or were they dark and not revealing or were they smooththat made you want to listen for more? How was the imaging?

Bring music with you that you are very familiar with and know quite well. To
make it easier to audition HT speaker systems, listen to the main speakers in 2
channel mode with music. Music is much harder to reproduce accurately then a movie soundtrack so if the speakers do well with music, then they will do well with HT. Speakers that do HT well may not do well with music. When auditioning the center channel of the same brand and series as the main speakers, pick a difficult source like an announcer that mumbles alot. If you can understand what the mumbling announcer is saying, then you have a good center channel.

I would go to speciality stores first and start auditioning speakers first
instead of going to the internet first. Once your likes are determined, you can
mention them here and fellow members can make internet brand recommendations based on your likes/dislikes. The specality stores are better setup acousticaly then the big box stores which will make auditioning a little easier. It will give you an idea of what you like in a speaker.

Keep track of what amp or receiver is powering the speakers you're auditioning. Try to get a receiver/amp that closest resembles what you have or want to get. It just reduces another variable when audtioning speakers.


One thing to keep note off. When auditioning speakers, make sure the volume
levels are matched between the diiferent speaker pairs because the louder
speaker pair will always sound better. Listen to levels that you think you
would listen to most of the time because thats how you are going to be using
them most of the time.

 

[scott911]

Axiom Cabinet Finish

To tell the truth I only keep Axiom on there because they are the cheapest of the bunch. I realy can't get down with vinyl either. .

As an FYI, I just recieved my firsh Axiom order on Friday - they really do appear to be a fine value. I ordered a pair of the semi-in-wall W22 speakers and the 350 V3 subwoofer.

While Axiom does do real wood, I opted to spend those funds elsewhere (needed new amp as well) and ordered everything in the black Vinyl. Your expectations may very, but to my fairly picky eye - the finish is flawless and authentic.

As a side note, when my bride saw the cabinet size of the Subwoofer (my first "real" woofer) she said, "While you were ordering, did you forget that you had a wife?" - the L & R speakers really blend with the LCD and won her over though...

 

[gixxerific]

3dB thanks for the gaemplan advice but I was already planning on doing all that. I still have the Psb's bookmarked there was something that didn't catch my eye about them can't recall right now. I still hit that sight up now and then.


Scott911 I wasn't bashing Axiom just so you. I have just heard mixed reviews about them. So they are lower on my list than some of the others that seem to never have any negative comments.

Neither of the above brands are available locally and there are quite a few stellar brands I will be audtitioning they probably won't even get a chance.
No offense to those Psb or Axiom.

You never know though.

Dono

 

[fredk]

No offense to those Psb or Axiom.

You never know though.
Dono

I was gonna cry after the first post, but maybe I'll hold off now

If you can find a local audition of the M80 do give them a try. From my own experience and the opinions of a few people I trust to be level headed, the Axiom line has a very similar sound to the Paradigm studio line.

If I got 90% of the performace of the studio 100 out of my M80s for around 1/2 the price, I would be happy. If I had the coin for Studio 100s I would probably have done an in home a/b comparison.

Those new Studios are sexy though...