Few home theater/speaker questions

[Pastore]

Ok, heres the deal. I've got a Kenwood receiver that's got 120 watts per channel, over 2 channels. Right now, I have a Bose Acoustimass Speaker system on it. Each speaker is only rated 70 watts, and the sub also sucks up some power. I have some nice crystal clear sound and crisp highs, with decent lows from my sub, but the volume could be much higher. I am wondering, if I picked up a couple of 120 watt bookshelf speakers, how would the sound be compared to my Bose system I currently have. I have a feeling the lows would be muddy without a sub, and the highs wouldn't be as clear. But please, help me out here. I am looking at spending under $200 USD for 2 bookshelf speakers. Would I get any better sound going to the bookshelfs, or should I just stick with the Acoustimass system. Thanks guys.

EDIT* The reason I am solely looking at bookselfs is because I am living in dorms in January and am going to need as much room as possible, so no floor standing.

 

[nord1899]

I'll side step the obvious Bose bashing, I'm sure you've heard it many times.

Check out OneCall.com and their selection of bookshelf speakers.

 

[olds]

The speaker wattage rating has no meaning as far as how loud the system will be. It is only an indication of how much power a speaker can handle. (It's not all that accurate at measuring that either, depending on receiver specs). More important is how efficient the speaker is. It is called sensitivity and is rated in dB. I don't think Bose publishes those numbers for obvious reasons but I may be wrong. I would think what you have is adequate for a dorm-room and I bet your neighbors will agree.

 

[Pastore]

So the sensitivity is the max db the speaker can output?

 

[olds]

Too lazy to type, cut and paste.

Sensitivity
The sound pressure level produced by the speaker, usually measured in decibels. The higher this figure, the louder your speakers will play with a given amount of amplifier power.

Efficiency (Sensitivity)
Indicates how well a speaker system converts input power into sound. Efficiency is usually measured by driving a speaker with one watt of power and measuring the loudness (in decibels) at a one meter distance from the speaker. The higher the number, or sound pressure level, the more efficient (i.e. louder) the speaker. Efficiency measures the quantity of sound ? not the quality.

 

[Antoneo]

I recommend picking up a pair of Paradigm Atoms, should be around $150 for a pair and you can use em as rears when you upgrade.

 

[Johnnie]

Polk or Klipsch some of the best sounding speakers

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: Johnnie
Polk or Klipsch some of the best sounding speakers

LOL, good one.