BIC Acoustech Owners Thread - Page 122

Dr. HSU helped create the outlaw lfm subs and they are very similar in performance to the 12" HSU subs. I have an LFM1-EX that I used before I uprgaded and loved it. Now its in my computer set up. Tough to beat at its sale price.
Edited by thebriman - 11/15/12 at 9:42pm

Thanks! Yeah the price was really shocking.

I have an SVS sub and love it! I have had it for about 6 years now and it still sounds new. I use it for mainly home theater use. I had a Velodyne sub before the SVS and the SVS blows it away.

I'm looking to get a pair of PL-28's to match my center coming in next week. They're at $569 on Amazon (and I missed the pair sale on Overstock). How much did you pay for yours?

http://www.acousticsounddesign.com/core/view_BigProduct.cfm?pid=1529&sc=33
Follow this site and use Make Best Offer and request $180 for each.

If you meant to say the PL-89 (the 8" floor standing speakers) Go here http://www.acousticsounddesign.com/core/view_BigProduct.cfm?pid=1530&sc=32
Then request Best offer of $550.

Acoustic Sound Designs has their PL76 5.1 setup on sale (2 76's, 1 26, 2 66's, and a PL200) for $799 shipped. I bought a tweaked version of that with the 66's replaced for a set of in-ceiling FH-8C's, and paid $749 shipped. I think the sale extends through Cyber Monday.

Sounddistributors and Acoustic Sound Design are both the sellers on Amazon. I know you can do better than that make best offer price mentioned at Sounddistributors.com. They have PL-89's on their site for $569 as well but you can use the coupon code TV15 at checkout and get 15% off so down to $483.65 for the pair w/ free shipping. I purchased some BICs from them back in August and dealt with Eric who is the owner I believe. Now I wouldn't say he is the most customer 'friendly' per say but he was cool and worked with me and was pretty straight. With the setup I put together, he was able to get me a little better than the 15% off but I purchased 11 speakers. Good luck.

I purchased my set up at Sounddistributors.com as well and dealt with Eric. He gave me the 15% OFF as well and I bought 7 speakers total. I have 2 PL-89's, 1 PL-26 (the PL-28 was too tall for my space), & 4 PL-66's. One of my PL-89's came damaged and the crossover was dangling on the inside. Eric sent me a new speaker and a label to return the damaged speaker with no cost to me. Great service thus far and these speakers are great for Home theater. Music is okay with them but not great. 99% of my use on these is home theater so they are perfect for my needs. Good luck!

Thanks. I actually bought the PL-28 from them through Amazon but was only curious about their website and the option to make an offer until after.
Well, its a good start though for first time purchase. Can't wait for Friday.

I found their sites on eBay as well and initially thought they were the same as both were located in LV. Might try SoundDistributors next if I can scrounge enough for the PL-89's. For a pair, that sounds awesome.

Hello everyone!

I've been reading this thread and doing other research into buying a new set of speakers for our HT setup. Thought I'd pick your collective brains a bit.

In September I bought a PL-26 center to upgrade from an older, smaller Polk. Never had heard any BIC speakers before, but I continue to be impressed by this speaker. Now I'm considering upgrading my 15 year old Sony SS-MB215's (not terribly efficient, not terribly good bass, smallish tweeters and mid-range, but sounded good in my apartment 15 years ago), which I've used as left and right channels. The area we watch TV and movies in is around 20' x 15' of our finished basement living room. I use a Denon AVR 790 as our HT receiver. Not a lot of power (90 watts at 8 ohms per channel) compared to other receivers, but it upscales video really well and makes nice noises for a mid-level HTR. I'm currently using a pair of good Polk bookshelf speakers as surrounds, with no rear channels and no sub.

Do you think a pair of RTR-EV15's would just be crushing, gigantic over-kill for our space? Would my Denon be able to provide enough juice? I'd kind of like to get a left and right speaker that'll get down low enough so I won't have to think about a sub. From what I've read, these speakers might do just that. Or am I wrong? Wold I be better suited getting a pair of PL-89's instead and planning on a sub purchase at some point in the future.

Any help in the decision is appreciated. Have to know which one of these I'm going to print a picture of and hang on the fridge so my better half has a hint of what the ol' man wants for Christmas. Ha!

Have a great week!

John

I would go with the PL-89s because from what I've read those RTR are just made to get loud and do so at the sake of detail and imaging. Think of them as a good party speaker, where as the Acoustech line is a great home theater choice. The PL-76 would match your center, and some say it has better mid bass because the smaller woofers are a little more accurate in that regards. Regardless what you choose loudness will not be a problem with horn loaded speakers.

Get whatever fronts you want but a sub is a must for any decent home theater. Really music too. There are a lot of good speakers out there for that price but if you want bic (I like them too) I would suggest the 76s and put the savings over the 89s toward a good sub. Hell, even if you got 2 PL28s for the front it would be better than what you have. Then you could spend about $400 for a decent sub and it would probably be night and day compared to what you are used to and be about the same price as just 2 89s but with a lot better bass.
Edited by Bond 007 - 11/29/12 at 4:51am

I like everything I've read about the PL-86's (and the PL-76's, for that matter). And I do enjoy my PL-26 center channel which , having never heard one before, I bought on faith. I'm interested in getting a set that isn't just loud, but detailed and crispt-sounding, too. That, and reach down low enough in the Hz so I'm not in immediate need of a sub. I've never talked with anyone whose owned either the RTR's or the PL-86/76 models. (If anyone has a pair of the RTR's I'd enjoy hearing what you have to say about them, since I know nothing other than what I've read in certain sales web sites customer reviews.) Can the PL-86/76 models be set to "large", or would it be better to set them as "small", and find a decent sub. I can certainly see where a sub woulld be good for LFE and anything lower in Hz than the speaker can produce, but would it be really necessary if the speakers reproduce a good deal of bass on their own? I guess, since I've never owned a sub, It's likely I don't know what I'm missing.


No doubt most speakers are better than the Sony's I have now. "Night and day" would pretty much describe it, I'm sure. Just the move from my Polk center to the PL-26 was a huge improvement. Just so long as I can find good L & R's now, and supplement them, when possible, with a decent sub, I'll be happy. Movies, sports, and music are what we primarily do with our HT, so what music sounds like will be important, too, not just bassy booms from explosions and such.

Thanks again for all your input!

When I was frying to determine what size to get I consulted BIC and Mike Embers. Baaically it boils down to room size, desired loudness, and if you are using a subwoofer.

The pl-76 are more than adequate for any room size. They shoild be paired with a subwoofer. The pl-89 basically will just play louder and wouldnt have to be paired with a sub. For my open family entertainment room i went with the 6.5
driver route. 2 pl-76, 1 pl-26, 2 fh-6w, 2 fh-6c, and a pl-200.

Just pulled the trigger on a pair of PL-89's. Already have a PL-200, and have a Klipsch center channel (RC-52) through a Denon AVR1912. Went back and forth in my brain ad nauseum trying to decide whether PL-76 or PL-89's. Was VERY close, but in the end the "size matters" argument won, I guess! I have a VERY old pair of 6 ohm Pioneer S-T100 speakers for my fronts currently. They are actually pretty decent speakers, but I've had them for 21 years! Can't wait to see how much different the 89's will sound (hoping for dramatic!).

Eggs? Ham? Sausages? lol j/k

Doing some looking about I saw the Premier Acoustics PA-8F towers. These don't have quite the range of the PL-86 speakers (going down to 35Hz as opposed to 25 for the PL-86s), but do have the advantage of having a mid-range driver. I can't say the PA-F8 thread here was a lot of help, since it read mostly like a flaming war between two-or-three people. However, on other forums they've been reviewed quite well. Anyone have any experience with these, or know someone who has? They almost seem like a PL-86 with a mid-range speaker (minus being horn driven, of course).

How low they go means nothing if you are going to get a sub. My above post is still the best advice I can give you. Be careful mixing different brands and models for the front three. What is the sensitivity of the F8s? Are they $500 a piece or for a pair? It is not clear on Amazon.

[/quote]How low they go means nothing if you are going to get a sub. My above post is still the best advice I can give you. Be careful mixing different brands and models for the front three. What is the sensitivity of the F8s? Are they $500 a piece or for a pair? It is not clear on Amazon.[/quote]

You're right, but I'm not picking up a sub right away. Probably not until May of '13. However, the PA-8Fs have more range than my aging Sonys, so they'd still be a win. The PAs have a sensitivity rating of 92 Db, and they were priced at $499.00 for the pair at Accoustic Sound Design. Same on Amazon.

How low they go means nothing if you are going to get a sub. My above post is still the best advice I can give you. Be careful mixing different brands and models for the front three. What is the sensitivity of the F8s? Are they $500 a piece or for a pair? It is not clear on Amazon.[/quote]
You're right, but I'm not picking up a sub right away. Probably not until May of '13. However, the PA-8Fs have more range than my aging Sonys, so they'd still be a win. The PAs have a sensitivity rating of 92 Db, and they were priced at $499.00 for the pair at Accoustic Sound Design. Same on Amazon.[/quote]Then your ok on the sensitivity as far as matching your center. Different tweeter type but I don't think that's critical.

Sorry I cant text for crap on my phone. It was bacon though.

I was considering the PA-F towers as well. Did a lot of research, talked with the guys at Sound Distributors and then read the following reviews: http://floor-standing-speakers.toptenreviews.com

I concluded that the BIC's were the way to go and I love mine.

That's sort of what I was thinking, too. They're pretty close re: their sensitivity. I really like the PL-26 center and I think it sounds great as a center. But not having a mid-range driver for the fronts is a bit of a concern, since those two eight inch drivers, on the PL-86 have to handle bass and mid-range sound simultaneously. Given the specs, and everything I've read about both speakers, seems like they both sound pretty good and their owners have been very happy with them. Five year warranty for the PAs v. an eight year warranty for the BICs? Well, the Sonys I have are a smidge over 15 years old and nothing's managed to shake loose yet. Ha! I'm sure either would sound great, with the PAs likely having a warmer sound than the BICs, if I'm understanding what I've read about them.

Not sure whether I understand the $70.00 price difference between the two, however. Might have to put in a call and ask a few questions about the two.

Mmmmm....... Bacon.

I'll have to call them and talk about the two speakers. At this point I'm beginning to develop a minor preference toward the PAs due to the mid-range speaker. I'm sure wither would sound great though. How long have you had your BICs? IT's a shame neither brand has been reviewed as often as other, more well-known brands. You'd think there'd be more info out there on them. Speaker snobbery? Ha!

So I haven't had my BIC setup all that long but today I got a new sub and re-did the Audessey setup. When I first did it my center was set to 80hz, and today it was 90hz. Same with my towers. As far as where I set the mic up at, it was the same exact location as before. Nothing was changed at all. Are these speakers now "broke in" or what exactly does this mean? A new sub shouldn't affect the other speakers, will it? The rear and surrounds were the same as before.

btw, PL-28 and PL-89's.

It means that Audessey isn't perfect. Don't worry about it. Generally takes about 50 hrs to break in a speaker but probably wont make any difference to Audessey. How does it sound?

I have had my BIC's for about 2 months now. Still in the "breaking in" period but I still enjoy them. The surrounds (PL-66) are incredible. Way better than the small bookshelf speakers that I used to have. The BIC's replace a 10 year old 5.1 PSB Image series speakers. The PSB were nice, but I like the Home theater experience better with these BICS.

I would compare the BICS to Klipsch ICON series that you will find in your local Best Buy store and the Klipsch Synergy Line which can be found at various stores. Try them out and if you like the sound, you will like the BICS.

Sounds about the same, except for the bass from the Outlaw sub!

Anyone interested in a PL-200?