What kind of home speakers do you use?

[Aikenrooster]

Offering a different angle here (bear in mind I produce music on the side, so I'd say my 'sense of hearing' is probably on par with anyone else's)...

 

You don't need to spend $1500 on a 5.1 setup that will be night/day better than what you have. Frankly, if you're going to go big $1500 just starts getting you there. Even at $1500 it's going to be a series of compromises.

 

You don't need to buy a matching set, although there's nothing *wrong* with doing that. I'm using a Pioneer amp, Energy satellites, and Polk sub. All for ~$650 new.

 

WHAT you need depends largely on the size of the room and its acoustics.

 

It would be wasteful for me to make armchair suggestions without more knowledge about your listening space and specific listening tastes (like it bass heavy? better mids? movies and music? etc).

The room isn't big at all. It's very small. My wife loves movies, but I listen to music more critically.

Here are some groups I like:

 

Prog:Rush, Dream Theater

Heavy: Fear Factory, Ammon Amarth

Blues: Tedeschi Trucks, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, BB King, Albert King.

Hard Rock: Megadeth, Iron Maiden

Industrial: NIN, MM, KMFDM.

 

Clarity is what I want and a feeling of depth, like when you're actually at the show and the sound waves are hitting you. I want to hear the different instruments. In movies, dialogue clarity is my beef.

 

Small room definitely helps to keep you within budget and decent quality, since it doesn't require you have full range front/center/satellite speakers. You could get away, like I have, with small satellites and focus more on a decent 10+" Polk or Klipsch sub. I meantion these brands because they tend to be found on sale at Newegg often, and they're good units for the money. Like with any hobbyist gear, you can always spend more for that nominal improvement. Lke someone mentioned, hearing is believing. If you have a good home theater store in town (they're getting rare to find) I suggest visiting them. if you can't hear the difference between a $300 sub and $1500 sub, then you mind as well just get the $300.

 

Picking the right Satellites is tricky, and you can't always rely on customer reviews since some people are deaf and just don't know it. Aside from Bose, none of the suggestions here have been bad IMO. Again, finding someplace to preview them or a trusted review source is critical. You can get away with smaller satellite speakers, but perhaps not the center channel (needed for best movie dialogue reproduction). There's a ton of brands, models, and bundles/kits to choose from. I ended up with the Energy brand speakers because they were on sale and a friend already had them, so I got to hear them before buying. My center is just another satellite speaker, nothing different. But it does the job just fine.

 

Amplifier - you don't need anything to fancy, just something that actually does what it says. The lower end Pioneer amps are suficient for entry-mid level setups. Yamaha and Sony have good reputations in making decent lower end models.

 

Modern DACs in most playback equipment (DVD, Bluray, etc) are damn good compared to the past. Oppo gets a premium, and I don't by into it fully. The idea of being able to through ANY type of disc into the player and have it work is a very nice proposition and worth paying a bit of a premium to have, but their claims of *superior* fidelity is mostly vaporous. In the digital era the gap between adequate and benchmark performance is shrinking daily. What's available now on the market is what would have been considered top of the line 5-10 years ago, and the bleeding edge has gotten blurred with respect to creating any new frequencies/bit depths. Same for the high resolution formats - blind tests have proven we really can't tell above CD quality. So just get the media players you need, and focus your cash on more important matters - in this case, adequate speakers.

 

/brain dump, for now

Yeah, I may have to go to Atlanta to find a "real" stereo shop. These guys will actually let me bring my own CDs?

[stoopid]

Yeah, I may have to go to Atlanta to find a "real" stereo shop. These guys will actually let me bring my own CDs?

 

Don't see why not, you need to play stuff you're familiar with.

Edited January 29, 2016 by stoopid

[The Analog Grownup]

Pioneer is the way to go for your surround amp. Dolby atmos comes as standard on most mid range and above surround amps but for music it's not necessary at all. I picked up a Pioneer ScLx57 half price because a new range was released and it sounds fantastic with music. It originally retailed at around $2000.

As for speakers, I'd look at B&W, Mission, KEF, Wharfedale or the new kids on the block Q Acoustics. Smaller "style" speakers are getting better but full size are still best for music and you are free to get whatever you want ( my wife has made me get rid of some fantastic floorstanders because of their size).

Go to a hifi dealer and try to get a discount because you are buying an amp and speakers, in fact they will probably offer amp/speaker pair up packages at a good price. Take the Bluray with you and get a demo if possible. Above all else let your ears be the guide.

 

+1 on B&W. They sound amazing. I using a pair of DM601 S3 speakers which is not tiny nor large. Just perfect. As is the sound. I believe they were discontinued 7-8 years ago, so they can be had very cheap.

http://www.audioconsultants.com/ProductImages/BW601S3naked.jpg

 

I'm using them with a NAD C325BEE stereo

http://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/normal/nad-c325bee-482549.jpg

 

I'm so old fashioned that I don't care about surround sound. I'd rather spend the same amount of money, and get superior sound quality in stereo. And unless you can have space behind your couch for the satellite speakers, it doesn't make sense to me.

 

But then again that wasn't even the question :)

[Aikenrooster]

Anyone know anything about BIC acoustech?

[OldRUSHfan]

I have a pair of JBL L-100s. The were the go to speaker back when I got them in '78. A lot of studios still use them if they can get some....They still 'KICK 'EM OUT!' Can't wait til PHOTOSUCKIT gets UP again....

http://s19.postimg.org/krtk2j2pv/My_Stuff_JBL_L_100s.jpg

Edited January 30, 2016 by OldRUSHfan

[Fred Star]

My gaff is in a bit of disarray (looking to reconfig') at the mo', so, i'm "in between" systems. Currently using a basic Logitech 5.1 Surround set- up off my PC.. Living in a semi-detatched in a built up area puts the dampers on any serious music listening as you can't exactly crank up the volume for fear of upsetting the neighbours.. oh for a 2-bed detatched on the outskirts of town. I agree with some of the choices of "kit" posted thus far and would buy in an instant.. if still in manufacture !

[canadianice]

http://i.imgur.com/S6Tzvgz.jpg

 

That Oppo Bluray player is the keystone of my system. It has separate top quality dacs for stereo audio and surround.

Is that shag carpet, Austin?

[Presto-digitation]

I would wager that in my 46 years of life I have not spent $1500 on the totality of every listening device I have ever owned...combined.

[treeduck]

I would wager that in my 46 years of life I have not spent $1500 on the totality of every listening device I have ever owned...combined.

Still keeping the old duct tape Walkman going?

[Presto-digitation]

No, I mostly listen to music in my car.

[stoopid]

No, I mostly listen to music in my car.

 

Sadly it's the same for me (although I have a decent system in my car, so not too sad). My studio monitors rarely get used. :(

Edited February 2, 2016 by stoopid