[TheItalynStalyn]

Hello Headfi!
 
I have been lurking around for about half of a year now, but never got around to creating an account. The reason for this thread is that I am a complete novice when it comes to speakers. About two years ago, I bought this ipod tower speaker . 
 
http://reviews.frontgate.com/0005/35894/reviews.htm?sort=rating&dir=asc
 
Well it recently just broke and frontgate ended up giving me a credit card refund of $250. That being said, I was looking to purchase some party speakers in the sub $350 range. They would mainly be used for bassy electronic/ rap /popular radio music... I will be in a relatively small apartment, but would like enough sound to fill the room.
 
As the main purpose will be for music, I was unsure if I should get a 5.1 home theater system or if a couple of bookshelf units and a subwoofer would be enough.
 
See the last post!
 
Any help/ insight is appreciated, and thank you in advance!!!
 
- TheItalynStalyn
 
P.S. Mods if this is not in the correct section, I apologize. 

 

[jazzerdave]

Do you have any amplification for the speakers?  Or are you going to have to purchase that too?  If your budget it $350 for the entire setup, I'd imagine the recommendations would change significantly.

 

[Herky151]

In addition to amplification, what is the size of the room that you aim to use them in and type of music that you intend to use them for. 

 

[TheItalynStalyn]

Currently I do not have an amp... but I am going to see if I can borrow my parents old amp (which is just collecting dust in the basement) for the time being.
 
Room size probably isn't bigger than 25'x20'. (New apartment, and I forget the dimensions.)
 
As stated above, It will most likely be used for electronic music (house), also whatever you would classify Macklemore/ Rihanna as. lol
 
I should know in a couple of days about that amp, but as of now lets count on having to buy a new one.
 
Also, as I'm from Northville too (but go to college in Indiana), do you know of any good places to try out hifi headphones, but more importantly in this case speakers?
 
Thanks!

 

[Herky151]

The pickings for places in Northville are pretty scarce. There are some threads around here (on head-fi) for audio shops for southeast michigan.

 

[TheItalynStalyn]

Quote:

The pickings for places in Northville are pretty scarce. There are some threads around here (on head-fi) for audio shops for southeast michigan.

Looks like I'll have to do some digging then.
 
In other news, my parents are letting me take the amp, and all that I know right now is that it is a 100W yamaha. (I should have the model # by a few days.)
 
Now that we cleared that up, I am looking for the best combination of speakers/ sub for my $350.

 

[cel4145]

25' x 20' is a giant room. It takes a lot of sub to fill that kind of space effectively. Most apartments don't have a room that size. Are you sure?

The JBL SUB150P is currently $150 at Newegg with promo code EMCXVWL99 (sale ends 2/25). That's a very good deal for a 10" sub, and it would be good in smaller to medium sized rooms (although probably not at very loud volumes in 25x20). Here's a pro review.

For speakers, you might look at the Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 350, Polk Monitor 45B, Pioneer SP-BS22-LR, or Cambridge Audio S30.

 

[TheItalynStalyn]

Quote:

25' x 20' is a giant room. It takes a lot of sub to fill that kind of space effectively. Most apartments don't have a room that size. Are you sure?

The JBL SUB150P is currently $150 at Newegg with promo code EMCXVWL99 (sale ends 2/25). That's a very good deal for a 10" sub, and it would be good in smaller to medium sized rooms (although probably not at very loud volumes in 25x20). Here's a pro review.

For speakers, you might look at the Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 350, Polk Monitor 45B, Pioneer SP-BS22-LR, or Cambridge Audio S30.

 
lol I thought that sounded too big... I'd make a correction and say that the living room area will be around 12 x 18. 
 
I think that I am going order that subwoofer today.
 
Also, I don't know if this will affect any of those suggested speakers but although they will most likely be used for house/ rap (mutual interests with the roommies), probably what I enjoy listening to most of all is Florence & the Machines, Christina Perri, and Ellie Goulding; my other favorite type of music includes The White Stripes, Black Keys, The Killers, Foster the People, and MGMT. 
 
One last bit of info: at least in headphones, I like my mids to really sparkle out clearly, if that makes any sense. So if you could recommend one which suites that need, I’d appreciate it.
 
Thank you guys for your help so far,
 
-TheItalynStalyn

 

[cel4145]

One last bit of info: at least in headphones, I like my mids to really sparkle out clearly, if that makes any sense. So if you could recommend one which suites that need, I’d appreciate it.

Sorry. I'm not sure which would best fit that description. I've owned the S30s and have heard the Polk TSi series (same as the Polk Monitor) and the Pioneers. The Def Techs I listed purely off reputation. So I don't know them well enough to offer that kind of recommendation. Also, room acoustics will probably play as much a factor in how the mids and high end respond. That, and depending on your headphones, realize it costs a lot more in speakers to equal what you can get in headphone clarity and SQ.

 

[cel4145]

One more thing. Best Buy carries the Pioneers and the Polk TSi series, so you might could get an idea by visiting your local store. The Polk TSis and the Polk Monitors have an almost identical sound signature; the difference is mostly cosmetic.

However, Best Buy is not a good choice for making very discriminating decisions about speaker sound. Their setup configurations are typically horrible. But probably could good idea between whether you like the Pioneers better than the Polks, or vice versa. Just don't expect Best Buy to have speakers setup to really make them shine.

 

[TheItalynStalyn]

Alright, so far I am going to wait around for the def tech speakers to drop in price a little bit, but I believe that I will be choosing them because they have the highest watt capability, along with pretty good reviews from what I can find... Please let me know if this is a typical noob mistake to go by reviews on amazon/ blogs and rms wattage.

Also, I will be making a trip to best buy to check out the pioneers and polks they carry.

 

[cel4145]

Yep. The DTs have been been on special for $179 at Newegg off and on for a few months now. I hang out on AVS forum, and the DTs are getting good recommendations there (which is a better resource than Amazon reviews). So I suspect they are a good choice for the money.

As far as the power rating numbers, DT often posts their specs in a misleading way. I would bet those numbers are peak output, not RMS. Whereas the other companies are probably giving you RMS type numbers. Even then, that value is not standardized, so don't compare them that closely. Also, you can still kill a speaker with an amplifier if the amplifier is over pushed into clipping, even if the speaker is rated to take more power.

 

[TheItalynStalyn]

I just snagged an open box model of the 350's off of newegg for $165

... will update this after I get everything put together. 
 
Again, thank you all for the helpful suggestions!

 

[cel4145]

I just snagged an open box model of the 350's off of newegg for $165

...
 will update this after I get everything put together. 


Again, thank you all for the helpful suggestions!

Good deal

I just got new speakers, too, for my 2.1 setup. New speaker week is so much fun

 

[TheItalynStalyn]

Ok, updated, with a potential problem.
 
The amplifier is much older than I thought it was. It is a vintage Yamaha A-960.
 
Is there any way that I will be able to connect my recently purchased subwoofer to this old thing? lol
 
If not, then it looks like I'm going shopping again...
 
Any help would be appreciated.