[CountChoculaBot]

I'm looking to upgrade from my TV's default speakers and I'm on a limited budget. I was looking for speakers around the price range of $50, but am willing to go up to about $75 if there is a significant upgrade in sound quality involved.

Oh yeah, the speakers will have to both be able to hook up to a single Sonic Impact TAmp (which only has two pairs of + and - speaker connectors; im not sure if the following speakers are like that so help appreciated

)

I was looking at the Polk R150s
FRYS.com*|*POLK AUDIO

or

Insignias
Insignia® - 6-1/2" Bass-Reflex Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - NS-B2111

or maybe these $15 ones

RadioShack.com - Home Entertainment: Speakers: Presidian 2-Way Book Shelf Speaker

Any other suggestions?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Up to you... They'll all sound roughly the same. If you can't increase your budget, just pick whichever one looks best.

 

[soloz2]

get the insignias

 

[pat1006]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloz2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif get the insignias

I agree. I was extremely happy with these at such a great price.

 

[SoundGoon]

I agree about the recommendations thus far (Insignias). HOWEVER (and this is just some money wise advice) I would recommend picking up the Presidian speakers from Radio Shack and giving them a listen. This way, if they turn out to sound like what you want, you are set after spending maybe $20 after tax, as opposed to 74 something before taxes. I have never heard them myself, but have seen them in a store and thought that they felt halfway decent for their price. The reviews online seem to say that they may be worth the bother. Worse comes to worse, you get them, you don't like the sound, and you return them and go get the Insignias. Anyways, best of luck with the search, and enjoy!

 

[CountChoculaBot]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll do what SoundGoon suggested and try out the Presidians. If those don't work out, I'll probably buy the Insignias.

Oh, and a question about the Insignias. How much do the prices on these things fluctuate? Any chance it'll go back down to $50?

 

[shellylh]

You will not regret buying the Insignias! They are superior to the Polk T150s [I have both in bedroom setups] and very easy to drive (high sensitivity rating). I assume that they will be much better than the Presidians.

 

[walls]

I would go with the Insignias as well. If you keep an eye out they will often go on sale online but not in store.

The S&V forum has an Insignia mod thread and apparently the results are fantastic.

 

[infinitesymphony]

The Insignias were around $50 in December, IIRC. But in general, the price has remained between $75-79 for quite a while now. They went down to $35/pair a year or two ago.

 

[TheBends]

i have both the insignias and the polk r150s. I'll just give rough pros and cons

Insignia
Pros
-great bass (larger cabinet - and i mean they're pretty big)
-quite pretty imo with their glossy faceplate, large front bass port and carbon fiber coax drivers...
-on sale for $50 last month and occasionally here and there
-the weak cabinet can be easily modified and mass loaded with water based putty or peal n seal (easily available at your local lowes or home depot)
*note* i personally went the peel n seal route as opposed to the water based putty and they sound far more present and the stock hollowness is reduced as i havent finishe dup with some rock wool board yet
-basically just do any search on any major forum (audioholics, diyaudio, avsforum, etc etc and there's heaps of praise)

Cons
-bit rolled off on the treble ever so slightly but the overall presentation makes up for it though a tad unrefined overall
-not video shielded (if you have a crt tv then this is completely out unless you want to spend extra to video shield them, but at that point you might as well spend a little more and get something closer to 100)
-large cabinet- and i mean large, these are big in comparison to the r150s
-as of the past year or so they've been closer to 70 "on sale" though they did dip to 50 just this past month

Polk R150s
Pros
-better build quality than the insignias, far more solid cabinet
-smaller cabinet (could be a con too, see below)
-respectable sound, well balanced more refined sound imo
-video shielded
Cons
-weak bass (in comparison to the massive insignias with their larger drivers and larger cabinets
-overall a slightly muffled presentation- very similar sound signature to the bose triports (this is not to say that they suck, the triports don't suck per se but are overpriced. what i mean by this is that the mids and treble are slightly recessed or something, hard to say exactly what, but it just isn't as full and forward as the insignias)
-rear ported - less options for placement
-not as pretty as the insignias

I'd say go with the insignias for tv duty since they have a much better range and i would assume you have the space around your tv. They're also more sensitive (87-89 for the polks? to 90db for the insignias?). They're a much bigger speaker as far as physically and sonically with (as i'm sure youve read numerous times, great imaging). I use the polks for desk duty for nearfield with a marantz 1060 that doubles as headphone amp and they're great for that.

That whole pro con thing was worthless, go with the insignias if you want to spend the 70 for them or wait, they're quite respectable for the money and they shine with the cabinet mods. there's also a crossover mod or two somewhere...

 

[SoundGoon]

Hey Count, I ended up picking up a pair of the Radio Shack $15 specials and kinda like them thus far. Very decent for the money me thinks. How's your search going and whatdya think?

 

[CountChoculaBot]

Bleh, I looked at the store locator and there's not a store near me with them. I guess I'll just wait for the Insignias to go on sale

 

[SoundGoon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CountChoculaBot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bleh, I looked at the store locator and there's not a store near me with them. I guess I'll just wait for the Insignias to go on sale

Sorry to hear that

Hope that the insignias will fit your bill (I'm sure they will)! Hey, I'm a poet and i didn't even know it!!

 

[phon-o-phile]

Do yourself a favor.
Look for a pair of Polk RT25i or Paradigm mini MKII on ebay. These will work well with your amp and will sound MUCH, MUCH better than many of the above options. I have owned both (and probably 25 other pairs of speakers over the years - I am down to 5 pair) and always set friends up with the Polk RT25i when they want a good small, inexpensive speaker and don't mind a good used pair. If you can find them in the cherry or birch finish they are really nice looking. They don't require a lot of power to sound good, but sound VERY GOOD when I hooked them up to my Krell amps. Even my wife was impressed. Her comment was, way do we need you $8000 speakers. OOPS! - Um, because the Polks don't go to 20 hertz?

Have fun looking.

 

[jrosenth]

let me just throw something out.

go google fullrange driver and find a pair of tangbands or small fostex or just go to madisound and get those drivers and what you'll need to make the BSC filters for them (about 3 parts) look at the fostex recommended enclosure size, write it down, and go to homedepot and have them cut you some MDF - then go glue it together.

Or if you can stretch your budget by about $25-50 bucks run an ad on craigs list and someone will make them to your specs. Or go look at ebay/craig' list for some absolute beater speakers that are the same size as what you're trying to make and use their cabinets.

Now, even if you can't solder and have to use wire nuts and even if you're gluing/screwing them together is less than ideal, and even if you have to paint them like a freehand fresco or use wall paper to cover them, you can probably stay under $75 and will have a pair of speakers that will blow the snot out of any 40 dollar best buy bargain (yes, i've heard the insignias, very good if you feel like spending the price of 2 cds on your speakers).

Seriously, it will basically be the same as some major bands charging $300-$500 without the pretty cabinets and without the goodies that get you the last 10% (nice binding posts, etc.). Then go get yourself some cat5 or magnet wire cables. Then go get a t-amp as these will be efficient enough to use with it while actually powering them satisfactorily - yes these are very efficient so they'll in effect make your amp seem better.

Now here's the funny thing, a lot of folks would prefer these speakers to almost anything (note that those folks paying 300-500 for the nice dressed up ones prefer them to even more expensive speakers). Funny huh, even if it takes you a couple of bucks over your budget it will be some of the best bang for the buck you'll ever spend.

I'd love to put a pair of something like these side by side with the insignias et al (paradigm atoms even) at a head-fi meet and just take a poll - then publish the results in a thread like this - then have it stickied

-

now for folks wondering what these sound like try and find an omega or cain and cain or if all else fails go to Target and listen to a little Tivoli table top radio - and imagine more of everything