- Sep 9, 2003
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Any recommendations for home theater speaker systems to be added to an existing Home Theater A?V receiver
Speaker recommendations
- Thread starter Peter Parker
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IMHO you can't go wrong with Cambridge Soundworks' speakers. I have had my set up going on 8 years now and they still sound great. Very Reasonably priced too. I'm a bit of a purist so my system I put together as opposed to one whole package.
A pair of bookshelfs as my main, a powered subwoofer, center channel and two wall mounted surrounds. Check em out. http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com
A pair of bookshelfs as my main, a powered subwoofer, center channel and two wall mounted surrounds. Check em out. http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com
Depends on what you want to spend and how good you want them to sound. If you want to pay a ton for crappy speakers then go BOSE!!
Everyone's hearing is different and has their "very special" source material that they KNOW what it should sound like. Take those 2 movies and 2 music CDs and try to find a listening room where you can sample speakers with the same receiver you have or something very close to it. Make sure to test each setup in 2 channel stereo mode as well as pro-logic, DD and DTS. Make sure you can return and/or exchange easy if what you choose doesn't sound right in your home.
All that being said; I find better sound imaging and quality through buying each speaker set separately (front mains, center, etc) as opposed to buying full kits. I am a huge fan of the sound and build quality of both Polk Audio and Infinity.
All that being said; I find better sound imaging and quality through buying each speaker set separately (front mains, center, etc) as opposed to buying full kits. I am a huge fan of the sound and build quality of both Polk Audio and Infinity.
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- Sep 9, 2003
- 12,308
- 2,007
I was looking more for recommendatiosn as to what to look for so thanks charper. I suppose thata recommendation for what NOT to buy is useful too.
1. Determan your setup needs (5, 6, 7, 8, or 9.1 channel setup)
Shoot for a 6.1 minimum
2. Determan your budget
3. Speaker types will vary, but spec to look at:
*Video-shielding (namely of center and front mains; sub if its close to the display)
*Frequency response ex. 40-24,000 Hz (wider range is better) low 1st# vs higher 2nd - this will vary based on the spkr: rear vs main.
*Sensitivity/efficiency 88 dB or higher is better
*Watts (continuous NOT peak or max) 90w and up across all chnls
* Speaker material (shy away from paper)
* Speaker design (Bass-reflex/ported vs Acoustic suspension)
Bass: Improve the low frequency response or overall efficiency, but poorer tonal quality especially in low cost units. Needs less power.
Acoustic: Low distortion/truer sound. The drawback of these speakers is their low efficiency. Needs more power. (I prefer these)
4. Do your best to match your home decor
5. Makes & models DO NOT have to be the same; just listen to create a great system per each piece.
Budget unfortunately forces many to kill a great home theater by sacrificing it to cheap speakers. A system is only as good as that final piece. You can turn a $10k awesome HT into junk with $500 worth of speakers. If you don't have much of a budget contraint; PM me and I can send you a great idea to examine and get some ideas. AND you won't go broke with these ideas, I promise.
Shoot for a 6.1 minimum
2. Determan your budget
3. Speaker types will vary, but spec to look at:
*Video-shielding (namely of center and front mains; sub if its close to the display)
*Frequency response ex. 40-24,000 Hz (wider range is better) low 1st# vs higher 2nd - this will vary based on the spkr: rear vs main.
*Sensitivity/efficiency 88 dB or higher is better
*Watts (continuous NOT peak or max) 90w and up across all chnls
* Speaker material (shy away from paper)
* Speaker design (Bass-reflex/ported vs Acoustic suspension)
Bass: Improve the low frequency response or overall efficiency, but poorer tonal quality especially in low cost units. Needs less power.
Acoustic: Low distortion/truer sound. The drawback of these speakers is their low efficiency. Needs more power. (I prefer these)
4. Do your best to match your home decor
5. Makes & models DO NOT have to be the same; just listen to create a great system per each piece.
Budget unfortunately forces many to kill a great home theater by sacrificing it to cheap speakers. A system is only as good as that final piece. You can turn a $10k awesome HT into junk with $500 worth of speakers. If you don't have much of a budget contraint; PM me and I can send you a great idea to examine and get some ideas. AND you won't go broke with these ideas, I promise.
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I've been very happy with product offerings from www.AV123.com. They have a pretty wide range of speakers at different price points and have a few more lines on the way soon.
Look around
I would suggest going down to a AV store and do a comparison on what you like. Play different movies and music and see which ones sound the best and fit your budget.
I like the Energy Take 5.2 system. Works great for my setup and the foot print is small enough for my wife not to complain too much. I purchased this system after reviewing a number of them at a Good Guys store.
I would suggest going down to a AV store and do a comparison on what you like. Play different movies and music and see which ones sound the best and fit your budget.
I like the Energy Take 5.2 system. Works great for my setup and the foot print is small enough for my wife not to complain too much. I purchased this system after reviewing a number of them at a Good Guys store.
If you want a little education, check out this link
http://www.buyingloudspeakers.com/index.htm
Although all specs are important - the two most important to me are frequency range and sensitivity. The higher the sensitivity the less power you will need to get more sound.
http://www.buyingloudspeakers.com/index.htm
Although all specs are important - the two most important to me are frequency range and sensitivity. The higher the sensitivity the less power you will need to get more sound.
- Sep 9, 2003
- 12,308
- 2,007
Well this is what happened and even i don;t believe it.
I had a Sony STR DE 698. It was hooked up to my older stereo system which did incudea DISH 508 and a DVD recorder.
Based on advice here and in PMS (thanks charper1) I decided to take my wife to some local mid range chains (CC, BB etc). To my surprose she liked the idea of getting rid of "those boxes" which most people call speakers.
I wound up with the Infinity TSS 450 a 5.1 set that CC was closing out. That fact plus an oonline discount and rebate led to price of $183. Now the Sony was in the falily room not the living room so i hooked everything up there.
I was impresses and so was my wife. So this led to "why can't we do this in the living room? But don't spend more than $500."
I searched on line and had several ideas but decided to head to the retailers. The bottom line is that I found a Harmon Kardon AV 135 that was the last one in the store. they wanted to move the somewhat higher end HKs so I was able to walk away with that for $156 including tax which i thought was a good deal.
Lots of searching on line led me to several things. First the Infinitys were now more than $100 more---partially because of a one rebate per household policy. But I found a JBL SCS145.5 set, an online coupon for $30 off to new customers, and an additional discount if I will take "delayed shipping" that gets them here at the end of the month (so much for free 3 day shipping). The bottom line on that was $153.15.
That gives me a home theater system for about $310 that I think beats any of the HTIB bundles costing quite a bit more. and I have heard the JBLs elsewhere---though not with this receiver but I did find some listener reviews of them together and they were favorable.
I think i did OK. Admittedly I could get higher quality for quite a bit more and some dumb luck was involved as well. but I think i did OK. Thanks for the advice And I kope I did not bore everyone.
I had a Sony STR DE 698. It was hooked up to my older stereo system which did incudea DISH 508 and a DVD recorder.
Based on advice here and in PMS (thanks charper1) I decided to take my wife to some local mid range chains (CC, BB etc). To my surprose she liked the idea of getting rid of "those boxes" which most people call speakers.
I wound up with the Infinity TSS 450 a 5.1 set that CC was closing out. That fact plus an oonline discount and rebate led to price of $183. Now the Sony was in the falily room not the living room so i hooked everything up there.
I was impresses and so was my wife. So this led to "why can't we do this in the living room? But don't spend more than $500."
I searched on line and had several ideas but decided to head to the retailers. The bottom line is that I found a Harmon Kardon AV 135 that was the last one in the store. they wanted to move the somewhat higher end HKs so I was able to walk away with that for $156 including tax which i thought was a good deal.
Lots of searching on line led me to several things. First the Infinitys were now more than $100 more---partially because of a one rebate per household policy. But I found a JBL SCS145.5 set, an online coupon for $30 off to new customers, and an additional discount if I will take "delayed shipping" that gets them here at the end of the month (so much for free 3 day shipping). The bottom line on that was $153.15.
That gives me a home theater system for about $310 that I think beats any of the HTIB bundles costing quite a bit more. and I have heard the JBLs elsewhere---though not with this receiver but I did find some listener reviews of them together and they were favorable.
I think i did OK. Admittedly I could get higher quality for quite a bit more and some dumb luck was involved as well. but I think i did OK. Thanks for the advice And I kope I did not bore everyone.
Congrats! and a big pat on the back to the wife for owning up to the fact even she's into the sound!
Glad to help. PM me anytime.
Glad to help. PM me anytime.
I would suggest the JBL Synthesis series, from 3,000 watts and up. For $20,000 you won't be disapointed.
