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How much to spend on speakers

C

cbn700

Active Member
Are there any rules of thumb out there on how much to spend on speakers as a percentage of what you pay for amps and pre amps? or the rest of your system??? It would seem silly to pay 15000 on speakers for a 500 dollar amp,
so what is everyone doing??
 
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I don't think there are any steadfast rules of thumb in this hobby, especially if one is buying used equipment as their prices can be all over the place.
 
In "the day" (mid 70's) I remember 40% on a new system was a starting point. As mentioned with vintage I find speakers are more heavily discounted due to size and shipping costs compared to high quality recievers. Tape decks are a steal on the other end.
 
Seriously? 90% of your budget.
Speakers are THE backbone of a decent system.
Electronics are v easily and often v cheaply found.
As example one can buy a $15 YJ ta 2020 amplifier on Ebay that will rival a thousand $ one.
I recently discovered that a thrift store 2$ CD player purchase equals and arguably outperforms my Multi $$ extensively modded DVD player.
Bit of an Epiphany there :-)
Buying used speakers helps with budget issues.
I would respectfully suggest you hunt up a pair of Vandersteen 2ce speakers.
Yes there are better speakers.. always are.. but not 'that much' better :-)
Likely these would be keepers.. forever.
G 'luck
 
Dr. Morbius said:
I don't think there are any steadfast rules of thumb in this hobby, especially if one is buying used equipment as their prices can be all over the place.
Click to expand...

Couldnt have said it any better myself. I have the least amount into my speakers compared to the rest of my system. I got a very nice deal on them, and they were exactly what I was looking for. At the time, it was hard finding my Electro Voices for any less than $300 to $400 per pair, but I paid significantly less. I have the most into my DAC, followed by my amp, then the source, and lastly, the speakers.
 
I got into the hobby thinking $500 was a reasonable budget for speakers, about the same for an amp, about $250 for a pre and about $350 for a cdp/outboard DAC. Thing is I didn't limit myself to one set of speakers, one amp, and one pre. I bought several of each and had them all at the same time so I could sample many different flavors and pick my favorite(s). At that budget level, around $1500 for a complete system, I configured several very nice sounding systems....nicer than most non-hobbyist (and some hobbyists) ever heard or will ever hear (with an acoustically treated room being a very, very important component of that equation). And this was with separates as I figured out early on there is a (relatively) low performance ceiling with receivers (using a Sansui 8080 db as my yardstick). I've since pushed those numbers up two, even three fold and have added three, maybe four hundred dollars to the budget for proper cables, interconnects, and power cables (used) and it has moved the listening experience to a whole different realm of performance....mind blowing for the uninitiated, actually. The two best performing speakers in my collection, however, are far apart in price. I picked up my Magnepan MG-IIIa's for $400 (but will sink another $400 into upgrading/modifying them) and my Infintiy QLS-1's for over three times that. I have other models that were acquired at price points between the Infinity's and the Maggies, but those two are my standout performers. So, depending on your tastes and expectations, you can get very high levels of performance from you speakers without having to figure any sort of comparative $ to $ ratio against your other gear. I will say this....don't cheap out on a preamp. After the speakers I've found it to have a considerable impact on system performance.

- Michael
 
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If you have the time, flexibility, and opportunity, then browse for the right speakers at the right price. It's OK to want $1500 speakers in a $2K system... just find them for less money.

I subscribe to the 'buy what you think sounds good' school, and to the 'sell it if you find it no longer sounds good' school as well. But make sure you listen to other systems when you can. It will help inform your choices.

Doing a good job of switching and amplifying a signal these days is not very expensive. (Doing a very good job, or a great job, is more costly, of course.)

Converting electrical to acoustic energy is a little tougher to do, and do well. Spending a little more on your transducers will likely have the most bang for the buck. (Same for mechanical to electrical, in your phono cart.)

(In the studio world, this applies to both monitor speakers and microphones.)

Chip
 
Yeah, definitely no strict rules but on a personal note, it depends on the entire cost of the system. Discounting any scorching deals (like free or 90% the current going rate on an item) I'd say if I had a $500 budget for a digital-only system, I'd look towards spending $350-ish on speakers $100 on a receiver and $50 on the source but much about that price point, I'm of the opinion to figure out what type of speakers you want, get them, then get the amp that provides what you need for those speakers.

Some speakers might benefit from super detailed amps, with power taking a backseat. Some speakers might thrive on scads of reserve power. Basically I'd get enough amp for the speakers but in general, most of my money would go towards speakers except for systems using speakers that are notoriously difficult to drive properly then it might be close to 50/50 for speaker vs amp cost.
 
I would suggest that your taste in music and your own ears drive your decision, and then you take your time and select what you can find and afford.

Good all 'round speakers that are pretty available and affordable...I suggest EPI/Epicure (or Genesis, about the same sound and mostly interchangeable drivers). Probably my first choice recommend for anyone entering audio, as even the common EPI 110V will deliver good sound in most average size rooms and they are available quite cheaply.

On the other hand Pardigms are quite popular here in Western Canada but I don't care for them...I think they lack detail, but others seem to like them and they hold their value here...don't get it myself but....?

AR3 or AR3a are nice too, but maybe a bit less plentiful and probably a bit more costly.

A good rock 'n' roll speaker is the HPM 100... but some would disagree with me.

I love the Dahlquist DQ-10 .... a bit harder to find but frequently are on on peoples' 'top 10 vintage speaker' lists.

And others will chime in with lots of suggestions for good sound...my list is by no means exhaustive.

Spend some time reading threads in the Speakers forum here, and you will see the same names coming up time and after time, and always getting good reviews. If you live near other AKers, maybe you could arrange to listen to their systems...take a six-pack with you and spin a few tunes, and you will soon come to recognize what sound you like vs what you like less. (I was recently given a set of Pioneer L100 T3...they are pretty well-regarded TOTL Pioneers, but I found the beryllium tweeter very fatiguing, and I kept A-B'ing between them and some EPI 100V and I much preferred the EPI...again, others might disagree.

Hope this helps.
 
I have grown to find the best bargins in speakers are those needing work You can end up with an excellent set of speakers if you are handy & don't mind some sweat equity. Even those missing a driver or two are not beyond help! The wood finish can be resuced many times, re-capping is easy with practice of solder skills and finally re-foam work is often done now my the most novice among us!

I say find what you think you would like in a general sound- be it a 2 or 3 way, a horn or reflex system- whittle that down then find a relatively cheap set to repair and you will be very proud of you work and cost savings! I perform speaker re-building a fair amount and am always amazed at the savings I realize- I even get to used good quality repair parts and still get a great deal on cost & sound value.
DC
 
Find the signature type sound that you like and then spend a little bit more on that brand speaker than what it takes to break the bank.
Don't I wish I'd listened to my own advice a loooong time ago.
 
There is such a large differance in the sounds of speaker typess, I.E. signature, you would want to be sure of that first. Horns vs acoustic suspension, vs bass reflex, vs transmission lines, vs towers, vs bookshelf, etc. It's a BIG speaker world out there- get it narrowed down a bit and thank yourself latter when you finally find that pair that talk to you!

Me- I like all of them in some way or another, but finally fell in love with the Altec horn sound specifically- or any well made horn two way design. The "Econowave" sent me on that tagent nd it blossomed into loving well made horns as used in the mid & upper ranges.

There are also some great cone mids like EV's "VMR", Rogers 5" cones, ADS domes, and others that are great to listen to. Good luck & good listening-
DC
 
You have to listen to them to decide. And depends on what you listen to. Some speakers are more suitable for jazz/classical than rock, etc. I've gone thru my share of speakers over last 5 yrs (JBL, Infinity, B&W, Polk, floorstanding, bookshelfs, etc.) and only had one or two which pleased my ears through the entire freq. range (and were designed well). My ADS car speakers are what I live by.
 
It's hard to come up with a rule of thumb for speakers. There are many variables. The room size for example may dictate the speakers bass abilities, which often means a larger speaker. I'd suggest something like Monitor Audio's Rx 6 Towers at about $1,200/pair as a baseline for a decent near full range mid-fi speaker for med to large rooms. An Appropriate Amp for these might be Rega's Brio-R at about $900.

While the speaker is very important to overall SQ, Don't ever under estimate the Importance of a good Amp and Source. I had my Energy Pro-22 Monitors for 25 years and had no Idea of what they were capable of untill I connected them to my Bryston Amp and Magnum Dynalab Tuner. The Improvement in Soundstage/Imaging, low level resolution and Coherency over my already Decent NAD Preamp/Tuner and Audio Design Power Amp was Signifigant. No speaker at any price can reach this level of of SQ using my NAD/Audio Design combo, and it is no sloutch. It is important to get all the components reasonably ballanced to get the most bang for the money, but as I say, It's hard to put a percentage on it. In my case I spent about the same on my Amp as I did on the speakers I bought to replace the Pro-22's.
 
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First rule is there are no rules.
Do you have any stereo now, or friends with systems you can listen to? You need to have an idea what you like.
The speaker forum here is a great place to start.
Also, are you going 2 channel or home theater? Home theater receivers can be had cheap.
 
To emphasize what others have said, speaker cost as a percentage of the system is irrelevant. It's all a matter of matching your own budget to your desired speakers. And that's the biggest hurdle of all, deciding on what you want.

There are inherent characteristics to each speaker model that lend themselves towards reproducing certain music better than others. If you've no clue where to start, the best thing is to read up on AK about any speaker you've heard about and see what people are saying. You may also want to make a decision as to whether you'll be going for vintage, modern, or possibly either. Make a list of what speakers might appeal to you from what you've read. And then, begin your exploration.

From what I've heard from many others and experienced partially myself is that the speaker end of the system will bring the most noticeable changes to how your system sounds, assuming very good quality components all around.

HOWEVER...

If you generally listen to music at low and moderate volume, quality amplification over 60wpc is mostly overkill if you've got efficient speakers. So, spending big bucks on a 250+wpc amp is pretty much wasting your money, unless your speakers aren't very efficient. Based on this, I think you can spend less on your amplification gear and much more on your speakers, as long as the amp you get is a well received quality design. At least this has been my experience, as I'm much more into efficient speakers than power hungry ones.
 
Have you considered DIY?

For $282, I built a pair that suit me better than any of the ~$2000 pairs that I heard in the stores.
 
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