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Speaker Suggestions in Large Open Floorplan

post #1 of 18
1/7/13 at 7:04am
Thread Starter 
Hi guys, I live in a bilevel house and top floor is an open floorplan with vaulted ceilings. The whole area is the living room, dining room, and kitchen. I am looking to start with the fronts and center speakers first. I have a Yamaha v673 receiver and a small polk sub. Wife hates bass so sub is no big deal for now. My budget is $600 for the 3 speakers, if I just have to start with just right and left then so be it. I have a large entertainment center where I have infinity bookshelf speakers up on the top shelf. I would prefer to do floor standing speakers and the wife would like the smallest invisible speakers possible. I am open to bookshelf speakers if the sound quality would be similar to the floor standing models but they would probably have to lay horizontal. Thanks for the suggestions!
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post #2 of 18
1/7/13 at 7:07am
Thread Starter 
Forgot to add. We mainly watch tv during the week and movies on weekends. Music very rarely.
Edited by Maniac2k - 1/7/13 at 8:07am
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post #3 of 18
1/7/13 at 7:17am
I suggest the Wharfedale EVO 20 speakers, which are smaller floorstanding speakers (35" tall by only 9" wide).. Music Direct has them marked down from $1200/pair to $480/ pair currently.

If you want smaller speakers the Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 is also very good for $450/pair.

They both have fairly good mid-bass, and a sub would not be needed for anything but really low sub-bass.

For a center speaker which is excellent and quite compact, I suggest the Cambridge S50 speaker, which runs $198.
Edited by commsysman - 1/7/13 at 7:22am
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post #4 of 18
1/7/13 at 8:17am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the suggestion. I thought mixing center and L/R brands was a bad idea? Also, My concern is that the warfedale evo2 20 speakers are to small for my large area. I couldnt find many reviews of them. Any thoughts on the Monitor Audio RX-6?
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post #5 of 18
1/7/13 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maniac2k View Post

I thought mixing center and L/R brands was a bad idea? Also, My concern is that the warfedale evo2 20 speakers are to small for my large area. I couldnt find many reviews of them. Any thoughts on the Monitor Audio RX-6?

If your budget is $600 for each speaker, $1800 for the front 3 - then the Monitor Audio
RX-6 with a Monitor Audio RX Center is a good option. >>> You should timbre (voice)
match your front stage speakers.
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post #6 of 18
1/7/13 at 9:59am
Thread Starter 
Unfortunately my total budget right now is $600. I figure it might be better to just buy the fronts and save up for the center.
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post #7 of 18
1/7/13 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
Just realized the rx6's are $625 ea not the pair. Ugh!
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post #8 of 18
1/7/13 at 11:01am
Amazon has the Infinity P363 towers on sale from time to time for a very good price. They get excellent reviews. The center channel is the PC351 - also a very nice sounding speaker. If you are patient you could end up with all three for under $500. You just need to wait for the next sale to come round.

Edit: Found them on sale at Frys.com for a nice price. With shipping (to my zip) is $157 each.
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post #9 of 18
1/7/13 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Knucklehead90 View Post

Amazon has the Infinity P363 towers on sale from time to time for a very good price. They get excellent reviews. The center channel is the PC351 - also a very nice sounding speaker. If you are patient you could end up with all three for under $500. You just need to wait for the next sale to come round.

^ this...or if you're close to a Fry's Electronics they have the Primus line on sale often.

OR

HomeTheaterDirect Level 3 bookshelves
HTD Level 3 Center
= $500

OR

ARX A1b Bookshelves
ARX A2b Center
= $515

OR

EMP e5bi
EMP e5ci (or e56ci...if you can go that large)
= $470 or $700..over budget I know

...wow....just realized AGAIN how good of a deal the BF stuff was for EMP. eek.gif
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post #10 of 18
1/7/13 at 1:08pm
Thread Starter 
I habe infinity now and want to get away from them. Ill check out the other recommendations. Thanks.

On another note, i found a set of paradigm monitor 9 v3 on Craigslist but the center was already sold. Will a current model center timber match the v3 model?
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post #11 of 18
1/7/13 at 1:41pm
I don't know much about Paradigm, but aren't they on like v7 or v8 now? Not sure if they go in order or if they come out with a new model every year or so...but those v3's might be quite old and hard to find a matching center. I'd try the Paradigm thread. They'll tell you if they're a good buy.

I was going to mention the EMP e55ti's and not purchase a center for now, but seems like they're too big. If you want a "no center for now" setup you could also check out the Ascend CMT-340se

OR!

...get some towers like the e55ti's, HTD level 3's, etc and just shrug your shoulders when they come in. Maybe followed by a "oops, must have ordered the wrong thing"
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post #12 of 18
1/7/13 at 2:58pm
Quote:
...but those v3's might be quite old and hard to find a matching center.
FWIW: The CC-350, or the CC-370v1 or v2, would be the right match for those mains. IMO, they're not that hard to come by.
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post #13 of 18
1/7/13 at 5:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by eljaycanuck View Post

Quote:
...but those v3's might be quite old and hard to find a matching center.
FWIW: The CC-350, or the CC-370v1 or v2, would be the right match for those mains. IMO, they're not that hard to come by.

Are the fronts worth $400 used?
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post #14 of 18
1/7/13 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Are the fronts worth $400 used?
IMO, yes, if they're in 100% working order and in very good (or better) cosmetic condition. Subtract from that for cosmetic issues.
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post #15 of 18
1/8/13 at 7:39am
You'll love two of these ... if you can stand the bump to $700 for the pair. Free shipping, and also free return shipping if you don't like them...can't beat that.

http://www.aperionaudio.com/speakers/intimus-family/intimus-4t-tower-speaker

Good luck with your search.
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post #16 of 18
1/8/13 at 8:29am
Thread Starter 
Im leaning toward the larger towers. The wife will get over it. The e55ti's seem to get mixed reviews. I think im just going to have to take a couple of these guys up on the 30 day trial.
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post #17 of 18
1/8/13 at 9:15am
Cool! I like my e55ti setup so far. Very accurate speakers that will excel in music and VERY dynamic for movies. Let us know if you order them and what ya think. Everyone's ears are different and with that amount of product out there within these sub $5,000 or so speakers there's always going to be someone that like product X more than product Y. That's the beauty of hearing them for yourself and deciding
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post #18 of 18
1/8/13 at 10:32am
Thread Starter 
This beauty is turning into frustration. There are so many options and i havent heard one yet! Time is such an issue right now. I appreciate all the suggestions guys. Keep them coming Thanks!

Ousooner: do you use them in a large room?
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