Good Left and Right Speakers Under $200!!

 

Bronze Member
Username: Skial123

Littleton, Colorado USA

Post Number: 13
Registered: Jul-04
I just bought a receiver that works great, the Onkyo 8211 and I need a pair of speakers that has good quality sound under $200. My speakers I have now sound horrible and were cheap. I'd like speakers with good bass because there is no sub ouptut on the receiver. Any suggestions?
 

Silver Member
Username: Edison

Glendale, CA US

Post Number: 452
Registered: Dec-03
I really like the 8511 better - 100 watts instead of 50. Can you return it and upgrade?
I think you will love it too.

Speaker match will be easier with more power.
This was voted the best under $300 speaker in an audio wight.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Stone

West CoastUSA

Post Number: 65
Registered: Dec-03
I saw a pair of Acoustic energy Evo 1's for sale on audiogon for $200.00. I listened to them once and they were great. Great reviews in HIFI Choice and What HiFi.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Jamesp

Mansfield , TX USA

Post Number: 25
Registered: Apr-04
You might want to check out Fluance. I have never listened to them but many people rave about them for the price.
 

Silver Member
Username: Elitefan1

Post Number: 549
Registered: Dec-03
Paradigm Atom. Superb little speaker for under $200/pr.
 

Silver Member
Username: Goldenarrow

Post Number: 117
Registered: Jun-04
Heard the PSB 1B at a local dealer, sounded very nice. Don't know if it is better than the Paradigm atom though.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Donaldekelly

Washington, DC Usa

Post Number: 72
Registered: Jul-04
"This was voted the best under $300 speaker in an audio wight."

What is an Audio Wight?

Those Axioms sound really superb (on paper anyway).
 

Bronze Member
Username: Skial123

Littleton, Colorado USA

Post Number: 14
Registered: Jul-04
Are the Heybrook HB2's worth getting?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Donaldekelly

Washington, DC Usa

Post Number: 74
Registered: Jul-04
I am getting two Axiom M3TiSe bookshelf speakers as listed above in James Lee's link. I was thinking a third one for a center channel would be cheaper and sound better than their matching center.

I have read (in article listed by ecoustic's search engine) that using a third main for the center is sometimes a better sounding match. These speakers are shielded. And one M3Ti is about $82.50 cheaper than the center Axiom sells.

Any reason not to use a third M3Ti for a center? I am fine with having it lay on it's side if need be near or on top of a TV and thus be slightly out of balance (tweeter on one side and woofer on the other).

Thanks
 

Bronze Member
Username: Donaldekelly

Washington, DC Usa

Post Number: 75
Registered: Jul-04
By the way - the VP-100, the matching center for the Axioms - is not quite as good as the Axioms.

Article on using another main for the center:
http://www.stereophile.com/musicintheround/304round/

"...rarely does a "matching" center-channel speaker look anything like the main pair. And when you listen to what happens when a white-noise signal is played sequentially over the left, center, and right speakers in a multichannel system, the L/Rs can sound pretty much the same, given roughly symmetrical placements, but the center almost always sounds different.

Why? Because the center speaker is in the center. Each main speaker is significantly closer to its sidewall than the center speaker is to either. In addition, the center's probable proximity to a massive monitor further influences its performance. Also related to the presence of that monitor, the center is rarely at the same height as the L/R speakers. Many manufacturers deal with these problems by constructing their centers as horizontal arrays that control lateral dispersion. Some even add switchable internal filters that modify the dispersion in the vertical plane to compensate for placement above or below the height of the main speakers.

Nonetheless, I have never heard multichannel sound reproduced as seamlessly and coherently as when done with identical or nearly identical speakers and without a boxy video monitor in the way. On that list are demos with three large Meridian DSP8000s, three Wilson WATT/Puppys, and four Magnepan MG-20.1s across the front. (Because the Maggies are asymmetric, an angled pair was used for the center channel.) Even my experience with two Meridian DSP6000s and a DSP5500C stands apart from the usual multichannel demo in terms of seamlessness across the front soundstage.

I wrote to and spoke with five manufacturer-designers of high-end speakers (costing from under $1000 to more than $100,000/pair) about the center-channel issue. Each believed that identical speakers are ideal, but each promoted what he saw as a "real-world" solution. All--save the one who does not (yet) make a dedicated center-channel--justified their different approaches to dedicated center speakers, the designs of some of which accounted for the presence of a video monitor, with the implication that the use of identical speakers was unlikely in most homes. Some emphasized the necessity for a holistic approach to the array of speakers, some the fact that achieving matched output might require that the center have a significantly different conformation, and some that their center speakers could be effectively used for left and right with success--which, of course, begs the issue.

My own limited experience leads me to believe that careful vertical placement of the center and main speakers' mid- and high-frequency drive-units is an important factor in speaker matching. With my Magnepan Home Theater System speakers, this was made simple by wall-mounting the front main pair.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Skial123

Littleton, Colorado USA

Post Number: 15
Registered: Jul-04
Which speakers of this selection is the best buy?

1. Heybrook HB2's
2. Axiom M3TiSe
3. PSB Image 1B
4. Acoustic Energy Evo One

Thanks!
 

Bronze Member
Username: Donaldekelly

Washington, DC Usa

Post Number: 76
Registered: Jul-04
try http://www.axiomaudio.com/m2i.html and click on read the review. This is a review where the reviewer and the maker both think the Axiom M2i is a better speaker than the much raved about Axiom M3Ti (which I just bought!).

I called the expert advice line at Axiom and the guy who answered said he used to be a "cranky old hifi magazine editor" and he said the same thing. The cheaper M2i is better - although with less bass. If you have a sub it is the one to compare with the others. (I might be returning my M3s for the M2s).

Check out some of the reviews by searching on ecoustics, if you haven't already. Where they compare the speakers I think they are more helpful than the rest of the review.

For $328 per pair how about the Ascend Acoustics cbm-170s: http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/ascendacoustics_cbm170.htm

I don't know much more
 

Carl Holroyd
Unregistered guest
I have a pir of Heybrook HB2's and they sound fantastic and they aren't run in yet - still a bit tight. I played Sledgehammer - Peter Gabrielle to test bass and they handle the power well (Mordaunt-Short M500 amp 60 x 60 watts)
They also sounded very detailed through a lesser powered Wharfdale amp listening to Donald fagens 'Nightfly" album I found them revealing.

Cheers
Carl
 

swampcat
Unregistered guest
Best cheap speakers for the money are CERWIN VEGA! give a listen. Nobody can beat their bass.
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