Won a stereo receiver, need bookshelves suggestions

[Imitation]

Hey guys I've been working from home alot more the last few months and decided to start looking for cheap stereo amps on ebay to see if i could get one for cheap to power some bookshelves using my pc as a source. Well last night I won an older onkyo Tx-800 for almost nothing. So I'm thinking I'll probably have ~200 bucks to use to find a pair of bookshelves/monitors for my desk. Buying used at this point isn't an issue for me in this case, i'm really just looking for quality reproduction of my music, without a sub for now. Any suggestions on brands I should look at? So far I've looked for paradigm, monitor audio, psb, b&w, energy, and revel this morning. Not really finding too much in my price range and I don't know alot about some of the older lineups of some of these companies to know which speakers are worth buying and which aren't. I will say I'd like to stay away from klipsch, I've found their tweeters to be too fatiguing for my ears for long term listening.

 

[JerryLove]

You've mentioned some good brands, and certainly a good find used in there would be good.

Behringer, generally hit-or-miss on their speakers, makes the flattest, best off-axis speaker in the price-range with the 2030p ($150). You should be able to give them a listen at your local music (instruments and mixing gear) store.

Just remember to listen to the 2030. Similar looking speakers (the 2031 for example) have very different qualities.

 

[KASR]

Polk RTiA3's have a great sound - might audition them at Best Buy. Also check out the TSi200's while you're there. Great bang for the buck.

 

[Imitation]

Yeah both of those suggestions aren't too bad. I've also got tsc's tsbl's high on the list too. I was kinda hoping to see if i could snag some decent higher end speakers for a good price used, which was why I've been trolling ebay and audiogon alot. If anyone sees any decent deals there i'd definitely be open to them, just not really sure what to look for.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

You can try the EMP Impression E5Bi

Another option is Aperion Intimus 5B

Both slightly over your budget, but they both have good reviews and both stores trial at home policy should make evaluation a breeze

 

[njedpx3]

Cambridge Audio S-30

Cambridge Audio S-30 is best looking speaker and equal to the Behringer Truth 2030P in performance.

As low as $199 from Digital Craze:http://www.digitalcraze.com/Details.asp?Source=Froogle&ProductID=3969

Another great speaker in the $249-$299 range is the Paradigm Atom V.6.


Good luck,

Forest Man

 

[Imitation]

You can try the EMP Impression E5Bi

Another option is Aperion Intimus 5B

Both slightly over your budget, but they both have good reviews and both stores trial at home policy should make evaluation a breeze

Haha yeah i've actually got the emp towers in the living room I really like their sound but didn't buy the bookshelves at the time when they were on sale

I'd love to try out aperion 5b's but they're 225 each instead of per pair. I couldn't find their b stock page to see if maybe they have a pair at a good price, anyone know where it is?

 

[3db]

Hey guys I've been working from home alot more the last few months and decided to start looking for cheap stereo amps on ebay to see if i could get one for cheap to power some bookshelves using my pc as a source. Well last night I won an older onkyo Tx-800 for almost nothing. So I'm thinking I'll probably have ~200 bucks to use to find a pair of bookshelves/monitors for my desk. Buying used at this point isn't an issue for me in this case, i'm really just looking for quality reproduction of my music, without a sub for now. Any suggestions on brands I should look at? So far I've looked for paradigm, monitor audio, psb, b&w, energy, and revel this morning. Not really finding too much in my price range and I don't know alot about some of the older lineups of some of these companies to know which speakers are worth buying and which aren't. I will say I'd like to stay away from klipsch, I've found their tweeters to be too fatiguing for my ears for long term listening.

You should be able to pick up a pair PSB Image B25 in the price range noted as PSB has revamped their Image series speaker. The B25 received the best $500 bookshelf speaker made by Stereophile in 2004.

 

[Imitation]

You should be able to pick up a pair PSB Image B25 in the price range noted as PSB has revamped their Image series speaker. The B25 received the best $500 bookshelf speaker made by Stereophile in 2004.

That's the kind of knowledge i'm looking for While i've not found any used yet, all have been still new in box, but I'm just not familiar with many brands beyond a few like paradigm, klipsch, and polk. I found some monitor audio silver S1's on ebay, but they're local pick up only

 

[JerryLove]

You should be able to pick up a pair PSB Image B25 in the price range noted as PSB has revamped their Image series speaker. The B25 received the best $500 bookshelf speaker made by Stereophile in 2004.

While I like PSB, and own a pair of PSB's, and recommend them as a brand... well.. I don't put much stock in Stereophile. They seem to review based on add revenue.

Though they may indeed be right: it would only be by coincidence

 

[3db]

While I like PSB, and own a pair of PSB's, and recommend them as a brand... well.. I don't put much stock in Stereophile. They seem to review based on add revenue.

Though they may indeed be right: it would only be by coincidence

Again I was referring to their measurements. Can I expect this response from you everytime I mention them? The only reason I like them is they do exhaustive measurements, more so than any other review site I've seen. I do however take their subjective rhetoric with a large grain of salt...

 

[endbegin]

I would recommend the Ascend CBM 170SE. There are some B-stocks for $260 a pair.
I did comparisons of these with the 2030P, the TSBL and the Atoms and liked them the best in terms of performance and price.

 

[shadyJ]

I wouldn't buy any TSC products at the moment, they seem to be in some flux over there, and it's hard to say whether their stuff is in stock because they have some issues meeting their commitments at the moment.

I would go for some Tweakcity WAFs for your needs. They have been pretty well-received so far, and look to be solid bookshelf speakers.

The SVS SBS-01 might not be so bad either. They have a lot of positive reviews also, and would come in under budget. They are on sale at the moment.

Something else worth looking at is some Infinity Primus P162's. They would meet your budget, and they sound great too. I have a pair of these. Awesome tweeter, very nice crisp highs. The sound quality is very good with these.

Something else to consider, even though they are a bit over your budget, is the Hsu Research HB-1's. Even though they are horn-loaded tweeters, I am told they are not as harsh. I have some of these and do not find them fatiguing at all. Plus, they will have the best bass extension out of all of these, something to think about for a system with no sub. Their bass is much better than the P162's, which are a large, bass-rich bookshelf in their right. These are the bookshelf speakers I would get for a system without a sub. They are on sale at the moment.

Also worth looking at is some AV123 ELT525M in Cherry, $169 shipped, they are supposed to be good bookshelf speakers and they come in well under budget.

 

[JerryLove]

Again I was referring to their measurements. Can I expect this response from you everytime I mention them? The only reason I like them is they do exhaustive measurements, more so than any other review site I've seen. I do however take their subjective rhetoric with a large grain of salt...

I suppose the funniest answer would be "no".. so I'll go with that.

Yes, they can be a decent source of graphs.

 

[pthoresen]

Haha yeah i've actually got the emp towers in the living room I really like their sound but didn't buy the bookshelves at the time when they were on sale

I'd love to try out aperion 5b's but they're 225 each instead of per pair. I couldn't find their b stock page to see if maybe they have a pair at a good price, anyone know where it is?

To the best of my knowledge Aperion does not currently have a b stock page.
Just email them and ask what they have and they will let you know.
Chances are good they will get back to you in under 24 hours.

 

[Imitation]

I wouldn't buy any TSC products at the moment, they seem to be in some flux over there, and it's hard to say whether their stuff is in stock because they have some issues meeting their commitments at the moment.

I would go for some Tweakcity WAFs for your needs. They have been pretty well-received so far, and look to be solid bookshelf speakers.

The SVS SBS-01 might not be so bad either. They have a lot of positive reviews also, and would come in under budget. They are on sale at the moment.

Something else worth looking at is some Infinity Primus P162's. They would meet your budget, and they sound great too. I have a pair of these. Awesome tweeter, very nice crisp highs. The sound quality is very good with these.

Something else to consider, even though they are a bit over your budget, is the Hsu Research HB-1's. Even though they are horn-loaded tweeters, I am told they are not as harsh. I have some of these and do not find them fatiguing at all. Plus, they will have the best bass extension out of all of these, something to think about for a system with no sub. Their bass is much better than the P162's, which are a large, bass-rich bookshelf in their right. These are the bookshelf speakers I would get for a system without a sub. They are on sale at the moment.

Also worth looking at is some AV123 ELT525M in Cherry, $169 shipped, they are supposed to be good bookshelf speakers and they come in well under budget.

Yeah I saw the WAF's, they look pretty nice, anyone got any measurements on them or reviews, pro or forum?

The svs and the ascend's are both options, not sure if the budget can handle the ascend's or not. We'll see. WAF's have both of em beat in looks tho, but i'm not really concerned about that part. Sound quality first

 

[fightinkraut]

Yeah I saw the WAF's, they look pretty nice, anyone got any measurements on them or reviews, pro or forum?

The svs and the ascend's are both options, not sure if the budget can handle the ascend's or not. We'll see. WAF's have both of em beat in looks tho, but i'm not really concerned about that part. Sound quality first

There's a good review of the WAF's here.

They seem like nice little speakers, with good support from the owner.

 

[fightinkraut]

Yeah I saw the WAF's, they look pretty nice, anyone got any measurements on them or reviews, pro or forum?

The svs and the ascend's are both options, not sure if the budget can handle the ascend's or not. We'll see. WAF's have both of em beat in looks tho, but i'm not really concerned about that part. Sound quality first

Almost forgot, here are some measurements.

And here is another review.

 

[Imitation]

Thanks for teh links man. I think these things will probably be within the budget now. I'm selling my z-5500's on ebay as we speak! They've been going for enough to cover these speakers I think. We'll see. I've also seen the energy RC-10 at vann's for 300, the cherry ones really caught my eye. I even found a review where the RC-10's were compared directly to the waf-1's and some av123 speakers on avs. Just gotta wait for the z-5500's to sell, then I'll decide what I end up with. So if anyone wants a <1 year old set of Z-5500's in like new condition, feel free

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=250550272451&Category=3702&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2