Overwhelmed - too many speakers out there...

[Kam]

A nice small speaker with good bass and is a sealed box is the NHT SB3. The bass is rated to 40hz. List price is $600. a pair. www.nhthifi.com

http://www.nhthifi.com/p-ht-superaudio.html

JM and me are both big nht fans, so i'll second the notion of checking out nht if you can. great speakers.

[topspeed]

I'll third the NHT SB2 or SB3. You might also consider used speakers. You can get these Von Schweikert VR1's on audiogon right now.



$600 (or less) for a $1,200 speaker is a great deal and if you don't like them, just flip them on audiogon for the same price or more. Go to vonschweikert.com for more info and links to reviews.

Hope this helps.

[superpanavision70mm]

You certainly have a lot of great choices out there. I will also toot the PSB horn simply because for the money....I have yet to hear anything as good. I have compared them with Paradigm, B&W, Def. Tech, Klipsch, and other similar companies. Bottom line was that for my money, unless I wanted to spend over $10,000....PSB will always have something for me. I currently have the Image 7PT's and will eventually get the Platinum T8's.

[Dusty Chalk]

Are these frat-boy speakers?

image 1
image 2

[tin ear]

Are these frat-boy speakers?

image 1
image 2

LOL! I'm going to try not to step in it here...

Those are very attractive, if those are the grilles for them. A frat guy would throw the grilles away, or at least bury them somewhere.

Point well taken, though, Peter.

Here are some frat guy speakers:
http://keithsstuff4sale.tripod.com/speaker1.jpg
http://keithsstuff4sale.tripod.com/speaker2.jpg
Notice the industrial grilles. Designed not for aesthetics, but rarher to keep thrown beer bottles off the drivers.

For all I know, those could be the best sounding speakers in the world (I doubt it), but SWMBO ain't letting them in her living room.

-Jon

[tin ear]

Thanks for the explanation, Wooch. Makes sense, especially since one of the paramaters I'm looking for (besides great sound, of course) is a smaller footprint.

Lot of votes for NHT & PSB out there. I'll definitely be looking to give those a listen (is that an oxymoron?), as well as all the others listed in this thread - I've made a list.

[Dusty Chalk]

Here are some frat guy speakers:
http://keithsstuff4sale.tripod.com/speaker1.jpg
http://keithsstuff4sale.tripod.com/speaker2.jpg
Notice the industrial grilles. Designed not for aesthetics, but rarher to keep thrown beer bottles off the drivers.

I don' notice nuthin' -- links don't work.

[musiclover60]

tin ear,

I feel for ya buddy. My 20 plus year old JBL 46's crapped out one me a few months ago and everything I heard from the big stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.) sounded like crap. I was looking in the same price range as you, gave up on that and jumped my budget to $1000. Went to some good stores and then my $1000 looked puny! Don't dispair though, there are some very good speakers a little over your budget that could be had within your budget if you buy demos, open box, etc. PSB's are nice. The NHT's I haven't heard, but I have heard they're made by the same people who used to make ADS, a very good loudspeaker, and excellant for the type of music you mentioned. Two I'd highly recommend are Definitive Technology (BP8b) and Vandersteen (1c). Both have excellant imaging. Both have crisp clear highs. Both have good bass (though they can be somewhat boomy if not positioned properly). And both have slightly subdued midranges. The Def Techs are $800 new, and the Vandersteens come in at about $850. They both can be had for about $650 or so for dems, etc (I got lucky and found my Def Techs at a pawn shop for $325 for 1-2 year old speakers). Most high end shops have Vandersteens. A lot of shops also carry the Def Techs, the problem there is they seem to want to carry the more expensive 7000 series (start at 1200).

In the end, the best thing to do is take some music you like to the store and let your ear decide.

Happy hunting!

[tin ear]

have fun and let us know the outcome

I am just amazed at these speakers I bought, so I bought a matching pair of bookshelves to use as surrounds. T45s & B15s

I liked the Alpha Ts a lot; listened to them quite a while. Really liked the sound, but noticed maybe a touch of harshness. Parked myself & my discs in front of the Image T45s, and man! So much more fullness, smoother vocals, and surprising bass. Bought them on the spot.

Just for grins I thought I'd listen to PSB's small bookshelf spkrs because I really needed new surrounds as well. The Alpha Bs were pretty nice for such a small speaker. I easily could have lived with them, since my old surrounds were like 30 buck little plastic things from rat shack or somewhere that I'd bought for some purpose, don't remember what.

Figured I'd check out the Image line's small bookshelf, the B15, just to see if there was much difference. Whoa! Amazing! Those little buggers could pretty much stand on their own as fronts! In a small room, anyhow.

So I bought them too. Came in at twice my previously stated upper limit, but hey, I don't really need to eat all that much.

Thanks for all your help!

-Jon

[2chAlex]

Glad we all could help out. Enjoy

[superpanavision70mm]

PSB wins again! If only more people would give proper respect to a company that blows everything else away in it's price range and sometimes 2x the price.

ENJOY! As I know you will!

[bobsticks]

Glad to hear that you found what was best for you! Now the fun part starts...

...I'm also gald to hear you spiraled out of budget limitations. Now you're really part of the club

Congrats and keep us informed...
M

[3db]

I am just amazed at these speakers I bought, so I bought a matching pair of bookshelves to use as surrounds. T45s & B15s

I liked the Alpha Ts a lot; listened to them quite a while. Really liked the sound, but noticed maybe a touch of harshness. Parked myself & my discs in front of the Image T45s, and man! So much more fullness, smoother vocals, and surprising bass. Bought them on the spot.

Just for grins I thought I'd listen to PSB's small bookshelf spkrs because I really needed new surrounds as well. The Alpha Bs were pretty nice for such a small speaker. I easily could have lived with them, since my old surrounds were like 30 buck little plastic things from rat shack or somewhere that I'd bought for some purpose, don't remember what.

Figured I'd check out the Image line's small bookshelf, the B15, just to see if there was much difference. Whoa! Amazing! Those little buggers could pretty much stand on their own as fronts! In a small room, anyhow.

So I bought them too. Came in at twice my previously stated upper limit, but hey, I don't really need to eat all that much.

Thanks for all your help!

-Jon

I have a complete PSB surround system with Image T45s as my mains, the older Image 8C center, Image 1B Surrounds and a Subsonic5 sub. I love it more everytime I play it and its been over a year since I purchased the T45s.

You should consider throwing in a review of your speakers into this sight after you had a chance to listen to them for awhile. I say awhile becuase I initially thought the T45s were a bit lacking in the bass. But after 2 weeks of listening to them, I found the bass response to become more pronounced but still very much in control.

Congrats Tin Ear and welcome to the family *chuckles*

[littleb]

I would suggest that the bass response of the T45s was there all along. You might just be hearing things you didn't notice before.

[tin ear]

I'm also gald to hear you spiraled out of budget limitations. Now you're really part of the club

uh oh..

Congrats Tin Ear and welcome to the family *chuckles*

Should I worry?

You should consider throwing in a review of your speakers into this sight...

Thanks. I am honored.

Oh, and Peter? Take a look at Likeitloud's avatar, LOL. Frat guy speaker? Maybe. Single guy speaker? Definitely!

-Jon

[3db]

I would suggest that the bass response of the T45s was there all along. You might just be hearing things you didn't notice before.

I took note of that and I'm not a big believer in speaker break in, least not for the mids and highs. I was very concerned from what 1st appeared a lack of bass from these speakers to the point where I double checked the polarity of my speaker connections to the receiver. Then I recalled hearing bass from another pair at the store so I thought I would give them 2 weeks. By the end of the 2 weeks, I noticed a marked improvement in their bass response. Its not that they played any deeper but the bass that was there seemed stronger in amplitude relative to the rest of the music. Room placement did not change before or after those tests. I love these speakers and unless I have gobs of cash coming my way thru a lottery winning, I do not feel the need to upgrade.

[littleb]

I certainly liked what I heard from them in the store. I've considered them in the past, I just think the older version(t4,t5) looked more, how should I say this, maybe solid looking.