[bsiegert9]

About to move to Maryland and looking to upgrade the home theater system in the new house. Looking for a nice left/center/right speaker combo.


I won't be far from Delaware (tax free shopping) and know that stores like best buy and circuit city are there. I also wouldn't be against getting some speakers with no interest payments... would allow me to spend a little bit more :tu:


Just not sure which store would offer the best options?


Thanks!

 

[tonygeno]

BB has Magnolia inside, at least many of them do, and you'll get higher end choices there (Vienna Acoustics, Definitive Technology and Klipsch Reference). Circuit City carries the new Boston Horizon series that got a nice review in this month's Sound & Vision magazine as well as some of the KEFs. Regular Best Buy has pretty low-end stuff.

 

[dpnaugle]

Don't shop at CC. Customer service is a joke, at least at the CC's in my area. I always leave saying Ill never go back.


BB is a bit better and has a much better options for speakers. You should look for a good audio dealer in your area. The one on one demo experience is nice.


Good Luck

 

[brubacca]

New Speakers--- Magnolia HT in Best buy---- Vienna Acoustics or Martin Logan if you really enjoy music. If you are a HT or a serious ROCKER they have Klipsch Reference (bright for my taste, but some people love em).


EDIT: I live just north of Delaware in PA.. Up towards the PA line there are two really good stores. Hi-Fi House and Overture. It has been a lng time since I have been to either, but they are good stores worth checking out. Overture carried Avalon Acoustics and Totem last time I was there. Hi Fi House has Paradigm, Sonus Faber and ERA.


What is your budget????

 

[Codes20]

I work at BB (non-Magnolia) and I really don't like the speakers the core stores have.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Aside from MHT in a BB, I wouldn't buy speakers at a chain store. Their offerings are generally mediocre at best. Find local dealers who carry real speakers, paradigm etc and listen to those. MHT offers some solid options, but in my personal opinion with not necessarily the best value out there.

 

[chuck21401]

You should also consider Myer-Emco and Tweeter

http://www.myer-emco.com/store_finder/stores.php

http://www.tweeter.com/aboutus/store...e.asp?state=MD

 

[Babel_Fish]

I wouldn't go to either of them.. Find a local specialty store and demo stuff there.. You will get better customer service and a more knowledgeable rep from a store that deals solely with Hi-End Audio then from a chain store that sells everything... (in my opinion).

 

[Factor V]

dp's right, Circuit City's Customer Service is a joke. The sales staff will do anything to avoid eye contact. It's probably best though, their silence is more valuable information than their speech. There is the occasional rarity, the one guy who knows his products, but he doesn't last long.

 

[Dradius]

bestbuy: search slickdeals.net for a 10% off coupon. you can also find triple reward coupons which will be helpful if you plan on spending several hundred dollars. i spent about a grand there, used triple rewards, and basically got a free dvd player out of it.


circuitcity: search for $40 off $199, if you get a couple of these you can really save some dough.

 

[gspin2k1]

for home theater I think circuit city sucks. So BB, or even Frys if u got one. or stick with internet brands.

~G

 

[cwall99]

We have both BB and CC in my neck of the woods, and, frankly, the speaker selection leaves me a little unimpressed. In fact, over the weekend, I was up at my local BB, and they had all of 6 different speakers on display. Not hooked up to anything, just standing there on the shelf, looking all beat up. They, however, have about 50% of their floor space dedicated to any number of new flat screen displays. You're not going to get much useful help at either of the big box stores.


I'd take a look for a boutique store. Not only will you get far superior help in your purchase, but you'll find far superior speakers to those sold in the big box stores. If you time it right, you can even get their floor models for a substantial discount (I just bought some B&W 603s3s and a LCR 600 for 40% off as my local boutique was getting rid of its demo models to make way for the new line of B&Ws.


I just like the boutique experience, too. You have a much better place to listen to the speakers and you don't have to deal with the crowds.


Same prices, better speakers, much better service. How can you go wrong?

 

[Mikeb53]

Unless you absolutly have to go to a local store, go internet. Better selection and better prices.

 

[B3Nut]

The BB here is a joke...the only available source for auditioning speakers is bad FM, and the only station that BB's antenna system seems to feed in is the horrible bubblegum corporate-teen-pop station, which provides horrible audio of horrible "artists." Squashed-to-hell Gwen Stefani...now there's a great source for auditioning loudspeakers....NOT. If you have to use FM at least use the NPR classical station that has some semblance of fidelity! No Magnolia room either. They used to have a speaker demo room with at least a mix-CD with different genres of music, so you could use a jazz or classical track to get a bead on the actual sound of the speaker. Now they're all out on the floor in nondescript rows like jugs of laundry detergent that happen to make noise.


CC around here is pretty much dead, not much customer traffic and zombie-like help. I would never buy from them because of the lower-than-whale-dung manner in which they treated their employees...laying them off then offering them their old jobs for less pay. Uh....no.


Around these regions of Cheesecurdistan American TV is the only big box that's worth a damn, you can actually audition things! What a novel idea!


Todd in Cheesecurdistan