Update: I ended up going with 3 Klipsch La Scalas up front. I bought them used for a total of $1700.
My goals are to get something very dynamic that can play at high volume to keep up with my epik empire subwoofer which can hit 130db at 80hz.
I just listened to some 1977 klipsch la scalas and some 1972 (maybe) klipsch heresy's. I then went home to listen to my current setup with the same songs (maria carey).
The klipsch speakers were so clear and had such separation that it almost make the electronic drum sounding carey song's sound bare (with lots of holes in the sound field). When listening to my setup, the same song just sounded terrible with all of the sounds being on top of one another. There was no separation of voice and individual instruments. I listened to these songs at around 110db or so (guessing). My speakers have a high sensitivity of around 97. My onkyo receiver puts out about 145 watts rms into 2 channels.
Rock music on the klipsch speakers sounded just plain amazing on both sets. The sound field really filled in and the heresy's sounded on par with the ls scalas with the exception of less bass which shouldn't be a problem for me since I have a decent subwoofer.
I posted here earlier, but have done more research. I got some great advice from you guys to get me started in the right direction and to figure out what my goals really are; crisp, loud, distortion free, accurate sound.
The pro-10's were a suggestion that I might go for, but they haven't been released yet so I'm considering others too. I don't mind buying used. My fiance prefers a more modern look though, so new might be good. I of course want the best sound for my money and can deal with older designs better than she.
I can't get the clear sound out of my head that came with the la scala's. The heresy's sounded very similar to the la scala's too and both would be a huge (like 10 fold) improvement over my cerwin vega's.
The la scalas are in great condition and are selling for $1300. I found a really good condition (according to the add) heresy's for $350. I found another set of heresys with an asking price of $300 with cosmetic damage (i haven't seen them yet).
The pro-10's will go for $1000 for 3 or $1600 for 5. There are a lot of options here, but advice would be great on these or other options that might be good for my goals. I probably won't spend more than $1500 to start with and would prefer spending about $1000 for the front 3 speakers (and add the rears later, use my cerwin vegas for now).
I know now that I really need an upgrade in my ht speakers.
I listen to home theater 95% of the time (with the new la scalas I listen to music about 20% of the time now).
Here's my current speaker setup. Cerwin Vega RE-30's for fronts (12 inch floorstanding circa ~1996), Cerwin Vega RE-20 (floorstanding 8 inch) for the center and one RE-20 (just picked up a pair) for a surround and the other surround is a cerwin vega D-1, I believe, (8 in floorstanding) that I bought used in 1992), and a recently purchased Epik Empire subwoofer (dual 15in subs, 600W amplifier for $799 (retail $1499).
I currently have an epson 8500ub 1080p projector ($2500), a da-lite high power 119 inch diagonal screen (Cinema contour) ($1500), an onkyo sr-805 receiver (130W RMS X7, THX ultra 2 certification), and a PS3.
Any advice from the experts?
My goals are to get something very dynamic that can play at high volume to keep up with my epik empire subwoofer which can hit 130db at 80hz.
I just listened to some 1977 klipsch la scalas and some 1972 (maybe) klipsch heresy's. I then went home to listen to my current setup with the same songs (maria carey).
The klipsch speakers were so clear and had such separation that it almost make the electronic drum sounding carey song's sound bare (with lots of holes in the sound field). When listening to my setup, the same song just sounded terrible with all of the sounds being on top of one another. There was no separation of voice and individual instruments. I listened to these songs at around 110db or so (guessing). My speakers have a high sensitivity of around 97. My onkyo receiver puts out about 145 watts rms into 2 channels.
Rock music on the klipsch speakers sounded just plain amazing on both sets. The sound field really filled in and the heresy's sounded on par with the ls scalas with the exception of less bass which shouldn't be a problem for me since I have a decent subwoofer.
I posted here earlier, but have done more research. I got some great advice from you guys to get me started in the right direction and to figure out what my goals really are; crisp, loud, distortion free, accurate sound.
The pro-10's were a suggestion that I might go for, but they haven't been released yet so I'm considering others too. I don't mind buying used. My fiance prefers a more modern look though, so new might be good. I of course want the best sound for my money and can deal with older designs better than she.
I can't get the clear sound out of my head that came with the la scala's. The heresy's sounded very similar to the la scala's too and both would be a huge (like 10 fold) improvement over my cerwin vega's.
The la scalas are in great condition and are selling for $1300. I found a really good condition (according to the add) heresy's for $350. I found another set of heresys with an asking price of $300 with cosmetic damage (i haven't seen them yet).
The pro-10's will go for $1000 for 3 or $1600 for 5. There are a lot of options here, but advice would be great on these or other options that might be good for my goals. I probably won't spend more than $1500 to start with and would prefer spending about $1000 for the front 3 speakers (and add the rears later, use my cerwin vegas for now).
I know now that I really need an upgrade in my ht speakers.
I listen to home theater 95% of the time (with the new la scalas I listen to music about 20% of the time now).
Here's my current speaker setup. Cerwin Vega RE-30's for fronts (12 inch floorstanding circa ~1996), Cerwin Vega RE-20 (floorstanding 8 inch) for the center and one RE-20 (just picked up a pair) for a surround and the other surround is a cerwin vega D-1, I believe, (8 in floorstanding) that I bought used in 1992), and a recently purchased Epik Empire subwoofer (dual 15in subs, 600W amplifier for $799 (retail $1499).
I currently have an epson 8500ub 1080p projector ($2500), a da-lite high power 119 inch diagonal screen (Cinema contour) ($1500), an onkyo sr-805 receiver (130W RMS X7, THX ultra 2 certification), and a PS3.
Any advice from the experts?