Buying new bookshelf speakers

[Freewillisdead112]

So I'm hard pressed for a new set of speakers. My budget is $500 - $600.

I have found these couple speakers in my price range that look pretty good.

Paradigm atom V.6
Axiom M3 v2
magnepan MMG
Fluance ES1 (they are small towers that I could make space for)
b&w 686

If there is anything I've missed, please let me know

Anyone who has or has heard any of these I would love to hear what you think.

I need a speaker that can sound great on good recordings and not sound horrid on bad ones.
Thanks

[TheHills44060]

Out of that list the 686's are a clear winner to me.

[Freewillisdead112]

I thought they sounded very good when I listened to them at the local a/v store. Is It that much of a diference between the paradigms and the b&w's?

[TheHills44060]

The 686 is my favorite speaker B&W makes as far as price/performance/value goes so I'm a little biased towards them.

I've never been impressed by any Paradigm speaker except for some of their subwoofers from the mid-90's so the atom was quickly scratched off your list for me.

[Freewillisdead112]

do you own a pair of 686's?

I live In cleveland as well and would love to hear them In a home environment.

[audio amateur]

I own the 686. They fair quite well in small rooms, don't know how they do in larger ones. I'd try to grab a pair of 685s. They sound similar, but the 685 having more scale and low end grunt.

[JoeE SP9]

Although I love anything from Magnaplanar, the MMG's will probably not satisfy you without a sub.

[Mr Peabody]

I would scratch the Maggies and Fluance off the list. Maggies are not for you, they are not a R&R speaker and take some big power to push. The Fluance I have not heard good things about although I've never heard them personally.

In general I prefer Paradigm over B&W, however, the Atom last I saw only was rated to go down around 90 Hz which leaves a lot of bass information lost. I don't normally recommend Klipsch to people but you might want to give them a listen to see what you think. They are very efficient which means they will play loud without big power and they are generally good matches for lower power and vintage gear, especially Metal heads The B&W will offer overall better sound but you may prefer the raw bite and kick of the Klipsch. Depends on what type of system you are putting together. If to pair with a Cambridge to achieve best sound the B&W would be your best bet, if you wanted something to rock in place of the Mach's give the Klipsch a listen.

[MikeyBC]

There's lots of good used stuff out there for your price range. you can find PSB Stratus Mini's used for under 500 bucks nowadays...they were a great small speaker. Or a pair of Paradigm Studio 20's would be another option

[E-Stat]

Although I love anything from Magnaplanar, the MMG's will probably not satisfy you without a sub.

I thoroughly enjoyed MG-IIs driven by a 100 watt/channel Audire amp when I was 19. My room allowed plenty of space behind the speaker for optimum performance. It was my gateway into the planar world. Honestly, all of these speakers would benefit from a sub. The 5" woofers in the bookshelves aren't exactly room shakers.

rw

[Freewillisdead112]

Thanks guys.

I am not a bass head. Most of the time I keep bass a 3 out of 10 and the loudness off.

I just want something I can listen to for good times.

I like to background music cds when I first get them to see If I get the tapping effect. And I need a tappable speaker. =]

[Freewillisdead112]

So as of right now, I have narrowed It down to the....

MMG's
Atom's
686's
and the Axioms.

I dont mind a lack of bass, Its more a less detail that I'm looking for. From everything I've read about the MMG's there full of nothing but detail. As long as theres some mid bass, Im a happy camper =]

[Freewillisdead112]

So i have narrowed It down to....

The MMG's
The axioms
The 686's
and the Atom's

I have read that the MMG's are full of detail and nice midbass. Thats all I am really searching for Is a budget clear speaker that can handle 80's quality hardcore recordings without making It sound like Im In a black hole of music.

[TheHills44060]

do you own a pair of 686's?

I live In cleveland as well and would love to hear them In a home environment.

Ha small world...nope, sorry I do not own the 686's. Which hi-fi shops have you been checking out in the area?

[Freewillisdead112]

I have only been to audio visons. My girlfriend hates going to hi-fi stores with me, as I will stay there for hours just asking stupid usless questions. And plus shes the only one with a car at the moment, so that helps.

Audio craft has definitive and paradigm right?

[TheHills44060]

yeah audiocraft has DF and Paradigm. I'm prolly gonna head to the one in Mayfield to order a part for my amp tomorrow.

[JoeE SP9]

If you have the space get the MMG's. They must be placed 2 feet or more from the wall behind them. If you can't place them properly, don't waste your time with them. The clarity and clearness may draw you in but you will notice very quickly that a sub woofer is a necessity. Don't skimp on a sub woofer. Save up and wait until you can buy a decent one. A good sub may cost as much as the MMG's. It will be worth the wait.
After that we can discuss a good integrated or a preamp, power amp combo.!!!!!
Your current integrated will do for now but MMG's like all Maggy's, only come to life with plenty of power.

BTW: It may take as long as 30 days to break in a pair of new Maggy's.

[nightflier]

Well, my vote goes to the MMGs, especially for what you're looking for. I like to try things off the beaten track, but even from the better known manufacturers there are some standouts that meet your sound requirements:

- Focal
- NHT
- Usher
- Revel
- Monitor Audio
- Linn
- Polk (LS series)

If you're willing to check out some of the lesser known brands, check out:

- Quad 11. Quad voices their box speakers to match their panels, so if you like the MMGs, that may be an option.
- Odyssey Epiphany. I couldn't find a used pair on sale, but they are a great speaker for the money, especially used.
- Amphion Ion & Helium
- Elac BS123. German precision.
- Triangle Titus. Wonderfully airy midrange.
- Omega Super 3. You don't need a big amp for these.
- And if you can find it, something from the nOhr line like the 5.1 in real teak wood.
- Zu Audio Druid Credenza. Not easy to find either, but a beautiful speaker.

At your price point, these would have to be used, but people usually take good care of monitors, especially if you buy on Audiogon.

[Freewillisdead112]

yeah audiocraft has DF and Paradigm. I'm prolly gonna head to the one in Mayfield to order a part for my amp tomorrow.

yeah I wanted to go up to the craft seeing as I have heard they have great prices on used Items. And used Is me =]

[Freewillisdead112]

If you have the space get the MMG's. They must be placed 2 feet or more from the wall behind them. If you can't place them properly, don't waste your time with them. The clarity and clearness may draw you in but you will notice very quickly that a sub woofer is a necessity. Don't skimp on a sub woofer. Save up and wait until you can buy a decent one. A good sub may cost as much as the MMG's. It will be worth the wait.
After that we can discuss a good integrated or a preamp, power amp combo.!!!!!
Your current integrated will do for now but MMG's like all Maggy's, only come to life with plenty of power.

BTW: It may take as long as 30 days to break in a pair of new Maggy's.

I am going to be moving from a 600 sq. ft. apartment Into a 1200 Sq ft one In february and wont be buying much more furniture so space will not be an issue.

I was looking at a Marantz Int. Amp a little while ago for $450 that can handle a 4ohm load. Does marantz still make a decent budget system??

[Freewillisdead112]

I was also looking at the energy mini monitors (forget the model) for like 100 bucks. They look sweet and Its going to take me until february to get the 5-600 together and would love to have something....now!

any takes on those or the Insignia ones at bestbuy. For like 80 bucks, they sure sound good!!

[bfalls]

I bought a pair of Insignias, I believe the model was the B2111. They were $45/pr at he time. They implement many good design traits, non-parallel walls, coaxial mounted tweeter in a 6 1/2" woofer. They also looked great in piano black finish. They sounded OK. A little less high-end than I'm used to and not as efficient, but great for a $45/pr speaker.

I've also recently purchased Emotiva ERM-1s on closeout for $149/ea with shipping cost of $10. Best $300/pr speakers I've heard. They employ two 6 1/2" woofers, silk dome tweeter, aluminum front and rear panels and contour switches for tweeter adjust and boundary compensation. Well worth a look. After listening, I decided to purchase a third for the front end of a 5.1 system.

[Freewillisdead112]

Nice. I am not really used to high end yet, so I'm not sure that i would notice them being bad. They are the ones your talking about, there 80 bucks now.

I figure why not, best buy takes returns all day. I bought those sony 50 dollar bookshelfs 4 times trying to like them....4 times!!! And everytime...guess who went back?

[bfalls]

I see the Insignias on ebay quite frequently, but didn't see any today. I'm not surprised the price has increased. It's a nice little speaker using better than average current speaker technology. A few magnitudes better than "White Van", but at less than "White Van" price.

[Freewillisdead112]

I still have not heard a pair of "white van" anything, but almost got cought up in the fancy look a couple times. But I am a google search master and don't buy anything without making sure It's good to go (at least somewhat okay). Now all I gotta do is unload these so I can get something that at least....

Can play a movie without 95% distortion.

=[ I miss my jbl's