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Affordable Speakers 4 ohms for Pioneer SX1250 Under $1200.00

B

bernie Stag

New Member
So I am looking to upgrade from my Paradigm 9se's and ADS L8e's to something that will make the
Pioneer SX-1250 Sing. I prefer the 4ohm's overall.
I see a few names such as the Wharfedale’s EVO 4, and Cerwin Vega line, and the Paradigms come up in there too, but I notice a lot of the information caters to the home theatre crowd, of course this has me a little on the leery side and slightly confused because I believe they serve different purposes and intent in sound rendering. Am I wrong?I also do not have many vendors locally to audition speakers in person which is another issue I have to circumvent somehow, thoughts, suggestions?
 
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If you want to buy used speakers, I suggest the Polk SDA series. Many of them are 4ohms. I have the 2As and I love them. The SDA feature enhances the stereo imaging. Some like the feature, some don't. Hopefully you can listen to the speakers before you buy them. Check Craigslist, etc. I paid $250 for my pair. They sounded great with all original parts, but I still spent $600 to upgrade the tweeters (still Polk) and crossovers. The improvement was worth it to me.
 
You can get the Wharfedale Linton Heritage for right @ $1200.00 w/o the optional stands.
The optional stands generally add something like $300.00 or so more to the price.

FWIW those Linton Heritage are defintely NOT home theater speakers by any stretch of the imagination...

And @ $1495.00 there's an "open box" pair of JBL 4312G @ Music Direct I'd maybe look into.
But those are just a smidge over budget,though that's like $1k off the msrp so it's an amazing deal IMO.

Beyond those I'd probably just keep my eyes open and see what comes my way in that price range.
Brands I'd be watching for,probably JBL and Infinity among a few other outliers.

JM2¢

Bret P.
 
Why do you prefer 4 ohms? It's not really a meaningful spec. It might appear that a 4 ohm speaker would require less power, but, with a 1250, you don't lack for power, and it is efficiency, not impedance that determines how much power you need. In fact, if you ever want to use two pairs of speakers at a time, the lower impedance speakers are a problem, not a benefit.
 
If i were dead-set on a speaker with a 4ohm rating, I would first look at some cerwin vega speakers. Some were actually pretty nice. Infinity made some 4ohm rated speakers too.

I don't see why the preference though. If an amplifier is rated for 4ohm use, that does not mean that better results will be had by purposely seeking out 4ohm speakers.

I would prefer to keep it at 8ohms.
 
z-adamson said:
If i were dead-set on a speaker with a 4ohm rating, I would first look at some cerwin vega speakers. Some were actually pretty nice. Infinity made some 4ohm rated speakers too.

I don't see why the preference though. If an amplifier is rated for 4ohm use, that does not mean that better results will be had by purposely seeking out 4ohm speakers.

I would prefer to keep it at 8ohms.
Click to expand...
Whats your likes and suggestions?
 
z-adamson said:
If i were dead-set on a speaker with a 4ohm rating, I would first look at some cerwin vega speakers. Some were actually pretty nice. Infinity made some 4ohm rated speakers too.

I don't see why the preference though. If an amplifier is rated for 4ohm use, that does not mean that better results will be had by purposely seeking out 4ohm speakers.

I would prefer to keep it at 8ohms.
Click to expand...
Do you have suggestions for 8's?
 
I have a pair of retooled Paradigm 9se's @ 4ohm that seem to play better than the set of Bose 701's I have, I just figured the 4 ohm's responded better to the equipment I believe the Bose are either 6 or 8 I would have to look again. But the Bose seemed a little more harsh in the highs, and the lows did not respond well. The paradigms are better sounding than the A/D/S in the Bass area but seem a little muddy to me, and the A/D/S do not reproduce the lows to well in the bass area, but the highs are good, so I am looking for a better imaging speaker that can handle the 1250, I figured 4 ohms is the way to go. I am in the early stages of inquiring and picking minds while attempting to get this down, I also want to spend the money I have to shell out to do this wisely.
 
You're falsely equating impedance with sound quality. In reality they are almost completely unrelated. Cabinet construction, driver compliment, crossover design, etc. will affect sound quality. Impedance is a result of drivers and crossover design, it is not a design parameter (other than that it should generally fall within a range which can be effectively driven by a standard amplifier, very generally call it 4-16 ohms).
 
I agree with the many other responses on the 4 Ohm request. Find speakers that sound good, and the SX-1250 will be able to drive them well, whether 4 or 8 (or 6) Ohm. The lower impedance speakers will make the transistors' junctions run hotter so not really an advantage. Add to that the fact that speakers are typically advertised (poorly) with a nominal impedance, an 8 Ohm nominal speaker can often dip to 4 Ohms, etc.

I've had two SX-1250s, they drive most anything well. What speakers can "handle" the 1250? Pretty much any speaker all the way down to headphones. What some speakers can not handle would be turning the gain knob too far up.

Personally I like the Pioneer-JBL pairings. I've had many vintage JBL speakers that sounded great on the SX-1250, and will say that the L300As were excellent from low volume to beyond my ability to be in the room with them, on any genre.

The current owner of that 1250 is very happy with 4412As, and recently bought a new pair of JBL Studio 590s (waiting to hear his report on those, but I haven't yet heard from anyone who doesn't like them).
 
The EVOs handle 4 or 8. I have the 4.2 with about 50 hours on them and it’s been a journey. I almost put them right back in the box when I first hooked them up. I had read this to be true in a few places so I kept at it. They have matured a lot and are sounding beautiful.
 
knifeswitch said:
The EVOs handle 4 or 8. I have the 4.2 with about 50 hours on them and it’s been a journey. I almost put them right back in the box when I first hooked them up. I had read this to be true in a few places so I kept at it. They have matured a lot and are sounding beautiful.
Click to expand...

How do speakers “handle 4 or 8”?
 
Infinity RS2's..
infinity rs2 speakers.jpg
Or even better; These if you can find the right garage sale..
infinity QLS.jpg
But as a lifelong Infinity and Arnie Nudell fan, perhaps I'm slightly biased? ;)
Bring a hefty amp and power supply though to drive high current..
Infinities sound wonderful but need the juice to drive them.
Like a 911 race car, can be really hard to get into the sweet zone but few other things like them at their best.
 
z-adamson said:
How much $$ you got? $1200 a hard-lined limit?

New or vintage?

What kind of music?
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Its not a hard figure anymore, I seem to be landing in the $1500.00 to $1800.00 range at this point Wharfedale Linton Heritage and EVO 4.3 so far, I looked at JBL but not sure they fit
yet. I listen to R&B, Funk, Classic Rock (Floyd really loud and Zappa is a go to and SRV lol), and some Metal, especially Metallica w/San Fran orchestra I love a good multi instrumental composition.This is not an easy research
so many diff options and opinions out there.
 
If the speakers are efficient enough provide the sound you like why worry about them being 4 or 8 ohms. 8 ohms will mean the unit will run cooler and parts last longer. Most speaker impedance curves wander all over the freq. spectrum anyway. So why 4 ohms. A lot of speakers today and recent past reach below 3 ohms or lower which can really tax a unit made from the past. So be careful. And older speakers sometimes have very compromised tweeters that can't handle that much power. So be careful. I men if you want to peel paint off the walls buy a PAir of Klipsch or JBL efficient models. La Scala by Klipsch or DD series JBL is a place to start. A Model 19 Altec or one of Tannoy's speakers with the big 15" Coax. You could buy a pair of Altec 604 15 inch coax from Great Plains Audio and build your own enclosures and save a ton of money.
 
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