Unreal Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 I work at bestbuy and get a significant discount on speakers there. While not opposed to buying else where, I want good bang for the buck. I'm putting together a home theater setup for my apartment. Just a college student working at bestbuy. I didn't like any of of the recievers are bestbuy, so I ordered a Denon 1804 online which should arrive any day now. I got a 36" sony vega, xbox, and sony DVD player to hook up, and now need speakers. Room is a small apartment. I want towers up front, and something small for the rear. So, out of the brands bestbuy sells, any suggestions or places online to get better equipment for the price. I got $600-900 to spend. The sf2s sound ok, but not great. The new JBL E series are pretty impressive. Reading on this board, everyone pretty much hates the synergy series, but for my cost on them, can I do better? Figure about 40% off what bestbuy charges on any speakers. The athenas sound good also but I don't like their center or sub. I was thinking of maybe ordering a quintet set, using the center and rears, then getting some towers for up front. Probably a KSW-10 sub unless I can do better for the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted October 21, 2003 Share Posted October 21, 2003 ---------------- On 10/21/2003 5:30:44 PM Unreal wrote: Reading on this board, everyone pretty much hates the synergy series, but for my cost on them, can I do better? ---------------- I don't think anybody on here hates the Synergy, and to my ears, I personally think they are the best speakers that are offered at Best Buy. The issue people have here is when you are starting to talk about the SF-2 or even the new SF-3 (which I just saw today at the local Best Buy - but not hooked up), for about the same amount of money, or a little bit more, you can get yourself some RF-25s or even RF-35s, which are much better speakers. According to the Best Buy here, the SF-3s were around $850/pair. The SF-2 were going for a little bit over $600/pair. You could probably still find a pair of RF-3II's for less than that, or perhaps talk a dealer down on a pair of the newer RF-35s. However, in your case, you can take advantage of your employee discount. In that case, I think the Synergy will be very good. Instead of the Quintets, spend a little bit more money on the SB-1s for the rears. I have listened to the new JBL E-series and I'll admit they are pretty nice. Definitly a step up from the N-series, but I still like the S-series a little bit better. The Athena, to me, sounded to laid back and lifeless - much more prefer the better punch, dynamics, and clarity of the Klipsch. And, of course, don't even waste your time with the Bose or the KLH stuff there (although even the cheapy KLH is a step up from the Tee-Vee speakers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unreal Posted October 21, 2003 Author Share Posted October 21, 2003 We can also get wharfedales and celestions, but I'm wary of buying a speaker I've never heard. Read some good stuff about wharfedales. SF3s are $850 a set I believe. I can get the sf-2s for I believe $240ish, so that would be hard to beat. The JBL e80s would be just a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 I don't know anything about the 'E' Series JBL's, but I did recently do crossover upgrades on a friends complete HT system made up of the 'S' series stuff. With the exception of the woofer baskets, I thought they were complete junk. If you do a search on www.hometheaterforum.com under my username and JBL-S26, you'll find the thread. Don't forget, things will sound different once you get them in your house, and which-ever Synergy speaker you decide on -- will have lower distortion levels than any competing design at the same price point because of horn loading and the resultant higher sensitivity. This also means you can get away with less power. If I were you, and had that nice discount -- I would definitely be rolling a set of SF-3's into my room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 Wow, I didn't even know the SF-3's were coming/out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 ---------------- On 10/21/2003 11:34:42 PM Unreal wrote: We can also get wharfedales and celestions, but I'm wary of buying a speaker I've never heard. Read some good stuff about wharfedales. SF3s are $850 a set I believe. I can get the sf-2s for I believe $240ish, so that would be hard to beat. The JBL e80s would be just a bit more. ---------------- I also work at BB, Unreal. I'll tell you straight up that I'm going all Synergy with my new basement theater room - 3 pairs of SF-3's to go with one of those nifty little X-1 projectors (find them in the Digital imaging department - we get fat discounts on those, too) and a Yamaha 5660 amp. Reasons I decided to go this direction? 1) The Athenas are hopelessly dull in the top end. Those synthetic silk-domes have no bite to them. It's depressing, really. 2) BB no longer carries the S-38 bookshelfs. BIG bummer. My favorite Studio series speaker by far. Best bookshelf I ever owned. (biggest, too!) A word of warning about Wharfedale (say that three times fast) BB picked up Wharfedale for one reason and one reason alone: To make the Cerwin-Vega fans happy after BB dropped the CV badge almost completely (BB still sells that ****bag CV 5.1 package, but that's it) That alone should tell you a lot about what kind of speakers Wharfedale is making. Now, granted, if you're looking to go more compact (and a forward-projector is not in your plans), I'd do JBL S-36's (easily wall-mountable, and powerful high end!) all the way around with a KSW-12 sub. Don't mess with the 10, it can't handle under high loads. Here's something scary for all you Klipschers out there. Yamaha has come with a new line of tower speakers that are almost to-the-letter copies of the Synergies. Right down to the price tag. Am I buying them? Hell no! But there are others who are more brand-centric that might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted October 22, 2003 Share Posted October 22, 2003 One more thing - the "E" series JBL's? Still Northridge, still titanium-laminated tweeters (instead of the renowned JBL solid titaniums found in all higher end models), still junk to my ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unreal Posted October 22, 2003 Author Share Posted October 22, 2003 Pretty much decided on SF2s, maybe the SF3s if the price is right. sc1, ss5s, and ksw12. Its a small room and I sit about 4 feet from the TV/speakers, so I don't need to go overboard but this setup would probably be fine for later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unreal Posted October 23, 2003 Author Share Posted October 23, 2003 Now I'm thinking JBL s312s. 1" titanium tweeter, 12" woofer, 4" mid. Normally $499 a piece, I get them for $180. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unreal Posted October 25, 2003 Author Share Posted October 25, 2003 Stupid work changed the computer system all up and now no one knows how to access the accomodation programs. The klipsch link is broken. I'll try calling klipsch customer service monday and see if they will let me order the speakers, or see if anyone there knows how I can order some speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 Did you get my PM response? I'm still a proponent of matching fronts & rears. The S-Center would go nicely with those monsters up front, however... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unreal Posted October 26, 2003 Author Share Posted October 26, 2003 Got the klipsch stuff figured out. Going with sf3s for sure. Now what center channel. Problem is it has to sit on top of a 32" sony vega. Price is not an issue. I can get the sc5, sc1, or sc3. I'm leaning towards jus the sc5 due to space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMcGoo Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 If possible, always go with the biggest center channel available that matches your speakers. As much as 75% of the sound comes from the center channel. It is by far the most important speaker in a home theater. THX requires three identical speakers across the front so that there will not be any difference in the sound as action movies across the screen. If you cannot have identical speakers, then try to match the drivers in the speaker. If there is not enough space above your TV, you might add a shelf that is well anchored to the wall. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 ---------------- On 10/22/2003 9:10:42 AM DeanG wrote: I don't know anything about the 'E' Series JBL's, but I did recently do crossover upgrades on a friends complete HT system made up of the 'S' series stuff. With the exception of the woofer baskets, I thought they were complete junk. If you do a search on www.hometheaterforum.com under my username and JBL-S26, you'll find the thread. Don't forget, things will sound different once you get them in your house, and which-ever Synergy speaker you decide on -- will have lower distortion levels than any competing design at the same price point because of horn loading and the resultant higher sensitivity. This also means you can get away with less power. If I were you, and had that nice discount -- I would definitely be rolling a set of SF-3's into my room. ---------------- I think the synergy system is plenty good as a home theatre set up (I have SF-2 fronts, SF-1 rear, and SC-1 center) though they are light years behind the reference series, especially for music. for the price, they are fine but the cabnit construction isn't anything great and they don't crank close to as loud as the ref stuff. I use RF-5's and RSW-15 in my reference 2.1 set up (see link in profile) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 ---------------- On 10/26/2003 10:03:14 PM MrMcGoo wrote: If possible, always go with the biggest center channel available that matches your speakers. As much as 75% of the sound comes from the center channel. It is by far the most important speaker in a home theater. THX requires three identical speakers across the front so that there will not be any difference in the sound as action movies across the screen. If you cannot have identical speakers, then try to match the drivers in the speaker. If there is not enough space above your TV, you might add a shelf that is well anchored to the wall. Bill ---------------- Well said, Bill. If the center gets dwarfed by the fronts, you're going to miss a LOT of action (or find yourself really boosting the center on the amp - not a good idea if you want to keep your THD down...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unreal Posted October 27, 2003 Author Share Posted October 27, 2003 Ok, order form is filled out. 2 SF3s 1 SC3 a pair of SS5s (don't want anything too huge in rear) 1 ksw-12 For my little apartment, this setup should be awesome. The denon reciever still hadn't shipped, and I don't want to wait forever, so I cancelled it. Going to run to work in an hour and pick up a yamaha 5660. Not bad for all under $800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unreal Posted October 27, 2003 Author Share Posted October 27, 2003 Got the reciever hooked up. Sounds good like it is, even with ****ty Bose 301 speakers. 1000x better than the TV speakers. Can't wait to get my new speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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