AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Speakers › Help with Paradigm and Energy speaker choices?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Help with Paradigm and Energy speaker choices?

post #1 of 9
3/24/10 at 8:42pm
Thread Starter 
For hours I have been researching and wracking my brain over these choices...

I recently purchased the Paradigm Cinema 70 on sale for $299.99 from Amazon. This is my first surround system set and I have a small to medium sized living room.

The Energy RC-Micro 5.1 is also on sale for $399.99 so I'm wondering whether I should return the Paradigm set and dish out the extra $100. Is the Micro set much better?

On top of this, I am also considering the Energy Take 5 set. They occasionally go on sale on newegg for under $200, so compared to the RC-Micro 5.1 and the Paradigm should I instead wait till the Take 5 system goes under $200 and then buy a separate subwoofer to make the total $300-$400?

Which choice would be best?

1) Paradigm Cinema 70 - $300
2) Energy RC-Micro 5.1 - $400
3) Energy Take 5 - ~$200 + $150-$200 Subwoofer - Total - $350-400

As you can tell my budget for the speaker set is from $300-$400 (poor college student).

Any help would be appreciated! I've been browsing all over for threads on these systems but all of them seem to be separate and never comparing them to each other.

I'm hoping to pair the system with a Pioneer VSX-1019.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 9
3/24/10 at 8:51pm
I think the Paradigms are better than the take 5 pack. And at $300 thats a steal.

You could think about going with a refurbed Onkyo receiver for $250 and buying a $300 sub. That would make for a very nice setup
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 9
3/24/10 at 8:57pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you so much Santapimp for the response! I'm open to refurbed receivers (as the Pioneer VSX-1019 is around $499 right now) but would an Onkyo at $250 have full HD audio decoding? Know of any good retailers that have them at that price?

*edit* Oh right, accessories4less...dunno which model to go for though. Hmm.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 9
3/24/10 at 9:39pm
Here's a good option: http://www.accessories4less.com/make...eceiver/1.html

And the 507 will also decode the latest audio codecs and is only $240

I think this would be a good way to start off. Then save up a little more and get a nicer sub. The sub is very important in HT.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 9
3/24/10 at 9:58pm
Thread Starter 
Looks good, thanks. I heard the Onkyo 606 has reliability issues though...HDMI failing after a year or something? Does the 607 have any problems and how reliable are refurbed receivers like the ones from accessories4less? (sorry for all the questions, I really appreciate your help)

And yea, I'll deffy be looking into a better sub once I get more money. I've read on suggestions like the Premier Acoustics PA-120. Any recommendations/suggestions you have on some good moderately priced subs?
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 9
3/24/10 at 10:20pm
Im not sure if the 607 has problems, although i know the **7 models were improved over the **6 models and the heat issue was lessened. You could ask in the owners thread in the receivers section.

Many people, including myself have bought from accesories4less with no problems whatsoever. They are a very reliable site. The receiver comes with a 1 year warranty, and Onkyo receivers seem to be pretty reliable. I could not tell any of the stuff i bought from them were refurbished, they all looked brand new.

As for the sub, on a budget, the most recommended subs are the ones by BIC or Dayton. If you can get a little more money together, an A2-300 from Elemental Designs is a very nice sub
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 9
3/25/10 at 5:18am
Instead of going for the 1019 you could always go for the 919 or 819, or look at the new "20" models this year from Pioneer, which are all very good receivers.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 9
3/25/10 at 9:10am
on a setup like this, with smaller speakers and a sub, do you run the front speaker cabling through the sub to do the crossover there? rather than just setting your front speakers to "small" in the receiver.

my receiver does bass management at 80 hz, sending everything below 80 hz to the sub. problem is that i'm concerned speakers like this would have trouble with 80 - 100 hz or so.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 9
3/25/10 at 9:53am
Some smaller sized systems recommend using the speaker level inputs on the sub, and setting the receiver to "Large."

Personally, with speakers of this power, I don't believe it makes a huge difference if you do it one way or the other. Just save the extra speaker wiring and use a RCA cable to the LFE channel and set your fronts to "small."
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Speakers

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Speakers › Help with Paradigm and Energy speaker choices?