[creyc]

My living room has a bose theatre system in it. 'Nuff said?

I want a good stereo speaker system pre and power amplifiers. My head is filled with headphones and headphone amps, so this is a bit of a scary jump for me.

I'm sure most guys here also have decent home systems, so maybe theres a good place I can ask on these forums? I have a triport living room and I'd like a HD650 system. Nothing crazy expensive but no more bose, please!

 

[matt8268]

I came across this review recently:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gallo4/ti.html

Thought to mention it because you have Bose now, and if you like that form factor, these might just blow your Bose out of the water. 6moons really loved these speakers.

Other than that, check out www.audiogon.com. It's pretty heavily biased toward 2 channel stereo, but there's lots of home theater chatter there as well. You can also try www.audioreview.com for individual ratings and comments on various components/speakers.

 

[Yikes]

Budget?
Two Channels or Five?
Size of the room?
Types of music (Primary?)
Listening style? (low/moderate/loud/headbanger?)

Answer these questions and I'm sure you'll get many suggestions.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

www.hometheaterforum.com
www.audioholics.com

 

[creyc]

Excellent starting point guys.

just because I have the bose 5.1's now doesn't mean I want to necessarily keep a theatre system. In fact I'd rather do 2 channel as most of the listening will be CD's and concert DVDs. Not really movies.

The room is very bad, acoustically. I'll be the first to admit that. All hardwood floors and the room is joined to the kitchen not to mention an entire side wall is glass doors. We listen to music during dinner and after, mostly country, classical/opera and eclectic. So it should sound good at moderate levels, then up a little louder for some Big and Rich, Toby Keith and U2.

So I have wall mounted satellites now but I wouldn't be opposed to floorstanding speakers. In fact I dont really know the difference between a floorstanding stereo setup and a 2.1 with a subwoofer, sonically. Any help with that too would be great.

 

[Yikes]

I’d recommend going with a floorstanding speaker. A larger speaker that is “full range”, i.e. designed to be used without the need for a subwoofer tends to offer better top to bottom coherency. There is still no mention of a budget so actually making recommendations is sort of shooting in the dark.

For speakers I’d start with some new speakers that have really impressed me. The Dali IKON line offers exceptional performance at a fairly moderate price. The IKON 5 sells for about $1350/pr

For electronics I’d look at an integrated amp and CD player from in order of my preference Rotel, NAD, or Cambridge Audio

The exact system that I’d recommend/get for a modest entry price:

Dali IKON 5 Speakers $1350 http://www.dali-usa.com/us/page245.a...b=213&prod=262
Rotel RA-1062 Int-Amp $ 700 http://www.rotel.com/products/specs/ra1062.htm
Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player $700 http://www.rotel.com/products/specs/rcd1072.htm
And some Decent cables

This system would sound great.

 

[Vector]

What is your budget? You can spent a grand or 100 grand. Ok, let's say you want the best bang for the buck. I have a friend that has a Panasonic SA-XR70 digital amp (giant killer) and it sounded so good that I had to get one. I have many, many tube amps from ASL, Audio Research, an amp that was featured in Audio Express built by a EE buddy of mine, vintage stuff, etc...tons of stuff! This amp can hang! The best part is it's flexibility. Next go to Magnepan's website and for aroung $550 get the Maggie MMG. I guarantee you an eargasm. You are in for a total of about $850...this is assuming that you have a good source, of course. Trust me on this one, you won't regret it. I've heard a system like this and it should not have sounded as good as it did...complete synergy. In a blind sound test, it would have bested any $3000 system.

http://magnepan.com/_mmg.php
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...Fencoding=UTF8

 

[hubcaps]

A great forum for home audio is www.audiocircle.com

A great forum for home theater is www.avsforum.com

 

[creyc]

Ah yes, money. Fact is I'm not the one paying the bill.

I have a pretty good understanding however, and the above mentioned suggestions shouldn't be a problem. $1000-2500 for the pair of speakers and then an appropriately matched amp/preamp, no more than the cost of the speakers.

I was simply told no Mark Levinson stuff actually, heh. I'm looking into those Dali IKONs, what else is comparable to those?

 

[Yikes]

Comparable? That’s tough. The Dali’s are new, and they offer tremendous performance for the price. Speakers that incorporate a ribbon super tweeter tend to sell for significantly higher prices. The addition of the ribbon is (IMHO) what makes these speakers so very special. If the budget allows going up to the model 6 it is a worthwhile upgrade. IMHO they best many of the most popular speakers in the price range. They clearly out perform the Paradigms and B&W’s in the same price range.

As always with speakers (like headphones) the choice is VERY subjective. If you are looking for a speaker that outperforms the Dali’s in specific areas they are certainly available. An example would be the Totem’s image better than the Dali’s, but they aren’t as full range and they are not as sweet on top.

Another excellent choice for speakers would be the Vandersteen 2ce Signatrures http://www.vandersteen.com/pages/2Celit2.html

The 2ce Sig are a little more dynamic, but once again not as sweet on top. They also like more power than the Dali’s

I also doubt the claims of the Panasonic “Giant Killer” receiver. Digital amps are at best a mixed bag.

Good Luck

 

[Vector]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes I also doubt the claims of the Panasonic “Giant Killer” receiver. Digital amps are at best a mixed bag. Good Luck

Oh, so you've heard this amp before first hand? I'm not saying that this amp is my reference amp by no means. Again, I have SET amps costing many thousands of dollars and the Panny is a great place to start. I had my doubts, big time, when I first heard these things. They are not the end all be all, but they are good...very good.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

I'm gonna say PSB Goldi speakers and NAD amp & pre-amp. Very good for the money. (similar to my own system).

 

[Todd R]

I have a large collection of Audio Links here.
There are forum links as well as dealer & manufacturer links there.
Hope it helps.
TR