Audiophile Help Needed...Small Speakers!

[blues008]

Hi all,

My friend is looking to buy a home theater speaker setup. Has the receiver and DVD player, but would like some small speakers.

I don't want to use the BOSE series as I've heard they are highly over-rated and over-priced.

Any other brands that I should be looking at?

Thanks!
blues

 

[tweakmm]

good idea on the no bose.
price range?

 

[Gunbuster]

how small?
bose sugar cube size or just not 4 foot floor standing?

 

[blues008]

They cannot be floor standing.

And four a 5.1 setup, the max is $1500. So, definitely a good budget.

 

[Zim Hosein]

blues008, I not an audiophile, but a good brand that make small-sized HT speakers are B&W, their website is: http://www.bwspeakers.com/

For a website that deals w/ HT stuff try this one: http://www.digitaltheater.com/

Hope this helps.

 

[Pepsi90919]

i love it when i see the word audiophile being tossed around mindlessly, like any audiophiles really visit these forums.

 

[Viperoni]

If you want to go the DIY route, saving yourself hundreds of dollars, and getting way better sound, take a look at:
The Vance Dickason design 5 piece HT kit with dipole surrounds
and
The 15inch Dayton DVC active subwoofer kit

I built a HT sub for my own HT using the same driver and amp like in the sub kit, except I made a bigger box.
I can honestly tell it ROCKS. Music is very clean, but it really shake the whole house in movies. You can easily hear it outside the house too.
Check my sig for pics of it

 

[Squisher]

Try, NHT or Paradigm.

 

[kami]

$1500 you can put together a nice system since he already has the electronics!!

Being a big fan of Paradigm, I'm gonna recommend some of it...

Main speakers: Mini-monitors -- $280-$300 per pair
Surround speakers: Same as above
Center channel: CC-370 (same link as above, just click the links to go to the specs page) - $250ish
Subwoofer: You can't go small here because a small subwoofer sounds like utter crap. His best bet is to find a place in his room to put a subwoofer. Since he still has $500-$700 left in the budget he could get a really nice sub. Something like a PW-2200

Also regarding the center channel: You can't get a good sounding small one. But it doesn't matter much since center channels are long and meant to sit on top of a TV...they aren't intrusive.

I have a feeling Viperoni is about to burst in screaming "DIY!! DIY!!!!!!"...but I have never heard a SMALL DIY that can compete with this stuff. edit: he already did! damn

If he shops around there's no reason he couldn't get all of this for less than $1500, and many dealers will give you lots of money off when you buy packages deals.

 

[blues008]

Hey Kami,

Thanks for the help - it's very much appreciated.

Unfortunately, they can't be floor standing speakers/monitors. They need to be around the BOSE Lifestyle speakers size.

I know, if it were my house, I'd be happy with floor standing speakers, but the one condition for this system is that it has to be small.

 

[Viperoni]

<< I have a feeling Viperoni is about to burst in screaming "DIY!! DIY!!!!!!"...but I have never heard a SMALL DIY that can compete with this stuff. >>



The Morel tweeters in the Vance Dickason fronts cost $55 each alone....the tweeters out of my Paradigm 5SE cabinets cost $25 each...those were $500 a pair speakers :Q

Plus with the Vance setup you get dipole surrounds (better for surround usage because it's much harder to tell where the sounds coming from)

 

[kami]

blues, i said the mini-monitors. you put them on stands. they are NOT floor standing. They are only about a foot tall.

As a matter of fact, I think the picture on the right of that link i gave you is the mini-monitor and cc-370 together. They aren't very big!

 

[blues008]

Kami, as strange as it sounds, stands are out of the question.

They need to be wall mounted, so that's why the small size is needed.

I know, it's a lot to ask, but that's what the woman wants.

 

[Viperoni]

<< Kami, as strange as it sounds, stands are out of the question.

They need to be wall mounted, so that's why the small size is needed.

I know, it's a lot to ask, but that's what the woman wants.

>>



You could probably mount the VD setup using wall mounts (those omnimounts aren't too expensive and can be mounted behind the speaker so you dont even see them)

VD setup size:



<< Cabinet Specifications:
* Left/Right cabinet dimensions: 17.25" H x 7" W x 8.5" D (including grill)
* Center channel cabinet dimensions: 8" H x 17.1" W x 7.5" D (including grill)
* Di-pole surround cabinet dimensions: 7" H x 7.5" W x 7.1" D (top) x 9.1" (bottom) >>

 

[kami]

You can wall-mount the mini-monitors. The speakers are 15lbs each.

If he wants Bose cube size he may as well go and get the Bose and enjoy the sh!tty experience. hell, he could probably buy some creative labs computer speakers and get equal sound quality for 1/10 of the price.

 

[kami]

Viperoni, if these people were actually considering Bose and they want little cube speakers do you really think they want to go to the trouble of building speakers from scratch? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase.

DIY rules, but it's not for the common consumer.

 

[blues008]

Thanks for the help guys.

I'll take a look at the DIY Speakers, but no promises

Take a look at these by B&W:

Link!

And also, by Acoustic Energy:

Link!

The Aego 2 lists for $599!!!

 

[Gunbuster]

The JBL studio series gets great reviews on audioreview.com and the new S36 is wall mountable

I have the S38's and love them

 

[bcterps]

Check out these systems. I bought the System 9000 about 3 years ago, and they absolutely rock for the price/size. I live in an apartment, so size is important to me. These things are quite small, are definitely wall mountable, BA sells brackets for them if you want to mount em. The only complaint I had with the system was that the subwoofer was a little weak, but they have since upgraded the subwoofer they sell in the package so I'm sure its much better.

--Ben

 

[N8Magic]

I own the Paradigms you speak of, and I could take them or leave them. They don't impress me all that much.

If I had that magical $1500.00 limit to spend on speakers, I would purchase some speakers from the PSB Image series, which are a step up from their highly rated Alpha series.

You could put a system together as follows:

4 x PSB Image 2B = $798.00
1 x PSB Image 8C = $399.00
1 x PSB Subsonic 6 = $649.00

Total = $1846.00 (MSRP)

If you were to go to your local dealer, you could probably get the package for $1500.00. MSRP prices are usually wayyyy inflated. This system would blow the doors off ANY crappy Bose system.

 

[Viperoni]

<< Viperoni, if these people were actually considering Bose and they want little cube speakers do you really think they want to go to the trouble of building speakers from scratch? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase.

DIY rules, but it's not for the common consumer. >>



Yeah you got a point.
*sigh*

Hey, when you gonna come hear my sub?

 

[kami]

<<

<< Viperoni, if these people were actually considering Bose and they want little cube speakers do you really think they want to go to the trouble of building speakers from scratch? Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase.

DIY rules, but it's not for the common consumer. >>



Yeah you got a point.
*sigh*

Hey, when you gonna come hear my sub? >>


LOL...saw it on your site, looks fricken huge! :Q You ever gonna paint or stain your stuff though?

I might bug you when im outta college though cause I may DIY for at least the sub then. I can't do it now...I already have enough problems with my neighbour here in the dorms

 

[glen]

Who would host pictures of my home sub if I took some?

 

[CanOWorms]

I don't know anything about speakers, but there are these small spherical speakers.. I think they're by Gallo or something

 

[glen]

oh, and I agree with the above post on PSB speakers.

Viper, will you host pics of my sub?