[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warpdriver No. The Fluance speakers are cheap, but their sound quality has a long way to go before they compete with the more established brands.

I've heard mention that their products may have been some of the infamous "white van" speakers at one time.

A long time ago when I was asking for recommendations on a budget home theater to go with a projector, Fluance speakers were recommended to me. The projector was already one huge mistake; thankfully I didn't waste more money on the Fluance speakers - there's no way in hell I'd find them usable today.

 

[squall2072]

I'd love to have some decent speaker set-up, I really would. Its just that being a student and not having enough money for the better stuff I'd rather hold off until I get my degree and start earning.

Another point is that to get the most out of a good speaker set-up you need a room for it. I just don't have to funds or the space to invest in it right now and I can see my current system (other than CD player) lasting me either until I get the speaker system I want or my whole life. Headphones for me have been a great investment and one I think will give me lots of enjoyment for a long time to come.

 

[XxATOLxX]

As a high school sophomore, I don't have the funds to deck my room out with McIntosh speakers. After going through about 5 sets of under $100 speakers I just got tired of the crappy sound and decided to save my money. A couple months later I got a pair of Odyssey Epiphonies which I prefer over my own headphones because of how the music is presented, speakers just sound more realistic and involving than headphones.

My suggestion: Get to audiogon and start saving your pennies!

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy ...However, the $100.00 Athena AS-B1 is hardly trash either. These are excellent little speakers that really can do music justice. Think of these as the speaker version of Sennheiser PX100...

i have to agree with this (except the athenas are bright and the senns are... um... not

).

i just built a little system for my father-in-law consisting of the cheapo B1's plus a cheapo panny digital amp (XR55)... and i have to say, i was personally blown away by the quality of sound for $330 bucks (+source).

it's not audio-nirvana in absolute terms... but dollar-for-sound it's quite impressive.

and man, it sure makes my visits to the in-laws a helluva lot more pleasant.

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VicAjax it's not audio-nirvana in absolute terms... but dollar-for-sound it's quite impressive. and man, it sure makes my visits to the in-laws a helluva lot more pleasant.

Wait til the Panasonic XR receiver burnt-in and the Athenas fully broken-in.

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulveling I've heard mention that their products may have been some of the infamous "white van" speakers at one time. A long time ago when I was asking for recommendations on a budget home theater to go with a projector, Fluance speakers were recommended to me. The projector was already one huge mistake; thankfully I didn't waste more money on the Fluance speakers - there's no way in hell I'd find them usable today.

Anything aside from unfounded supposition on which to base the dislike of them? I've heard the $400 pair and they sound very good - on par with ~$1000 speakers I've heard from bigger brands. Obviously not trying to compete with the $2000+ big boys, but for the money they seem to be very nice speakers.

If you've got a source or a reason or really anything of substance at all behind the "might have been white van speakers," please, elucidate.

 

[Twombly]

I think the suggestions given here are plenty reasonable given the brand-snobbery and price tag worship one so often finds on other forums. C'mong, guy, does a pair of Linns automatically sound $40,000 better than a good ol' B&W 600 series?

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotJeffBuckley If you've got a source or a reason or really anything of substance at all behind the "might have been white van speakers," please, elucidate.

Nope, just wanted to get a rise out of you

Anyways they sure LOOK like white van speakers.

BTW, what were the models of those $1000 speakers? What was driving them? What cables?
Don't forget to provide measurements that prove (via SCIENCE) that the Fluance speakers are on par with said $1000 speakers - anything less is lacking substance! And rigor - don't forget the rigor.

 

[warpdriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotJeffBuckley Anything aside from unfounded supposition on which to base the dislike of them? I've heard the $400 pair and they sound very good - on par with ~$1000 speakers I've heard from bigger brands. Obviously not trying to compete with the $2000+ big boys, but for the money they seem to be very nice speakers.

Well, I do not think they sound very good, certainly not close to any decent $1000 speaker that I've heard (say Paradigm Studio 40's, Von Schweirkert VR-1). You get a lot of "box" and "drivers" for your money, but they are definitely short on refinement.

 

[so_cal_forever]

Fluance is respectable and honest, but I could see how people would look at them in that light. They're an example of small-profit per sale, pushing out decent sounding speakers and getting profit off of high sales. For what it's worth, they're much better than anything from white vans.

 

[marvin]

Yeah, but that isn't saying much. I've seen a few people get nothing more than flimsy, but impressive looking, cabinets during my time in college.

SQ-wise, the Fluances that I heard were nothing impressive. I heard the $300 floorstanders hooked up to a midrange Denon reciever, and easily preferred the major name brand price equivalents (Polk RTi4, Infinity Primus 160) to them. YMMV though, the bass extension advantage of the Fluances did make up for SQ deficit in HT uses.

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvin Yeah, but that isn't saying much. I've seen a few people get nothing more than flimsy, but impressive looking, cabinets during my time in college. SQ-wise, the Fluances that I heard were nothing impressive. I heard the $300 floorstanders hooked up to a midrange Denon reciever, and easily preferred the major name brand price equivalents (Polk RTi4, Infinity Primus 160) to them. YMMV though, the bass extension advantage of the Fluances did make up for SQ deficit in HT uses.

I thought they were intentionally tuned for HT use. It says something to that effect on the page, doesn't it?

Anyway, to be honest you're really better off with DIY than anything if you're looking for a budget-but-quality speaker system; you can make some nice sounding towers/bookshelves for the same cash as a respectable-though-not-exemplary Fluance speaker, if you've got the knowledge (or sheer willpower in instruction following).

 

[pawlowski6132]

Please see audiogon.com. I always thought this was THE place for HiFi. I agree with Aman. However, I just think the folks he's referencing are ignorant. Not retarted (or who knows, maybe they are.) But, if they're serious and they begin to audition speakers, they'll soon understand that good speakers cost some tall coin - and it's worth it.

 

[so_cal_forever]

Correct, Fluance speakers are geared to people who want a HT on a budget. A 5.0 set at that price is apealing to certain people. Also, you have to compare apples-to-apples. A full Infiity setup (5.0) would cost over $500. A 5.0 set from Fluance is a couple hundred dollars less. Sure, the Infinity's are better, but in the low budget market, $200 is quite a chunk of change. To those of us that are willing to shell out $2k and up for a system, $200 is negligable.

 

[warpdriver]

I think the fact that Athena and Fluance are mentioned as good choices does show the of lack of experience in the audience with regard to speakers....(not that they are necessarily bad, in fact, Athenas are popular and decent budget speakers), but they are far from anything resembling hi-fidelity.

If people are confused by choices in headphones, it's easy to be confused by the choices in speakers. There are far more models of speakers and brands than headphones, and the price range easily spirals to crazy levels.