Boston Acoustics Owners Thread - Page 50

I talked to BA today and was informed that they are about to release a new line (next month) that would replace the VR line of floorstanding speakers. So this line would fall between the Horizon and E series for floorstanding speakers. The person told me it would be priced along the VR3 line, which I was curious about. Just thought it would be something worth sharing with all. He said that aesthetically it is much better looking than VR series (with almost Piano black), more along the E line.

Any idea what the following would be worth (before shipping costs?)

2 VR-M60
2 Stands metal arched that pair wonderfully w/ the VR-M60s
1 VR-MC

As I recall, I paid something like $1k for the fronts, $200 for the stands, and $600 for the center. So ~$1,800 back in 2,000.

Thanks in advance!

So I think I finally decided on which speakers to buy, Boston Acoustics Horizon MCS130, CC sells them for $499, my receiver is the Onkyo TX-SR576 [PS3 decodes HD-Audio].

The final thing I need to address is wiring..16AWG should be sufficient? Mid-sized bedroom, the furthest speaker will need about 20 feet of wire.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

Should I go with banana clips? $20 for 10 pair.
edit: gonna use banana clips on the receiver, go bare for the speakers

Lastly, stripping a 16AWG wire with a scissor should be manageable? I don't have wire strippers.

If you live in a big metro area you might be able to find VR2's for $140each or less at CC. Just my .02 but I'd try to find those before buying Horizons.

CC is flexible on pricing. Don't pay listed prices. They will drop.

If you were around Detroit I'd sell you some VR2's...

don't think I can fit the VR2's, this is going in my bedroom..gonna need satellite speakers all around

Looking at replaceing some nice sounding Athena Towers (the big ones with dual 8") and the matching center with some smaller BA speakers.


Looking at the some one newer "kit" at Circuit City
MCS130 Home Theater Speaker Package
at $499 which seems pretty good

or buying separates from *******:
4 - Micro 120x
1 - Micro Center

and a SUB not sure which one yet




My question is - are the older "real" BA Micro speakers better then then the newer models?


My room is a good size at 18x15 - powered by a Yamaha 1800 and no other speakers; getting rid of the Athena's as the wife doesn't like the big boxes and just put in new lament floors - our cats keep knocking them over and will either destry the new floor or the speakers

used 90% movies and TV

Honestly not sure, my opinion is that the quality of the new BA stuff seems to have gone down from the good old days. Who knows though.

If you are stuck on Boston I'd try to pick up a kit of CR57's/CR67's and if you can support the size of it - a VRC or VR10 center. The CRC7 center is the technical match but is a little weak, though it is nice and small.

If you are okay with ebaying that kit will cost the about the same or possibly less. CC still sells CR57's but their pricing is really high, CRC7's are still at some of their stores and are being cleared out cheap. Another option are Bravo II's, which are also being cleared out really cheap.

Having experience with the XB & PV series subs, I can't recommend them. Similarly priced units from Velodyne or even JBL are better. Most people here would recommend the BIC or the entry units from internet direct companies but I haven't heard all of them so I can't say. I do know Velo DPS-10 or VRP-1200's are nice subs for the money if you can find them around 2 bills or less.

This is only my opinion but, I like the sound of the "older" Micro1x0X speakers much more than any of the newer models (CR's included). This may be because I've been running VR960's, a VR12 (I can't imagine a better center for the price I paid) and sadly a pair of A60 series II's as surrounds. The Micro1x0X speakers all run the VR Tweeter w/ AMD which IMHO blows kortec out of the water. Recently I upgraded to an Onkyo 805 and purchased four Micro130x's for use as side and back surrounds. After careful calibration I was shocked at how seamless the sound is as it navigates "through" the room. I know running all VR tweeters would improve things but was not expecting such a noticeable difference.

If your budget allows, I would suggest using 130x's for the fronts (they will crossover with whatever sub you get much better than 120x's), the MicroCenter and if you can swing it 130x's instead of 120x for the rears. As for a sub I can't make a recommendation, I got my M&K MX-125 back in 1996 and have never seen/heard a reason to replace it.

FWIW - I did hook-up the 130x's as mains and did some listening tests to see how they faired against the VR960's. The 130x's are very capable speakers. Granted, I was crossing the 960's rather high (because of the MX-125)

CC has the MCS130's on their red dot sale, picked them up for only $370

thats a killer DEAL

I just bought some "upper-end Focal sats and sub from tweeter
http://tweeter.com/product/SIBSYSB.asp

still in the box - might need to return it for this BA set up...


have you unboxed it yet? If yes how do you like it - how large of a room; mine is about 16x19 or so (finished basement in raised ranch)

not sure what I should do...

im setting it up now, taking a while since I had to unhook my old set and I'll have to strip wires with a scissors so..I'll be finished later :]

it's in my bedroom, mid-sized.. receiver is an Onkyo TX-SR576 and I'll be using my PS3 to decode HD audio

all set up, so far it sounds pretty damn good. I'll be messing around with it all night for some better impressions

do they sound full? meaning easy to hear the dialog track during busy scenes ?

got any pictures?


thanks again

Dude, you are my HERO. I bought these speakers 2 weeks ago for $499! Gonna go get a price adjustment ASAP tomorrow. Wow, I subscribed to this thread a while ago because I asked a question and wanted to get the answer without checking back all the time. I got the answer but I was too lazy to unsubscribe, so now I save $130! hah!

BTW, I think they sound okay. I don't have them arranged in an optimal way yet because I need to order some stands for my fronts, and my current room doesn't allow enough space for my surrounds to be in a good position (but I'm moving soon). I dont know.. I'm a newbie at home theater, so I'm not sure if my expectations are too high or what, but I feel like it's missing something. People have commented that the bass isn't powerful enough, but I think it's mighty powerful. To answer the question about dialogue, it sounds perfect to me, even surrounded by action. I guess my feeling is that it just doesn't fill the room.

One major concern for me is that it sounds pretty good when you're sitting in "the spot", you know, the place where all the speakers are pointed toward, but I'm underwhelmed by the sound from other points on the couch. The ends of the couch are especially bad, because whatever rear you're next to ends up overpowering your audio experience. I don't know if this is because of my setup, because of the speakers, or just a painful reality for any setup. I'm inviting friends over on Sunday to try out my new system, but I feel pretty paranoid and embarrassed for whoever has to sit at the ends (I'm gonna take one end, just for that reason)...

Some Pics:

I'm using the wire that came with the speakers, and it appears to be decent gauge, maybe 16 AWG (40ft)? Does wire quality really make much of a difference?

Have you tried adjusting the receiver settings at all? I'm sure you could find settings that will be best for your room, I know when I first set mine up they didn't sound too good either...after messing around a little with subwoofer/speaker settings everything sounds great. I see you have a PS3 there, by any chance do you have Uncharted?..boot it up, select Linear PCM 5.1 in the options and see how it sounds, it's pretty damn impressive. The only movieI tried so far is Cloverfield on Blu-Ray, set it to Dolby True HD and it sounded fantastic. I know with my old system it was tough to hear vocals coming out of the center speaker, like the poster mentioned above, but not with these, vocals were loud and crisp. All in all, it would be tough to find better speakers for $370.

it's also worth noting I have a more traditional set up, I have the 2 fronts on speaker stands next to my TV and my surrounds on the back wall.

I have an onkyo 606, and I let Audessy (the mic-based calibration system) set it up. The only thing I adjusted was changing the speaker distance, because it didn't really get that right. I would have no clue what I'm doing if I did it all myself. I have the Uncharted demo, but not the game :P Games I have are Warhawk, Devil May Cry 4, Guitar Hero III, Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid 4. I don't own any bluray discs, I stream HD content from my computer. I have cloverfield, but to stream it I have to convert the audio to AC3; not sure if that makes a huge difference (according to someone I asked, it didn't, but I'm not so sure).

Like I said, the sound from the center is great, it's very clear, it's just that I only have one good spot, the rest are bleh. I think it really must be my setup... Maybe when I spread the fronts out it will be better. Also, are my surrounds setup properly? Their height is setup so that the bottom of the speaker is near the top of my ear (I heard they're supposed to be "slightly above ear level"), and they are positioned on the sides at a slight angle behind the couch. Would they sound better if they were actually behind the couch like rears in a 7.1 system?

Here's a pic of the setup I described in post: 1473 that is for sale

VRM60s and VRMC. Sounded great at my old house w/ it's tinny living room, now @ my new house that's 22x22ft I need a bigger front stage

I just finally bit the bullet and returned the much more expensive Focal's and bought the MCS 130 from CC (thanks for the tip on price)

AND wow

the front L/C/R combo are all matched and feel pretty substantial; the rears feel OK but nothing great and not bad! The sub does have some mass to it

Sound quality though seems VERY good and all in all I think it sounds better then my old towers with no sub. Just watched a couple movies and action scenes were great and yes the vocal/dialog track was still audible!

GREAT buy I say! I'll post some photo's if I can figure it LOL

I have to say that's one nice looking setup. What are you using for the projector and what's the actual screen? Looks home made.

Not sure about pricing, hard to say since they're not made anymore and hard to find. On the other hand there's newer and similar speakers from other manufacturers that offer equal or better sound and quality.

My guess would be $250 per speaker plus $60 - 80 for the stands.

Corego, thanks!

It's a Sony VLP-HS20 LCD 1400:1 projector I got in 2004. If you're looking into getting into the projector mode, I'd say buy this type off Ebay, great deal IMO.

Screen is cotton canvas stretched over Rex Art heavy duty stretcher bars w/ Behr Silver Screen paint... one of the easiest DIY Screens (although it's pricey.. the bars were like $160 IIRC). Search for my name in the DIY Screen section on here, I'm sure I have a post or two about the subject.

I came to post something similar, the L/C/R components are fantastic, I think the center speaker is the high point of the entire package. The sub is also really nice, it has the power and crispness I was looking for. The surround speakers are "only" good, a notch below the rest of the components but still get the job done. You can't go wrong with this for only $370

Does anyone know why the price was sooo low at Circuit City? I saw at Crutchfield these have a $200 rebate now from $899 to $699 (which IMHO is more realistic for this setup. The Def-Tech's at $800 (proCinema 600) was my other option which I assume sounds a bit more crisp then these. But the price we paid is almost criminal LOL that and well to my ears the sound quality is top notch - movies have more detail. Even watching plain TV was more enjoyable.


I'd buy it again - just wish the white ones were this price... maybe I'll buy the two POP grills for my front L/R and Surrounds???

CC is in serious financial trouble and need all the customers they can get, so that's why you see them use their "red dot" sales to pull people in. Blockbuster of all companies recently tried to buy CC out.

if I want to upgrade my MCS130 to 7.1, what should I look at getting? I feel like I have a few options:

1. I could upgrade front L/R, and move everything down (I know that not upgrading the center with the fronts is looked down upon, but the center is the strong point of this setup good imo, so would it be okay as long as I stick to boston acoustic?).

2. I could upgrade surrounds, and make the current surrounds rears.

3. I could buy rears.

What's the best bang for the buck? I feel like my surrounds are the weak point in this setup, so I'd rather stick to options 1 or 2 if possible, so that my surrounds get upgraded in the process. What model of boston acoustic speakers should I look at specifically? Should I stick with boston acoustic?

I'd say pending your room size....

1) replace the rears with two more mcs 130 speakers and move the mcs100's to the sides

2) buy some of the 6.5" book shelf i think its HC60? and then re-use the mcs130's


or wild card option -- buy an other whole mcs-130 system for either an other room and make it a 2.1 system then take the better speakers from it and use in your main room?

I think I might get the HS60's. In your option 1, do you really mean to put the mcs 130's behind me (rear) and not to my left/right (surround/side)? I figured that sides were more important that rears, am I wrong in that assumption?

actually you might correct on the rear / side issue? I just have a 5.1 setup and don't really see going to 7.1


I stopped at CC to hear the HS60's and maybe its just the store BUT they didn't sound that great (not bad mind you)

wow, so I was messing around with my MCS130's and couldn't help shake the feeling something was wrong with the surrounds since they weren't up to par with the other pieces in the package. It turns out that the weight of the slack of the speaker wire I gave on the surrounds was screwing up the connection into the binding posts. I had the wires entered into the top of the hole, I switched it to the bottom and now there's nothing pulling the wires back [the slack + gravity was doing so before] and the connection is much more secure and sure enough the speakers sound significantly better.

I'm sure glad I trusted my ears and decided to screw around a bit. maybe something similar is happening with your speakers...

Now I just need a pair of wall mounts to put them on my wall, I guess any omnimount will do?