[PsychoZX]

I'm partial to System Audio myself.

 

[hummer26]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shizelbs /img/forum/go_quote.gif A receiver is basically an amp and a preamp all in one unit. A preamp receives all the inputs, the gain (volume) control, and out puts the signal to the amp, which amplifies the signal to drive the speakers. Make sense?

Kinda, haha

 

[jeremynwolf]

While all of the advice that's been posted is great, it's important to note that there's a basic difference between speaker selection and headphone selection that makes a poll like this considerably less effective for speakers than it would be for headphones: the room. One can very reasonably compare multiple headphones and, controlling for amp variation, etc., make meaningful recommendations. It's safe to assume that a given headphone/amp combo will sound the same everywhere. Unfortunately, this just isn't true with speakers, as the room in which they are placed will have a significant effect on the sound, and unless you are spending tens of thousands of dollars on the system, effective acoustic treatment to make the room "neutral" is probably out of your range. This doesn't mean you can't get good sound... it just means that you will likely need to chose speakers that deviate from "neutral" in a way that corrects for the ways in which your room deviates from "neutral."

So, given that different speakers will sound different in different environments, there are too many variables to give really useful advice here. If you let us know what the dimensions of your room are, as well as what your intended uses for the speakers are (music, HT), we might be able to be more helpful, but there's really no substitute for just listening in your system. This makes the hobby somewhat difficult is you're not close to a good audio store with a decent in-home audition policy, but it's really the only way to do it that's not just a shot in the dark.

 

[Shizelbs]

Jeremy is right. The room is a huge factor. Here's the thing though, you can't really do much about the acoustic values of your room. So, just get the speaker you want, and go with it. Basically don't get Wilson Maxx's for a small bathroom, and don't get some small bookshelves for a warehouse sized garage.