I have grown out of my Energy Encore system. I have to say that overall, they have served their purpose well, that being a nice sounding satellite speaker system to get me through the times. Hey, at least I'm not a Bose sell-out! Anyway, my situation is this. I have a Samsung 50in DLP. Great decision, especially for me since I HAVE TO have my television in the corner of my room. My room just will not accomodate it any other way. This, of course, is not ideal for many reasons when it comes to home theater audio. My major concern is this, I want to upgrade to bookshelf speakers since my room doesn't accomodate floor standing, but I don't have the time to do all the listening myself. I know many of you have auditioned many speakers and am hoping for some advice. Please keep in mind that the biggest front speaker I can accomodate on the site of my television is 10 inches wide. Also, keep in mind that the "matching center", must be able to fit on the top of my DLP, therefore, the center speaker can not be more than 9, possibly 10 inches deep. I also want the fronts to be bipolar. FYI, the only bookshelves I have auditioned myself were the Def tech studio monitor 450. They were definitly fuller, but sounded muffled to me.
Paul T
Posted on
Steve I ordered the Samsung HLN437W 2 weeks ago and still waiting for it's arrival, Sammy's DLP is a great TV huh!!! I am in the same boat as you and been doing some serious looking for a couple months now.. I found the best sounding bookshelf speakers to me were the Polk LSi9's or LSi7's and Paradigm Studios or Paradigm Titans.. The Polk LSi's have won out for me but they are 4 ohm speaker so you will have to have a receiver that can handle 4ohm speakers... Do to bookshelf size I went for the LSi 7's, the 9's would have fit but they would look to scrunched in, the 7's looked more apropriate... Finding the Polk LSi series may be a bit tough for they are only sold in higher end shops, Circuit City sells they're lower line R seris but the LSi's are a much better speaker, hence the reason it will cost you more bucks.. good luck
Hawk
Posted on
Steve:
I love that Samsung DLP! Congrats!
Hey, what is your budget? (In other words, what have you got left after buying the Samsung!). And, do you need speakers to hang on the wall or will they be freestanding? I have some ideas, but I need to narrow it down a bit.
Steven F
Posted on
Yeah, my budjet is pretty much depleted. Nice TV though. I really don't want to spend more than 1000 on the front L/R. As for the center, I am willing to spend a little more because I am more of a home theater watcher/listener and want to hear fullness and upper-end clarity. But, It is important, of course that the sound stage is matched. By the way, I'll be pumping the speakers with my new NAD 762.
As for the rear L/R and sub, I am going to continue on with my energy stuff until I can afford what I want. That said, I would like bookshelf speakers that have a broad frequency response (down to at least 50Hz, hopefully 40Hz). The stats on the Paradigm Reference Studio 40s looks good, but I think I heard the center at one time and was not impressed. Also, read some good things about the Wharfedale Pacific 10s. They also look pretty good but I have never heard them or their center.
As for placement, I haven't really seen many mounted bookshelf speakers. Ideally, I would either mount them near the top corners of my television or find a stand for them that extended around 34in. This will put the front L/R to the side of the center. That's where I have moved my Energys now and it sounds much better.
Also, I forgot to mention that I am married. Otherwise, I would have the HLN617W instead of the HLN507W and I would dedicate my front room to home theater with sick speakers. My point here is that asthetics do matter, but not if quality will be compromised.
Hawk
Posted on
Steve:
You are two for two in my book. I want that Samsung and I want that NAD 762. Wow! What a system. I am very envious. Sigh!
Hey, I have a system you should defintely check out, given the paramenters you have given me. Check out the NHT SB-3s with the SC-2 center speaker. The SB-3s are rated down to 38 Hz and Stereophile confirmed that they reached down to the mid 40s at the very least. They are beautiful, too. My wife loved the look of them (piano black glosss finish), which is a big hurdle in my house, as well. They measure 13 x 8 x 10, so they should fit your space comfortably. Being an acoustically sealed speaker also allows more placement options.
The SC-2 meet your criteria of being very high quality and is only 8.5 inches deep. It also has the ability to add a special attachment from NHT (I have forgotten what they call it) but it allows the SC2 to sit atop the narrow frame of the Samsung.
I have priced the SB-3s at about $235 each from Kiefs and the SC-2 is about $325.
Now you have indicated a willingness to spend up to $1K for the front L + R, so I have one other suggestion: Krix KDX-Ms for about $750 and the matching KDX-C runs another ~$375. However, Krix are very hard to find.
Finally, I really love the Dynaudio 42s, a compact monitor that will fit anywhere. They run $699/pr. and the matching 42C runs another $399.
Anyways, there are several good choices. Hope it helps.