[camimzdc]

Hey guys,
 
Been a music fanatic for years but finally beginning to care about my quality of sound in my at-home listening experience (i.e. no more illegal downloading and now forking over the money for cd's). 
 
Anyways, step 1 is to upgrade the home audio. I have at most $500 to throw at some tower speakers but am of course open to deals and avoiding name brand rip offs. I listen to everything including hip hop, rock, classical, jazz, blues, etc. I would prefer to not need to buy a sub but smooth/tight deep bass is important in any listening experience so if I need to fork out another $200 in a month or so that's cool. But it would be great if the tower speakers were sufficient. I'll decide on the amp once I've decided on the speakers.
 
I live in a medium sized 1 bedroom apartment. Really I'm tied between Klipsch who are apparently the seasoned veterans and Fluance who offer a lifetime warranty and are apparently the prodigy rookies. 
 
Yes, I know that every speaker experience depends on each person. I'm just looking for general advice. What's typically good, what's not, what's a waste of money on name brand, what's not, what features are just "for show" which aren't. All that god stuff.  
 
Thanks for any insight. I don't want to blow $500!
 
 
 
Fluance XL7F
 
http://www.amazon.com/Fluance-XL7F-Performance-Floorstanding-Loudspeakers/dp/B007IWKX14/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1453477435&sr=1-1&keywords=fluance+xl7f
 
Klipsch R24F
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AK9JFOW?psc=1
 
Klipsch RF52 II
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041OD9FE?psc=1
 
Onkyo SKF-4800
 
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-SKF-4800-Reflex-Floor-standing-Speakers/dp/B00EKJQLSC/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1453477164&sr=1-1&keywords=floorstanding+speakers&refinements=p_36%3A-60000%2Cp_89%3AOnkyo
 
Polk Tsi400
 
http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-TSi400-Floorstanding-Speaker/dp/B0018QROHC/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1453477181&sr=1-10&keywords=floorstanding+speakers&refinements=p_36%3A-60000%2Cp_89%3APolk+Audio
 
ELAC Debut F5
 
http://www.amazon.com/ELAC-Debut-Tower-Speakers-Each/dp/B014GSEPY8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1453479665&sr=1-1&keywords=elac+f5
 
Bic America Ventire DV64
 
http://www.amazon.com/BIC-America-Venturi-DV64-Speaker/dp/B00011KLOI/ref=pd_sim_sbs_23_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41kIXYZRrVL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR93%2C160_&refRID=0BTGZ8QG1DF1HG8MM8ED
 
JBL Loft 50
 
http://www.amazon.com/JBL-Loft-Three-Way-Floorstanding-Loudspeaker/dp/B00DKPJUDU/ref=sr_1_17?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1453477424&sr=1-17&keywords=floorstanding+speakers&refinements=p_36%3A-60000%2Cp_89%3AJBL
 
Open to learning about others!

 

[Jenson]

I would recommend to test Tannoy Mercury V4i or Q-acoustic 3050. I like them both very much and have Tannoy's myself.

 

[camimzdc]

Thanks for the input. That's one of my biggest issues though - finding a way to test these speakers. God knows best buy's selection is meager and not functioning half the time. 
 
I did just find some polk audio tsi-500's for $280/pair on craigslist as well as monitor audio rs-6's for $350/pair. Those seem to be great deals price wise and I could actually go listen to them.

 

[Jenson]

^ I am having same problem as you, to find enough time and location near me to test speakers. However it will save you some money compared to buying without hearing and then selling those and buying again. Repeat that 10 - 20 times and you may want to go to test speakers prior buying
 
This applies to headphones or any audio equipment. Some hifi-dealers give loudspeakers to home for a test ride, that is the way it should be done as your home is acoustically probably different than dealers location. Then you can also test loudspeakers with other audio equipment you have. It can be sometimes quite crucial to test loudspeaker with your own amplifier and source to find good match with loudspeakers.