First, I just wanted to say thanks to you folks for being here. You are godsends to folks like me. Even though I have a several decades of existence on this planet, I am a home audio neophyte, for the most part. The last time I looked into home audio was in '87, when I bought my last stereo setup.
I have been lurking around here for a couple days trying to learn a bit about speakers, as after 20 years I figure it is time to update from my old JBL 2800s. I'm on a rather limited budget at the moment, since I most of my spare $ is earmarked for a new camera body (Canon 40D), and the right channel on my receiver died last week, so I bought a replacement, an Onkyo TX-8522. I narrowed this down as being one of the best of the bunch for ~$200. It seems to be a decent one for the price range, but the HK 3385 was preferred. Unfortunately my financier (wife) poo-pood the HK for esthetic reasons. Now that I have been reading this forum, however, perhaps I could have made a better choice than the Onkyo. It hasn't arrived, so I suppose I could return it, but that is more $ gone.
Our living room is ~13x22 (the speakers will be on a 13' end), and the space in the open shelving for the speakers is 25w x 15h x 16d, though it is virtually at floor level. Currently the JBLs lay on their sides. I have read a bit about audio cons of doing this, but I have no choice unless I go with a small bookshelf to fit the height of the opening, at whick point the woofer driver size would be smaller. Should I be more concerned with the speaker orientation being "upright" or the woofer size?
My budget will be ~$500 for the pair. Anything above that could induce unpleasantries from the wife. Adding something later is possible, though. So, what are some things I should consider? I'm not really asking for specific speaker recommendations until I can figure out what I can do(although they are certainly welcome). I'm more looking for information on what I should consider. Certainly there is something I am overlooking!!
You should consider what a speaker placed in your current JBL's position will sound like. While most will disagree with placing the speakers close to the floor there's no particular problem with this placement as far as low frequency response is concerned. The speakers must be securely mounted to a solid support structure and they should have some flexibility in placement as too many reflecting surfaces will make the bass muddy. If you have no flexibility in placement, then I can all but assure you the spot where the speakers must go is the spot they should never go. If you cannot move the speakers off the shelf and onto some sort of stand where you can move the speaker away from the side and back wall to manage the bass response and soundstaging, you are somewhat committed to not realizing the best performance from most speakers. At the very least you must tilt the speaker upward to aim the tweeter at your listening position or raise the speaker to ear level. If you can't do that much or you have no defined listening area and the speakers are used for background music while you do other things, you should just buy speakers that sound pelasant to you and not worry about much else. Get a return policy from the store because what you hear in their demo room will not be what you hear at home.
Place "speaker set up" in a search engine and read a bit about how to get the smoothest frequency response and most natural sound from a pair of bookshelf speakers. Placing them on a shelf isn't one of the typical ways to achieve this end.
"...or you have no defined listening area and the speakers are used for background music while you do other things, you should just buy speakers that sound pelasant to you and not worry about much else."
Thank you, Jan, that is refreshing advice. You are right; in the LR it is just for background music for the most part, so I am going to stop worrying about details that there is nothing we are currently willing to do anything about! I will do as you suggested and try tilting the speaker up. Since there is no listening position, I guess I'll start by aiming them at head height of the seating at the other side of the room. Since I am in no rush, I will experiment with the JBLs. BTW, the side wall is ~30" from the left speaker, with a hallway to the right for the right speaker.
A couple other questions: - What search term should I use to find speakers that would fit in the space I have? It seems "bookshelf" can be quite diminutive, whereas "floor standing" opens the door too wide.
- What would be the better manufacturers look for that would be reasonably available? I see so many, any they all promote how wonderful they are, but...
Sorry, I can't help much with brands. There are hundreds to choose from if you count everything done as web only sales. They succeed because someone buys them. Unfortunately, one of the truisms of audio is that some of the best designers are the worst business people. Some very good gear gets left out because people don't know about the products.
What I like in speakers isn't likely to suit most others' tastes. Read a few of the archived threads here to see what people recommend. The audio magazines Stereophile and The Absolute Sound} have both recently run articles on affordable speakers. Check their web pages for more ideas.
Adding something later is possible, though. So, what are some things I should consider? I'm not really asking for specific speaker recommendations until I can figure out what I can do(although they are certainly welcome). I'm more looking for information on what I should consider. Certainly there is something I am overlooking!!