Trip #1 Best Buy and Ahead Stereo
I went to Best Buy and a place called Ahead Stereo. I listened to JBL, Klipsch, and Paradigm's offerings.
JBL's speakers sounded OK. They were not bad by any means, but they weren't as good as the others. The floorstanding models were heaps better, but still not great. Their 12" 250w sub was great. It had tight, controlled bass. And it had authority. It was better than klipsch's sub offerings at or around the same price.
Klipsch lower end entry level bookshelves stunk. They were the worst of the bunch. However, their higher end floor standing speakers were great. They were detailed and had a nice low end. They are however very expensive. Their subs were great. I demoed a 250w and 440w version. Needless to say the 440w was the best sub I demoed today(too rich for my blood though).
Paradigm's speakers amazed me. Especially for the cost. I listened to the atoms, titans, and mini monitors. The atoms were great, especially for the price they were clearer than Klipsch and JBL's bookshelves. The titans were a lot better than the atoms for the minimal addition in cost. They felt stronger with better deatil and midrange(low end seemed the same). The mini monitors were slightly warmer than the titans. I don't think I prefer a warmer sound though. But they did have a stronger low end than the titans and atoms, which I liked. They were $400, while the titans were $230, and the atoms were $200. I didn't listen to the floorstanding models because they were to expensive and not an option for me.
I've definitely decided on the JBL 12" 250w sub(heaps better than my ultra sub and I can get it for around $200). I'm going to go demo polk audio speakers in a few, then I'll make my decision on which speakers I'll get. I'm really thinking about getting the titans. They are so good for the price. I couldn't believe my ears when they played. One thing I'm worried about is that the sources had a strong role in the sound I heard. The reciever that played the paradigms was of great quality and was very expensive, while at best buy the klipsch and jbl's were played through a yamaha reciever(which wasn't too bad). I have high expectations from polk audio though.
I'm still not sure what receiver I'm getting.I definitely want a onkyo or harman kardon. I've heard their sound and it's clear and natural which I like.
Trip #2 To Fry's and Circuit City.
Okay, I went to fry's which was a joke. They had cambridge, polk, and bose speakers(and I mentioned them because?lol). I wanted to demo like 3 speakers but they had the reciever locked on am/fm. I would never judge quality speakers on am/fm audio quality.
So I went to circuit city where I listed to some polk audio bookshelves and floorstanders and an infinity floorstander. They were hooked up to a nice $400 harman/kordon receiver. The Polk Audio bookshelves had great quality which was almost on par with floorstanding speakers. I still don't think they were better than the titans though(sounded a little thin compared to them). I'll be taking another listen to both this weekend to make sure I get what I want.
I then tried some infinity floorstanding speakers which sounded warm compared to the others. I don't like the coloration or "warmth" characteristic that some speakers have. I prefer a more natural sound.
In general the floorstanding speakers sounded better(larger soundstage) than the bookshelves, which I expected. I'm gonna look into some affordable floorstanding models from pold audio and paradigm. Hopefully I find something somewhere.
