New speakers, bookshelf, 2.1, suggestions...

homercles337

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2004
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71
I picked up a HK 3490 receiver and now i need some new speaker recommendations. Bookshelfs, or bookshelfs with sub would be great. Keep in mind this is a stereo receiver, so 5/7.1 setups are not what im looking at. Im looking for rich sounding small form factor speakers. If they come with a sub, great, but i dont need a 2.1 (Im looking at subs independently, but might like a package). Sub $500 for a pair i suppose. Thoughts?
 

queequeg99

Senior member
Oct 17, 2001
571
5
81
How large a room are you in? What are you listening to? It sounds like music only (i.e. no games or movies). One option is to start with a pair of Energy RC10s. You can get them in black at Vanns for $300 a pair if I recall correctly. These are very highly regarded bookshelf speakers that have been supplanted by a newer model. I have a pair in the rosenut finish (all stock in this finish is sold out from what I can tell) set up in a room that is about 12x12 (and totally closed off) and they are really really excellent, even at loud volumes. In a larger room (or any room with a large opening to the rest of the house), I would want to use a sub.

Aperion makes some very good bookshelfs that hit the max of your budget (the Verus line). They are also very good. I don't have them but have listened to them extensively. I do have a number of other Aperion speakers and love them. To be honest, I'm not sure if the extra money for the Aperions is worth it over the Energys. They are better and are a bit larger, so they can fill a larger room with fuller sound without the need for a sub. But they do cost 66% more money. It depends on your specific situation (including how frugal you are). Aperion offers a 30 trial with free shipping both ways so you can try them out in your home at no expense.

There are a ton of other options. Have you tried searching for "bookshelf" over at the speaker subforum on avsforum.com? There are a ton of threads on this exact issue. Good luck.
 
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Cstefan

Golden Member
Oct 6, 2005
1,510
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over at parts express, they have a special buy on BIC speakers and subs.
 

homercles337

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2004
6,340
3
71
How large a room are you in? What are you listening to? It sounds like music only (i.e. no games or movies).

Thanks for the suggestions. Looking into them now (both yours and the BICs provided by Cstefan). Im in a large room (its a loft really), and for quality listening would be mainly music (rock), but also the occasional movie.
 
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Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
you can get a set of Pioneer BS41s for under 200 and then a bic F12 sub for 200 ish

the bs41s while extremely cheap and great little speakers, i think BB still sells them so you could easily return them if you didn't want them

spending more the ones mentioned above are good, id look at the Axiom M3's and M22's as well if you have the space for the 22s
 
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BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,353
1,862
126
I have a BIC PL200 sub, it may be outside of your price range, but Just wanted to comment on how impressed I was with it. it was a lot deeper and louder than any of the subs I demoed at Abt, Frys, and Best Buy ...

I have a pair of BIC Accoustech PL 66 speakers for my rears ... I don't remember what I paid but it wasn't very bad ... probably around $175 or so for the pair.) This was to replace a $99 sony set I had bought around 2000 or so...

If you want bookshelves that can fill a whole room, then these are going to be hard to beat for the money....

http://www.bicamerica.com/showpage.php?brand=1&type=7&spkrID=96

I have a pair of older BIC RTR1530 speakers as well. These are my front main speakers, and honestly, they are a lot quieter than my PL66's (so I've turned the PL66's down quite a bit on my receiver.)
 

queequeg99

Senior member
Oct 17, 2001
571
5
81

The Hsu speakers are very nice. I have a pair. I actually got them at the same time as the Energy RC10s. In the room where I have the Hsus, they are the better speaker because I don't have a sub in that room and the Hsu speakers can cranks out more sound across the entire range (but especially at the lower end). However, in the room where I have the Energy speakers (quite a bit smaller), I like the Energys more. I use the Energy speakers solely for music and I think they sound a bit better for that purpose. I like the Hsus more when watching TV and movies. Purely subjective on my part (and the Hsu do sound good with music, just not as good as the Energys)

Of course, the Hsus are the exact same price as the RC10s (in the black finish).

I haven't regretted my Hsu purchase for one second.