I'm planning on getting some new speakers pretty soon, and was looking for a little advice.  I'm planning on getting a pair of floorstanding speakers, and my price range is up to 800 bucks for a pair.  Anyone got any recommendations?  I'm currently looking at a couple of models by a couple of manufacturers (Infinity, Polk, and MTX), and I'm want a pair with fantastic sound AND great bass(I don't have a subwoofer, and don't wanna buy one).

If you can find a dealer in your area, I recommend Paradigm Studio Series speakers. I have the Studio 60's and they are incredible!
You can check them out [url=http://www.paradigm.com]HERE[/url]. The ones I have are in the "Reference Series".

The only way to get great bass is with a sub woofer. But if you want good bass with great sound I'd go with Bose, Polk, Infinity, or Alpine.

Bose had a great sound when I heard them, just a tad pricie for me though.

Klipsch is good... I have their computer speakers.

I really like my older (~ 4 years) Infinity Kappa 8 speakers. great bass, but they take a lot of power to drive well. I currently bi-amp them, giving them each 380 watts (two Yamaha MX830 amps).

Great sound and I can turn them up really loud should I choose to.

My sub-woofer is a Klipsh and is great for DD and DTS suff, but tends to muddy the sound if I let it get involved in playing stereo recorded music. The extra bass is unnecessary.

Klipsch all the way, bro.  Also, they used to take them in and give you full credit for a trade-up up to 2 years after your original purchase.  It's worth looking into.

-White Horse

B&W or Paradigm but you are probably looking at more than 800.  Also, I agree if you want bass you will need a sub.  Are you planning for HT or for music?  Check out [url]hometheaterforum.com [/url]

just FWIW,
I have a pair of floor standing cerwin vega's
that I have had for about 6 years,
they are the ones with a 10" woofer, and a high freq. tweeter, in a nice wood cabinet.
And they are LOOOUUDD, out of a kenwood 400W receiver.

might check into them, i like mine alot.

Bose, Bose, Bose, Bose....
[img]http://www.bose.com/home_audio/music_speakers/701/images/pil_701.jpg[/img]

Bose 701s

[url]http://www.bose.com/home_audio/music_speakers/701/[/url]

Aviator

BTW Klipsch has a message board. Very helpful if you need tech advice, etc...

http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/

Consider what their main job will be.

Music? GO BOSE!

Movie/TV? NO BOSE!

Bose is very good for music, but doesnt fare as well for movies.


My setup for HT is currently two OLD (Vietnam war old) Floor standing front channel EPI's with abotu 4-5 speakers in each. Center is a AudioSource (its okay, nothin great) and Radioshack Relistics for surrounds, amp/reciever is a JVC 8010c. sub is a $80 KLH 120 Watt. 10" driver.

and the DVD source? HTPC. so i can also kick around DIVX files into my system. granted the DIVX is normally stereo only. but my dvd side has coax-spidf out. sounds good.

If you're going to spend the money then do it right.  Go LISTEN to them.  I don't care who the maker is, if they have a good warranty and you LIKE the way they sound with YOUR music, then they're worth it.

Subwoofers are nice for home entertainment, not for pure audio.  If you're looking for speakers that are just for listening, not TV/Movies, then don't get a sub.  You spend time and effort trying to get the thing set up right, in phase and balanced properly when you could have just bought a pair of speakers that have all the tech work done for you and it's evenly balanced.  If this is going to be for home theater, then hell yeah get a sub for all the earth moving type stuff.  But if you get a sub, then get it as a package or at least the same maker as both the sub and speakers.  They will match up better.

If you really want a name, I've got a pair of Bose 401s that I swear I bought almost 10 years ago.  They still look brand new and I've been damn happy with them.  They've got plenty of bottom because of the "Bass reflex" design Bose uses.

Take 2 or 3 CDs to a couple of speaker shops.  If you can hear the same speakers in 2 different places and like what you hear both times, that's good.  Use CDs that you've listened to a lot that you know how they sound and get the guy there to play certain tracks.  Use a wide variety if you have it; Something that's really rockin, something that's very lush and maybe a bare piano type thing so you know the speakers perform in all aspects of what you listen to.  And make sure when you switch between speakers you are switching speakers ONLY!  Not different receivers, not different amps!  Those will make a serious difference in the sound texture!

Oh, and beware of places that have maybe 2 pairs all alone in one room and try to get you to listen to them.  Those rooms have been laid out to maximize the potential of the speakers and they will never sound like they did at the store when you get them home unless you have a big open space with little to no furniture to set them up in.

I used to do Pro-Audio as a recording engineer.  If you've got any questions feel free to drop me a line.

I use Telark "Sampler CDs when I go listen to speakers. They contian just about every rnage you can think of. Mostly classical music, but really let you know what the speakers can do!

Aviator

Klipsch is very good![:D]

I have not been able to purchase any yet...Two small kids, not enough money, to many guns needed, etc![:D]

I have a Yamaha Surround Sound setup with 5 speakers and a 70 watt powered subwoofer and the sound is incredible!
Playing music it only uses two speakers and the sub and it sounds great also!

The subwoofer is the way to go.

Take whatever type of music that you listen to with you and take as long as you need!
Some speakers sound great with pop/rock and crappy with country and vice versa!

Happy listening!

BigDozer66

I've had great luck with Cambridge Soundworks speakers.  You can get them cheap on their ebay outlet.  Go to ebay stores and then search for cambridge soundworks.  Great speakers for the money.

[url]cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1395454175[/url]  The towers pump out great base.  They are refurbished, but all the ones I purchased were indistinguishable from new.  

BTW, if it is for home theater, you really do need a subwoofer.  I have their down firing 12" sub and it just makes the whole room shake when watching Black Hawk Down and Lord of the Rings.

I've got a pradigm sub, it is the best I've ever heard.  I've got Polks for the center, front, and rear.  Rt55s are pretty good and not too pricey.  

Something that is really cool to look in to, is a mechaical bass transducer. Instead of creating sound waves to create bass it uses an electromechanical system to create vibrations. You don't hear it you feel it. They tend to be small and can be mounted under or near the recliner or couch and you will really feel alot of bass without it sounding distorted. Your standard floorstanding speakers provide the sound and these provide you with soundless bass. Very nice but kinda hard to find and probably expensive. I saw them in guy's house, he was a doctor with a 20+ spaeker system that had been properly set up to have all the spaekers in the proper positions.

Yeah get BOSE your neighbors will thank you later,you can have them rocking step outside your house close the door and NADA!

 Bob [:D]

[url]www.avsforum.com[/url]

these guys can give you alot of info. its the AR15.com of speakers, HDTV, ect. but they will all tell you to "listen for yourself." however if you want a transducer or 2 the can tell you where to get them and which ones are good and others a junk.

avsforum is great.  I researched everything I got through them.  Still read it a couple times a week for the DVD reviews.

bose are over rated

you're paying for a lot of great marketing


try playing their 901 speakers without the bizzre equalizer system, yuck

I've got a near new Alpine type R 12" sub I will sell you for $125...

Boston Acoustics

Don't all speakers sound crappy playing country?[:)]

Seriously,you need to go listen for yourself with your music.

And a sub isn't just for movies.

Affordable QUALITY fullrange speakers are hard to find,and would require lots of power.Where as in your price range you could afford some excellent top end speakers and add a quality,powered sub later.

The subwoofer is not just to shake windows,it'll add depth and range,and really make your music stand out.Sorta 3 dimensionally.If you can't project all or most of that range,your not hearing all the music.

Definatly a must have.

Quite wrong.  But,  getting great bass in a full range speaker requires you to spend a lot of money.  I have a set of speakers that will kick the knobs off of most home subwoofers you've ever heard,  but they're very expensive speakers, costing 7700 bucks a set.   Their frequency response is FLAT down to 21 Hz!


 Oh, GAG ME!  Bose doesn't make anything but overpriced, underperforming shit, slickly packaged and slickly advertised. You can scarcely make a worse choice for your money.    Those are decent choices among the consumer grade brands,  but you can do better with Paradigm, Mission, or any of a number of "entry level" audiophile brands.



I think you were perhaps deceived.   Were you by chance hearing them in a Bose demonstration unit?  There's a REASON why Bose speakers are never demo'ed in competition with ANY other brand,  and that's because they can't survive the comparison.
(It is Bose company policy that no Bose salesman is to facilitate any side-by-side, equal terms comparison between Bose and other products,  according to a former Bose salesman friend who eventually quit in disgust.)

No highs, no lows, must be bose.

I'm not down on ANY other speaker manufacturer, and that's because there's only one manufacturer that engages in such intense anti-competitive practices and has such a radically overpriced, undervalued product.

Bose doesn't have the licensing rights to THX, Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS, or any other significant technologies or standards in use by most other home theater product manufacturers, in part because their products are incapable of meeting the technical standards set forth by the rights holders.  There are no THX certfied Bose products,  and THX is a quality standard.  

If you want to watch a movie and hear it as it was intended to be heard in the theater, you can't do it with Bose products.  They have their own proprietary matrix surround system which isn't anything close to even Dolby Digital.

Yet for all this, if you were to believe Bose's ads, you'd think you were getting the best speakers money could buy.   Microsoft got its ass nearly ground off over less offensive and anticompetitive tactics, and offers better products!

Rant mode OFF.  

Something about Bose just gets me going.

CJ

Check out a line of speakers called PSB. They are made in canada. I'm sure they make a model that would fit your need. I have the PSB alpha mini's in my computer room and they are just a bookshelf speaker but they absolutely rock. If your going to get a decent set of speakers, I would avoid places like best buy or circuit city etc... go find yourself a nice hi-end, but not too hi-end stereo shop and sit down and tell the guys what kind of music you like and what you want to do with the speakers, listen to what they have in your price range and pick out the best one.

If your looking for good base in a tower speaker, I'd listen to Definitive.  The Definitive towers have independently powered side-firing sub-woofers.  Paradigm is another option.  I had the BOSE Acoustimass set, and it was great for movies/tv effects, but lacked the range for good music listening.  I like to listen to jazz, so I sold the BOSE, and bought a pair of AURA towers.  Their LINEAUM tweeters really sing.

It's not the brand(or the cost) of the speakers, but how they sound to you.

All this info proves 2 things...Go, listen and buy what you like!

but there is another lesson, check the warantee and the stores return policy.

[url]www.audioreview.com/Main,Speaker/Polk,Audio,RT1000i/PRD_124175_1594crx.aspx[/url]

I have a set of these and they are great.  The bass is so good I rarely even turn on the sub.

Edited to add.
On that same site look at the Bose ratings.  Biggest piles of shit ever made.

Have you noticed that out of all the audio/video equipment the only thing that has not significantly come down in price-to-performance over the years are speakers?

True enough! My Paradigm Servo-15 sub is +/-2db from 17-150Hz. If yours are flat that low, may I hazard a guess? B&W 801's?? Once you have experienced great (accurate - not necessarily loud) bass, you can't go back!





CJ knows of what he speaks. Comparing anything made by Bose to true high quality speakers is like comparing standard factory car stereos of the 1980's to current all-out custom systems.

If you are a Bose fan, fine. If you like how they sound, fine. But you couldn't have ever A/B'd them with any really good speakers (and there are plenty of them at the same price level). JMHO, YMMV.

You asked, and I'll tell you. My speakers are Aerial Acoustics 10T's.   I was able to purchase a barely used set for a mere 2700 dollars from the original owner,  and it was an amazing opportunity for me as those are the only speakers that made me stop in my tracks the first time I heard them.
Now, some five or six years later,  I still have no desire to upgrade.  No desire at all.   I'm completely happy with them.

They're driven by a pair of Krell KMA-160 monoblock power amps, which I also got for an outrageous deal.  Long story,  but in a nutshell I bought them for 500 bucks on speculation as they'd been in a house fire.  They weren't burned, but they'd been hosed down and then left to rot in a basement for two years.  I am an able electronics technician and I fully restored them in about forty hours of labor.    They've also been non-stop reliable since I completed the work almost five years ago.   They crank out a lot of heat, but their performance is exemplary.

CJ

You gotta go listen, and take the music you know and like.

I took a cd of my favorites, and started listening to them on good speakers.  I hears stuff in the music I have never heard before.

Ended up with paradigm reference series 60's for front and center speakers.  Spectacular sound.
Take your time, it will be worth the effort.

TXLEWIS

[size=5][b] THANK YOU!! [/b][/size=5]

As a person long tired of hearing the drivel of "Bose is the greatest thing since dirt!" crap from the unknowing masses out there, I can add My $0.02 along with You! As a long time Audio-Nut(I'd say audiophile, but it sounds too snobby to Me!) and music recording industry  worker. I cringe every time I hear people say They are going to buy Bose. Hey!, If You want to buy them for looks, or You need to spend the money...Go for it. Many people do...But many people also like the Clintons! Just because others say it or do it, doesn't make it so!
As others have said, there are ALLOT of better choices for You money & Ears.

Tall Shadow

Okay, just one more question.  This weekend, I went and listened to a bunch of speakers in my price range(using a CD full of stuff that I burned), and found some that I liked.  And then on a whim, I listened to it on a pair of Infinity IL60's, which, at 1400 a pair, were a little more than I wanted to pay.  Actually, a lot more than I wanted to pay.  But, goddamn did they sound great, and they sort of spoiled me for all of the others that i wa considering.  But, I found some used, factory reconditioned IL60's on ebay for under 600 a pair.  They are being sold by an outfit called Harmon Audio, and the speakers are returnable, have the factory five year warranty, and will be serviced by Infinity.  So my question is, does anyone know what sort of difference a refurbished unit has from a new one?  Is this a good deal, or would I be wasting my money on something that is gonna sound like shit when I get it?  If anyone has any experience with refurbished stuff, let me know.  I certainly would like to get these, and if I can get them for a good bit below store prices, I would like that.

Harmon Audio is Infinity and Harmon/Kardon so you are buying it from the factory.  Man, that sounds like a great deal.  Like I said earlier, my speakers were all refurbished and you can not tell them from new.

could be they had bad capacitors and they blewup. some yokel overdrove the speakers and broke it, ect. any number of things. refurbs are usually just fine. the "refurbished" tag disagrees with some.

Go for that deal.   Harmon International stands behind their products and a factory refurbished set of speakers from them will probably almost literally be indistinguishable from a brand new set and should even be packaged as new.


I've heard a LOT of small to mid priced Infinitys over the years and they have a tendency to kick the ass off of competing speakers in the same price range.  I've heard little Infinity bookshelf speakers that were so much better than anything else in the store (a Best Buy, some years back) that it was scary.  The little suckers practically got up on their hind legs and roared.

Incidentally,  Harmon International is the parent company of some of the finest names in the high end audio business in addition to the more common names that you've heard of like JBL, Harmon-Kardon, and Infinity.    

For example,  all these VERY high end brands are all Harmon properties:

[url]http://www.revelspeakers.com/[/url]

[url]http://www.madrigalimaging.com/[/url]

[url]http://www.marklevinson.com/ml2001/index.htm[/url]

[url]http://www.proceedaudio.com/proceed2002/[/url]


Bose claims to be the single largest speaker company, or they did at one point.  This may or may not be true now, but the combined market share of the Harmon speaker companies is probably greater these days, and the Harmon list of products is far more diversified and includes a lot of absolutely incredible products.  Revel speakers, for example,  are among the very best in the entire world, period.  And priced accordingly, I might add!

Bose has nothing that can even dream of competing with any of these higher end companies's products.

If you're into the tiny speaker scene,  here's a superior solution at a lower cost:

[url]http://www.roundsound.com/[/url]

Gallo's products blow Bose out of the water and often cost significantly less.   I've heard Gallos and they are outstanding performers, period.  They beat Bose at their own game and do it with a vengeance.  They're audiophile grade.

CJ