Advice on new speakers: ~75% HT -- ~25% music

[shellylh]

I have a pair of AV123 X-SLS towers that are having issues. I am probably still going to try and fix them (and do something with them) but I never really liked them. They sound really dark and muddy. Oh well. They are fine for HT but I am thinking that maybe it is time to get some new speakers. I may also get a new center and surrounds (I have some crappy Cambridge Audio works stuff for that right now) now or later. The sub is also an AV123, is ok but it hums so it is off most of the time. I'll probably get a new sub at some point if needed. I assume that my center should match the mains as much as possible.

Here is my setup:

I will be using this mostly for HT but if I had better speakers, I would probably use it more for listening to music.

I have a Marantz SR6005 that I just bought. This will be driving them. If I listened to music, it would probably be with the Logitech Touch -> Marantz (not sure which DAC would be better). Wondering if it would have trouble driving any of the speakers below (e.g. the MA are 6 ohm).

The new speakers need to be at least as nice looking as the X-SLS for hubby to let them in the living room. No giant black speakers. They need to have lots of wood (nice looking) and cannot have woods sides with a black front.

AUDIO SECTION

Power Output (8 Ohm) 110W (20Hz - 20kHz, 0.08% THD, 2ch driven) x7

Here is my setup. Not much room, the speakers (38" x 8.5" x 12") have about a foot of breathing room behind them. The room is maybe 18' by 14' (didn't measure) but it is open to the rest of the house on a couple of the walls. Also, hubby likes the white chair there. It kinda drives me crazy having it in front of one of the speakers.

These are the two options I am thinking of now but I am open to suggestions.

1) Monitor Audio RX6 in rosenut (plus matching center either now or in the future)

I demoed the RS6 in store a while back and liked them but that was a long time ago and, of course, everything will sound different at home... and these presumably sounds slightly different.

My worries: There are complaints that they are too bright but these could be from people that like muddy sounding AV123 type speakers.

2) Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 bookshelves in natural + CMT 340 center (or perhaps Sierra-1 center).

I loved the CMT-340's that I had and if they passed the HAF, I would definitely just get the whole Ascend system. Unfortunately, they are big and black and won't be allowed. (Hubby didn't even like them when I had them in the office).

My worries: The obvious that they are bookshelf speakers with 5.25" woofers. These would definitely need a subwoofer. They seem to be great for music but maybe not quite as nice for HT. As for centers, I would like to get the CMT-340 since I don't like the idea of having a non-symmetric center (the matching Sierra-1 center) but am worried that it wouldn't match up as well as the Sierra-1 center. If I got these, I would probably also get the HT-200 for surrounds.

3) Quad 21L or 22L

Didn't have this on my list at first but I think this may be a good choice. Need to look into this more.

Edit: Cannot find out where a dealer in Houston is. Stupid Quad website.

Others:

Axiom also also looks great but there are many complaints of it being too bright (brighter than the Monitor Audio stuff). It may be fine for HT though. I'll have to look into this more.

Aperion Audio's stuff looks great and is cheap but I am afraid that it might sound muddy like the X-SLS.

I looked into Paradigm but not sure it would pass the HAF. Maybe the Studio line would be ok (and probably sounds great).

Basically since I am mostly using this for HT, I don't want to spend too much money but want to get something that looks nice and doesn't sound like crap.

Edited February 19, 2012 by shellylh

[Grahame]

Can you not appeal to hubby's sense of symmetry and move the chair?

[shellylh]

He has no sense of symmetry.

[morphsci]

The Rx-6s certainly look nice and the front port would be an advantage with your speaker placement.

[shellylh]

Right now after more thing, I think the Ascend/Sierra-1 are out. It is between the MA and Quad 22L2. I didn't think about the front port on the MA. That could be handy. I think the Quads are slightly better looking.

I can get the Quad 22L2 for $1196.99 a pair from STO Sound and Vision who claim to be an authorized dealer. Does this seem to be a good price. I found them from ebay where they have a 100% feedback score (and ~1000 transactions).

They are selling the Quad L2 center for $386.99. This would be slightly cheaper than the MA RX6 plus center from audio advisor. I like the Quad 12L actives that I have in my office.

Do you think I could get a better price from a local MA dealer (I *hate* haggling and am no good at it. Actually I really hate going to stores in general)? Do you think I should try to find the Quad locally (if I can find a store carrying them) rather than having them shipped?

Maybe I should just ask hubby which he likes better and just order that. I'm sure they will both be good.

Also, the only time I would be able to be home to receive the speakers until May is during our Spring break which is a week away so I would probably need to order stuff soon.

[n_maher]

I've long been a fan of paradigm if there is a dealer near you. I'd have a look at the studio 60 or 100.

[swt61]

I would probably go with the Quad L-ite system and call it a day.

I'm a Paradigm fan too, but not sure they have the aesthetic you want.

Edited February 19, 2012 by swt61

[Maxvla]

I've not listened to a lot of speakers, but I really like my Paradigm Studio 40 v.4 pair. Bought mine a couple years ago and it was new old stock as they had stopped making them, but perhaps there is a new version. Mine were in your price range. The Studio series came in several finishes.

Not my picture:

Studio 60

Edited February 19, 2012 by Maxvla

[blessingx]

I was recently looking at 22L2s to replace awkwardly used 12Las and the above price is cheaper than anywhere I've seen.

Edited February 19, 2012 by blessingx

[shellylh]

Thanks Ric.

The 22L2 look nice but I just noticed that they are only 33.5" tall. Wonder if this might not be a good combination with the white chair.

I am not sure that even I like the look of the Paradigm Studios. Too much metal/silver. I am sure they sound great though.

[shellylh]

I guess I can always move the chair when listening to music or watching movies. Maybe I can find a smaller chair to put there and then it won't be quite as bad. I am leaning towards the RX6 right now. The dealer isn't open today unfortunately and I wouldn't have time to go during the week. Do you think I could get a significantly cheaper price from the dealer than audio advisor?

Jacob: Any suggestions for competent bookshelves? I guess I can go back to the Sierra-1 option (although, they only have a 5.25" woofer which seems kinda small).

Edited February 19, 2012 by shellylh

[shellylh]

Because of the damn white chair, I was thinking about bookshelves. I noticed that the MA RX2 has an 8" woofer. So I am thinking that this might be an alternative option to the RX6 since I could put it on stands high enough so that the white chair didn't block so much of the sound. Of course, maybe an 8" woofer just means that the sound is not as tight.

[bhjazz]

I've rarely had luck doing haggling with local dealers. I don't know why. I always get the, "well, that's the msrp" or "we're not an internet dealer so wtf" from them.

Anyway, I sure wish you could move that chair! Damn. Your imaging is really going to suffer from that, the blinds behind and the corner that is near the fireplace. I usually vote for towers, but in this case, you really might do well with stand-mounted monitors. That way when you want to watch a movie or have decent sound you could simply move the stands+monitors out where they sound better, then move them back to appease the HAF. The Paradigm Studios always get great reviews, although I haven't heard them in a while. I'm a big fan of Focal, and they have three lines to cover most budgets/needs. The Chorus 807 has a 1" and a 7" and is said to go down to 41Hz. Might need a sub, but 41Hz ain't bad. I think they're around $1100.

Otherwise, my #1 rule for buying speakers is to listen to them first. Always! Good luck!

[mrarroyo]

Shelly, I am partial to Ohm Walsh speakers and there are a couple of pairs being sold close to your home state via AudioKarma. For example:

http://www.audiokarm...light=ohm+walsh

Edited February 20, 2012 by mrarroyo

[acidbasement]

PSB, Paradigm... if we're going to discuss Canadian speaker makers, I'm going to shout out Energy as well. I'm not sure about your desired pricepoint, but the Veritas towers sound amazing.

[swt61]

The Ohms are nice, and would work with the chair in place, but no matching center channel is available. The Energy Veritas sound wonderful, but I don't think you can get them with a wood face. Any Thiel is going to sound beautiful IMO.

[acidbasement]

The Energy Veritas sound wonderful, but I don't think you can get them with a wood face.

You can get them in wood, but it looks like the chair will be a big problem given the woofer placement in the towers: link

[grawk]

Woofers aren't particularly directional. As long as mids and tweets are above the chair you should be good.

[Voltron]

Can't you move the rig over to the right, Shelly? Might block more of the window but would improve the sound/view and get the speaker out of Tim's left ear if he is sitting in the white chair.

[morphsci]

The Energy Veritas v2.3i are nice speakers. I use them as my front L and R in the HT system and they pass WAF here. Mine look like these

No longer manufactured but still show up used once in a while.

Edited February 20, 2012 by morphsci

[cobra_kai]

Maybe consider salk songtower or HT2 depending on budget. You can get them in your choice of custom wood veneers and are beautiful speakers IMO. You also get a 30 day in home trial if you choose a standard veneer.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I'll second the PSB Imagine Mini. They sound very good, even without my Velodyne subwoofer. I'm using them in my bedroom 5.1 rig, but they still have wonderful imaging and transparency in 2 channel mode which is what I use for music. (I'm still using the crappy Velodyne Deco satellites for center and rear channel when needed)

[swt61]

Hey Shelly, it looks like your amp is at least 7.1? Turn one horizontally, throw in a sub and you're done...

http://www.ebay.com/...#ht_3484wt_1139

I used to like MB Quart, haven't heard this model though. He's also selling them in 5.

If you still want large towers up front, check out Swan's Diva series. They have centers and surrounds as well...

Edited February 20, 2012 by swt61

[shellylh]

Woofers aren't particularly directional. As long as mids and tweets are above the chair you should be good.

That is what I was thinking/hoping.

Can't you move the rig over to the right, Shelly? Might block more of the window but would improve the sound/view and get the speaker out of Tim's left ear if he is sitting in the white chair.

I can move it over a little but don't think it would help. That chair is really huge. Nobody sits in the chair unless we have company over (in which case the speaker isn't in use). Unfortunately hubby insists that we have some sort of chair over there. I mentioned have a plant but it was a no go.

Thanks for all the suggestions for speakers guys. Unfortunately, I guess I am almost as picky as hubby cuz I don't really like the look of most of them (at least for a living room). The Swans look nice but I have a pair of their active speakers MKII and wasn't so impressed with the sound (I guess that doesn't mean much though). Also they are 70lbs EACH. Since I have to move the speakers every once in a while to get in back of the TV, I am not sure I want to get something that heavy.

I was really set on the Monitor Audio RX7, I keep going back to that one (based on the sound I heard from the RS6, the looks, price and the fact that it had a front port). But then I realized there was a typo about the height on their webpage. It says it is 37 5/8" with plinth and feet - don't think that includes spikes. It also says it is 905mm tall. Well, 905mm ~ 35 5/8". Perhaps if I used spikes (with a metal base under them since I have hardwood floors) I could get it to ~37". That is still about an inch shorter than my current speakers. Sigh. Probably should get front ported bookshelves (like Paradigm Studio 20) but I really want to get towers so it is hard to bring myself to do that (plus I don't like the look of the Paradigm Studio). Anyway, just complaining and thinking outloud now. I really need to find a smaller chair, perhaps with no arms.

[Pars]

These don't meet many of your criteria, but I'll throw them out anyhow... Von Schweikert VR-33s.

http://www.vonschweikert.com/techspecs/1.php

I've had a pair of Von Schweikert VR-4 Gen IIs for a number of years and have been pleased with them. I wouldn't mind moving up in the line, but I can live with these. They are balanced, throw a huge soundstage with good imaging, and sound very good even when you aren't in the sweet spot.

One advantage of the VR-33s is that they are designed to be placed close to the wall. Yes, they don't have a lot of wood, etc. which you had said you wanted, but for the reasons listed in the link above, the money has been put into the drivers and not the cabinet work (veneer, etc.). These are 50" tall, with the tweeter 37" off the ground, so should work well with the chair, etc.

Just thought I'd throw those out there