New home theater speaker search...again

Hey All,

Well, I know many followed the other thread, but for those that did not, my 9 channel setup that was being built has had the plug pulled. I just could not wait for my ED setup any longer.

I am now on the hunt, once again to find the "perfect" speaker for my application. I am going to be placing the setup in a 20x26 room with 12 ft ceilings that will be treated. Not a dedicated room, but a family room, that will be used most of the time for movies/tv. I have another "family room" type area with couches and wii etc. for the kids to "romp". I already have my display, which due to light factors and the amount of tv viewing, is a Sharp 80" led. I may add a pj with electric screen later on for night time movie watching. I am looking for a speaker setup that has the ability to knock you over with its dynamic ability, but maintains great finese. I love that feeling of getting punched in the chest by effects. I also need the setup to be somewhat of a "looker". Sound comes first, but I certainly don't want unfinished looking boxes in the middle of my family room, I have come to the conclusion that overly "forward" or "bright" are not charateristics that appeal to me, making it even tougher to find something with these dynamic capabilities. I like to listen loud, but also require great detail at lower leves, as I will watch with the kids a lot and don't want to push the limits of their hearing just yet:D. I will try to give some info on things I have heard, so to give you guys an idea of what i have liked so far.

Paradigm studio 100(the latest version) with 7channel surround, powered off of anthem gear. The dynamic capabilities seemed to be there, but there was a bit too much "sparkle" at the top end. I felt like I would not get to listen at loud volumes for too long before developing fatigue.

PSB Synch one seven channel setup...This seem to fit the bill with the finese end of things, but didn't have quite the impact that I was after. Now in all fairness to the PSB, I have no idea what kind and amount of power was being fead to the system.

Triad (not sure which model) 7 channel setup in a dedicated room runing on parasound power. Very good, clean sound, but the subs were lacking. This doesnt' matter a whole lot becasue I will more than likely buy a couple of caps ro subms. I didn't get to really push the system, so the jury out on the dynamic ability.

B&W CT series on Rotel power...boring

Legacy Focuse SE in 2 channel setup. These sounded fantastic, but I am concerned witht the ribbon tweeters for surrounds due to the height they will be placed. These tings seemed to have it all, efficiency, finese, dynamics, but I only heard them in 2channel mode and don't know how the surrounds will perform. They were powered and processed by Rotel.

Klipsch thx ultra 2 of parasound. Had plenty of dynamics, but tore my head of with the high end and had no finese at all.

Budget is not a huge concern. Obviously value is great, but if need be, I can spend $10-12k on lcr and surrounds alone.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to put as much info out there as possible. Thanks in advance to all for any help!

Thanks for the response. I guess my point with the speaker choices I have listed is not that those are my only options, but based on my findings of each, maybe some folks could point me in the direction of others that at least have the potential to fit based on my desired outcome. Power is easy, processing is a matter of $$, but the speaker choice seems toughest, and is the most important I think. The magic speaker, for my taste, seems to be evading me.

I got to hear some more today. went to anothr local shop and listented to PSB and Paradigm again. The paradigm sig series was far better than the studio to my ears. They were very open and imaged well, just a little sharp for me on some recordings still. The PSB, was nice, but felt a little less open and airy....Neutral, but less open. This was all in 2ch listening. I then listened to kind of a mis-match setup in the theater room. PSB t2 l&r, synchrony 1 center adn synchrony surrounds. The processor was the Mcintosh 121 and a mac mc8207 amp. The sound was very good, it didn't blow me away, but it sounded more natural than the studio 100s running on anthem in the same clip from 5th element. The open/airy sound of the Paradigms was great, but I think I will have issues with them after an hour near ref level. The psb could probably crank all day and not bother me one bit. The sam edealer sells Revel too. HE did not have any in the store, but suggested to me that the Revel(f32 or f52) would offer the smooth sound of the PSB with a litlle more of that "open/airy" sound. Has anyone had any experience with this??

Hahahaha...thanks. The CHT certainly get good reviews, but don't really fit in the fam room. I have heard people say good things about the kef, but never heard them. I am really trying to find a way to audition the JTRs, as the offer performance and value. I am not going to make a purchase like last time, ED without hearing and wait forever for them.

I think you are right for the most part, but there is still some searching to be done. With the level of cash I am going to shell out, I just want to be sure what I buy suits my taste. If my speakers suit me, I could care less what is better, because for me, they will be just right. I just don't feel like I have found the "just right" yet. I feel like it would be foolish to just buy something.

Wow, our interpritations of these are pretty different. I found all of the Klipsch I have heard(including the thx ultra) to sound nasaly and way to bright. The paradigms had the effect, but a hair bright, certainly less boring than b&w for me. Just another good example of everyone having different taste. I would really love to love the JTR, and maybe I will order a pair of Q8s and test em at home. I would love to check out the Revel also. I am going to try to do lots of listening in the next couple of weeks.

I agree, but kind of feel like there has to be a speaker out there that can do clean reference and has "audiophile" grade sound. I was hoping to hear the JTR, as many have said they do this. I also just took a listen to some Wilson sophia's(not that I can afford them) and they sounded spectacular. Is it foolish to think that that level of sq can come with a speaker that has unbelievable dynamic capabilities??

Good example I think would be my assesment of the Pardigm sig8s. The were so open soudning and created a better stage, imho, than the psb synch 1. The problem is that even after just a few minutes, I could tell that I would eventually get fatigued listening to them at high volumes. It makes me think that any speaker with the "softness" that I enjoy, will not have that open and airy feel. When I compared the studio 100s vs the psb in Ht demo, the psb, to me sounded more natural, but didn't quite have that "boom". The Paradigm sounded exageraed in the high end to me.

I will try this on my next audition...thanks for the tip. I look forward to it. I also jsut found the new line of Revel, that by Sept should be available. They look much nicer than the old Revel. I will hopefully be able to hear them before makng a decision.

Ya know, I have been told before that the AT are great HT speakers. I have never found somewhere that has them locally, I believe they are ID..??

Those James in-walls certainly look interesting. Out of curiousity, what have you had prior to this for equip??