usb chord
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Recommendations for floor-standing speakers needed.
bobedaone
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Klipsch is an okay brand, but one that I consider more "mass market" than "high end". My advice to you is to kiss Best Buy goodbye. I'm a big believer in Paradigm and recommend the Monitor 7 ($650) enthusiastically. You'll have to find a local hi-fi dealer to hear it, but I doubt you'll regret the extra effort. Aperion Audio and Monitor Audio are also reportedly excellent, although I have no direct experience with either brand.

You might do well to audition some smaller, stand-mounted speakers, as well. I find that the low-frequency response from many of them is adequate for my taste. I mention this because you could probably get better sound for your money by downsizing the speakers.

Good luck and happy listening,

Monty
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You can get what you are looking for in the price range you are considering, but I would avoid Best Buy if you genuinely want superior audio.

PSB, Paradigm, NHT and several other speaker manufacturers offer speakers that are well received in the audiophile community and they are priced attractively.

If you do go the Best Buy route, Polk offers a few models that aren't too shabby. Still, I encourage you to consider visiting a HiFi dealer that specializes in quality sound. You are more likely to come away with a different perspective on how good audio can sound.

cyclebrain
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By the way Klipsch is probably the oldest of the brands that you looked at. Paul Klipsch was a brillant engineer and a pioneer in audio. Their current products don't reflect that great history though.
Do yourself a favor and look up the history of Klipsch.

The three brands recommended by Monty are all good choices.

bifcake
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I agree about kissing Best Buy good bye. Your best bet would be to get older, used speakers on Audiogon. If you can swing more than $500, I would strongly recommend NHT 2.9 for about $800, Paradigm 100's v2 for about 1k and Infinity Kappa 7 (I think they're called Kappa 7) for about $800-1k if you shop around.

Thor
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You could build a nice pair of Seas Thors from madisound.com
beautiful D'appolito transmission line with parts equal to anything retail above 5000 a pair

Madisound thor page

jtuba
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What about the Magnolia/Best Buy stores? They seem to have OK stuff.

Audioman
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Paradigm Monitor 7 has a US SRP of $679. With your budget, I don't think you can do better.

To locate a Paradigm dealer-

http://www.paradigm.com/en/dealer_locator/paradigm.php

Audioman
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It had been a while since I checked out what Best Buy and Magnolia offered in the way of speakers. Shocking.

59mga
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As others have stated, good floor standing speakers for $500 (new) will be a bit of a quest. If you don't mind purchasing used gear go to www.audiogon.com Good equipment at reasonable prices.

As for new floor standing I highly recommend the Epos ELS-303 ($700) - I own a pair and they're marvelous.

Definitive Technology BP-8B ($800) and BP-6B ($600) are also worth a listen.

Monty mentioned Polk: the R50 ($640) and the Monitor 50 ($460) are good buys.

Bookshelf speakers (a good suggestion Eric) shouldn't be dismissed. Check out these: Def Tech SM350 ($500), SM450 ($650); Epos ELS-3 ($330), M5 ($650); B&W 600 and 700 series bookshelf models.

jackfish
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I respect your budget and the desire to get the best you can for that amount. That would lead me to suggest the Infinity Primus P362 available right now from Crutchfield for $500 a pair.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-r2O7DQn7uwU/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=108P362

Here is a review of its predecessor:
http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/605infinity/

Without going used I doubt you will find much better for $500/pair.
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/clt.pl?spkrfull&1185291332&clout&3&4&
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1191889180
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1191711761
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1191602906
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1191542401
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1191433285
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1190070830
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1189976954
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1189946525
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1189800745
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1189610937

There are also some excellent buys on very good bookshelves that with good stands would be all the much as musical as some of the floorstanders suggested.

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