speakers for home office

[listo]

Hello, This is my first post.

I recently moved into a new house and am getting my home office setup. I work from home. I just bought an Onkyo TX8522 Stereo Reciever as my main source. It may not be the best 2ch but so far I like the sound coming from it. I picked up Polk Monitor 50s over the weekend . So far the sound is okay. They are alittle harsh on the high's and the mid range is okay. They do however lack bass. Not to say there is no bass, just not booming. I'm learning that all bass does not have to boom like 2 15's in a car.

I believe they are more for HT. The main reason I got them is I wanted a floor standing speaker and they fit into my budget of $400-500. I'm still out on them. Pink Floyd sounds great, metal sounds so so because they just don't have the low. I really don't want to add a sub because I wanted to keep the setup rather simple. Sources are either my Sony DVD player and mostly my PC.

For $500 what else could I get that could fill a full range of sound. Would like to stick with floor but a good bookshelf on stands I can live with.

Thanks in Advance

Chris

[markw]

But I findthese unbeatable at their prices. I use this one (and it's mates) in my own HT/music system. It does do bass, but for HT, a sub helps and, even then, I usually dturn off the sub ehen listening to music.

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATASF1%2E2

Now, this is it's big brother and it needs no subwoofer, unless one wants to rattle the walls in a HT system. Musically. it should be excellent for your needs and should easily satisy any musical basss urges you might have

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATASF2%2E2

..must be nice to havea big office. I'm stuck in a dark, dingy cellar.

[PDN]

Chris:

What size is your office (l w h)? Is there carpet on the floor? Carpeting assists in generating bass extension and sound. Helps to deaden the room somewhat. For $500.00, I would stay away from floor standers since for that price, you'll probably not get a good value. Standmounts are the way to go. If you could pick up a pair of leftover B&W DM601S3's (no longer produced as of earlier this year but some stores may still have some), I believe you'd be elated with their sound and bass response. I have a pair in a rather large LR with thick carpet and open to other rooms. Driven by an older NAD 2 ch receiver and I am highly pleased with their performance. Excellent bass for a floor stander. You may also want to audition the brand new B&W 685's which replace the DM601S3's. I believe they are about $500.00/pr. I auditioned them a few weeks ago and they are state of the art right now. FANTASTIC sound. There are literally dozens of other choices and brands out there but I have direct experience with B&W. Other great stand mount speakers include NHT, PSB, KEF, Proac, etc. But your room environment is a huge factor.

[bubbagump]

I was using a pair of Paradigm Atoms in my home office. Great speakers but in the near field, harsh and fatiguing highs. I'm not a speaker designer but I suspect that the typical speaker is designed to fill a medium to large room with realistic sound. To do this, the highs need to be boosted to overcome typical room acoustic issues. I picked up a pair of Insignia KEF clones back when they were on sale to about 36 bucks. I compared them to the Atoms and a pair of Legacy Classics in a large room. Compared the the Atoms and Classics, they sound muted in the high range. They are not a speaker to fill a room with realistic sound. I moved them into my home office and listened to them in the near field. In this capacity, they sound incredible. Buttery smooth, lush midrange and they can be listened to for long periods of time with no fatigue. They move a lot of air compared to dedicated computer speakers so voice sounds great with a lot of breath. I use them with a sub and they're not powered so you'll need a receiver or amp. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7705307&type=product&id=1138085354138

[listo]

PDN, The room is not huge by any means. Its 10x11x8high. It is currently carpeted but I will be installing laminate soon.

I know floorstanding is probably way overkill for the room but I'll more then likely move them down into the living room in the future. Don't minding having headroom and keeping the volume down alittle.

I was reading the reviews on the Athena AS-F1.2 and 2.2 models given above and for the money (same as I paid for the monitor 50's) based on reviews are excellent. There is no place locally to hear them but I may make the leap anyway.

Not quite sure on bookshelf although they would be easier to manage in term of size.

[PDN]

Listo,

Yes, that is a relatively small room so your loudpeaker selection is made somewhat easier. Did you say you'll be removing the carpet and replacing with laminate? Not a recommended move for audio. Keep the carpeting. I'm not familiar with Athena loudspeakers but I just visited their website. The specs on these two models are impressive (92dB and 93dB) with 8" woofer drivers. That's a "loud" speaker as they make the claim to be. Quite efficient. The 40hz and 35 hz means they can get down and produce some decent bass ext. They are available at Best Buy so if you have a Best Buy close to home, you can audition them there. But having said that, I just cringe when I hear about audio components being purchased at a mass market store. That's just my opinion. They may sound fine even if they are sold at a mass market store. It's just one of those unwritten "codes" of the audiophile community. So in conclusion, I would go with a higher quality pr of standmount speakers (NHT, PSB, B&W, Proac, Tannoy, etc) and keep the carpet. You'll be much happier I believe. Again, just my input for you.

[Mtbrider]

These might do well for you. I have the bookshelf version and like them.

http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=94.1

[listo]

I wound up buying the F1.2's. The perfect sound that I was looking for and the price was perfect. They are alittle overkill for my office volume wise over 1/4 knob. They may actually wind up in the living room and bookshelfs into the office. 92db is LOUD in a 10x11 office as mentioned above. But the sound clarity on the Athena's is great for the price.