decent low buck used speakers. which one?

[rx7speed]

I found some local used speakers and I don't know much about either one of thse speakers but figured you guys might have some idea here
my first choice is some DCM KX12 95.00 for the pair. never heard of the company or their speakers but I know that doesn't mean they are bad. from what little info I could find it seems they are at least somewhat decent speakers.

the other set i can get is infinity sm122. 50.00 for the pair. i know infinity has a decent name for speakers at least but every company can still make a bad speaker and I prefer not to buy just on name alone.

anyone know anything about either of these speakers?

[markw]

If you're into loud rock, the DCM KX12 is made for you! It's yer basic thre way ox baded on a 12" woofer that'll handle gobs of power. It'll play very, very loud and clean with just a few watts and, given power, it'll fill a room with deep, clean sound across the range. IOW, it's a great rock and party speaker.

It's not subtle,though. For classical and acoustic music it may have a bit of a forward presence but, when used for it's intended purpose, it's hard to beat and, if they are clean and functional, it's not too bad a price.

I yeild the floor to the next speaker. (pun intended)

[rx7speed]

what I'm looking for is something with decent quality without having that overbearing blown way out bass but yet still maintain a decent low end bandwidth. part of the reason I am passing on the cerwin vega's that I have seen that are for sale local. they are loud for sure but the mid range isn't teh greatest from my understanding and they are just way too overpowering for the bass.

for classical what do you mean to much forward presence and not being sublte? sorry I have never been great at explaining sounds.

[markw]

The KX series is very similar to Cerwin-Vega! speakers, although between the two I've always preferred the DCM. I've always thought that the CV speakers were a design goal of this particular series of DCM speakers.

[rx7speed]

i might still get them either way though depending on if I can find any info on those infinity speakers. Am I correct then in thinking that the bass is a little overpowering here with the mids a little weak and not as clear compared to other equiv speakers?

[markw]

No, the mids are not "weak". The bass in in the correct proportion to a speaker with it's design goals. It shouts "ROCK ON, DUDE!" and that's about all there is to it. There's not much else I can say. You're asking me to describe the flavor of chocolate.

You really need to listen for yourself or you might explore the reviews section of this site.

http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/dcm/floorstanding-speakers/PRD_120908_1594crx.aspx

Look for the word "Review" on the main forum page for more. It's a valuable resource for these types of questions.

[rx7speed]

I'm blind at sometimes. sorry and thank you :-)

[markw]

I'm blind at sometimes. sorry and thank you :-)I spent a few minutes listening to them in the store back when they were new (2000 - 2001?) and simply tried to share my initial impression.

It's not like I sat down with these speakers, did an in-depth analysis, and then compared it with all other speakers on the market at the time. Not too many of us have time to do that. We'll gladly share our impressions but, unless one has the time to go into an in-depth analysis comparing one speaker to all other speakers, more accurate comparisons are not to be had, particularly with something as subjective as speakers.

[herm0016]

i have not had experience with those particular model of infinity's but im going to bet that the sound will be a little more refined than the DCM speakers, but will probably need a little more power. what are you planning on powering your system with?

[Mr Peabody]

The Infinity SM series (Studio Monitor) are not your typical Infinity. They are very sensitive, if memory serves 98dB and are basically what Markw described for the DCM's. These are Rock-n-Roll/Disco speakers that play very loud. They were big sellers but I was not fond of them, I liked the RS and Kappa stuff. That's one reason I hate to give my opinion of their sound. If you want midrange though, they are not weak there and I believe they have adjustment knobs for mids/highs. If all the drivers work, they are a heck of a deal for $50.00. For what they were the response is pretty balanced, not overly bass heavy or bright. I believe they were like $600.00 to $800.00 a pair new, guessing discontinued in late 90's.

I wouldn't buy either without hearing them. At least to make sure all the drivers work. Coincidently there was a recent post on here from another guy who owned SM-122's and he blew a woofer and was trying to find out how to fix or replace it. I bet he'd give $50.00 in a heart beat, he wanted to hang on to his. That's another thing, if something goes wrong with the SM's Infinity no longer has parts, if DCM still supports that model, that would be a definite nod in their direction. On the other hand, for $50.00, it wouldn't take much to get your money's worth out of them.

[Mr Peabody]

P.S., in case you were looking at a newspaper or something, the SM-122's are a 12" 3-way, dark finish. I'm guessing the cabinet is maybe 34 to 36" tall and 14" wide.

[drseid]

I found some local used speakers and I don't know much about either one of thse speakers but figured you guys might have some idea here
my first choice is some DCM KX12 95.00 for the pair. never heard of the company or their speakers but I know that doesn't mean they are bad. from what little info I could find it seems they are at least somewhat decent speakers.

the other set i can get is infinity sm122. 50.00 for the pair. i know infinity has a decent name for speakers at least but every company can still make a bad speaker and I prefer not to buy just on name alone.

anyone know anything about either of these speakers?

If accurate classical music is your thing, probably neither speaker is going to really give you what you are looking for, unfortunately. That is not to say either speaker is not a good deal and would suit certain needs (like Rock as others have mentioned).

I may be off base here, but for this kind of money you can get some very nice Grado headphones that will work with just about any catagory of music nicely... Their 60 and 80 series phones should be in your range new. That may be a good place to look as an alternative.

If loudspeakers for Classical music truly are what you need, then I would recommend expanding your budget a bit and looking at mini-monitors in the $200-$250 range. Maybe the X-Series from AV123.com. Last time I checked these could be had new for $219/pr. and they sometimes sell B-stock for less. That might be a good way to go.

---Dave

[pixelthis]

If accurate classical music is your thing, probably neither speaker is going to really give you what you are looking for, unfortunately. That is not to say either speaker is not a good deal and would suit certain needs (like Rock as others have mentioned).

I may be off base here, but for this kind of money you can get some very nice Grado headphones that will work with just about any catagory of music nicely... Their 60 and 80 series phones should be in your range new. That may be a good place to look as an alternative.

If loudspeakers for Classical music are truly are what you need, then I would recommend expanding your budget a bit and looking at mini-monitors in the $200-$250 range. Maybe the X-Series from AV123.com. Last time I checked these could be had new for $219/pr. and they sometimes sell B-stock for less. That might be a good way to go.

---Dave

OFF base? Hardly. headphones (or "cans") are an exelent way to get a nice presentation for a minimum amount of money, my sennheisers are great and were as cheap as dirt
(excuse me, "sand") :thumbsup:

[Mr Peabody]

Yeah Dave, I was going to say that would have been good advice if you had recommended Sennheisers:) I really don't know what Senn has in the price of a SR60 though, I think I paid as much as they cost for my Senn portables. But for Classical, or anything for that matter, a pair of HD-580's up are most excellent.

[rx7speed]

Right now they would be powered by my logitech z5500's amp till I can get a better amp for them. I wouldn't mind upping the budget for better speakers though but my smarter half keeps telling me about budgets and so we came to an agreement to keep it very reasonable for cost.
With the headphones I am going to pass on that for now as this computer is also our system we use for movies and house music so it needs to be able to be heard by more then one person.
For music though I'm not much of a classical guy but I don't mind it. usually I do listen to rock or along those lines but I don't want to limit myself as there is still quite a bit else out there I enjoy as well. I'm just wanting something reasonable and fairly cheap to help out with getting a little better balanced sound with some decent quality.

peabody what was it you didn't like about the sm122's?

[Mr Peabody]

The SM series was very popular and sold well. My personal taste leaned toward the more refined sound and deeper tighter bass response of Infinity's RS and Kappa series. As I said the 122's are a great deal for $50.00 and they are very easy to drive which would make them a good choice for any amp. I'm not familiar with your amp.

[drseid]

Yeah Dave, I was going to say that would have been good advice if you had recommended Sennheisers:) I really don't know what Senn has in the price of a SR60 though, I think I paid as much as they cost for my Senn portables. But for Classical, or anything for that matter, a pair of HD-580's up are most excellent.

Yep, the 580s are spectacular cans, IMO. I have not had good luck with some of the entry-level Sens though (although that was years ago, so maybe they have improved). The Grado 60s I think would work here because they are not finicky as to what drives them (no headphone amp required), and still produce a pretty darn good sound even when powered by a little portable. Some of the higher-end Grados, Sens and the like have much better potential, but only when you give them the source they need IMO.

---Dave

[drseid]

Right now they would be powered by my logitech z5500's amp till I can get a better amp for them. I wouldn't mind upping the budget for better speakers though but my smarter half keeps telling me about budgets and so we came to an agreement to keep it very reasonable for cost.
With the headphones I am going to pass on that for now as this computer is also our system we use for movies and house music so it needs to be able to be heard by more then one person.
For music though I'm not much of a classical guy but I don't mind it. usually I do listen to rock or along those lines but I don't want to limit myself as there is still quite a bit else out there I enjoy as well. I'm just wanting something reasonable and fairly cheap to help out with getting a little better balanced sound with some decent quality.

peabody what was it you didn't like about the sm122's?

Sorry, I responded to Mr. Peabody's post on the 580s before reading yours saying headphones are out. No problem... it would indeed be hard for a second person to hear the music as well if you are using cans. ;-)

In that case I will have to yield to Mr. Peabody as he is much more familiar with your choices than I.

Good luck,

---Dave

[rx7speed]

well the DCM's are gone. which might be a good thing cause I couldn't figure out for sure which one I would of wanted. this way it cuts the choices down a little :) except for I did find some speakers by klh though still need to contact the guy make sure they are there. they are by KLH model Av-5001. never heard of them before either though but he is asking around 120 for them. tried finding reviews on these as well but info seems limited

so back to choices again and hopefully someone has some idea here

oh and also depending on if I can swing it I think someone was selling some infinity rs4's for around 150-175 though that is going a little higher then we really want to go.

[Mr Peabody]

I'd definitely take the Infinity over the KLH. The price of the RS-4's seem a bit high for a speaker that old but I guess it depends on the condition. The RS-4's are also going to be more difficult to drive and won't play as loud. If you had the amp, the RS-4's would sound much better though, in my opinion. The RS-4's are a slimmer and better looking too. You'd have to check online for the driver configuration, I don't remember.

I don't know KLH's entire history but last I seen them they were a Best Buy cheap speaker and I don't even think they carry them anymore.

[rx7speed]

well ended up getting the infinity speakers and so far I'm happy. I tried hooking them up to my z5500 (computer speakers with built in amp) and I get no bass responce from them. stocks sound better which shocked me.

so ended up with nowhere else to put them other then the living room till I get an amp for them and for laughs plugged them into my cheapy boombox style stereo and even with that hunk it doesnt' sound like I did too bad for cheapy 50 buck speakers. this just makes me sad though I have nothing really to power it with to make decent sounds :-( at least if I could get bass ouf of them when hooked up to the z5500's it would at least be a little more livable.going to take them to my dads at least since he has a better reciever to see how they can sound with decent clean power.

thanks to those that helped though with this. :)


though he has some other speakers also but no idea which ones they are.
any help getting an id on these? all he knows is infinity and thinks it is part of the kappa series

http://images.craigslist.org/0102120116110104092007101607593b1e5094af658400af89 .jpg

http://images.craigslist.org/01020201041201161020071016346921051c32f6a30200f764 .jpg

[rx7speed]

what files am I to download? I never asked to download anything and I don't believe I would be clicking on a link like that

[basite]

delete suzie's posts (both of them)

ugly spam...

[Mr Peabody]

I didn't realize your amp was a computer attachment. You should check around for a used receiver or integrated amp. It won't take much to get those 122's rockin'.