[Sweet Spot]

Here's the story:
My place is about 13(actually 20 cuse of the terrace)xWx 24xL not including the hall near the door and bathroom (room for reflections to travel) and the kitchen on the opposite side. My current "entertainment" system which consists of a 27" color stream Toshiba; Toshiba SD 3900 DVD player; Onkyo TX-SV515 Pro receiver; Aiwa Casette deck; Fisher 60 CD changer(will eventually upgrade to a stand alone or 5 disc depending on quality) is at the far end of my studio, (not too far obviously ) and is in a foot and a half recessed section. The current crapola speakers are on shelves flushed against the wall around ear level when standing.

Seeing as how my dvd player is a new addition to my stuff, I'm now suffering from upgrade-itis. But it IS a necessity. I've wanted new speakers for a while now, even before I decided to look into a DVD player. I was set on purchasing a set of Energy's (C-3's or C-5's) as a temporary music solution until I could afford more, but now that I've bought into the video realm of things, I believe that a HT solution would suit me best. I am not however, looking to sacrifice music quality because of this decision.

I listen to alot of jazz, blues and classical, as well as tons of Radiohead and others in that genre, so when I come home from work, I want to plop down in my soon to be "listening chair", and be taken away from the world through sheer audio bliss.

Here's the first dilemma: Which should I buy first. The speakers, or the receiver ? My budget as it is will be flexible. I make pretty decent cash working at a fine dining restaurant at night, and will probably be getting hired at the medical internship I'm doing in the next month or so. However, I don't want to blow all of my cash, because I have a ton of bills. I'd actually like to keep this as cheap as possible. My plan is to have a really decent system for this place UNTIL, I buy a house one day. At that point, I"ll be going for the gusto !

My thoughts on receivers are: Marantz; Yamaha; Rotel (not necessarily in that order)

Speakers: Polk; B&W; Axiom, and I'm not sure of what else right now. I'm not at all familiar with HT speaker lines. All I know is...no THIB for me.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a million.
Sincerely,
Doug

P.S. By the way, if anyone has used gear that wasn't/isn't posted in the for sale section, and they think I may be interested, I'd be happy to know.

 

[D-EJ915]

Klipsch horns are known to be good with that type of music, you should probably stop by best buy (their reference speakers kick ass but are majorly expensive $800+/pair for bookshelfs!!)

 

[Sweet Spot]

Not to sound like a dick or anything, but I wouldn't touch any of the crap that's sold in Best Buy/Circit City/Wiz/PC RIchards etc....Klipsche being the only POSSIBLE exception, I pretty much think most of their products suck butt. But I DO appreciate your input. I'm really looking for more quality gear or bang for the buck. In my experience, Klipsche offers neither. I'm even almost skeptical about looking at Polk products, but I will..such as the SR70's etc..

 

[JMT]

Since you don't state what your budget is (or you did and I am just getting old), it's hard to recommend anything specific. That said, as far a speakers are concerned, don't miss the PSB line of speakers. I had (have) a pair of the discontinued Alpha A/V's that I used for both 2 channel and home theatre. For the price (MSRP $259.00) they are a great value. I just picked up a pair of Von Schweikert VR-1's (MSRP $995.00) that I use for both 2 channel and home theatre. These are in a completely different sonic league than the Alpha A/Vs. You can check out Head-Fi moderator Tuberoller's excellent review here.

 

[Sweet Spot]

Thank you so much for that link. I"ll definetely read all there is to read about them and see if there's a retailer around for an audition.

At this juncture, I'd like to include more specific price ranges for my budget. For main speakers, I was thinking/hoping to not spend more than $500-$600. Is that a reasonable price for a decent pair ? Or should I spend more on the fronts and worry less about the center/surrounds/rears/sub ? I should say, that though I'm making "decent" money, it's not like I'm rolling in it

Perhaps an overall price including the receiver/CD player and all speakers. Say around...$3000 give or take several hundred ? Also, I'm not really crazy about buying stuff that I wouldn't be able to purchase at a retailer....Buying such expensive things on the web just isn't my style. I'd prolly have bad luck.

So to add to everything, if anyone who lives in Manhattan, or NY in general, has any ideas of some good audiophile stores (I know of Harveys, not crazy bout them though) please let me know. Thanks again. Hope I'm not asking too much.

Doug

 

[JMT]

Personally, I would concentrate on the mains as they will be pulling double duty. I listen to music much more than I watch movies so the performance of the speakers in my two channel set up is primary. The center is important for home theatre as that is where all of the dialogue happens, but obviously it is irrelevant for your audio set up. The surrounds are essentially there for sound effects and, to me, would be the last consideration.

You probably also want to factor in a good subwoofer for your home theatre application. Although, in my opinion, one is not always necessary for strictly audio listening. You might want to peruse Audiogon as you can find some pretty good deals there.

BTW, this really belongs in the Cables, Power, Tweaks, Speakers, Accessories Forum so I will move it there.

 

[D-EJ915]

I was reading reviews recently and the Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 1 bookshelfs are really good, and are only $300 a pair, so you could get a sub too (not a very good one, but you can always save up)

 

[Sweet Spot]

Well, I think I've made my first decision. The first buy will be front speakers. The interesting thing about the ones I'm almost positive about buying, is that they may also serve as rears. They're the Energy C-3's.

I once auditioned them at a Harvey's and was really impressed. Previous to hearing them, I listened to the C-1's and thought that they were really great too, but that for the extra 2 bills, having the more defined, smoother and more robust mids, lower bass response and warmth, the C-3's were well worth it.

Plus, they get incredible reviews everywhere I look, which is always reassuring. I will check out the reviews for the Acoustic Energy's as well...thank you. But I also recall, auditioning the floor standing energy Connossuir line, and being amazed, so if that's any indication...I may just do the whole thing.

Now I need a high energy receiver.

I'm thinking $600-$700 Unless I can find a nice used one for far less. But then that prolly wouldn't be a recent model that has all the necessary format standards eh ?

 

[JMT]

I have read great things about Outlaw Audio's 1050 A/V Receiver, I have not personally heard one though. Price seems right at $499.00.

 

[Sweet Spot]

Ah yes...the Outlaw. I too have read good things about it. And if it had Dolby Pro Logic ll etc...I'd be on it like white on rice. It would most definetely make for a wonderful music receiver, seeing as how cheap it is as well. Too bad. Thanks though, that was a good one to look at.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

I know you said you don't want to buy off the Internet, but man have I seen some good deals on the Harmonaudio store at Ebay. You are buying direct from the manufacturer with full warranty. Harmon Kardon receivers sound very respectable with music also, unlike some other manufacturers receivers.

http://www.stores.ebay.com/harmanaudio

 

[Sweet Spot]

Wow dude..thanks ! Good tip. There's a 7.1 DTS DDll receiver for $500 that I'm gonna investigate. The prices are really decent, and the shipping in the Continental US is a flat fee of $28...that's freekin great ! Thank you so much. I'm going to check out some reviews, get opinions etc and shall see.

 

[vrao81]

Great choice the Energy C-3's are excellent speakers (I have the C-1), they will serve you well for years to come for both music and HT.

 

[bundee1]

YGPM!!!!

 

[Sweet Spot]

I would just like to announce with sheer joy and glee, the purchase of my first item:

Something told me to walk to one of the local HI-Fi stores in my neighborhood today, to check to see if they had any demo models left on a pair of speakers that I had auditioned a few months ago. Just a couple weeks ago, I went into the same store at a different location, and the guy told me they didn't carry the brand anymore. And why ? Because they made ****loads of money off of elitist retards who kept them in business by purchasing the all mighty b0$e ! That really ticked me off.

But I thought, why not give it a shot. So I went in, and asked the nice salesman to check and sure enough...there was ONE more pair..in a different loacation ! So my ENERGY C-3'S shall arrive on Tuesday ! Yippeeee! Oh, and since they're a demo model..they're $350 ! Yay me ! They also have a set of surrounds left there ..and one more at the other location ......Yaaay! AND they have a center for $150 Another demo model ! The total for the entire speaker package will be about $800 something !

Needless to say, I'm quite freekin' excited. Though I don't know if i should hook them up to my current Onkyo receiver...gonna think about that one. Still need speaker cable, line conditioner and stands.

To end my day, I walked with a beautiful woman, had lunch and then bought the following:

1) Interpol album for $9.99
2) The Doors special edition DVD for $10.00
3) The Lord Of The RIngs special Edition 4 DVD set for $31.00

I love treating myself to goodies. And now for the coupe de gras:

A few slices of Pizza bought from "Mikes Pizza" @ 24th and 2nd Ave. Yummy.