Speakers - choices choices ;)

[TiggerK]

Yep good advice from skygazer there.. sometimes the speakers that sound the best right away end up sounding artificial and harsh after a while of listening to them (Bose being a prime example).

For receivers, I sold mid/high-end hifi for a few years, and found that Yamaha, Marantz and Onkyo all offered good sound quality and build quality as well (We can't all afford Meridian). The more watts the better as the extra headroom is important for movie soundtracks and also for ensuring you can drive low sensitivity speakers well. And avoid too many gizmos and flashing lights!!

As for speakers, well, what skygazer said. VAF are excellent locally made speakers, B&W are usually excellent, I like some of the JBL as well and MS are fine, although often a bit restrained for movie use. Energy can be good, but I'm not a huge fan personally. Most speakers sound OK, it's just in the tonal balance that different people prefer different things. Take a CD or two of songs you know very well, something that sounds tight and punchy and something more mellow and not MP3 quality!! Have a good listen, maybe a few times and trust your instincts.

I'm jealous by the way.. waiting for an excuse to replace mine!!

Have Fun!!

Cheers
TiggerK

[ozbear]

Originally Posted by TiggerK

As for speakers, well, what skygazer said. VAF are excellent locally made speakers, B&W are usually excellent, I like some of the JBL as well and MS are fine, although often a bit restrained for movie use.

And don't forget our own Aussie offering... Orpheus.

Oz

[surrealgenesis]

Its been said before, I'll say it again - speaker drivers are a personal choice.

Have a real go at the Aussie stuff though.

For what its worth, I have Orpheus gear atm and it is awesome. Very warm sound with a real musical leaning. The company also has great a portfolio (ABC, Ten, EMI)

[TiggerK]

Yep, those Orpheus speakers look the business... I was in NZ when selling, so haven't seen these ones before... I've always loved these big wooden floor standers like the Aurora 2 and 3 on the orpheusaudio.com.au website. ..

Other advice for speaker purchasing is to get speakers that are a match for the room size and volume needs, and if in doubt, get more powerful ones and a bigger amp. Far more good speakers are blown due to not enough clean power available from the amp (and therefore being driven too hard with too much distortion), than to simply too much clean,raw volume. Pay extra attention to the sub if you really like it loud (and have deaf neighbours!!), although nice big L & R floorstanders should produce most of the bass you need...

Sensitivity around 86-88 dB will 'absorb' more of your amps' power than 91-93 dB ones, but if you have enough power for either one, the lower sensitivity speakers can often sound less harsh (in your face), and 'warmer'/more natural, but this is not always the case of course.

I heard the B&W world wide tour of their extreme high end Nautilus Speakers a decade or so ago, and have never recovered from it. No wonder Madonna, Sting, Michael Jackson, Mark Knopfler all had bought some!!! Back then they were about 80 thousand a pair, but the power and clarity had to be heard to be believed....

Nothing like an awesome amp/speaker combo to keep you happy for a decade or two!!

Cheers
TiggerK

[KMale]

I have just bought a new AV Receiver and speakers. I opted for Harman Kardon with B&W's

I found the Denon just didn't have the volume that I wanted and the Yamaha was too bright. The HK is ballsy and powerful ...it delivers a big sound with ease.

The B&W are excellent speakers and are great for Jazz, female singers orchestra's etc. They are woefull when it comes to heavy rock ...the top end is overly bright and cimbals and crashes sound irritating.

Probably if I had my way again I would go for JM Labs. They have a similar sound and quality as the B&W's but are not as bright and would not offend during a cranked up AC-DC concert. The sound staging of the JM Labs is far superior as well. Although I will add that the JM Labs are not as dynamic or colourful during delicate passages of music. Accoustic guitar is simply stunning with the B&W's.

I found that Jap amps are full on features (many you will never need or use) and fairly dishonest with their power output ratings. When you twist the volume knob clock wise the bass goes bye bye and the midrange and high end hit you in the face.

Anyhow ...good luck with your shopping. Take your time and make sure you are not listening to speakers being powered by $10,000 amplifiers. The sound and output will be entirely different when you get them home and hook them up to a say Denon AV receiver.

[TiggerK]

Nice one KMAle,

my stereo amp is a Harman Kardon, had it for 10 years now, and just love it completely, huge current reserves, and as you say a warm, rich sound with heaps of balls. Paired with my JBL studio monitors, and the sound is my daily piece of heaven!!

Pity the HK stuff so often gets average reviews, I've always found it superb. (another great JBL/Altec Lansing company!!)

Cheers
TiggerK

[ranz]

I might end up getting some roof mount speakers for the 5.1 setup - but we're not 100% sure if we're renting this house out in the next few years or not - so I don't want to go to too much trouble.

I went to this place in Perth over the weekend and they have HT stuff all setup - i had to be careful as I was drooling too much

The thing that interested me was it was all Marantz, Jamo, MS and B&W - and they have Yamaha (but the guy played them down - which i thought was a bit rude). There was no NAD, HK, Denon, Pioneer etc - which I feel is a must to compare as a customer. Oh and you should have seen this remote - wow - touch screen colour programmable - 1 button function - very swish - and $2k for a remote!! (I laughed at him - sorry hehe).

The Marantz Receiver blew me away - but it seemed a bit digital. I wanted some cheese with it - NAD amps really had this in the old days - I miss them

I'm now reading the above posts and thinking HK may be a goer - and even Denon. More on my plight as it unfolds ...

[KMale]

Ranz ...You will find that you will have to visit a few stores. It pays to make a few calls first and see who stocks what. The likes of Denon and Yamaha have very effective distribution networks in Australia and as such you should find them everywhere.

Harman Kardon is a more exclusive product and not available everywhere. The salesmen selling against HK will not attack their performance but will attack their support network and reliability.

So far my HK appears to be a well built reliable product. Their support network is not as good as the mainstream Jap brands. Hopefully I will not have to use it

Anyhow ...for your interest this is the AV receiver that I have.

http://www.harmankardon.com/product_...35/230&sType=C

[sniff]

Hi,
Im a krix fan myself. Australian made and untoched for the money. The lyrix($1300)are the best value for money, but they have a big range. Also consider an Integra Amp($1500). Excellent for complex home theater applications and very compatible with media centre. But as everybody says, sound is a very personal thing.

[ranz]

wow that's a nice receiver!

I went here and it's pretty cheap for $0.00 !! lol :

http://www.digitalcentre.com.au/p/59...-receiver.html