Need some guidance on speaker purchase

[Grandpaw]

Hello, I have been hanging out over at the woodworking forums and not been around here in some time. I dropped in because I need some direction on a speaker purchase.

I am very happy with the floor standing speakers I have except for taking up floor space. I would like to replace them with some speakers that were small that could be mounted up on the wall or with brackets. I am mainly interested in surround sound with a small amount of music listening. I have a subwoofer that has two twelve inch speakers and a built in 300 watt amp that I am keeping that will take care of the bass for the system.

I would like to keep it in the $1000 to $1500 range if possible for all five speakers.

What I am looking for are suggestions of brands, models and places to purchase the speakers.

Edit.... speakers can have subwoofer included.

Thanks for any help or suggestions you may offer, Grandpaw

[Grandpaw]

I just can't believe that nobody here dosen't have some reccomendations for a set of 5.1 speakers to mount on the wall! I am looking at Polk and Infinity right now. They have the five small speakers and a sub in a set.

I would like to get some suggestions on sets you like or just five speakers that will go with the sub I have.

[GMichael]

Hi Paw,

I missed your first post. I like the Infinity's but not the very small ones. They are OK but bookshelf speakers will give you a much better sound and many can be mounted on the wall as well. I like the Infinity Primus 150's. If they are too big for you, you could go for the 140's. Here is one of many places to get them. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-DaxjB7SMFEQ/cgi-bin/ProdGroup.asp?g=37900

There are others available too. What you should do is listen to as many as you can first to see what you like.
Just remember that the small Bose speakers, as well as other Bose sized speakers, compromise a lot of sound quality for the sake of being cute. You're better off with bookshelf style.

[Eric Z]

You can also check out some Energy or Definitive Technology. The PM100s by Def Tech aren't too bad- I have 4 of them laying around my house and I hook them up once in a while and I'm impressed with their sound for being a smaller speaker (Ebay usually has some good deals).

Remember, as GM said, as you get smaller than a bookshelf (micro or whatever the heck you want to call them), the sound is quite inferior.

If you can, head out to a speaker store and do some listening- try and go to a place that has a wide range of decent speakers.

[Grandpaw]

How about these http://www.onecall.com/LandingPage.aspx?lpID=51

[GMichael]

How about these http://www.onecall.com/LandingPage.aspx?lpID=51

I've never heard these so I don't know. But I wouldn't buy anything that I haven't heard before unless it comes with a good return policy.

[nightflier]

How about these http://www.onecall.com/LandingPage.aspx?lpID=51

Phase Tech is OK, but nothing that stands out. At the pricepoints you are considering, I would stick with the Infinity Primus. We installed six of the Primus 160's in a gym and they sounded very good mounted on brackets near the ceiling (despite the location and lots of ambient noise). I also liked the fact that they are front-ported which really will helps when mounted against the wall.

[topspeed]

Hey Grandpaw, long time no post.

You might consider Cambridge Soundworks. Their Newton line is pretty good and offer tremendous bang-for-the-buck. (4) M80's combined with one of their cc's would make a helluva system, IMO.
http://hifi.com/store/category.cgi?category=spk_bookshelf&item=k1m80zzzz

You might also consider a set of Epos ELS3's and their matching CC. These are great little speakers that aren't as dynamic as the Newtons, but are a little more accurate and precise. The Newton's are warmer sounding, the Epos' more neutral. It just depends on what you like.

http://audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?sku=EPOELS3&product_name=ELS3%20Mini%20Monitor%20Speakers%20-%20Pair

Both of these would make a fine surround system.

Hope this helps.

[Grandpaw]

I will look at your suggestions and check them out.

I am looking at maybe getting four of the fronts and the center as seperate speakers that are used in this system.

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/systems/subsatsystems/rm6900/?reviews=1

I will use my Infinity SW212 300 watt sub to go with whatever speakers I purchase.

What do you think about these Polk speakers and using my sub?

[Lensman]

Speaker buying sure isn't what it used to be. As advances in audio science and manufacturing continue to progress, things have gotten to the point that virtually every speaker company now has something that meets your requirements within the constraints of your budget. This makes it hard to respond to your request because the list of brands available is insanely long and there's a bazillion differing opinions about which company's products are better.

In general, I think most people on this forum feel that the better speakers for the money will be made by manufacturers who are not focused on selling large volumes of product. The best advice I can give is to not limit yourself to offerings at big-box stores. Get out your phone book and look for local high-end audio dealers. Then go and check out what they have to offer. I believe you'll find you have choices you might not have considered previously possible and will have a chance to pick out something that sounds right versus something that's merely priced right.

[Woochifer]

I think you should forget about looking at speaker packages and focus more on finding some bookshelf sized speakers that meet with your preferences. You should go with something larger than the typical cube/micro two-way packaged speakers because the bookshelf speakers can legitimately extend down to where the subwoofer should take over (typically about 80 Hz, whereas a lot of home theater package speakers cannot extend lower than about 120 Hz, which leaves an audible frequency gap). Fortunately, most of these are still light enough to wall-mount on brackets. You just need to make sure that if the speakers use a ported design (and most speakers nowadays are) that it faces forward rather than back, if you plan to anchor the speakers to the wall or use brackets.

One of the more intriguing options that I've seen among 5.1 packages is the one that SVS is about to come out with. ON PAPER, this looks like something noticeably different from the typical home theater speaker packages because it uses a sealed acoustic suspension design with a silk dome tweeter, rather than the more typical ported design with metal dome tweeter.

[Grandpaw]

I could only find one actual stereo store in the area. I did go over and listen to some Definitive speakers and was very impressed with the sound they put out. I talked with the owner and listened to these for about an hour and a half. If I could have described what I was looking for as far as looks, these would have matched exactly. I am going to put a link to them below.

http://www.definitivetech.com/loudspeakers/mythos/mythos_gem.html

What I think I want would be four Gems for the fronts and rear and the model seven center and use my sub. So far these have eliminated everything else I have looked at and listened to.

[Eric Z]

The Definitive Mythos are some decent speakers- a lot of people like them, but some here aren't big fans- I really like their sound. I have their Pro Monitors and found some good deals on Ebay- I think they're cheaper, too. Regardless of the speakers you buy, be sure to not pay the msrp! I've dealt a lot with Definitive at my local store and they say you should pay about 20-25% below msrp. They should be able to work a deal out with you.

Good luck!
Eric

[Grandpaw]

Thanks to all who took the time to give me helpful suggestions. At this time out of the speakers I have considered it looks like four Definitive Mythos Gems with a Definitive Mythos Seven looks like what fits best for what I'm looking for.

information about these speakers
http://www.definitivetech.com/loudspeakers/mythos/mythos_gem.html

review for these speakers
http://www.definitivetech.com/reviews/MythosGemSysRevuSV605.pdf

[poneal]

http://home.stx.rr.com/poneal/Front.jpg
http://home.stx.rr.com/poneal/Back.jpg

[Lensman]

There's nothing quite as pleasing as auditioning a set of speakers and realizing they're perfect. That you find the looks perfect as well is a bonus not everyone gets to enjoy with their speaker purchases. May you get many years of listening pleasure from them.