Energy CF70 vs. Polk Monitor70 vs. Infinity P362 Floorstander, what's a better deal?

The Energy CF series is going to sound just like your description on the Polks you gave. I would recommend them for a mostly Ht/gaming system, but not for music. They aren't that bad for low to moderate listening and actually very nice for some music, but the louder you crank them the more harsh they get.

While I think the Energy CF-70 would be a bit of an upgrade over the Polks... and the price for the CF-70 is good... unless you can get the CC-10 for $200 or less, and the CB-5 for under $100, I think you'd be overpaying on those.

Here's what Stereophile had to say about the Energy CB-10...
http://www.stereophile.com/content/e...r-measurements

I haven't heard the Infinity Primus speakers, but they are well regarded for their price range and certainly measure better than the others.

Not sure if you've seen these, or are even interested in considering them... and I haven't heard them so I can't comment on their sound quality...

But EMP is clearing out some of their A-stock E5Ti towers for roughly half price:
http://www.emptek.com/e5ti_clearance.php

Adding in the matching center and bookshelves would put you at $745. And the word is they're going to be running a sale soon on some of the other speakers.

If you get the EMP Tek speakers, no reason to get the bookshelf for $250/pr when you can get two towers for $275. Just go with 4 towers and a center for $770.

There is a whole EMPtek Owners thread.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1101727&page=9


They're a sister company to RBH Sound which makes some very respected speakers. Both are located at the same facility in Utah.

These are very good value:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...r-Black/1.html - Carnival 5 center $129

http://www.amazon.com/Mordaunt-Carni...1098290&sr=8-2 - Carnival 6 floor standers $450 or Carnival 8 floorstanders for $600

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...ck-Pair/1.html - Carnival 1 bookshelf $109

Total - $680 or $830 depending on which floor standers you choose shipping
included

Several folks here, myself included have the Carnival 2 bookshelfs are VERY happy with them. I use them for desktop use & they are fantastic. I have yet to hook up my sub, bass is decent for a 5.5inch woofer. After experiencing these I would hesitate to buy their full setup.

All the brands you listed are US main stream. Mordaunt on the other hand is a popular & respected British brand. I had ordered the Primus P162 bookshelfs & the Carnival 2 at the same time. I returned the Primus with 2 days of trying as they were harsh & hurt my ears to the point that I hated listening to anything with them.

The Carnivals produced smooth, clean music. Just because Mordaunt isn't too well known in the US, doesn't make them risky.

Have you listened to any of these speakers? They are all good choices but don't expect some "holy cow" difference with these choices. In a room that size, I would save the money and look into room treatments. Do you listen to multi channel music? If so, get another pair of Monitor 40s and then get some room treatments.
You never did mention what you are driving this stuff with.

It looks like the Carnival line has been discontinued. They are absent on their web site at least. Yes, people have begun to discover Mordaunt-Short. They are pretty good.

I'm another Mordaunt Short fan, and owner of the Carnival 2. It would be great to hear their top line speakers after owning the Carnivals, which IMO are very transparent, pleasing speakers.

No can of worms but, no.
There was a bench test of the 1121 in the past year in Home Theater Mag. But in 5 channel mode, it was well under 100 wpc. I think it was in the 50-60 range. Don't worry, that is typical.
The Monitor 70s have a "fuller" sound than the M 40s just due to the larger drivers but same tweeter. Like others have said, the CFs are a little bright on the high end. More so than the Polks.
I have the Polk M 40s and 50s. However, when I upgrade, I will be looking at B&W, Focal, KEF, Paradigm and PSB. And will at least tripple the price of what I paid for the Polks. This is how much you have to step up to hear a noticable difference in my mind.

This hobby has been compared to drugs many times!
What I have learned and what many will tell you is that you have to pick something that sounds good to YOU! Everyone has there favorites. For me right now, it is the Polks. But it was also a monetary decision. The best speaker I have ever listened to (to me) cost more than my first car! ($3,000) But, that ain't gonna happen for me any time soon.

karlsaudio makes some good points. I went from a Monitor 60, CS1 & Monitor 30 setup that cost me all of $340 to Kef Q900, Q300 & Q600c setup that cost me exactly $2000 more! Is the sound worth it? Oh yes! Its been my long time dream to buy "nice" equipment. If you have the means to do so, buy something like that now & forget about it for a while. Mordaunts are also such speakers, they are THAT good. Unless you are a lover of really harsh highs or bright highs according to some; I reckon that the Mordaunts will sound better than the Primus or the Polks that you are thinking about. I have tried both & I can first hard. No comments on the Energy speakers though.

My vote is for the emptek setup.

How do people find deals like this?Do you have any more deals like this?
I want to get infinity's 363 but they are $329 each and dont look like they going to be on sale any time soon,can you recommend speakers to rival p362's for $330 a pair?

Thanx in advance.

there are always deals to be found...

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-America-Ve...cmu_pg__header

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...h-Black/1.html

http://www.bostonacoustics.com/VR1-B...nly--P310.aspx

just have to be patient, those P363's come on sale all the time. If not them, something else will.

Have you looked at used speakers?

I meant deals on something good.Isnt BIC is cheap company like Pyle and Boss?

Good is a relative word around here. To me bic is good. Probably best bang for your buck if you have a low budget and want to play loud.

No,i dont care about loudness but quality.Im thinking about companies that are known for speakers infinity,polk,boston,yamaha,klipsch,etc...
But there are other brand names out there that i haven't heard of that make good speakers like thos EmpTek you mentioned earlier but im affraid Bic doesnt fall in the same leauge as polk,infinity or emptek.

Man,i wish those Empteks was still on sale,they look like quality product.

I have the Emps and I really like them. Call and talk to Daren. They have some b-stock but usually wait until they have a few sets before they put them on sale. All of mine were b-stock and there is nothing wrong with any of them The boxes were a little beat up but I can not find even a scratch.

Here is my set up

Fronts E55TI
Center E56CI
Surrounds E5TI
Sub HSU VTF-15H

You want the bigger towers up front. They sound really good with movies or music. They lack a little on the low end but that is what the sub is for. I set my crossover to 80 and have it set to 60 in two channel. I can listen to music without the sub. I do not listen to ALOT of bass heavy music but when I do I just turn on the sub.

Thanx,i think im gonna get Emps if they have a pair for $350.

I've had the CF-70, CF-30 and CC-10. Switched to the Energy RC series (RC-50, RC-LCR, RC-10) because I wanted that more laid-back sound. If you want a ferocious speaker, CF-70s will do the job. I had CF-70s up front and CF-30s for surround and loved it for movies. Watching movies like Transformers was awesome.

I actually wrote a review on the CF-70 and the CC-10 on a blog I started a while ago. It's in my signature below my post. I haven't updated it in a while but you'll find at least those two speaker reviews in it.

Like others said, if you go the Energy route, try to get the CC-10 for cheaper than $200. Occasionally it'll go on sale for $200. Just be patient. By having the CF-70s as mains you can do what's called a "ghost center" and it should work well til you find a good deal on the the CC-10.

Also, your receiver will do just fine with any of these speakers. Unless you know how to biamp, I wouldn't even try it. If you do it wrong you can damage your speakers. There is a thing called sensitivity in speakers, and the higher the sensitivity the less power is actually required to run them. So honestly it's in the single digits of watts per speaker to run. Considering you have the 1121-k (I have the 921-k and it powers 7 speakers that are quite large) your total system power is about 110 watts so it'll power them just fine. Now, adding extra amplification will add more clarity and drive to your speakers, but unless you're going to be cranking the volume way up, I doubt you'll need any extra power. BUT as others have warned you, these speakers (and most Polks, not all but the lower end) can be quite harsh and provide what is called 'ear fatigue', thus my comment about people switching to the RC series.