Hi! I'm looking for a pair of bookshelfs speakers for my 5.1 system(to use them as front speakers).
I use my system for movies but what is most important is music I listen to from hard rock to metal core.
I own a polk audio monitors 30 (small an cheap) but I think they do not deliver the mids I want for the type of music I listen. I think they are too crisp and lack some of mid range.
My system :
Yamaha HTR 5930 Klipsch c1 (center) polk monitor 30 (front and rear) Asus Xonar DX
I use my computer and send the audio to receiver
I'm looking for a bookshelfs speaker not too expensive less $250 pair That could deliver good mids with good attack.
Winpeaze, you gotta get out an audition - there is just too much out there in bookshelves. Some of the one's people have been chatting about lately are from Wharfedale, KEF, Infinity, which may meet your price range but they all sound different. You need to get out find a flavour of what you like and then test other speakers that are voiced similar. It's also not wise to mix and match in a 5.1 system, as you can really mess up way sounds are supposed to seamlessly pan from speaker to speaker. Do you like the sound of your Klipsch centre? If so, see if you can listen to some Klipsch bookshelves to completment your centre - possibly in the same model line .
First, I would suggest you make certain the Polks are the offending party. You list midrange problems and then you say you own a Klipsch center speaker. If you are selecting - or allowing your receiver to select - the playback format for your music content, most of your music can remain being funnelled through the center channel. Manually switching to a "stereo" two channel format would be the first way to alleviate some of your problems. Yes, it sounds less full because you now have three less speakers pumping volume into the room but you need to determine where the problem exists.
The Yamaha receiver is often times noted as being a less than stellar match for Klipsch and even for that matter with Polk as it tends toward a rather hard sound overall. None of this is to dismiss the Polks as a speaker that provides more or less what you pay for - which with the Polks is normally not all that much. And, of course, the system sound is the result of all components working together with a major contribution from the room itself. If you're relying on the freebie or close-the-deal off the rack cables that came with your receiver and some bulk speaker cable suggested by the salesperson as a point-of-sale add on for their own commission, then you might want to invest in better cables before you rush into a new speaker purchase. You could go down to Home Depot and buy one of their orange extension cables, cut off and strip the ends and make this your speaker cable and probably get good results compared to cheap, off the rack, sold as point-of-sale margin builder speaker cables. If the problem exists outside of the Polks, changing the Polks won't solve anything it will simply give the real problem to another set of mass market speakers. Buying "better" speakers if the problem exists outside of the Polks will only give you a better chance of hearing the problem more often.
If you are using your all in one BluRay/DVD/CD/MP3 player as your source player for music, then there's a good chance the speakers are only doing their best to show you what signal they are being fed. That doesn't excuse the Yamaha/Klipsch/Polks it only explains their behavior.
A bit of speaker placement and a consideration of how the room and its furnishings are affecting the sound might benefit you before you begin spending money in the wrong areas. Putting a speaker "where it fits" is almost always guaranteed to be the worst place you could put that speaker for good sound. Ignoring the importance of good speaker stands can also send you to the forums asking about new speakers to buy. If you haven't given the speakers some time to break in, then you might want to just listen for awhile and they might come around to your liking.
Put "loudspeaker placement" in a search engine and do some reading. A low sitting table placed in front of your listening seat might be the culprit as it feeds reflected sound to your ears, a too reflective room or a room with lumpy, uneven frequency response might also cause a harshness that is simply the sound of the room as the speakers interact with it. Replacing speakers when the problem exists outside of the speakers themself will not solve your problem.
Of course, I expect you to ignore this post since buying speakers is always mistakenly the first solution and more fun that finding out how to actually go about getting better sound. Unfortunately, your system reads like a Big Box audio/computer/car stereo/appliance center's weekend flier. If the sales staff of a Best Buy or its similar mass market purveyor of more cr@p is your only option for asistance, then you'll end up buying new speakers since that is all they can get in their heads and that is the easiest, quickest thing to accomplish so they can move on to another customer which will make their manager happy.
My advice is to cool down on the speaker buying and think this through, if not to the extent you can identify the actual problem, at least to the point you can find a dealer with better goods to sell than another Big Box pusher of empty containers. Find an independent audio dealer in your area and spend some time during the week when the shop is slow and they can allot you some unhurried listening time and some advice. You have a system and it works so you do not have to rush into a purchase or a wholesale exchange of components. However, what you presently own is showing you more or less what you paid for - a sale priced system that sounded not all that horrible in your euphoria of finally buying a "real" HT system amid the overwhelming din of an audio/computer/car stereo/appliance center at full tilt register rockin' noise.
Go into the independent shop with the intention of just getting information about what might actually improve your present set up without yet spending for new speakers and see where the shop takes you. You could easily end up with a far better system for far less money than just throwing a chunk of cash at another pair of mass market boxes. Be firm, if they begin to insult your intelligence in buying your present system or insist you "must have" a particular product, ask for another salesperson. You're looking for the person who will ask questions and listen to your responses and not the person who will just walk you to another system and say, "Buy it". You need good advice and not someone trying to score points in their own ego game of who knows what about audio.
Lastly, keep in mind what you listen to as music is going to have a large influence on what you hear from your system. Most modern recordings are goosed up in the mids and high end to make them "POP" on a boom box or iPod. If you are using MP3's as your main music source, then you can expect poor sound on a "better" system and that won't change until you change what you are feeding the system. With those items as your source any speaker will give back what you are feeding it - as good or as bad as that might be.
Consider the possible issues before just plunking down more cash without thought. Have you checked the Yellow Pages for any independent audio dealers in your area? Or, are you expecting us to solve the problem for you over this forum by simply suggesting a new pair of speakers to buy?
Asus Xonar DX which deliver a excellent audio quality Also I try to rip my cd's with the highest quality posible
I have been using my speakers for 5 months I dont know if that time is enough the get the real sound of my polks
Started using all polk audio including the center speaker. I do not blame polk speakers I knew more or less what I was buying, but when put some of the music I like I noticed that speakers do not benefit the genre very well. I changed to the klipsch center because I had the impression that the middle range is wider
I know that listen speakers before buying is the best option but I would like to know what could I look for.
The speakers are placed high on corners and center is at the same height. I tried speakers in stereo avoiding the center getting the same result.
I will take in account about the cable because it might be not enough the ones I have right now.
My room is 13ft x10ft aprox. I have solid brick walls and no carpet. This is why I choose polk the have a very soft highs that I like a lot
I appreciate your help as I'm new to this and I know you guys are experts.
