First time Speaker Purchase; Looking for Recommendations on Speakers

Why did you quote me? My mains have 6 1/2" mids and woofers. The Platinums I referenced have two 8" and one 4" mid.

EDIT: tinman - I have listened to Viena Acoustics. I like them well enough but they add a little more coloration than I like for listening. So, again, I prefer the Brit sound (which some people think is too analytical, of course).

 

because I was asking you a question.

 

When I looked for subs, I thought about getting Supercubes. They are ok in that they probably do produce accurate sound because I think they are sealed boxes (vs. ported). However, every review I read in which something like a ported SVS (with a 12" sub) was compared to it, the biggest difference was the SVS would go lower and louder while maintaining its accuracy. The SVS porting can also be tuned to hit different frequencies. My biggest complaint with the Supercubes are that they're overpriced (if I remember the pricing correctly).

That being said, the Supercubes do hit accurately from reviews I've read.

 

ported not being accurate is a myth. Look at almost every floor standing speaker and you will find a ported enclosure.

 

Oh - haha - in what context? People always say bookshelves are better because they are a bargain and can be combined with a sub if needed, but I prefer towers aesthetically and also think that - in addition to larger drivers - the larger cabinet lends acoustic benefits you cannot get back if you go smaller. That is also why I really wish I could buy one tower by itself and have a setup with three across the front. Even with the GS-LCR placed vertically to eliminate lobing it cannot fully match the two mains in heft.

 

Some guy on the first page listed his setup and his Front channel speakers were 1200 bucks so I checked them out and they had Dual 5" drivers.

I see the trend of 5.1 sound killing good sound. People think it means they can move their woofer to a different box instead of using the .1 channel for a subwoofer.

I think this comes from the LCD's popularity. People think smaller is a must have now since their TV is smaller.

 

Absolutely - aesthetics are dominating the home audio industry. Even like I was just mentioning - horizontal centers are worse in every way but they are made because they "fit" with televisions.

But I am a little unclear what you mean by moving the woofer to a separate box instead of a subwoofer - isn't the sub the extra box?

Also - as is evidenced by this thread - home audio is being dominated by home theater instead of music. So the needs and wants are different. Full range speakers cannot go as low as the big subs and that is what people want for big explosions and the like. Of course, the problem is a subwoofer is supposed to be there just to go lower than existing woofers. These days a lot of subs are really plain woofers and so two bookshelves and a weak sub really acts as a less efficient and cohesive full range tower. Or there can be a bad marriage of 5" mains and giant 12" subs that go really low and boomy but don't cover the "true" woofer range in between. So that can garble sound for me as well. And, again, that is why I pay extra for towers.

 

I mean exactly what you are talking about here. In order to make the speaker smaller they are moving the woofers to what is supposed to be a subwoofer. Subwoofer for home theater should go really low, like much lower than 20hz, but most "subs" are just making up for the tiny speaker people are buying now.

For 1000 bucks I think it would be pretty easy for someone to find true towers with dual 8" drivers or so. I have the JBL L890's (3 across the front like you mentioned)

 

Get an SVS Subwoofer and you will be set with Klipsch, Paradigm, Def Tech, and a myriad of other selections. Just try to get a set of 5 speakers from the same company and product line. You should be able to get great sound without spending more than $200 per speaker after you get that sub.


Dont think you have to get full fledged dipolar/bipolar rear speakers either, unless you get towers, you can even get the same rears as you do for the fronts.

 

The guy who owns Home theater store in Clear Lake said that the Difinitive Super cube is a better sub than the B&W sub that match's those xt4's. Why do say it is not as good.

 

HSU Research or SVS subwoofers will beat any subwoofer you buy at a B&M store for less than half the price!! I have an SVS subwoofer and its incredible!!

 

there 5.1 system looks like a good deal for $999
http://www.svsound.com/products-sys-sbs_black.cfm

 

There is no reason to get silly with your audio equipment, but don't forget to upgrade your receiver, and not just your speakers.

You shold consider a decent mid-range high-current brand like Onkyo or Harman Kardon, and then do some sound testing of some good Infinity or JBL bookshelf speakers paired with a nice Velodyne sub.

Your center channel is important, in an AV system, it's the most important. You will want something with a nice wide dispersion, and something with an extremely good mid and high response, as the center is not going to be heavy base, so crystal clarity is the thing to look out for. Infinity would be a good place to start there as well, and maybe look at something using a planar driver instead of a cone, and you will get great width across the room and very good mids and highs.

For rears, ideally you would like to match the front channels in brand and series, if not the exact same speaker.

Good luck!

 

I have this system with the PB12-NSD subwoofer and a Yamaha RX-1600 receiver. For the price it sounds very good!!