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Help me select a good WAF bookshelf that works well with a LARGE sub

2K views 43 replies 19 participants last post by  steveting99 
#1 ·
I currently have an audio room upstairs but the wife was never keen on having speakers in the living room (she says because of the kids but I think it was really the decor/looks). Anyway, all but one of the kids are gone and the wife has agreed to some bookshelves on stands and a center channel speaker. Here are my stipulations:

1. The only sub I have now is a 15" Dayton Audio thats tuned to about 28hz. Its not fast but its low and it will be the sub used for the home theater. If possible I need a bookshelf/monitor thats going to provide a good midbass/bass to help fill in that gap.

2. The center channel needs to be something that can be placed horizontally under the TV and timber matched to the bookshelves.

3. Not really a stipulation but my wife really likes the look of real wood. My current speakers are big gloss black towers and she hates the look of them and really hates having to dust and clean the prints off of them all the time.

4. I would really like to keep the budget for all 3 speakers under $1000.

5. My wife and kid will often just switch over to the Dish music stations and play music for hours. Its a mix of country, top 40 and hip-hop. So whatever I get needs to be relatively easy to drive and put out a lot of sound. There wont be any critical listening here, just something good for movies and "jamming out" while she entertains.

Based on a these forums I've started looking at some of the following choices:

Wharfdale Diamond 10.2 in Rosewood - Not a real veneer, but looks good.
HTD Level 3 in Macassar Ebony - These are in my top 2 at the moment based on paper specs and looks.
Focal Chorus 706 - Only available in black but its a black ash and not a high gloss black. Little more money than the others.
HSU HB-1 MK2 in Rosenut - The other speaker in my top 2 based on paper specs and looks.
JBL Studio 230 - These are the wold card. I think they might be the best choice for the day to day music that they play but wish they came in something other than black.

Any help here would be appreciated! Ive been an AVS member for years but havent posted in a while and the system wasnt able to find my email address. Im guessing there was a user reset or purge in the last few years?

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
In my opinion from a WAF perspective the Wharfedales or the HSUs would be the best option. They both sound great too. I've had the HB-1's and currently have the Wharfedale 10.1's.
 
#4 · (Edited)
#5 ·
SVS and EMP both have some nice offerings, though I think in the case of SVS you're going to be heading north of that $1000 mark if you go with the Prime series. My rear surrounds are the SVS prime Satellites, again they may be smaller then what you're looking for but I've been very happy with them. I own EMP towers and have been very pleased with them, I can't personally speak about their bookshelf speakers, but I would imagine that they are great as well.

I will echo the above, EMP's look fantastic. They may well be the best looking speakers under $1000 on the market.
 
#6 ·
Aperion Audio Versus Grande bookshelf and Versus Forte center.

60 day in home trial with Aperion too.

Real wood veneer, class looking and by all accounts, great sounding speakers.

For less money you could go with some Polk Rti series speakers, They are very nice looking with real wood veneer and they have many fans of their sound.

EMPTek look nice, but it's still vinyl wrap that still looks like vinyl wrap up close.
 
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#8 ·
That’s a very nice list of speakers. Looks like you did indeed do your homework :). Unfortunately, I’ve only auditioned the Hsu from your list, but I think any on the list would be very nice to own. Try and get the speakers that have 30 day trial periods (and won’t cost a fortune to ship back if unsatisfied) that also meets you and your wife’s aesthetic sensibilities.

As has been mentioned, check out the R5Bi’s from RBH / Emp Tek. You might like the red burl finish. Return shipping is $25 for the pair:

Andrew Robinson's video review:
 
#9 ·
Thanks guys, this helps a bit. Ive scratched some off the list and added others. The EMP are indeed vinyl (as are the Wharfdales) so I'm taking those off the list and I think skipping glossy black or black ash would be the safest bet. I showed the Aperions to my wife and she said they looked awesome (I agree but they are out of my price range).

That leaves me with the HTD Level 3 in Macassar Ebony and the HSU HB-1 MK2 in Rosenut.The HSU's have a frequency response on the low side dropping off at around 60hz and I think that leaves a pretty big gap between my very low sub that is crossed over at about 45-50hz. So I'm left with the HTD Level 3's. I've added the Polk RTi Series to the short list just based on the wifes reaction to the looks of them, but I need to do a little research on them.

So anything else besides the HTD and Polk's that should go on the list?

Real wood veneer in something other than black, able to cover up to the 45-50hz range on the low end and under $1k for LRC setup? Military discount would be a bonus!
 
#10 ·
That leaves me with the HTD Level 3 in Macassar Ebony and the HSU HB-1 MK2 in Rosenut.The HSU's have a frequency response on the low side dropping off at around 60hz and I think that leaves a pretty big gap between my very low sub that is crossed over at about 45-50hz. So I'm left with the HTD Level 3's. I've added the Polk RTi Series to the short list just based on the wifes reaction to the looks of them, but I need to do a little research on them.
!
Just curious, why are you crossing over at 45-50 Hz? Most people will crossover at 80 Hz. Once you do that, any speaker, including the HTD Level THREE’s will perform better.
 
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#12 ·
A few months ago, Polk Direct was selling the RTi8s for something like $200/pair shipped on eBay...at that price, I would get them. Closer to their MSRPs, the RTi line is in my opinion not a good bang for the buck at all. Especially when compared to the Internet-direct brands.
 
#19 ·
The Hsu HB-1s or the HTD-L3s would probably be fine for the OP's needs...the Ascend Sierras imho would be overkill, frankly.

FWIW, I would be shocked if the HTDs really were able to hit 47Hz...low frequency extension specs is one of the areas where liberties are most often taken for marketing/sales reasons. If you're unable to do an in-home audition of both, I would just go with the one that looks better to you or is a better deal. Am not familiar with HTD but I do know that Hsu is known for excellent customer service after the sale.
 
#20 ·
So as I am getting closer to the wire, I don't think Im going to find something that in a bookshelf that will bridge that gap well unless I go with a larger bookshelf. It might be pushing the wife a bit but what if I went with something like the HSU HC-1 MK2 in a LRC configuration?

Assuming I can get to the lower frequencies with a larger bookshelf, are there are other options where I can go with a larger bookshelf? It still needs to be something that will appeal to the wifes decor choices (i.e. prefer real wood). This would take the HTD's off my list as I wouldnt be able to use their center channel in a LCR configuration because I assume the angle of the horn tweeter would be in correct if the speaker was used vertically. I wish my wife liked the looks of the Ascend 340's because those would be great.

Any thing else I should consider?
 
#27 ·
Way outside the original budget, but three of those Phil_BMR across the front would be fantastic! We are probably talking $2000/ 3 speakers and you would almost have to have an accoustic transparent screen or a lot of room under the TV set, as the BMR bookshelf is pretty tall. Good looking speaker, but not thinking three speakers of that size in the living room would pass the average WAF filter!
 
#28 · (Edited)
Thinking outside the box, how about some Minx (12 or 22) speakers with the small Minx "sub" (X201). This combination would allow you to still crossover to your sub at 45-50 Hz and, although not "pretty", they are quite small and cute and come in a black or white gloss finish. Women like cute ...

A recent user review of the new "2" series Minx was quite good. Check out the last three or four pages of the dedicated Minx thread (with the most salient comments starting at comment 2192).

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/speakers#minxrange
 
#30 ·
I'm actually moving from a micro sized system to a bookshelf sized system now that the wife has come along. I would rather go bigger than smaller/same size. I really wish she would just thumbs up some towers but I'm hoping that a larger MTM sized bookshelf on some stands will be a good compromise.
 
#38 ·
If you want the ultimate wife-approved bookshelves, go for these babies: http://www.statusacoustics.com/vocefina.html

After having the privilege of getting to demo some recently, my wife was so impressed (with both looks and sound, but mainly looks) that she is seriously encouraging me to buy a pair for our house. My wife normally doesn't care about my equipment at all, and actually can't stand the looks of most of my stuff, so the fact that she totally approves is saying a LOT. Just don't tell your old lady the price. ;)
 
#40 ·
^Never mind, I did find the $15K MSRP after clicking on the 4 pseudo "reviews" under the "Reviews" heading on the information page, 1 of which was a "page not found" result, 1 was a half-baked Audioholics preview/endorsement/commercial, the other 2 also cursory blurb-previews. The speaker company's name, "Status" seems to say it all---they are clearly playing the Veblen Goods card and aiming at the more-money-than-sense-and-wanna-show-off crowd. :D
 
#41 ·
Haha. It's definitely not in the value category, but seeing how they're custom made to order (customer gets to even pick the slab of marble out), the beautiful craftsmanship that goes into the stand and the speakers themselves, and extremely high quality components, they really are in a league of their own. When you see them in person, you'd see how much of a work of art they really are. Doesn't hurt that they are hands down the most insanely good bookshelves I've ever heard. Don't be dissuaded by the Audioholics review. I checked them out for myself, and yes, they are every bit as good as Audioholics purports them to be. They're not just blowing smoke.

I don't mean to sound like a commercial, but I really did walk away extremely impressed. The fact that they are literally the ONLY loudspeaker set that my wife has ever been impressed by speaks volumes. The truth is that yes, it's an insane amount of money for the average Joe to drop on a pair of speakers, but on the other hand, many people easily drop that on outfitting their homes with artwork, so I look at them like art, but art that actually does something that all of us here love. :)

Cut me some slack. Hehe. I'm lusting after them the same way that I lust after exotic cars. They will be mine. Oh yes, they will be mine. Does a Hyundai Accent get you from point A to B as well as a Ferrari? Sure, but I guarantee the Ferrari's a more exciting way to get there. That's how I see the SA's. They're the exotics of the audio world. Not the most practical or obtainable for most, but oh so enjoyable to those who can afford them. In all honesty, I'm not rich at all. Right smack dab in the middle of the spectrum, but nevertheless, I am seriously working on saving up for a pair. We really want them for our house. I've even put off my dreams of getting a (very used) Porsche 911 in order to help achieve that goal.

Best of luck finding your bookshelves that gets your wife's stamp of approval! Some of the previous suggestions here are actually really fantastic. FWIW, I've seen the EMP Teks in person in the high gloss red burl, and they looked really good. Don't be too quick to discount them. Really great bang for the buck!
 
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