JamesMX996
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new member seeking advice
commsysman
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JamesMX996 wrote:

Hey i'm a new member here, i'm looking to upgrade from my current setup. When i was 16, i bought a pair of cerwin vega vs120s and a yamaha rxv375 receiver. While i still do love my vegas, (i hear they get a lot of hate, i can't understand considering they sound more detailed than my father's paradigm 7se Mkii) my ear seems to be maturing and i am looking for something with more detail. Im looking at the jbl studio 230s or emotiva airmotiv B-1. I also am interested in the klipsch Rp150m although it is about 100 dollars out of my price range. Any opinions on these speakers? Any better options? I wish i could audition these speakers for myself I just do not know where i would go to find these specific models. Also, I will be replacing my receiver. I was looking at harman kardon and they look nice, although the emotiva ta-100 caught my eye. I listen to all kinds of music on cd and vinyl in a bedroom. Thankfully i have made up my mind on at least something… the U Turn orbit basic turntable It seems to be an awesome deal.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

#1- What IS your price range?

#2- Do you want floorstanding speakers or smaller speakers?

Harman-Kardon and Denon are the receivers I will generally recommend for good performance and a budget of under $600. I can't stand the sound of Yamaha and Onkyo receivers. When you say your old speakers sound more "detailed" than the Paradigm speakers, it makes me wonder if you are not confusing excessive treble with accurate sound. That may sound good on a limited number of things, but harsh on many others. Female voices and solo piano are what many people consider the best tests for realism, as opposed to "hot" or excessive treble. Even though you may not normally listen to these, they can help to make comparisons.

Of course if you LIKE excessive treble, that is your choice; but it should not be confused with accurate realistic sound.

Amazon lists the Studio 230 speakers for $300 per pair. If that is the sort of price and size you are looking at, I suggest that you look at the ELAC B6 speakers, which are a similar design at a similar price, but which most professionals in the field find to be a much better-sounding speaker.

Another one that is outstanding is the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, which again has a similar price and size. They have also had excellent reviews from many audio publications.

I personally find Klipsch speakers to be very inaccurate, and not particularly good-sounding. That is one brand I would never recommend.

JamesMX996
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commsysman wrote:
JamesMX996 wrote:

Hey i'm a new member here, i'm looking to upgrade from my current setup. When i was 16, i bought a pair of cerwin vega vs120s and a yamaha rxv375 receiver. While i still do love my vegas, (i hear they get a lot of hate, i can't understand considering they sound more detailed than my father's paradigm 7se Mkii) my ear seems to be maturing and i am looking for something with more detail. Im looking at the jbl studio 230s or emotiva airmotiv B-1. I also am interested in the klipsch Rp150m although it is about 100 dollars out of my price range. Any opinions on these speakers? Any better options? I wish i could audition these speakers for myself I just do not know where i would go to find these specific models. Also, I will be replacing my receiver. I was looking at harman kardon and they look nice, although the emotiva ta-100 caught my eye. I listen to all kinds of music on cd and vinyl in a bedroom. Thankfully i have made up my mind on at least something… the U Turn orbit basic turntable It seems to be an awesome deal.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

#1- What IS your price range?

#2- Do you want floorstanding speakers or smaller speakers?

Harman-Kardon and Denon are the receivers I will generally recommend for good performance and a budget of under $600. I can't stand the sound of Yamaha and Onkyo receivers. When you say your old speakers sound more "detailed" than the Paradigm speakers, it makes me wonder if you are not confusing excessive treble with accurate sound. That may sound good on a limited number of things, but harsh on many others. Female voices and solo piano are what many people consider the best tests for realism, as opposed to "hot" or excessive treble. Even though you may not normally listen to these, they can help to make comparisons.

Of course if you LIKE excessive treble, that is your choice; but it should not be confused with accurate realistic sound.

Amazon lists the Studio 230 speakers for $300 per pair. If that is the sort of price and size you are looking at, I suggest that you look at the ELAC B6 speakers, which are a similar design at a similar price, but which most professionals in the field find to be a much better-sounding speaker.

Another one that is outstanding is the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, which again has a similar price and size. They have also had excellent reviews from many audio publications.

I personally find Klipsch speakers to be very inaccurate, and not particularly good-sounding. That is one brand I would never recommend.

Thanks for the response. I'm not sure if I want towers or not. If I got towers, I would not buy a sub. How ever, if I bought bookshelfs I would buy a sub. So far, I auditioned 2 pairs of klipsch and was not impress. Then I listened to Martin Logan motion 15s and really liked them. The problem is I thought they were 400 for the pair as most bookshelf seakers are sold in pairs. I think I will go with the emotiva amp if I get bookshelfs, but if I get floorstanding I will get a Harman Karon due to the higher power output. My budget of a receiver is 400, speakers 400, and sub 400. This of course means 800 for floor sanders. The fluance floor sanders and the emotiva t1 look to be the best options in my price point. Or, I can just buy the Martin Logans and stick with my crappy Polk psw10 subwoofer.

JamesMX996
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it should also be noted ive only ever owned floorstanding speakers. While I do like to listen to albums on vinyl and cd, I sometimes like to plug in my phone and play loud electrnic, rap or metal. I went into the martin logan audition not expecting much from a small speaker, but when I put a frank sanatra album on I was blown away with everything exept the bottom end.

commsysman
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JamesMX996][quote=commsysman][quote=JamesMX996 wrote:

Thanks for the response. I'm not sure if I want towers or not. If I got towers, I would not buy a sub. How ever, if I bought bookshelfs I would buy a sub. So far, I auditioned 2 pairs of klipsch and was not impress. Then I listened to Martin Logan motion 15s and really liked them. The problem is I thought they were 400 for the pair as most bookshelf speakers are sold in pairs. I think I will go with the emotiva amp if I get bookshelfs, but if I get floorstanding I will get a Harman Karon due to the higher power output. My budget of a receiver is 400, speakers 400, and sub 400. This of course means 800 for floor sanders. The fluance floor sanders and the emotiva t1 look to be the best options in my price point. Or, I can just buy the Martin Logans and stick with my crappy Polk psw10 subwoofer.

I recommend that you get the ELAC F5 tower speakers, which cost only $559 per pair, and are amazing for that price.

Put them together with the Harman-Kardon HK3700 receiver, which is selling for $350, and you will have some very nice sound.

commsysman
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Amazon is currently selling the Polk PSW505 for only $179, which is quite a deal and a much better sub than the one you have.

But before you buy a sub, get the ELAC F5 speakers and the HK receiver, and see if you have enough bass for your listening preferences without a sub.

bierfeldt
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I would second commsysman' recco. I don't know if you will find a better value.

caphill
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If you are only doing two-channel I would get a used stereo integrated amp instead of av receiver. I would look into a used older stereo integrated amp from NAD, Rotel. Rega, Exposure, Creek, Cyrus, Roksan, Peachtree Audio, Musical Fidelity, Marantz, Arcam, Audiolab, etc.
These older integrateds can be had pretty cheap around $500 and they will generally sound better than av receivers.

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