looking for new home speakers

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Snailee

New Member
Hi everyone, i am new to this, please be kind. I just recently purchased a harmon Kardon stero receiver 3490. I am using it with Pioneer speakers CS-c404. I am impressed with the receiver, as it is much better than the pioneer I was using, from the 90's with only 70 watts per channel. Now I am looking for new/used floor speakers. One of the pioneer's is slightly damaged and sound quality is compromised.
I am only using this system for stereo music, not home theatre, and music is mostly rock, however, i really like a wide range of frequencies, as when listening to pieces with orchestra, such as the Moody Blues, ect. Does anyone have any preferences as to floor speakers?
 
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Welcome. You're going to need to say what your budget is if you want advice on speakers, and also if you are interested in buying used.

Also, if you were happy with your old speakers, you may be able to fix them yourself if you are interested in putting in the effort. You could start by posting a new thread here and describing the problem, with pictures if possible.

Side note: 70wpc is a considerable amount of power, although since it was a 90's Pioneer that may have been the "max" rating, putting the actual power at around 30wpc or so.
 
depends on how much you would like to spend.
120 watts would be pushing it as they could probably use more, but if you could find a pair of Dahlquist DQ-20 or even the DQ-12 - I would guess you would be very happy.
a great bang for the buck speaker is the DCM TF -series
an awesome speaker for $599 is the Magnepan MMG - stunning would be the wprd I would use the 1st time you hear a pair. Down side is would need a sub probably as they are fairly light on the bass and while 120wpc would work, even more would be better....if u like your music really loud, forget this one
seems I like the inefficient speakers - if u can find a pair, the Ohm Walsh are really nice.

Rock speakers - for vintage - typical answers - HPM-100, JBL L100, L166, 4311 etc.
Ton of choices there.
As mentioned, 120wpc will work, but is not optimum, but see if you can check out a pair of Dahlquist DQ-12 or 20........
Depends a lot on the price range
 
What's your budget constraints, if any?
What's your size constraints, if any?
What's your WAF constraints, if any?

Are you more interested in a speaker that is 12wx12dx18h (I'm just making those up for reference) or can you deal with speakers that are six feet tall and four feet wide?

In other words...there are a zillion people on this site and you will get a zillion opinions. Though I know what I would do, it's probably not what you would want to do.

How loud do you like to play?
How hard to you like the foundation of the house to shake?

Just trying to show you that there are more questions to be asked.
 
donberry, the guy just bought a receiver that will power the vast majority of speakers just fine, and you recommend some of the few that need more power? C'mon... ;)
 
Snailee, you still haven't told us what price range you are looking at. You said floor speakers, but there is a wide wide world out there of floor standing speakers, new and used. So come on....give us a hint!:D
 
Welcome to AK snailee. Give these guys some more info like budget, size constraints etc. We'll have lots of choices for you!
 
price range and location would probably be helpful. my advice, watch your local craigslist.


I'm partial to AR gear, personally. the 312HO's I have in my HT setup rock for music and movies and don't need a sub with them. they have side firing 12" woofers, and a 1" dome and 2 5.25" mids in a vertical MTM arrangement. they also made the 310's, which are the same, save a 10" woofer, and the 315's, which have a 15" woofer and a bob carver amp powering the woofer. I paid about $900/pr for the 312's new in '98 or so, but you don't see too many of them for sale, so I don't know how cheap you can find them....

seems like you can find some of the post classic/early teledyne era AR's (Bxi, & TSW line) for a pretty good price, but may need some refoam work. while not as good as an AR3, AR10pi or AR9, they are better than most speakers you can buy nowadays that are under $1k/pr....

for example, if you look on the flint, mi craigslist, there's a pair of AR floostanders, that I think are 58Bxi's for $45/pr....I'm so tempted to pick them up, but I need more speakers like I need a hole in my head (which I will get from my wife if I buy them).....I bet the mids and woofers need some refoaming, and they could probably use new caps, but for the $60 or so in parts and time, you could have some pretty awesome speakers for under $120...
 
donberry, the guy just bought a receiver that will power the vast majority of speakers just fine, and you recommend some of the few that need more power? C'mon..
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I know, I know - there is a little bit of reason behind my madness tho. First, we have to admit that our recommendations normally fall along the lines of what we like.
My reasoning - I personally have been through quite a few speakers looking for ones which satisfy my ears, as I am sure most of us have. For me and my ears, the ones I mentioned are the speakers that satisfy my ears the most in a given price range (I was thinking of sub $500 speakers, except the new pair of magnepans at 599). While not optimum, his receiver is 150wpc and would drive all of the speakers I mentioned.
If it were me - and I am just using this speaker as an example, it could be a myriad of others and is just my tastes, nothing against the speaker) - Icould buy something like a Pioneer HPM-100 which is efficient and would rattle the windows, but I would not be as satisfied with the reproduction of the music.
Then in a few months as I listened more and more and started reading AK on a daily basis, in a few months I would have the upgrade bug and be seeking better sound - and I would be looking for a pair of Dahlquist, mmg etc....
While they will not play at rattle the window volumes cleanly like the normally suggested box speaker, IMO, and just for me, I am going to have a sound which is much more like I am looking for
Was just saving him a step.
IF he gets into audio, and if he stays here and keeps reading AK he will, he can buy a pair of the "normal" speakers now and upgrade later, or start right in and grab a pair of Dahlquist DQ-20.
Grab a pair of MMG or Dahlquist DQ20i and his 150wpc into 4 ohms will be more then adequate to determine if this is the speaker for him. Plus side of these - you can bi-amp them, so chances are, that HK receiver is still in use.

I am probably wrong, and again, I am obviously going for the sound I like, but I just figure why start where there is a good chance I may want to upgrade in a few months as not everyone can afford to collect speakers. I assume (which we all know what that means), that by posting here, you are looking for the best sound you can get for the money - and if it were me and I were starting over, I would have skipped over most of the normal speakers I went thru and started out with a pair of Dahlquist, MMG etc.
I did throw in the DCM TF series , which the HK is more then capable of.

I guess I should have made it more clear that "if it were me", but, if it were me and I had a HK 3490, knowing what I like to listen to now - I would be looking for a pair of Dahlquist DQ20, mmg etc (and if you do go with the MMG, throw in another $400 or so for a sub, which I did mention).
May save him a step if he gets serious about audio.

Obviously there are many, many nice efficient speakers, but as mentioned, except for the MMG at 599, for a sub $500 speaker, these are the ones I would most be looking for if I had 150 wpc to work with and I could always grab more power later if I wished to rattle the windows. In the mean time, I believe they would most satisfy my needs and with the exception of the MMG without a sub, will do rock nicely plus play everything else very, very well. Put some Springsteen "Ghost of Tom Joad" on a pair of magnepans or Dahlquist and I am guessing he would have a real nice smile on his face and his friends will probably be amazed at his "hifi" stereo, and they can still rock away with some Van Halen or Zeppelin ....
 
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If you happen to live in or near N.Y.C., an AudioKarma member has a pair of Bozak 302-A speakers in Urban cabinets, languishing in his closet. He is asking only $200 for the pair. Bozaks aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I love mine. Here are pictures of his and of mine, to give you an idea of what these are:

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http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=268231


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My camera is not very good, but you get the idea. These are very large speakers and have a very big sound. I have seen several other pairs of these traded recently here on AK.

Just a suggestion.
 
These are pretty low on the WAF scale, but since you mentioned rock as one of your music preferences:

Cerwin-Vega XLS-12 or XLS-15.

To me these CVs are built differently than most previous Cerwins and the proof of that is the fact that the previous series (the slightly different CLS series, differing mostly in styling from what I can tell) specifically the CLS-212 model, has been reviewed by at least two hi-end audiophile publications and given overall-positive reviews. IMO for those publications to give a CV even a "so-so" review means that for us regular people ;) the speakers very probably sound very good.

FYI: the VE series looks to be the more traditional series. And as far as CV's "drunk-party sound" reputation, based on listening to them for myself, I believe that reputation is based mostly on the high probability that during those parties, the receiver's bass & treble was cranked to MAX plus the probability that an underpowered receiver was being used with the speakers & was being turned up past its clean power output capability (a lot of CVs seem to have impedances below 8 ohms, increasing the chance of this happening), all adding up to the harsh/boomy/lo-fi sound some people mention.

BTW a sat+sub system is another good choice - you just need to make sure to spend the time to set up the sub for best sound (particularly sat-to-sub crossover point and the sub's physical placement). If that's done, I believe you can have a system with a better WAF and very possibly much more bass & a higher quality of bass than almost any pair of floorstanders in the same price range. I skimmed through the online manual for the H/K receiver and unfortunately it looks like its subwoofer jacks only output a full range signal and there is no crossover system or even a level control for it. IMO that will make the process of smoothly blending the sats with the sub a lot more difficult.
 
Here's a floostander I'm interested in myself that I think is good for rock/pop but also other genres and I think would be a good match with a hi-powered receiver like yours:

NHT Classic Four

It's a very slim 4-way system with a side-mounted woofer. And despite the use of metal-domed tweeter and mid drivers, many reviewers mention how smooth they sound. They aren't as efficient as the CVs, but they also reach lower and IMO probably sound a little smoother too.

NHT has had a very good reputation for two decades and reportedly many of their engineers are also musicians which is probably why so many people like their speakers.
 
Thanks everyone, I have a lot to learn. I was hoping at this time to keep my budget under $500. I would like to try to do without the subwoofer. The speakers i have now are approx 15" X 12" X 36" - anything that size or smaller will fit into the space i have allotted for them. I am not against purchasing used, but I would prefer new.
 
A couple nice sounding speakers for rock that you might wanna try are the JBL L-100s or the Pioneer HPM-100s, I think the first series sound the best (the 100 watt model made out of real wood). Good Luck
 
In the 500.00 range, your best bang for the buck will be used. There are alot of speakers out there so I would keep an eye on Craigslist and if something pops up, post up the model on here and we can guide you. You also might want to visit some audio shops and have a listen to some new speakers. I feel you wll find better deals in the used market though.
 
Snailee said:
Thanks everyone, I have a lot to learn. I was hoping at this time to keep my budget under $500. I would like to try to do without the subwoofer. The speakers i have now are approx 15" X 12" X 36" - anything that size or smaller will fit into the space i have allotted for them. I am not against purchasing used, but I would prefer new.
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look for a set of klipsch forte's. You should be able to get them for about $350 off CL. That leaves enough $'s to put in new caps and titanium diaphrams if you want(well close to enough $'s).
Those are hard to beat and power is never an issue with them.
They are a little taller than you listed but would fit very well otherwise.
Good luck.
 
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