[thomas]

I'm finally getting a job, and much of the money i make will go towards audio equipment/CD's....

I'm planning to upgrade my speaker setup first, as i'm pretty satisfied with my headphone setup...

Currently, i have an ancient SS amp powering low-end JBL bookshelfs, and the sound is listenable, but not very good compared with my headphone setup.

The source will be a DIY DAC using BB PCM63 DAC, the transport will be my discman. These sources will also be used for my headphone setup...(a pile of DIY amps, koss a/200) ... would this be adaquate for my needs, or should i upgrade to a "real" transport?

The ASL AV-8's look like a good place to start for a power amp, but i haven't been able to find too much info on it. I dunno if this is the right way to go, since i generally prefer more accurate, neutral sound and i don't like colouration. Are there any good solid state amps in this price range that would be much more accurate? I'll probably build a simple class A poweramp as well, so maybe i could save money here and spend more on the speakers?... Any suggestions here?

For speakers, i'm probably looking at about $500 Can for the pair, or $300 US... I've heard good reviews of paradigm, B&W, and PSB alphas, but haven't heard any of them myself...Are there any good forums to ask this question, or any recommendations?

In total, i don't want to spend more than $1000 CAN, ($650US)

Thanks

 

[lini]

If you'd like a good german speaker, the ALR/Jordan Entry 2M might be worth looking into...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Neruda]

I'd reccomend the Axiom M3Ti's for speakers (which should be very easy for you to get, since it's a Canadian company. Here's a site that has them for $350CDN: http://www.audioshop.on.ca/axiom.htm). They've gotten excellent reviews whether they're professional or consumer (they have a 5/5 rating on audioreview) and some say they can compete with monitors up to $2000! Here's the review at good sound: http://www.goodsound.com/equipment/axiom_m3ti.htm
check out the frequency response. Suprisingly flat for such a cheap speaker, although the bass starts to drop off pretty fast. If that becomes a problem then later you could pair it with an Axiom Sub. I don't know much about poweramps, so I won't make any reccomendations there.

 

[DanG]

I just read several reviews of the Axiom Millenia M3Ti speakers, and they were very positive; also, these seem to have better bass extension than the similarly-priced Paradigm Atom, nOrh 3.0, and PSB Alpha.

However, I believe I remember somebody saying that the Millenia speakers weren't so good for the money compared to some other similarly-priced speakers. Are these speakers really so good? I also need an entry-level speaker set-up, and I recently decided that I shouldn't spend more than $300 US on a pair of speakers (just like Thomas) because I'll be living in a relatively small dorm room for the next four years, so I wouldn't be able to take full advantage of a higher-end pair of speakers. Therefore, I really just want to know the following: are these speakers the best I can buy for $400 US or less?

 

[Voyager]

What about the NHT SuperOnes?

 

[thomas]

thanks...

i might get a change to audition the Axioms as soon as tomorrow, though i won't have much else to compare them with...

hmm, its seems that a lot of the entry level bookshelf's are Canadian... even the ASL amps are canadian... That's wired, 'cause we have absolutely no selection for headphones,(Grado 225's cost as much as these!) yet there are so many speakers...

The price seems quite reasonable, probably should be able to get them within a month... I'll probably build my own amp, that way i can customize the sound to the speakers, i don't think i would like the sound of tubes...

In the meantime, i'll try and audition as many speakers as possible... The axioms have a really nice frequency response, i don't really mind the bass response; but specs don't mean anything anyways...

lini: its very hard to find german speakers here, and they will probably have a huge markup (like Senns, beyerdynamic), thanks for the recommendation though...

thanks everyone for your help...

 

[skippy]

of the speakers in the $300 USD range, i like the PSB alpha B, NHT superones, paradigm minimonitors, and the B&W dm302. i haven't heard the axiom's, but the reviews i've seen have me very very interested. also, if you have access to woodworking tools (you could always buy a cabinet, which would make assembly very easy... just solder the crossover, and mount the drivers.), and have the skills, you could always go the DIY route.

 

[Neruda]

That's odd Dan. Where did you read that, do you remember? I'm curious because every review I have yet to read has said exactly the opposite of that.

 

[DanG]

I believe it was the thread entitled "bookshelf speakers and amp." Somebody suggested a good combo to be the Axiom Millenia M3Ti and (was it?) the NAD 314, and someone else said the 314 was good, but "you could do better than the M3Ti for the money." I think that's pretty much exactly what was said... but I don't now remember who said it. However, I don't think there was any accompanying justification.

The reviews I've read, however, definitely have me leaning toward the M3Ti (when I get money!) =)

 

[thomas]

shippy- thanks, i'll try and audition all of those speakers... I don't think i'll build by own speakers, my woodworking skills suck and all the prebuilt cabinets i've seen locally are too "ghetto" for my tastes...

I've checked out all the reviews at audioreview, but they weren't too helpfull- pretty much everone gave their speakers perfect ratings and didn't compare them with any other speakers in that price range... I wonder if any websits/magazines have done a-b comparasons of these speakers. I haven't found any stores that carry more than 1 of these brands, so diferect comparasons will be pretty difficult to do...

 

[Masz]

For USD$300 I personally think you can't go wrong with a Acoustic Energy Aegis One. They are 88.5 db / 8 Ohm and the frequency range evidently goes all the way from 38Hz to 20Khz. Pretty good in my opinion. If you listen to a lot of vocals and acoustics, these are the ones to get. Bass is plenty if you don't listen in a large room.

For the price, you can't go wrong.

IMHO of course.

 

[DanG]

They do look pretty good, but I'd really like to see a comparison of the $299 Acoustic Energy Aegis One and the $275 Axiom Millenia M3Ti. Same price range, both bookshelf speakers, both efficient; but how to choose? It's impossible to audition the Axiom because it must be ordered factory-direct; the cost of return shipping makes their "risk-free" guarantee a bit prohibitive.

Does anyone have any experience with both speakers or know of any website with a decent review comparing the two? I did a search on Google for Aegis One and M3Ti, but found no reviews.

 

[bpm2000]

I was in this situation a while ago. I went around and auditioned a lot of bookshelf speakers including:
Paradigm Mini Monitors
PSB Alpha B
Energy e:xl-16
NHT Superone
Acoustic Energy Aegis One
KEF Cresta
Some JBL ones, the big ones that you lay on their side?

It came down to the PSBs and the KEFs for me. The Mini monitors were too expensive compared to the rest and did not really sound all that much better. They were really "forward" and "bright" sounding which I did not particularly like. The E:xl-16s were also too bright and sounded kinda cheap. Superone, very neutral, almost to the point of "dryness", lacking in feeling. The JBLs were fat bloated sounded pretty bad, but I bet a lot of that is due to crappy setups provided by Best Buy.
I didnt get to listen to the Acoustic Energys for very long, but they sounded very good for $300, cant really comment more. The Crestas were really sharp, had clear highs and mids, and really had an impact that I didnt expect from them. The PSBs also had similar qualities, but with a more subdued, neutral feel to them. Finally with the price/performance/preferred sound all calculated I went with the PSB Alpha Bs, retails for $250 but i talked my dealer down some more.

Anyways, remember that this is all MY preferences, and the bottom line is audition, audition, audition. Hope this helped a bit.

 

[rickcr42]

Hey Thomas

Check this out

http://melhuish.org/audio/diy25.htm

Even if you "woodworking skills" suck

I think you might know of someone whos skill surpass your own

do a "straight up " trade of skills , you do electronics,he does wood

 

[thomas]

rick, thanks for the link, i'll think about building them myself... I have a couple of friends that are building their own speakers, but they are more of the "ghetto" carpet-covered boomy bass type speakers...Still, they could help me with the woodworking...no one in my family has any practical skills at all... the only power tool we have is a power screwdriver

bpm- i agree, auditioning is very important, its the only way to tell if a speaker is right for you. Reviews are helpful, but each reviewer has different tastes