Recommended floor speakers for ~$1000?

[tac020]

I am looking for a pair of floor speakers for around $1000. I am most interested in their performance when listening to music, but I will be using them for HT as well. I'm curious to hear some opinions on what those of you out there would buy on this budget for this purpose.

I listen to alternative rock, classical, latin, and most other kinds of music, and I will be using this system in a medium sized carpeted room with a cheap old Sony receiver (for now) if that is imporant at all.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[Woochifer]

Depends on what type of sound you're looking for. If you want to expand your range of options, you should consider a standmounted speaker as well. In general, floorstanding speakers in this range create more low range extension, but the tradeoff is often audible box resonance, muddier imaging, and less even tonal characteristics. If you're looking for something that can play louder or if bass is your main priority, then the floorstanders will probably meet your needs better. But, if you want a more balanced sound, then a standmount would probably be better. Start with the usual suspects like B&W's 600 series, Paradigm's Monitor and Studio series, Energy's C-series, Infinity's IL series, Klipsch's RF series, Polk, PSB, etc. You won't find most of these at a Best Buy or similar superstore. You'll need to go with a specialty chain like Good Guys, Tweeter, or Magnolia, or an independent audio store. Those dealers will have better demo rooms, and you should try to make arrangements to borrow the speakers you're most interested in. That way you'll hear for yourself how they sound at home with your receiver. If your receiver's underpowered, you'll know.

Also, keep in mind that if you plan to eventually put together a HT setup, you should evaluate the ancillary center and surround speakers as well. It's a long process and don't jump at something because someone tells you it's good or because it's a bargain. Do your due diligence, bring your own test discs with you, and enjoy.

[JSE]

I own the Boston Acoustic VR965 towers. They were about $1k but have recently been discontinued so you can probably pick them up a lot cheaper. Might even be able to get VR975 towers under $1k now. The main reason I picked them was because they did both HT and Music really well. Music is their strongest point though. They are a bit laid back for some people, but I like that. Some will differ. I can't stand brighter speakers, but again that's just me. One note, the Boston VR965 and VR975 towers have built in subs so that may add them or eliminate them from your list. I did not really have room for seperate sub so they worked out perfect for me.

You probably need to go listen to several different brands of speakers because some speakers do one or the other better and some do both well. It all comes down to what sounds good to you.

There should be a lot of choices out there for $1k or less. Some brands:

Boston Acoustics
Paradigm
PSB
Klipsch
Athena
Mirage
Canton
Axiom (factory direct)
Energy
Onix Rockets (factory direct)
Polk
Infinity
B&W

and many more. This should give you a start though. All will sound different. It depends on what you like.

JSE

[thepogue]

I like the Canton's also...they are sleepers that can be found at great prices...good luck!

[JSE]

You can find Cantons that Pogue spoke of at The Great Indoors (owned by Sears). They sounded great to me. Not sure you have them in your area, but they have a pretty good selection. They also carried M&K (supposedly awesome for HT but not so much for Music).


JSE

[tac020]

Thank you for the very helpful suggestions. I've been currently looking at the Paradigm Studio 60s and I plan to look at the B&W 603s. I am not interested in stand mount speakers despite their advantages because as someone mentioned, I want the greater range of the floor speakers. I don't want to have to use a sub for music.

We do have a Great Indoors here so I will definitely check out the Cantons. Also, the powered sub of the Bostons is appealing to me. I'm leaning toward the Paradigms at this point based on how they sounded at the store, but I will restrain that itchy trigger finger until I've listened to some of the other models mentioned.