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Upgrade HT Speakers, $3k budget

482 views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  jbrown15 
#1 ·
Hello fellow Enthusiasts!

Long timelurker and occasional poster here with a request for help! I need to upgrade mycurrent Home Theater Speakers as I am moving into a house with a small but dedicatedtheater room! Hooray! I am hoping your experience with various manufacturerscan help me make the best decision. A HUGE thanks to anyone who contributes to thisthread as your experience and recommendations have proved to be INVALUABLE overthe years. Seriously, the posters here on the forums are AMAZING!

My usage is50% Movies, 50% Video Games, and I have a budget of $3,000 for speakers.

Current situation:
MirageOMD-15 towers for L/R and a Mirage OMD-C1 for C with OMD5 surrounds and dualHsu VTF-3 MK4 subs. This is in a large open room with some acoustical treatmentand a 100” projection screen.

Things Ilike about this system:
Hugesoundstage, non-fatiguing sound, OMD-15’s are very musical with moviesoundtracks, every seat in the big room has good sound. It seems like you are wearinga room-sized headphone with these speakers. Sometimes you wonder if thespeakers are on as you cannot tell which speaker the sound is coming from.

Things Ido not like:
Surround effectsare sometimes too diffuse, mid-range can sound thin at times, piano blackfinish is VERY shiny and reflects light from my projector screen.

FutureSituation:
Small hometheater room (11x14) with 10’ ceilings, it will be painted all black with full acoustictreatments on walls, ceiling and corner bass traps. I am trying to fit threeseats in this room so the surround speakers will only be a couple of feet (2-3)away from people.

Option 1:
Keepeverything but replace the OMD-15’s with a pair of OMD-5’s. This solutionworries me since the room will be fully treated but Omnipolar sound needs roomreflections to be effective. Keep the subs.

Option 2:
Replace theLCR speakers and keep the OMD-5’s for surround duty. Keep the subs.

Option 3:
Replace allof the speakers with something else entirely. Keep the subs.

Things Iwould like to know:

- Do you think Hsu Bookshelf speakers (HB-1 MK2)would be an upgrade or downgrade from my current system?

- What speakers would you recommend for my space,budget and use?

- Would going 7.1 be worthwhile in such a smallspace?

- If you owned my system, were moving and had awife approved budget of $3,000 to spend on HT gear, what would you buy?

Thanks againto this wonderful community for all of the research, guides and help over theyears. You have transformed my home theater experience and given me hours offun reading posts, calibrating gear and enjoying this amazing hobby we all havethe luxury of sharing. Happy Holidays everyone!
 
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#2 ·
Nice join date to post count ratio!

Definitely keep the subs. Those guys should be killer in a room that size. You are going to want to replace your LCR with something with a more controlled dispersion pattern IMO, all that closed in reflected sound will cause all kinds of cancelations. Room treatments will help, but you dont want a dead room just to fix your speakers. If your 100" screen isnt acoustically transparent you should replace it with one that is. You should have a "stage" built into the wall behind the screen and place 3 identical vertically oriented speakers into the stage behind the screen. This is how an actual movie theater is setup. You have tons of speaker options in a room that small, dont let people try to talk you into 95+db horns as your only option.

picture is example of setup

 
#6 ·
Thank you for the suggestion! I had not even considered an AT projector screen. I imagine it would definitely help with imaging of the LCR, If you don't mind me asking, do you need to acoustically treat the wall behind the speakers? Also, how is the image quality at 9' seating distance? I am currently using a Lunar Gray screen from SI and can definitely see some texture in the image. You get used to it after a while but I would hate it if you can see a lot of texture in movies due to the screen. I was already considering replacing that screen because of this issue so this could be a big factor in changing screens for me. I LOVE the idea of the speakers being behind the screen but want to make sure image quality doesn't suffer.

Thanks again for your help!
 
#3 · (Edited)
Keeping the huge soundstage would be priority 1, I would think. You will miss it if the new speakers throw a smaller one. I would limit yourself to physically narrow speakers, or ones with top-mounted tweeters. I would also look at ribbon-like tweeters, such as from Ascend and Golden Ear (Triton 7s?). I would avoid horn tweeters like the plague if you are sensitive to listener fatigue. The HSUs, however, have been said to be very listenable, so they may be an exception.

My advice is to LISTEN, LISTEN, and LISTEN some more. Let your ears be your guide. Try to set up appointments with local dealers (not just stuff at Best Buy) to listen to a wide variety of speakers and get yourself acquainted with non-360 degree dispersion approaches. It may take some time to learn to appreciate what these designs have to offer.

Lastly, don't be in a hurry. Take your time and do it right so you won't be looking to replace the speakers in another 6 months. You've got a great head start with the pair of VTF3 mk4s (in that size room they will blow you away).

;)
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
+1 this. However, as good as your subwoofers are, speakers like the Reactions will far exceed them in terms of dynamic range. I would go for the Reaction and JBL surround setup with plans of upgrading the subs when you can. That ought to get you honest-to-god THX reference levels.
 
#7 ·
Thanks to Shady & Zieg for the Reaction recommendations. I read through the 30 page thread here on AVS and its fairly inconclusive so far. A couple people have bought them and like them but its such a new speaker (from a new company) that there isn't a lot to go on yet. They appear well made and are using parts that people seem to regard highly. How do these sound at lower volumes? I tend to watch movies at -18 or -20 with games at -30. So powerful reference level sound is not needed. I am looking for quality sound that envelopes you and doesn't fatigue your ears after several hours of listening.
 
#9 · (Edited)
You can also look at Ascend CMT-340 > one each for the L/C/R speakers
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340m.html

The JBL Studio 5 sound signature, does not give me ear fatigue - buy 3 each
Look at 3 each of the Studio 580
http://www.amazon.com/JBL-Studio-580-Floorstanding-Loudspeaker/dp/B0060IG460

The Studio 570
http://www.amazon.com/JBL-Studio-570-Floorstanding-Loudspeaker/dp/B0068HAAVS

KEF Q300 is another option to look at - buy 2 pair and have a spare
http://www.kefdirect.com/q300-bookshelf-loudspeaker.html

Also, the Q700 - sold each
http://www.kefdirect.com/q700-floorstanding-loudspeaker.html
 
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