My speaker search update: Onix Rockets

[mchammer]

Are you concerned at all about theft at college?

 

[arod]

you going to sell the fluance cheap

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: mchammer
Are you concerned at all about theft at college?

My dad is an insurance manager, so I think I'd be ok

Plus next year I'm living in a house with some guys and my gf... it's in a regular residential neighborhood and the area is pretty nice.

In the dorms I don't think I heard of a single thing being stolen from anyone's room (out of about 90 people each year) in the three years I lived there.

So... I'm hoping it's not going to be a problem... and if it is... well... time to upgrade I guess.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: arod
you going to sell the fluance cheap

If I do sell them, I'm going to do local pickup only. There's no way I'm lugging a 70lb+ box to anywhere and paying a fortune to ship them somewhere.

I might even just get new front speakers and move the SX-HTB mains to surround duty and my SV-6s to rears.

 

[sygyzy]

Tough part will be to find stands for the sattellites. There is something so much more sturdy and "better" looking about floorstanding speakers like my roommates Energy's. Is there a SQ difference?

Is there anything special I need to know about stands (height, material, weight, etc)?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Tough part will be to find stands for the sattellites. There is something so much more sturdy and "better" looking about floorstanding speakers like my roommates Energy's. Is there a SQ difference?

Is there anything special I need to know about stands (height, material, weight, etc)?

I'm planning on getting the TP-24 stands for the front 340s and the center too. (I e-mailed them and they said that single stands were available for that)

For the surrounds, I don't know yet. Something to think about if you're considering wall mounting is that if you get a rear ported speaker (like the 170s), then you need to leave some space behind it (unlike the 200s). I don't think there's anything tricky about speaker stands really. Ideally you'd want the tweeters from your speakers at close to ear level.

As for bookshelf vs floorstander, I think the main difference is that floorstanders tend to do a little bit better in the bass department than a bookshelf with the same specs. From what I understand, the increased cabinet volume is what does this. It kind of becomes an unimportant issue though if the bass gains are below the point you're going to be crossing over to your sub if you have one.

 

[sygyzy]

Thanks for letting me join your thread.

WHat is the TP-24? Does Ascend make their own stands? How are you going to use a stand for the center? My problem with the center is I don't know how to place a center on my plasma. Once I saw a acryllic stand that actually went behind the screen and floated over it. It gave the impression that the center channel was resting on top of the plasma.

For the rears, I cannot wall or ceiling mount. I'd need stands. Or I guess I can just place them on two end tables?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Thanks for letting me join your thread.

WHat is the TP-24? Does Ascend make their own stands? How are you going to use a stand for the center? My problem with the center is I don't know how to place a center on my plasma. Once I saw a acryllic stand that actually went behind the screen and floated over it. It gave the impression that the center channel was resting on top of the plasma.

For the rears, I cannot wall or ceiling mount. I'd need stands. Or I guess I can just place them on two end tables?

The more, the merrier

They make stands (TP-24) that turn their 340s into "floorstanders" and you can special order one for the center if you want one. They have a picture of how they look right on their front page. The stands cost $100/pair when ordered with 340s. I e-mailed them and they said they also had single stands available for special orders. I guess most people that don't have projectors wouldn't want one, but it would be the perfect solution for me. I already have two speaker stands I found on the street one day that I could use for the surrounds if I chose to get 170s.

I used to have a stand that went on top of my sony wega for my center. I sold it when I sold the tv, but I have a picture of what it looked like when I took the tv off its old stand to make room for my projected image. That's about the height I have for my center now with it on a stand. If your tv is up high enough, you can place the center below the image and it sounds great. I've even read that some people have built center speakers with tweeters that are mounted above the image and woofers below and it sounds even more like it's coming from the screen itself.

There are a couple pics in this old thread about putting a shelf behind your tv attached to the wall too. Whatever you do, make sure what you get is pretty sturdy as the 340 is a 26 pound speaker frickin huge @ 7.5" x 21" x 10.5". My current center is only 9 pounds and 5.24" x 15.8" x 7.9".

For surrounds, furnature works fine too. As long as it doesn't do anything like resonate with the speaker, I don't think there are any drawbacks to doing this if you can set them up at the desired height.

Here's a good guide to speaker placement within your room from Dolby.

(If anyone is wondering, I have off today since I worked the weekend and that's why I'm not working my usual 5:30am to 1:30pm shift, woohoo!)

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Boring update:

I've sent in a request at Audioenvy to audition a pair of onix rocket RS550s and an RSC200 center.

I've never done anything like this, so I'm kind of nervous. The closest I think I've come to this is going to a little HT store and checking out some projectors before I bought mine. We (gf and I) spent the most time in front of an Infocus 7200 watching Castaway. My gf was very impressed with the speakers we were listening to. She told me they sounded a lot better than mine and I said "I know" . We were listening to a pair of $15,000 Vandersteen 5As.

David Fabrikant at Ascend has been great with all the questions I've sent to him.

I think I'd describe today as my "Axiom day". I had off today (since I worked the previous weekend), so I spent about 8 hours off and on reading all about Axiom hehe. I certainly found a lot more negative reviews for them than I did from Ascend. Most complaints are about the tweeters. I've noticed that the tweeters on my current system get kind of irritating after listening to them loudly after a while... this is something I really want to avoid in my future purchases.

If I do end up with Axiom, I think either
M60ti floorstanders with a VP150 center
or
M22ti bookshelves with M3ti surrounds and a VP150 center
would be my choices.

The thing that keeps striking me about Ascend is the lack of anything negative about them... well... except that they lack bass below 50 or 60 hz, but I have a very decent subwoofer for that anyway so I don't care. Other complaints are about the plain appearance of the speakers. From the few pictures I've seen, I like the look and would much rather have something that sounds great vs something that's a little more flashy at the expense of the components inside.


Oh, and on a related note... my gf got a pair of rats today as pets. As a trade, I'm allowed to get whatever I want and she wont complain :evil:

 

[Chode Messiah]

yamaha makes some killer speakers. 7.1 for $1200

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Chode Messiah
yamaha makes some killer speakers. 7.1 for $1200

I'm definately ok in the .1 department...

Do you have any specific models to check out in the 5.0 or 7.0 category for $1000 to $1500?

If there's something I'm reading consistenly it's that you get more for your money through internet direct products that skip the retail markup. So far I've been trying to stick to internet brand speakers and it seems like most recommendations are for them too. (Major exceptions being B&W, Infinity, JBL, and a miriad that are out of my pricerange )

 

[PurdueRy]

Axiom is an amazing value for what you get. For bookshelfs the M22ti can't be beat for the price

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: rleemhui
Axiom is an amazing value for what you get. For bookshelfs the M22ti can't be beat for the price

Have you compared them to anything else I listed? (Specifically vs the Ascends if possible)

Any comments on the tweeters that don't seem to be as controlled (and fatiguing) as some other options in the general pricerange?

I'm basically looking for something with great mids and highs as I have the low end covered already.

Thanks.

 

[V00DOO]

I have the Axiom M22ti, M3ti, VP150, QS8 along with a SVS sub and I love the way Axiom speakers sound with my HK AVR525. I haven't heard the Ascend therefore I can't give you a comparison. Many people do find the Axiom to be a little bright but I didn't find them bright at all. I was also looking at the Ascend before purchasing the Axiom. But I was not a big fan of the look of Ascend. Sound is subjective, let your ears be the judge. I don't think you could go wrong with either.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: V00DOO
I have the Axiom M22ti, M3ti, VP150, QS8 along with a SVS sub and I love the way Axiom speakers sound with my HK AVR525. I haven't heard the Ascend therefore I can't give you a comparison. Many people do find the Axiom to be a little bright but I didn't find them bright at all. I was also looking at the Ascend before purchasing the Axiom. But I was not a big fan of the look of Ascend. Sound is subjective, let your ears be the judge. I don't think you could go wrong with either.

I think my problem is so many good options

I wish it was as easy as picking out a videocard or something where you look at some charts and get the best one in your budget.

Have you compared Axiom to anything else in the range?

Thanks.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

This is a pretty sweet deal, eh?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
This is a pretty sweet deal, eh?

Rockets are another good deal. IIRC they are on the "warmer" side rather than axiom's bright side. I don't think rocket uses a metal dome tweeter whereas axiom does.

From the looks of it those are Hi-Vi speakers used in the rockets. Which would give them a similar sound to that of Swan speakers.

The axiom bookshelfs are known not to have the greatest lows but I know you have the SVS to cover that. If I were you and space were a concern I would go with the M22ti. Otherwise you can jump into the tower models but I believe the entry level tower isn't as good of a value as the next in the line.

 

[EngenZerO]

Originally posted by: V00DOO
I have the Axiom M22ti, M3ti, VP150, QS8 along with a SVS sub and I love the way Axiom speakers sound with my HK AVR525. I haven't heard the Ascend therefore I can't give you a comparison. Many people do find the Axiom to be a little bright but I didn't find them bright at all. I was also looking at the Ascend before purchasing the Axiom. But I was not a big fan of the look of Ascend. Sound is subjective, let your ears be the judge. I don't think you could go wrong with either.

yeah the ascends are not the sexiest speakers around but there sound is what made me keep them. they are actually very boxy looking but there sound makes up for it.

btw, op where are you located?

 

[isasir]

I own a pair of Ascend Acoustics CBM-170s as my fronts, and their older center channel speaker as my center. I also bought a HSU VTF-2 sub as well. My rears used to be Klipsch Quintets, but those broke, so I just picked up a cheaper pair off of Amazon.

I love my Ascends though. Absolutely amazing.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: EngenZerO

Originally posted by: V00DOO
I have the Axiom M22ti, M3ti, VP150, QS8 along with a SVS sub and I love the way Axiom speakers sound with my HK AVR525. I haven't heard the Ascend therefore I can't give you a comparison. Many people do find the Axiom to be a little bright but I didn't find them bright at all. I was also looking at the Ascend before purchasing the Axiom. But I was not a big fan of the look of Ascend. Sound is subjective, let your ears be the judge. I don't think you could go wrong with either.

yeah the ascends are not the sexiest speakers around but there sound is what made me keep them. they are actually very boxy looking but there sound makes up for it.

btw, op where are you located?

Milwaukee Wisconsin.

The focus on the internals vs. the outwards appearance is something that appeals to me in Ascend. From what I've read, it seems like you're getting a little more for your money from the Ascends because of this.

The frequency response graphs are very impressive. I also keep hearing about the increased detail you can get from the Ascends.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: isasir
I own a pair of Ascend Acoustics CBM-170s as my fronts, and their older center channel speaker as my center. I also bought a HSU VTF-2 sub as well. My rears used to be Klipsch Quintets, but those broke, so I just picked up a cheaper pair off of Amazon.

I love my Ascends though. Absolutely amazing.

Awesome. Did you compare them to anything else before keeping them?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Onix rocket update:

I got an e-mail reply from AV123 stating they could sell a pair of R550 MKIIs (on sale for $699 a pair, normally $999 a pair I think) and an RSC200 center channel ($599) for $1149 together.

That's another $150 off the set.


That's about the same price as 340s up front and 170 rears for surrounds (and 3 stands for the 340s)

From Axiom for that price, I could get 4 M22ti's and a VP150 center
or
M60ti's up front and a VP150 center

Too many good options.

 

[EvilYoda]

If you're okay with bookshelves, you should consider some more high end manufacturers...a very different sound from the speakers you've mentioned so far, but look at the European companies like Focal and especially Dynaudio.

(Note the sig...I'm still waiting )

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
If you're okay with bookshelves, you should consider some more high end manufacturers...a very different sound from the speakers you've mentioned so far, but look at the European companies like Focal and especially Dynaudio.

(Note the sig...I'm still waiting )

I haven't heard of Focal, but I've seen Dynaudio mentioned many times on AVSforum.

I see that there's a dealer in the Milwaukee area for me to check out.

What kind of price range are these? Is the Contour line in my budget? Audience?

The looks of the contour line are definately something new.

 

[EvilYoda]

You'll be looking at the Audience line, probably in the bookshelves for your price range, so the 42 or 52. Simple box form, so nothing too new or flashy...but the sound will be very different than most other speakers you've heard. Incredible detail, their Esotar tweeter technology is just phenomenal...and imaging, ooooooh the imaging.

BUT, it's pretty different and if you're concentrating on home theater moreso than music, it won't have the in-your-face presense as the other companies. But remember, any speaker that will do music WELL will do movies well, but not vice versa.