Cheap Bookshelf Speakers

[skullguise]

Another thought, if you can stretch it a bit:

www.av123.com, and the X line of speakers and sub. $400 for the set, looking good and I'm sure sounding good. I may pick up the sub for $199, looks like a nice one!

I used to highly recommed the Athena As-Bx as well, but I've been hearing some better sound for the money recently. I haven't heard the X-LS's, but the AV123 forum members have a lot of nice things to say about them....

 

[soundboy]

I don't know if you have read this review of the Energy C-3, but it's several cuts above the performance level of the Athena's. What you are buying is not necessarily numbers that can be transferred to specs....quality of parts used, refinement in sound quality, workmanship, etc. can only be appreciated through usage and ownership.

As for powered sub, I would recommend the Mirage Omni S8 powered sub for $180.00 with free shipping. It's a very fast and tight sub for music reproduction, yet good enough for home theater antics in a small room.

 

[xluben]

I really am interested in the Energy C-3's.

Do you think they'll have enough bass for me (without a sub)?

 

[soundboy]

I just re-read your previous thread and I didn't catch how big is your room. The room where the system is located is actually one of the most important components in your system. If you have a modest size room, the C-3 will be more than OK by itself. I believe you mentioned you have a RCA (Radio Shack) power sub, right? You can try the C-3 on their own, then dial in the sub if needed. Bass takes a huge amount of wattage to reproduce (good) and given that your Marantz is modestly powered, I think a powered sub should be good....at least to firm up the lower frequencies of the C-3. By adding a powered sub, your Marantz will effectively be only powering the C-3 playing the midrange and up; the amp in the powered sub will power the bass frequencies. If you want higher quality bass (or perhaps more), then upgrade the sub at a later time.

Remember, only upgrade one component at a time to fully appreciate the difference, good or bad, it makes.

 

[xluben]

10' x 6' !!!!!!!

Yes, it's tiny.

I will be in this room until the end of August and then I'll be off to another apartment (yet to be decided). Hopefully I get my own computer/speaker room or I'll probably not be using these at all

Maybe they'd get put in the living room, where my girlfriend would usually be watching TV, and I'd never get to listen to them.

Here's the computer/music half of the room:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showp...&postcount=199

The sub is tucked in the corner behind the Marantz. I had it halfway along the longer wall, and I think it actually sounds better in the corner (less hi/low amplitude pockets). Along the left wall is my worktable. The pics were taking standing in the doorway, and the other half of the room is just storage totes.

The RCA sub is not good at all. The FR from the manual is down to 38Hz, but according to my measurements (in my room) it starts dropping of at 45Hz and is non-existant by 40Hz. Also, I stuffed the port and put 60oz. of Poly-fil in it, but it's still super high-Q (but not nearly as bad as before).

So, according to what I've read about the C-3's they go down to nearly 40Hz of usable bass! That's pretty much what I'm getting from my sub, but I'm sure it's a lot more flat down to there (sub has a big spike at about 65Hz and a dip around 160Hz).

I'm hoping that I'd be able to just stop using the sub (and put it back with my crappy HTIB, along with my satellites that I'm using now).

 

[soundboy]

The C-3 will be fine in your room.

One factor that I chose the C-3 was that it's front-ported. That will give you much better placement options no matter how big (or small) is your room. I used to own a pair of Paradigm Mini-Monitors and they were rear-ported....talk about booming bass even with about 20 inches separating the port and the wall.

The C-3 is a fantastic deal at its current price. It will allow you to upgrade to much better components before it will become the "bottleneck". I don't think that can be said of other speakers mentioned....aside from the Athena S-series.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben 10' x 6' !!!!!!! Yes, it's tiny.

See, this is the exact reason why we need a sticky thread listing questions that individuals looking to purchase loudspeakers need to answer, before anyone can give an educated, or informed response.
The true test of any audio dealer actually caring about you as a customer is decided on the answers you give them to the questions they ask.
xluben, you need a pair of bookshelf speakers, and don't be scared to spend money on a pair of high quality stands also.

 

[Tim D]

I'm surprised your subwoofer makes any proper sound at all in that room. Get nearfield monitors or computer speakers, and stick bookshelves in the livingroom. Heck in a room that small full of stuff, get better headphones

. Your girlfriend can't be watching the TV all the time right? If you take a look at the pic of that room...I seriously doubt you could say even the C3 bookshelves would be 'fine' in that room...they would be suboptimal assuming furniture arrangement is the same and you are listening at the computer desk. There isn't even room for any stands. And the bookshelves mentioned in this thread are not exactly nearfield monitors. Nice chair tho!

 

[ssportclay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy I don't know if you have read this review of the Energy C-3, but it's several cuts above the performance level of the Athena's. What you are buying is not necessarily numbers that can be transferred to specs....quality of parts used, refinement in sound quality, workmanship, etc. can only be appreciated through usage and ownership. As for powered sub, I would recommend the Mirage Omni S8 powered sub for $180.00 with free shipping. It's a very fast and tight sub for music reproduction, yet good enough for home theater antics in a small room.

The Energy is not really several cuts above the Athena speaker.The main difference between them,(same company) is that the energy uses an aluminum dome tweeter and the athena uses a teteron dome tweeter.The aluminum tweeter will present a little brighter sound and some people find them slightly harsh.Which one is better ? Some like the Athena better and others like the Energy better.There is no substitute for listening.

 

[ssportclay]

The problem with bookshelf speakers is that they are all fairly inefficient.They really need a strong quality amplifier to get them going.With a proper Amp,subwoofers are not needed for music listening.People who are forced to use weak Amps should look for a more efficient speaker design.I use a 105 watt poweramp to drive my Von Schweikerts.

 

[mysticaldodo]

Seriously? I've always thought most entry-mid (I hate the term budget ) standmounts are easier to drive in relative to their floorstander counterparts

 

[ssportclay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mysticaldodo Seriously? I've always thought most entry-mid (I hate the term budget ) standmounts are easier to drive in relative to their floorstander counterparts

It all depends how picky you are.Do you just want to listen to them or do you want to drive them so that the artists sound like they are actually performing in your living room?Speakers are better than headphones but it takes equipment to get them to work.Most people who buy Athena speakers never find out what they can do because they match them with budget equipment.Look at the Soundstage reviews and take note of the expensive gear they use to drive their speakers.These same speakers will not sound anything like this in your home with budget equipment.

 

[Ahriman4891]

Have you thought about going the DIY route? These:

http://madisound.com/ar_com.html

are supposed to be pretty much unbeatable for the price. FR is 45-20K Hz with +/- 2 dB (!) tolerance. Audio-review has pretty glowing reviews of it, too. I think Madisound kits come with assembled xovers, so you don't even have to solder anything. They are rear-ported, though, which makes placement a bit tricky.

EDIT: they are also not shielded.

 

[xluben]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy One factor that I chose the C-3 was that it's front-ported. That will give you much better placement options no matter how big (or small) is your room. I used to own a pair of Paradigm Mini-Monitors and they were rear-ported....talk about booming bass even with about 20 inches separating the port and the wall.

Yeah, I was hoping to get something front ported in case I have to put the speakers near the wall (probably).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim D I'm surprised your subwoofer makes any proper sound at all in that room. Get nearfield monitors or computer speakers, and stick bookshelves in the livingroom. Heck in a room that small full of stuff, get better headphones . Your girlfriend can't be watching the TV all the time right? If you take a look at the pic of that room...I seriously doubt you could say even the C3 bookshelves would be 'fine' in that room...they would be suboptimal assuming furniture arrangement is the same and you are listening at the computer desk. There isn't even room for any stands. And the bookshelves mentioned in this thread are not exactly nearfield monitors. Nice chair tho!

Right now there isn't room for speakers in the living room. We have a 60" TV that takes up the whole wall it is against. If I were to get the C-3's and stands I'd have to do some rearranging to get it to work, but the desk would probably stay in the same spot with the stands next to it. I am a little worried that the stands/speakes won't be quite high enough next to the desk. I kind of just want to set the speakers on the desk, but I'm sure that would be at the cost of sound quality. Also, I said I'd only be in this room for 6 more months, so I'd like to get something that will sound good in future (hopefully larger) rooms, also.

Thanks for the compliment on the chair. I had to work for it:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=161125

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssportclay The Energy is not really several cuts above the Athena speaker.The main difference between them,(same company) is that the energy uses an aluminum dome tweeter and the athena uses a teteron dome tweeter.The aluminum tweeter will present a little brighter sound and some people find them slightly harsh.Which one is better ? Some like the Athena better and others like the Energy better.There is no substitute for listening.

I didn't know it was the same company. I don't really like overly bright sound, but I was under the impression that the C-3 was all-around better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssportclay The problem with bookshelf speakers is that they are all fairly inefficient.They really need a strong quality amplifier to get them going.With a proper Amp,subwoofers are not needed for music listening.People who are forced to use weak Amps should look for a more efficient speaker design.I use a 105 watt poweramp to drive my Von Schweikerts.

Is my vintage Marantz Model 2240B going to have enough power for these bookshelf speakers?

 

[thrawn86]

those are pretty expensive diy speakers, heh. I notice you have the br-1 xluben, how do you like those? I know there are supposed to be a few mods you can do to them. curious how they compare to the athena as-b1,etc.