[GirgleMirt]

Hi, I'm about to start shopping for a pair of speakers.

Since I live in a condo, I won't be blasting the speakers, so my first concern is sound quality.

Basically, they'll be used for everything: I'm buying a projector and those speakers will be my sound source (heard some 5 piece speakers and IMHO they didn't sound very good... so I'd rather go with detailed stereo sound as opposed to boomy crappy surround sound)

They'll also be used to listen to music (obviously), and my musical taste is rather broad, I listen mainly to rock, blues, classical (and I'm trying to get into Jazz).

The type of sound I'd be looking for: detailed, nothing too excessive: Not boomy, not too bright.. Just a good balanced sound; I'm not looking for perfection.

For now, I have a basic, aging about to be replaced Sony CDPlayer with another aging basic Fisher amplifier also to be replaced I'm not sure what I'd get for replacement, but pricewise it would probably be in the 600-750$cdn price range (440-550$US) for each. Maybe used.

So basically thats it! I was in an audio shop last saturday, and heard a very good mall set of speakers (box size 1.5 foot tall, 3/4 foot wide maybe) and was almost blown away by the sound; it was a santana live show playing out of a dvd player. I definitely should have asked for the price but didn't but I'm sure they were way above my price range... They were on some kind of colums too.

I'm willing to pay maybe around 600-1000$cdn (440-730$US) for the pair. Maybe higher but that would be pushing it a bit...

So a few questions:

1) Any recommendations for that price range?
2) Should I get a used pair? I've heard that speakers sound quality dosen't 'degrade'. Any truth to that? Also, I'm a bit reluctant: If the speakers were 'abused' (played too loud) by the previous owner, is there gonna be sound degradation, or more chance that the speakers just die soon after I buy them or something like that?
3) I've started to quickly look online and am now wondering, for my price range, should I go with floorstanding or bookshelf type(example) speakers? (I guess the ones I saw were bookshelfs + seperate column...)

For sure I'm gonna go to a few shops to check them out, but maybe a few pointers for brands, models, etc.. to look for would be a good place to start

much thanks!!!

 

[D-EJ915]

well, the Paradigm Mini-Monitors are great speakers and cost $340, and the Monitor 5s cost $500+ and sound exceptional in the price range, so take your pick, the 5s have much more bass.

 

[MoLtoSoLo]

Used speaker usually are pretty good. Just look for mint condition ones.
I would suggest Triangle Titus 202, great little speaker. You can find a lot of review around.

 

[BlindTiger]

Does anyone have the Paradigm Reference series?
I see many with the mini monitors but wouldn't it be better to move up to the Reference series?

 

[princeclassic]

ascend acoustics cbm-170....look em up at hometheaterforum.com for reviews...

 

[stallion11msu]

You might consider some Magneplanar speakers. They're not exactly small but they're fairly thin. Just make sure you've got an amplifier that's up to the task.

550 USD for their MMG's

 

[GirgleMirt]

oh I should have mentionned, bang for the buck is pretty important, and price near 440$US (600$CDN) is really the target. To go higher the speakers would have to be really exceptionnal!

Interesting comment Quote:

One factor that you should consider when comparing bookshelf to floorstanding speakers is that good stands will cost at least $100, so some bookshelf speakers are not as easy on the wallet as they seem.

So one with the stand included definitely gets a +.

So far:

ascend acoustics cbm-170
Paradigm Mini & 5s
Triangle Titus 202
magnepan

PSB image 5T
Monitor Audio Bronze 2 MKII
Linn Katan (used)

All look good! Keep'em coming!

 

[zeplin]

GirgleMirt,
some of KEF's bookshelves are awesome. go to kef.com to check them out! the thing about KEF is their Uni-Q design, which allows the wonderful imaging that they produce, to fill the whole room rather than one sweet spot. then, to find the right price, go to yahoo and type in the specific speaker that will work for you, and follow that by typing in "for sale" and a bunch of websites will come up with great prices on KEF speakers. if i were you, i would look at the X-Q or the Uni-Q series. they both have the tweeter set in the middle of the mid range drivers. i bought the Q5 towers in the cherry wood colour, and they are both great sounding and incredibly beautiful. their sound can be described as on the neutral side with a slight hint of warmness and great bass to boot! check em out

that's one good thing about choosing speakers, there are literally hundreds of choices and great deals to choose from, which can prove to be kind of difficult sometimes. good luck to you

 

[GirgleMirt]

know what?! I'm think it was the XQ1 I heard on saturday!!

Except theirs was of a dark red color, I'm pretty sure because of the little 'ball' on top (tweeter), I didn't pay much attention to it then, at the time I just thought it was a strange design

Anyway.. From the 2 minutes I heard them (I was on my way out because at the time I was shopping for a projector), I must say that they sounded amazing!

How much do they go for? Google didn't turn out anything...

 

[Sol_Zhen]

My suggestion is to go to the home pages for the companies I'm going to list, go to the "dealer locator" page, and make a list of local dealers. Each dealer will carry more brands in addition to the ones I'm listing (just the common ones).

Go and take some of your CDs with you. Also listen to some unfamiliar material that the dealer will have. Try to use the same tracks to test all the speakers you audition.

Wait a week and go back to the dealers that had the speakers you liked best and audition again. By then, you’ll know what you like. Go with whatever will put the biggest grin on your face.

The sites for these brands will have a dealer locator page:

B&W
NHT
Atlantic Technology
Monitor Audio
Paradigm
Energy
PSB

The stores will undoubtedly carry other fine brands like Tannoy and Mission, but looking for local dealers of the ones I listed will help you locate the finer hi-fi shops in your area.

Remember, the dealers will quote list prices at first. However, you should be able to get 10% to 20% off list, depending on the brand.

 

[GirgleMirt]

good info! Someone also mentionned that I should stick with canadian products, which is a pretty darn good idea since they'll brobably be cheaper here. (Paradigm, Energy, PSB, etc..)

Anyhow, I've got a *lot* of info and that will make the research much easier!

oh, and I don't know how but I missed that part Quote:

i bought the Q5 towers in the cherry wood colour, and they are both great sounding and incredibly beautiful. their sound can be described as on the neutral side with a slight hint of warmness and great bass to boot! check em out

Congrats!

I'm sure they sound great, and for sure I'll check them out, those KEF's I heard sounded really, really, really good!

Its those 2 red KEF's XQ1... Those evil things... I was about to leave the shop, then two little demons with those sparkling balls caught my eyes. They slowly dram me in, closer, and closer, and closer until suddenly... WHAM!! I got captured by their sound... I tried to get away, but it was too late... I was mesmerized by the sound, hypnotized by the shimmering lights of the tweeters... Eventhough I managed to break out of the spell and walk away, I'm sure that it was already too late, It had already subconsciously convinced me that I needed a new pair of speakers... If only I was stronger and could overcome the desire... Damn those little devils... KEF is evil I tell you! EVIL!!

 

[GodsMadClown]

I own and also reccomend the ascend acoustics cbm-170.

Regarding stands, take a look at the PartsExpress.com part number 240-744. They are very heavy and steel, even before I filled them with sand. Heavy inert stands like that, along with a small blob of poster putty will help you get the most bass that you can out of your CBM, or whatever other little monitor.

You might also look at av123.com. They have some very good-looking speakers. I've not heard them, but they are making quite a buzz.

There was an interesting shootout among the budget bookshelf offerings of the more reputed internet-direct speaker lines. See the thread:
budget speaker comparison in LA: Aperion, Ascend, Axiom, and Onix Rocket .

 

[GodsMadClown]

Ah. One more thing. You might try to find out if there are any Rocket 150 or CBM-170 owners in your area. Post a request for auditions at their respective brand forums.

http://ascendforum.com
http://forum.av123.com

 

[zeplin]

girglemirt,

the kefs definitely are sweet sounding and looking speakers. i know it sounds like all i care about is the looks, but i'm an artist who paints water colour, pencil drawings, and creates anything in a sort of architect way. i like to improve upon already existing products and also i make up speaker designs when i'm board at school. so when i look at a beautiful speaker, i think of it as a work of art, especially when the makers construct the speaker to not only look good, but use a specific great-looking design to better help the sound reproduction improve...that's what i call an engineering feet!

anyways, back to the point...
i think you were caught by the kefs because of their ability to image so well. again, like i said earlier, there is no one sweet spot with the kefs...like many other speakers have. plus, the kef sound is just so warm, yet neutral, yet detailed, yet smooth...in other words, they seem to include every type of sound into one unique type of their own sound characteristic! there's no doubt that you can eventually find a killer deal out there on the net somewhere, ebay, etc.. when i bought my kef Q5 towers, i bought them brand new (with warranty) from an ebay dealer for something like 700$, when they retail for over 1k!!! good luck and don't count out any of those Kef bookshelves

 

[Gallaine]

There are several recent threads discussing bookshelf speakers. If you haven't already read those searching for "bookshelf speakers" will find them.

Having owned a pair of Axiom M22ti speakers for almost 2 years I'd give them an enthusiastic recommendation. IMO they aren't really all that bright, though I suppose that might depend on what they are being compared to. There is a good review of them at Soundstage.

Take into account room size when choosing between bookshelf and floorstanding speakers. I orignally owned a pair of Paradigm Reference Studio 60 floorstanding speakers. Since I live in an apartment and have a relatively small living room I decided to try the Axiom M22ti's. While the Paradigm's were the better speaker the Axioms seemed to fit the room better. The biggest problem was bass. The larger Studio 60's went lower and due to the small room size I had difficulty finding optimal placement to avoid muddy indistinct bass. It isn't impossible to find a position that is good enough to allow the use of floorstanders - just a little more difficult.