Deadhead needs help

[Tomr]

I only have about $600 dollars to spend on a new speaker system for my living room. My old speakers were some large 3 ways from jvc and a company called speaker kits (from N.Y.). Both sets had 12" woofers and were bought in the mid 70's. The speaker kits speakers I had refoamed once. I don't have a sub but for a center channel I currently have a Yamaha ns-c143, which I like the sound of.I have shopped online and for the money I'm talking it looks as though I can get a pair of Polk audio R50's and two pair of R20's with a JBL e250p sub, or the Fluance SX-Htb system an extra pair of surrounds(Fluance SX-SS), and the Jbl e250p sub. With the polks I would have to keep my Yamaha center. Which would give me a closer sound to the speakers I'm used to and move me to 7.1. My current speakers have had it and are ready for the trash. I use the speakers mainly for listening to Dead shows downloaded from the internet and burned to cd's and for watching movies.Does anyone have any Ideas or can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Worf101]

If I were you, I'd probably save a little more money and look into getting better speakers. The brands and models you mentioned will NOT be that much better than what you've go, at least sonically. Fluance is crap, avoid it. JBL is really not much better. There are numerous companys both B&M and internet that can give you decent speakers within a reasonable budget. Polks are okay. With your budget you might try HomeTheatreDirect.com. See what they have to say.

Da Worfster

[Tomr]

You say the fluance stuff is crap. If you look on the review pages, how come they get on the first page for # of reviews and by rating???

[bargainseeker]

Given your $600 budget and your desire for a 7.1 setup, I would recommend that you get three pair of Onix Rocket ELT LRS Satellites for $129 per pair from AV123 and that you use them for main, surround and rear speakers while using your existing center speaker for now. Later, I would suggest buying an Onix Rocket ELT Cse center channel speaker from AV123. Alternatively, you could skip the third pair of ELT LRS speakers for now and get an ELT Cse center speaker right away. Reviews of the Rocket ELT LRS speakers are here and here.

For a subwoofer to complete this system, I would recommend the Dayton 10" subwoofer available for $124.88 from Parts Express.

Total outlay: 3 X $129 = $387 + $124.88 = $511.88 + shipping

[Worf101]

You say the fluance stuff is crap. If you look on the review pages, how come they get on the first page for # of reviews and by rating???

Perhaps I'm being harsh but a lot of those posts are either by company shills or people trying to justify their purchase by giving it glowing reviews. First of all, Fluance took their name from "Nuance" a far superior Canadian brand that is now gone I believe. They were/are always a cheap knockoff of the superior item. They flooded Ebay with their crap for years then were supplanted by junk from Theatre Research. Sigh, every month or some some noob comes in asking about the products from either company and then get pissed off because they don't like what they hear.

Da Worfster

[Jimmy C]

I only have about $600 dollars to spend on a new speaker system for my living room. My old speakers were some large 3 ways from jvc and a company called speaker kits (from N.Y.). Both sets had 12" woofers and were bought in the mid 70's. The speaker kits speakers I had refoamed once. I don't have a sub but for a center channel I currently have a Yamaha ns-c143, which I like the sound of.I have shopped online and for the money I'm talking it looks as though I can get a pair of Polk audio R50's and two pair of R20's with a JBL e250p sub, or the Fluance SX-Htb system an extra pair of surrounds(Fluance SX-SS), and the Jbl e250p sub. With the polks I would have to keep my Yamaha center. Which would give me a closer sound to the speakers I'm used to and move me to 7.1. My current speakers have had it and are ready for the trash. I use the speakers mainly for listening to Dead shows downloaded from the internet and burned to cd's and for watching movies.Does anyone have any Ideas or can anyone point me in the right direction?

...myself a tried and true "Deadhead", but I definitely enjoy much of their music. I recently bought the DVD "View from the Vault, Volume IV" (Oakland/Anaheim, ca. 1987)... I was suprised at the picture quality, not to mention the audio. Good stuff! Gee... I wonder if I could find the cute blondes from the audience - wait a minute... they're almost 20 years older now... dang :*) Plus, my wife MIGHT complain... hehe.

Then again, maybe not... she has been falling asleep in the livingroom lately...lol.

Man... I am one bag of fun, eh?

Semi-Deadhead,

Jim

[Lord_Magnepan]

How can anyone expect something good for 600 bucks for 7 freaking speakers ?!?!
Save people, save money and start of small.

And if you have patience then someday you will have a cool system. Heck i had 4 Alarm clocks tuned to the same station when i started. Now i am 21 and own 2 High End systems. Just save your money and work your bumm off

[Jimmy C]

How can anyone expect something good for 600 bucks for 7 freaking speakers ?!?!
Save people, save money and start of small.

And if you have patience then someday you will have a cool system. Heck i had 4 Alarm clocks tuned to the same station when i started. Now i am 21 and own 2 High End systems. Just save your money and work your bumm off

...and the 100 watt, 10 in. sub. This wouldn't be "bad", in any sense of the word.

I actually prefer the BR1s to the $1100 Totem Arros in SOME areas.

[Lord_Magnepan]

Well NO, but seriously. You do understand my point right ? You cannot expect them to be close to the performance of a B&W bookshelf (eventough i dont like B&W) for comparisons sake.

I would save money, or go with a 2 channel and then later advance it.

[Jimmy C]

Well NO, but seriously. You do understand my point right ? You cannot expect them to be close to the performance of a B&W bookshelf (eventough i dont like B&W) for comparisons sake.

I would save money, or go with a 2 channel and then later advance it.

...I, once again, prefer them to some lower B&W offerings.

Yes, I do understand your point, but he DOES have a price range. I wasn't going to (originally) bother mentioning the Dayton kit(s), but what else is there?

I have always maintained the BR1 is flawed in many ways, BUT I prefer it's flaws rather than the thin, (sometimes) hyper-detailed presentation of many reasonably priced stand-mounts.

On your thought - I would do a "better" kit from "PartsExpress.com"... like the Vifa or the Peerless/Morel... under $400 should get one semi-serious sound repro. Worry (like you said) about the other channels later.

Maybe I simply don't care about movies enough... I'm fine with two-chan and a sub.

[Tomr]

to Da Worfster: I wasn't getting pissed off - I saw all the ratings and reviews. I don't know any better and am trying to make a good decision.

I looked at the onix rockets ELT-LRS, do they sound better than the polk r20's? the polks have a 6.5 inch woofer, the rockets 5.25 inch. The rockets are only $20/pair more.

The 10" dayton sub is only $125. Is it that much better than the 12" jbl northbidge @ $200? I don't know much but I have seen the jbl not recommended in other posts.

So: if I went with 2pr of rockets and the dayton sub ($258 + $125 = $383).
I would stiil want some towers for the mains. The Polk r50 are on sale at outpost .com for $179 a pair (worfster said polks are okay). I could get thes now and look for better mains later. ($383 + $179 = $562).
I would keep my Yamaha center for now.

But how would this system sound?

[bargainseeker]

I looked at the onix rockets ELT-LRS, do they sound better than the polk r20's? the polks have a 6.5 inch woofer, the rockets 5.25 inch. The rockets are only $20/pair more.

You can't judge a speaker by the size of its woofer. The Rocket ELT LRS uses higher quality drivers (woofer + tweeter) and has a higher quality enclosure than the Polk R20. I am nearly certain that you will find that it sounds better as well. However, I am not you. I suggest you take advantage of AV123's 30 day satisfaction guarantee and listen for yourself.

The 10" dayton sub is only $125. Is it that much better than the 12" jbl northbidge @ $200? I don't know much but I have seen the jbl not recommended in other posts.

I think that the Dayton sub is a better bet, particularly for the money.

So: if I went with 2pr of rockets and the dayton sub ($258 + $125 = $383).
I would stiil want some towers for the mains. The Polk r50 are on sale at outpost .com for $179 a pair (worfster said polks are okay). I could get thes now and look for better mains later. ($383 + $179 = $562).
I would keep my Yamaha center for now.

But how would this system sound?

The price you found on the Polk R50 is a good one, but I would not recommend mixing the Polks and the Rockets. It is highly desireable for all of the speakers in your surround system to be timbre matched so that as sound moves from speaker to speaker during a movie there are no abrupt changes in sound quality. Timbre matching becomes even more important later if you start listening to multi-channel audio disks such as DVD-Audio and SACD. Also, since you will be using a subwoofer, you don't need towers to get good low bass response. If you want the front speakers to look more impressive, I would suggest some sturdy pedestals from a discount crafts/import store such as Garden Ridge or Old Time Pottery.

One comment on the Rocket ELT LRS pricing: When I looked at the AV123 website last week, these speaker were $199 per pair after being marked down from their original price of $249 per pair. I don't know why they are currently on sale for $129 per pair nor do I know how long they will last at this price. At this price, it would be tempting to get another ELT LRS for use as a center channel speaker. In short, if you want to get these speakers, don't wait too long.

[bargainseeker]

OK. I found out why AV123 is selling their remaining inventory of cherry ELT LRS speakers for $129 per pair even while other dealers continue to sell them for $249. Apparently, AV123 had previously decided to discontinue the ELT line in the cherry finish. However, they ran out of the ELT center speakers in cherry before they ran out of the cherry ELT LRS speakers. Now they have some of the cherry ELT LRS speakers left with no matching centers available. They are selling their remaining inventory at a deep discount.

Their pain is your gain. I recommend getting 7 of the cherry ELT LRS speakers from AV123 and using one of them as a center. If they won't sell you a single one, I can tell you how to wire up a pair as a dual center or perhaps you know someone else who wants to get in on the deal and split a pair. AV123 also has a forum where you could post an offer to split a pair.

[anamorphic96]

Tomr, I dont know if you are aware but the Dayton sub that is being talke about is only for the driver. No enclosure or amp. The whole kit will cost 349.00. This will include the amp and the box as well as the driver. Thought this should be cleared up.

Cheers

[bargainseeker]

Tomr, I dont know if you are aware but the Dayton sub that is being talke about is only for the driver. No enclosure or amp. The whole kit will cost 349.00. This will include the amp and the box as well as the driver. Thought this should be cleared up.

I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. Parts Express does offer subwoofer drivers and kits as well. However, this Dayton 10" 100 Watt Powered Subwoofer is a finished subwoofer which includes the amp, enclosure and assembly for $124.88.

[Tomr]

I took another look at the dayton sub. The room, it will be in, has carpet over a wood floor, there is a basement beneath it. The room is 19.5' L x 13.5' W x 10.5' H. Would this be considered a small to medium size room? Also, would it be better to have a downfiring subwoofer or front firing?

[bargainseeker]

The room is 19.5' L x 13.5' W x 10.5' H. Would this be considered a small to medium size room?

Yes.

Also, would it be better to have a downfiring subwoofer or front firing?

It doesn't matter. Since low frequencies are nondirectional, it's the performance and frequency response of the subwoofer that counts and not the direction it fires. Also, in a room corner where the subwoofer is likely to be placed, the structure of the house is quite stiff. Which means that the fact that there's a basement below is not much of a factor either.

One more thing. I have learned that ACI continues to offer the ELT Center in cherry. However, they are selling it at the original $299 price.

[stuartlittle]

Get the Mod1 system from www.orbaudio.com. I'm a big deadhead and so is at least one of the owners of the company. My shows sound great on the system. Or just get the Orb Classic Two stereo system if you don't need surround.