Best bang for the buck for Home theater speakers

[john_k_antony]

Hi,

For a budget of 1.5-2L, which of the following brands give the best bang for the buck for a 5.1 home theater setup in a room of 400 sqft area / 4000 cuft volume.

1. Kef Q
2. Whardedale 10
3. Jamo D600
4. Monitor Audio Silver (RX)
5. Paradigm Monitor 7
6. Polk RTI

The cheapest options are Wharfedale and Polk.

I would really appreciate if the owners of the above speakers can comment on the performance of the center channel speaker.

Note : I will NOT be getting a FS for front Left and Right. I will be using the Center speaker for Left and Righ, which is 1 Center speaker each for front channels.

I will be getting Velodyne 15" EqMax for Sub. This is above the 1.5L-2L budget for 5 channel speakers.

Thanks,
John.

 

[mpw]

Parsadigm offers an LCR option.. check that out ( Energy dopes too and maybe others also ). If you take this route.. dont go for conventional fronts.. go for good centers which can be used as L and R also.

mpw

 

[Shivam]

In my room, which is towards the live side, Wharfedale Diamonds 10 perform the best with the Musical Fidelity and NAD setup that I use.

 

[doors666]

Most of the times (and there are exceptions) the quality will increase with price. best bang for the buck factor will reduce with price. find a balance

 

[cruise_1982]

Out of the speakers listed, I have only auditioned the KEF Q for home theatre and they were Punchy and amazing. For Music, I would prefer the MA RX6.

 

[corElement]

You have got the correct view on the matter John. Having floorstanders and bookshelves and centers all being different models from each other and different sizes and woofer configurations dilute the experience. The fronts should indeed all be the same for a linear transition between the three. It only makes sense to have floorstanders as left and right if the listener ever intends to use it for stereo, but since you're not, stick with 1 model across three.

On that note I would go for the d600/d6/d7 series as they are thx and jamo researched their design for nearly 10 years for home theater use.

It's a shame you're not getting D7, have you tried searching in used marketareas? The D7 was the true masterpiece out of their entire thx line, the d600 is a watered down variation but I guess should be similar.

 

[marsilians]

Without knowing other equipment in your system its a big guessing game and you will forced to 'upgrade' one or the other component due to mismatch. Also what are your listening tastes and why are you thinking of replacing L+R with a C?

 

[john_k_antony]

Hi,

My AVR is going to be THX Onkyo NR 709 or a Marantz 5006. The reason I am going with same speakers for Left, Right and Center is that I am going to use this setup ONLY for movies and I want the right tonal match between the LCR speakers. Right now I have the conventional System and I think I am not getting the right tonal match. One reason being I am using the same system for stereo and HT. The system I have is

1. Kef Q7 for fronts
2. Kef Q60c for centter
3. Denon 2310 AVR.

Now when I use pink tones and other calibration DVDs, I get different tonal output from the front LR and Center because they are different models. I also feel that my center channel is not "jelling" well with the fronts. So I decided to use the same speakers for LCR in my new home theater setup.

I will setup a completely different setup for Stereo.

Thanks,
John.

 

[john_k_antony]

You have got the correct view on the matter John. Having floorstanders and bookshelves and centers all being different models from each other and different sizes and woofer configurations dilute the experience. The fronts should indeed all be the same for a linear transition between the three. It only makes sense to have floorstanders as left and right if the listener ever intends to use it for stereo, but since you're not, stick with 1 model across three.

On that note I would go for the d600/d6/d7 series as they are thx and jamo researched their design for nearly 10 years for home theater use.

It's a shame you're not getting D7, have you tried searching in used marketareas? The D7 was the true masterpiece out of their entire thx line, the d600 is a watered down variation but I guess should be similar.

Hey Core,

Thanks again for your valuable inputs. I am going to audition all the speakers listed above in another few months. I am also inclined towards D600, but they are the expensive set of the lot. I will definitely check with Cinebals Bangalore regarding the availability of D7. I am going to check with them whether they can source it from other Cinebels showrooms anywhere in India. Since its a discontinued model, I can bargain for a good discount if they are available .

-John.

 

[thebanik]

As a proud owner of Quad speakers, May I suggest an audition of 5.1 Setup with Quad 12L. Though as per reviews and personal experience its the Quad L2 sub which is really the star.

 

[john_k_antony]

Sure, I like Quad. I love their 22L2 FS very much. BTW, whats the room size you are filling up with the Quad 5.1 setup?

-John.

 

[thebanik]

Sure, I like Quad. I love their 22L2 FS very much. BTW, whats the room size you are filling up with the Quad 5.1 setup?

-John.

Ah its almost half the size of the room you are looking to fill.....But then I am running them at almost -20db all the time. Though I took the audition in a room which was pretty close(still around 100sqft less I guess) to your requirement and they did do a bang up job,

 

[corElement]

Hey Core,

Thanks again for your valuable inputs. I am going to audition all the speakers listed above in another few months. I am also inclined towards D600, but they are the expensive set of the lot. I will definitely check with Cinebals Bangalore regarding the availability of D7. I am going to check with them whether they can source it from other Cinebels showrooms anywhere in India. Since its a discontinued model, I can bargain for a good discount if they are available .

-John.

I know here in gurgaons cinebels theyve had a d7 for years on display. Even a display model of it will be fine because they sit on the wall without much hands on activity. I feel demo pieces even in slightly damaged condition as long as drivers and cabinet is intact is worth it at a discounted price.

 

[john_k_antony]

I agree core. The best thing about a well maintained used set is - free break in and heavily discounted price .

The only issue is that sometimes these guys connects the speakers with wrong polarity. Will that screw the drivers?

-John.

 

[john_k_antony]

Ah its almost half the size of the room you are looking to fill.....But then I am running them at almost -20db all the time. Though I took the audition in a room which was pretty close(still around 100sqft less I guess) to your requirement and they did do a bang up job,

Thanks for the clarification man. My only worry is that if the speakers start distorting when give a high volume from the Amp. You will never know that till you crank up the volume and listen for an hour or so.

-John.

 

[corElement]

I agree core. The best thing about a well maintained used set is - free break in and heavily discounted price .

The only issue is that sometimes these guys connects the speakers with wrong polarity. Will that screw the drivers?

-John.

Nope, only things that damage are low power amp or bad power or physical dmg.

 

[manoj.p]

Note : I will NOT be getting a FS for front Left and Right. I will be using the Center speaker for Left and Righ, which is 1 Center speaker each for front channels.

John,

Why do you want to use a center speaker for left and right?

 

[venk61176]

If you are ok for discounted prices, check out for Acoustic energy at Barton center.

I still insist that you need to go for paradigm monitor6 series or monitor7 and save money on onkyo.

The only reason being I have similar setup. Or if you really decided then for golden ear triton and leave out subwoofer

Before auditioning ensure speakers are calibrated at 75 db level from listening position


Ps the synergy between denon and paradigm is very good

 

[venk61176]

I saw your other thread on home theare room. In that case go for phantom ikon from Dali.

It would match your existing denon and rather invest in new generation bd player of oppo

 

[john_k_antony]

John,

Why do you want to use a center speaker for left and right?

I want the perfect tonal match between my front speakers. I never seen a front speakers to tonally match if they are different, even if they are from the same company.

Since I am not going to use this setup for music, I don't need a full range/band floor stander for fronts.

If you look at THX spec speakers, they use the same speakers for Left/Right and Center.

-John.