Hello. I’m looking for some help upgrading my speakers. I have a Bose Accoustimass 3 Series IV system paired with some generic rear surround speakers. I would like to have a much better system. I can maybe spend up to $500-600.
Quite frankly, for a relative newbie it’s hard to know what to choose. I see the Andrew Jones Pioneer’s mentioned quite frequently so I will definitely consider those (I’m assuming those are an upgrade?). But, want to know about other alternatives that would also be an improvement so I am looking for recommendations/suggestions.
For a sub I am considering the NXG 500 or saving up for one of the SVS subs. The room the system will go in is a fairly decent sized basement. All suggestions are welcome. If possible I'd like to purchase from Newegg or Amazon as I have credit there.
The Bose Acoustimas is a small cube with no tweeter..almost any/every speaker will be an upgrade!
The Pioneers AJ speakers, not my personal favorite, will be a very large step up in quality from the Bose. Polk, Ascend Acoustics, EMPtek, Def Tech, Infinity, all make speakers that would fit your budget and IMHO (and that doesn't count for anything, your ears are what counts) would be a large improvement from the Bose and better than the Pioneers!
a $500-$600 budget is pretty modest for a 5.0 system, but that gives you a lot of options if you aren't counting the Sub in that price as well. The most important thing is not to rush. Take your time deciding what you want. Take the opportunity to listen to different speakers whenever possible to discover what kind of sound you are looking for.
What are you planning to use this system for mostly? Music? Movies? Games? Combination? (most commonly these days a HT system has to do all of the above) Recommendations will depend on what your most common usage will be.
Thank you to those who have made suggestions so far. I'm looking for alternatives to consider within my price budget that I can compare to the Pioneers. I'm not opposed to floor standers as I was considering them as part of the Pioneers.
I own the jbl130 and they are part of my bedroom 3.1. I have previously owned the pioneer AJ bookshelf and I think the jbl is better. Just my opinion....
I've been reading some other threads and have learned about some other recommendations in a situation that doesn't seem too different from mine. So, I am going to list some possibilities and would appreciate it if others could chime in ranking the combinations I have listed.
#1 . Pioneer FS52 x 4 + C22 center channel #2 . Pioneer FS52 x 2 + BS22 x 2 or x 4 (depending upon 5.1 or 7.1 setup) #3 . Infinity Primus P163 Bookshelf x 2 + Infinity Primus P143 x 2 or 4 (depending upon 5.1 or 7.1) + Infinity Primus PC351 center channel #4 . Infinity Primus P163 Bookshelf x 2 + Infinity Primus P153 x 2 or 4 (depending upon 5.1 or 7.1)+ Infinity Primus PC351 center channel #5 . Sony Core Bookshelf speakers x 4 or 6 (depending upon 5.1 or 7.1 setup) + Sony Core center channel #6 . Sony Core Floorstanding speakers x 2 + Sony core center channel (use existing surrounds until I can upgrade them). #7 . HTD Level 2 Bookshelf speakers x 2 + HTD level 2 center channel + HTD Level 2 Surround Speakers #8 . EMP E5Bi Bookshelf speakers x 4 or 6 (depending upon 5.1 or 7.1) + EMP E5Ci center channel
Obviously, there are some differences in price at play. But, I want to weigh the rankings from you experienced users vs. price to help in my decision making process. And keep in mind I am coming from the pitiful Bose + generic surrounds.
OK for fun and my subjective preference - however, can not really speak for the EMP.
(1) The new Sony Core speakers
(2) HTD speakers
(3) Pioneer phase 2 speakers - improved and better over the phase 1 series
(4) Infinity Primus speakers
At first glance though the HTD's pop out to me but thats not because I am familar with their sound but they have a great in-home trial period with their speakers.
Certainly can't go wrong with any of the other choices. EMPtek may be worth a look those that have them rave about them.
I like the Inifinity's too the P163's and p153's sound good for their price.
Well from the looks of it, only the AJ Pioneers and the Sony Core speakers are available for listening at Best Buy. I thought I had read in the Pioneer thread though that those speakers sound much much better at home than at Best Buy.
You are right about budget factoring in. I purchased the Pioneers a couple of days ago when they went on sale but am worried that I might be missing out on something by spending a bit more. I guess that's why I was looking for someone to rank those options I mentioned to assist with weighing price vs. performance; particularly with the Pioneers.
You are asking other people to rank the sound of speakers? What if your opinion isn't the same as mine? For instance, many people love Klipsch speakers and the very dynamic/forward horn tweeter. I do not, unless you really spend some serious cash...so a Klipsch enthusiast and I would disagree on the list...even if we had similar musical tastes.
but that disclaimer not withstanding, and at some point you just have to put down the computer and buy some speakers...of the speakers on the list that I have heard, I would rank EMP > Infinity Primus (but very close) >> both WAY better than Pioneers.
my guess is that the HTD speakers would be at the top of my list with the EMP, based on what I have heard described about the sound they can produce.
I went to BB today and they had them speakers on a shelf - separated fairly well. Had to push buttons to compare the sound. The Sony's did seem more full and dynamic - but overall the sound was just "not good" because of the system. Bleah. The Pio's that I had sounded very good when I owned them.
I've been thinking about speaker placement. My seating area is about 3 ft to the top of the coach and the first possible place i might be able to put speakers on the side wall is about 6 ft high. Wondering which is the better option. Something like this for the walls: http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Clamping-Mounting-Surrounding-MS56B/dp/B000X9O8SI
Haven't made up my mind yet to go with 5.1 or 7.1. Right now, I am leaning toward the AJ Pioneers because I was able to pick up the 52 towers for $89 for a pair of them and bookshelves for $80 per pair (2 pairs) from Walmart. Thoughts/suggestions appreciated!
I've been thinking about speaker placement. My seating area is about 3 ft to the top of the coach and the first possible place i might be able to put speakers on the side wall is about 6 ft high. Wondering which is the better option. Something like this for the walls: http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Clamping-Mounting-Surrounding-MS56B/dp/B000X9O8SI
Haven't made up my mind yet to go with 5.1 or 7.1. Right now, I am leaning toward the AJ Pioneers because I was able to pick up the 52 towers for $89 for a pair of them and bookshelves for $80 per pair (2 pairs) from Walmart. Thoughts/suggestions appreciated!
I could also use a suggestion regarding a receiver and amp. My room extends beyond this but the listening area is approximately 20 feet long, about 15 feet wide and 8 or so feet deep. Would the SVS PB1000 be too much amp for that room? Really it is between that and the NXG 500 subwoofer for the room.
You can never have too much for a subwoofer but you can have too little for a subwoofer. If the SVS PB-1000 is in your budget I would spend the money. You can always turn the subwoofer gain down, you can only turn it up so much. However I would take a serious look at the Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Plus currently on sale for $499 shipped. Normally they are $549 without shipping. The LFM-1 Plus is likely to have more output than the SVS PB-1000 in my opinion. Plus its tunable if you want deep bass or if you just want louder bass not going as deep.
I could also use a suggestion regarding a receiver and amp. My room extends beyond this but the listening area is approximately 20 feet long, about 15 feet wide and 8 or so feet deep. Would the SVS PB1000 be too much amp for that room? Really it is between that and the NXG 500 subwoofer for the room.
Those mounts are the ones that are recommended for the BS22's. I have the same stands as the ones you are looking at but the 24" version.
The wireless transmitter would do the trick of making the subwoofer wireless.
Well if you need to purchase through amazon I would suggest the SVS PB-1000 for $500. If you need a speaker option you can check out SVS's Outlet Specials They have a PB-1000 for $475
If anyone is willing, I could still use some recommendations regarding placement of the surrounds. Are they better mounted on stands or atttempting a ceiling/wall mounting? How high do they need to be?
I'm also curious, if these speakers would be considered an improvement over an all AJ Pioneer setup.
In other words, if I use the F52's and the CS 22 center channel in the front would I be better served using the 22's in the rear (either in a 5.1 or 7.1 setup). Or should I consider these Fluance's in the rear as part of a 5.1 or 7.1 setup or even a mix between the 22's and the Fluance in a 7.1 setup?
If anyone is willing, I could still use some recommendations regarding placement of the surrounds. Are they better mounted on stands or atttempting a ceiling/wall mounting? How high do they need to be?
I'm also curious, if these speakers would be considered an improvement over an all AJ Pioneer setup.
In other words, if I use the F52's and the CS 22 center channel in the front would I be better served using the 22's in the rear (either in a 5.1 or 7.1 setup). Or should I consider these Fluance's in the rear as part of a 5.1 or 7.1 setup or even a mix between the 22's and the Fluance in a 7.1 setup?
Can anyone recommend anything from Polk or Def Tech. that would be within my budget but better than the AJ Pioneers (or anything else within the budget not yet mentioned)? I want to explore all options before making a final decision.
The Polks are horrendous until you get to the RTi series. If you can afford some Rtis, that would be comparable to the Infinity Primus. The Monitor and TSi lines are much worse, in my opinion. As for DefTech, I don't know enough to advise. If you want just good speakers, look at the measurements, if they are good, the speaker should sound good or at least inoffensive. Some affordable speakers that measure well: NHT Absolute Zeros, Ascend CBM170, Hsu HB-1. The Primus speakers also measure very well for the price. The Wavecrest HVL-1 look like high performing bookshelf speakers for the money as well.
Thank you for the response! I will take a look at those. Can you speak to the Infinity Primus towers and how the Primus center channel compares to the Pioneer?
Amazon has the Infinity Primus 363's for $107 each. Don't know if I should have or not, but I pulled the trigger on a pair thinking I could always return them.
I feel I need to sort of hit the "reset" button on this thread. I've debated back and forth between different options and have been frustrated due to the inability to listen to hardly anything in person. What I decided to do was something I saw another user did in another thread and create a google doc detailing different configurations I am considering (including sub and AVR). One thing I would like to know is advantages and disadvantages of using floorstanders vs. bookshelves. I'm also curious if the Sanus stands will work for any bookshelves if I decide to go that route.
Since creating the list, there are a couple I feel like I need to eliminate because I just can't spend that much unless there is some deal on them I am not aware of making them more affordable. Those two are the NHT and HSU configurations. I have a good deal of credit and gift cards to Amazon that are even allowing me to stretch this far.
Having said that, I would appreciate as much feedback as possible regarding what I am considering, including any modifications you might suggest to what I am considering. Along with what you consider the better options to be, including advantages and disadvantages of them. Please keep in mind regarding feedback that my primary uses will be movies and T.V. with an occasional music and that I am coming from a pitiful Bose Accoustimass 3 Series IV speaker system with just old generic ceiling mounted rears and a Bose center channel. Listening area is 2,220 cubic feet (room stretches out longer than that though).
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
AVS Forum
34M posts
1.5M members
Since 1999
A forum community dedicated to home theater owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about home audio/video, TVs, projectors, screens, receivers, speakers, projects, DIY’s, product reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!