Well the Bose 501s my dad bought before I was born have finally given out. I may have them refurbished, but think this is a good time to upgrade anyway (they were more than a little muddy anyway). So was hoping for this forums advice.
I was using the 501s as the front speakers for the system in our great room. That system consists of:
Denon AVR-X3000
Bose 501s
Polk CS1 (Center)
Polk R15 (Rears)
Polk PSW10 (Sub)
Unknown bookshelf (L2, I will explain later)
Our great room (kitchen/living room) is fairly large (18' x 22' 6") with a 12' 6" ceiling above the TV which slopes down to 9'. There is also a large opening into the front room, about 5' wide that goes all the way up to the 12' ceiling. I have attached a room layout drawing to this post to help visualize. The front speakers sit on a huge mantel along with the TV, about 5' off the ground.
The speakers are used 2/3 or more of the time for TV and movies. The rest of the time they are used for music, which is why I have the L2. The 'normal' left speaker is placed in a normal position to the left of the TV. I wired a hidden switch into our entertainment shelving that swaps L for L2, with L2 being placed in the far left corner of the room (about 7' off the ground on top of our kitchen cabinets) and used to better fill the room when listening to music.
When listening to music it is generally current country or pop. My tastes are bit eclectic though, so contemporary classical, 'true' classical, electronic, dance, etc... often come into the mix as well. I have a limited background in a string orchestra, so like to pretend I have a decent ear, but then again that was years ago so I am probably just humoring myself. I played the string bass for some time though, so have a preference towards heavy bass.
I have been generally happy with our current setup, though I did find the Bose to be pretty muddy, and sometimes found voices in movies to a bit difficult to understand. To be honest though I haven't listened with a focus on critiquing the sound in some time.
I believe the weak links in my setup are my fronts and the sub. So am looking for advice on those (though I am happy for any other input as well), keeping in mind that I will need 3 fronts. I am looking at a budget of around $1000, but there is some flexibility in that. I figure if I stretch that some and am impressed with the sound I can rationalize it, if I am not impressed I can return some things.
With the placement of the fronts being so high off the ground I think towers are ruled out. That would put the tweeters insanely high and make very difficult to point them at the listener. Which I guess means a good set of bookshelves would be the way to go? Given that I have a Polk center I think? it is advised to stick with Polk? In which case I have looked at the RTI A3s which seem to get good reviews. Although some say they sound a little bright, which I worry may clash with my preference for bass. I plan to see if I can find someplace to listen to them.
I also wonder if my sub is holding me back some. While the reviews on Amazon and Best Buy for the PSW10 are good, the reviews and comparisons on this forum aren't so hot. I am wondering if an upgrade to a BIC F12 for Klipsch RW-12D or something might pay off?
Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
Alon
I was using the 501s as the front speakers for the system in our great room. That system consists of:
Denon AVR-X3000
Bose 501s
Polk CS1 (Center)
Polk R15 (Rears)
Polk PSW10 (Sub)
Unknown bookshelf (L2, I will explain later)
Our great room (kitchen/living room) is fairly large (18' x 22' 6") with a 12' 6" ceiling above the TV which slopes down to 9'. There is also a large opening into the front room, about 5' wide that goes all the way up to the 12' ceiling. I have attached a room layout drawing to this post to help visualize. The front speakers sit on a huge mantel along with the TV, about 5' off the ground.
The speakers are used 2/3 or more of the time for TV and movies. The rest of the time they are used for music, which is why I have the L2. The 'normal' left speaker is placed in a normal position to the left of the TV. I wired a hidden switch into our entertainment shelving that swaps L for L2, with L2 being placed in the far left corner of the room (about 7' off the ground on top of our kitchen cabinets) and used to better fill the room when listening to music.
When listening to music it is generally current country or pop. My tastes are bit eclectic though, so contemporary classical, 'true' classical, electronic, dance, etc... often come into the mix as well. I have a limited background in a string orchestra, so like to pretend I have a decent ear, but then again that was years ago so I am probably just humoring myself. I played the string bass for some time though, so have a preference towards heavy bass.
I have been generally happy with our current setup, though I did find the Bose to be pretty muddy, and sometimes found voices in movies to a bit difficult to understand. To be honest though I haven't listened with a focus on critiquing the sound in some time.
I believe the weak links in my setup are my fronts and the sub. So am looking for advice on those (though I am happy for any other input as well), keeping in mind that I will need 3 fronts. I am looking at a budget of around $1000, but there is some flexibility in that. I figure if I stretch that some and am impressed with the sound I can rationalize it, if I am not impressed I can return some things.
With the placement of the fronts being so high off the ground I think towers are ruled out. That would put the tweeters insanely high and make very difficult to point them at the listener. Which I guess means a good set of bookshelves would be the way to go? Given that I have a Polk center I think? it is advised to stick with Polk? In which case I have looked at the RTI A3s which seem to get good reviews. Although some say they sound a little bright, which I worry may clash with my preference for bass. I plan to see if I can find someplace to listen to them.
I also wonder if my sub is holding me back some. While the reviews on Amazon and Best Buy for the PSW10 are good, the reviews and comparisons on this forum aren't so hot. I am wondering if an upgrade to a BIC F12 for Klipsch RW-12D or something might pay off?
Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
Alon
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