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Thinking about putting in speakers throughout my house as well as wiring up my family room with 7.1 for movies, sports, etc.
I was quoted for Focal speakers and Atlantic Technology speakers. Both guys who came out said they could do Polks, but that I would be happier with the sound from the aforementioned systems.
What do y'all think? Love to hear suggestions before making this kind of investment.
Yeah it's a broad question. Do you want tower speakers, satellites, or in wall speakers?
I've always considered Polks to be really good speakers for the price. There are so many brands out there catering to different styles that it is hard to really narrow it down until we know exactly what you want.
Tower speakers sound the best overall but they take up substantial amounts of space. Satallite speakers have become really polular lately offering pretty good sound quality while taking up a small fraction of the space. In-wall speakers can sound really nice too but they require a big commitment from you in the sense that you can't move them and they are much harder to install. Room size plays a big role too. The bigger the room, the more watts you will need to run to the speakers to effectively fill the room with sound. In this case, you will need speakers that are capable of handeling all of that power.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I think Bose speakers are vastly overrated for the steep price you typically pay for them.
There are many very good home theater speakers today.
In no particular order, I think any of the brands below could be ideal for you depending on the room, your budget, and aesthetic preferences.
Paradigm
PSB
Energy
Definitive Technology
KEF
Polk
Boston
Infinity
Monitor Audio
Atlantic Technology
Some of the best speakers for the money today come from Canadian companies. They have access to a state of the art acoustics lab that most companies could never afford to build themselves. The Canadian speakers aboe are Paradigm, PSB, and Energy.
I agree with the above about Bose. Some of the most overpriced A/V equipment on the planet.
If you have a good sized room and want truly deep, quality bass, I would consider buying your subwoofer from Hsu Research or SVS instead of the brands above.
There are many very good home theater speakers today.
In no particular order, I think any of the brands below could be ideal for you depending on the room, your budget, and aesthetic preferences.
Paradigm
PSB
Energy
I have direct experience with those three brands and they represent an exceptional value, easily competitive with speakers twice their price.
If you live in an affluent area, you can often find audiophiles who replace their equipment every few years and get a real bargain on used equipment. I have five home theaters spread across three homes, and every one of them was put together from either dealer demo or very lightly used equipment found on Craigslist or Audiogon. Actually, only my main system (Genesis) was dealer demo, all the others were used equipment. Two of my systems use Paradigm (one Signature setup, one Reference setup), one uses PSB's Image series, and the last one uses a set of Energy Take 5 speakers (my girlfriend's old system that I bought for her, so I could tolerate watching TV at her place). The best bang for the buck was the Paradigm Reference system. They were owned by an older gentleman, barely two years old and in mint condition, and I paid about 40% of retail (paid $2400 for a system that retails for $6k, and competitive with systems that sell for $10k).
I have direct experience with those three brands and they represent an exceptional value, easily competitive with speakers twice their price.
If you live in an affluent area, you can often find audiophiles who replace their equipment every few years and get a real bargain on used equipment. I have five home theaters spread across three homes, and every one of them was put together from either dealer demo or very lightly used equipment found on Craigslist or Audiogon. Actually, only my main system (Genesis) was dealer demo, all the others were used equipment. Two of my systems use Paradigm (one Signature setup, one Reference setup), one uses PSB's Image series, and the last one uses a set of Energy Take 5 speakers (my girlfriend's old system that I bought for her, so I could tolerate watching TV at her place). The best bang for the buck was the Paradigm Reference system. They were owned by an older gentleman, barely two years old and in mint condition, and I paid about 40% of retail (paid $2400 for a system that retails for $6k, and competitive with systems that sell for $10k).
Focal is rarely mentioned in a "best bang for the buck" conversation. Focal makes high end speakers and generally cost a lot.
How big is your room? What is your budget? What are the decor considerations? (for example do you want tower style front speakers?)
The room is several hundred square feet...and the rest of the home that will be wired for sound (so that we can play music in one part and hear it in others) is about another 3000 square feet (not doing upstairs)...most of these speakers will be in-ceiling. The room we want to do 7.1 surround sound in will have ceiling speakers AND cabinet speakers as well as a subwoofer put into the wall.
Budget? Whatever it costs to get a decent, long-lasting system in there. I don't really want to go over $20k.
No system with that kind of budget should have in-ceiling speakers. Sorry.
In wall subwoofer? Mounted in the studs? Very difficult to do that well. Most subwoofers will turn the wall into a giant resonance generator.
With that kind of budget though you might start your search with Paradigm Reference. You could also listen to B&W, KEF, NHT, or Snell.
Where should they be then?
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