Can someone help me pick out my first speakers?

Look at the Paradigm line up of speakers.....

@blackbag20 

+1

Perfect first pair as covered by IAR.

What are you planning on pushing them with? Lots of small monitor speakers that are being suggested are not efficient. Makes a big difference on the outcome if you have a cheapy home theater receiver.

@pehrafano What did you end up going with? Just curious. 

If you can find the Pioneer SP-FS52's which are Audio Andrew Jones Designed Floor Standing Loudspeakers, they are the best sounding speakers I have heard at this budget.  I bought a pair to use in a secondary system and recently hooked them up to my tube amp and my buddy is in love with them.  Tight bass and exquisite crossovers for a very detailed sound at that price.  They are not efficient and so, they do thrive on power.

Pretty sure OP abandoned the thread the minute he read the now deleted posts. Unfortunately, I have seen this before.

The Klipsch RP-600M at less than $300, really punches above its weight.  You will need a pair of stands to make this one sing.

Used Klipsch RP-600M $289 in eBay

What did the deleted posts say that would have scared the OP away?  Well if the OP is still around I saw a pair of the Polk R100's open box at Music Direct for around $300 bucks. Don't let the Polk name dissuade you, the Reserve series is a great bang for your buck type of speaker, well made as well. Emotiva B1+ is decent. I haven't heard any other speakers really around that price. I'd personally look for a deal on a vintage pair, but not knowing what to look for in your case would make that much harder. Good Luck 

I have been very pleased with a pair of Klipsh RP-600M bookshelf speakers, purchased a year or so ago.  Unexpectedly solid bass and fantastic all-around sound for the price.  The icing on the cake:  They are extremely efficient.  I would buy these again in a heartbeat (no-brainer for me) if I needed a second pair at a similar price.

Personally, I disliked the Klipsch RP600M so much. To me the Klipsch sounded thin and lifeless. The heightened treble fakes detail, I say this because the dry-sounding mids constantly remind you that you’re listening to speakers. I don’t think they’re a good speaker to start with. They don’t sound smooth or natural enough to make acoustic music and indie sound pleasant. Don’t get the Klipsch unless you only listen to female pop stars and hip hop. Trust me, you’ll want to upgrade the Klipsch as soon as you get them. And before you know it, you’ll spend $2k on a pair of Buchardts. The RP600M made me spend 2k on fullrange transmission line speakers because I was craving lush mids.

In the entry-level it’s not crucial to get the most resolving-sound. The opposite is true because you want a pair of speakers which will work well with any amplifier and any music (especially badly recorded music).

So what do I recommend?

Q Acoustics 3010. They’re simply perfect for the money:

- Smooth and natural sound. Great for all music, especially badly recorded music.

- Great design. Not an ugly black box with cheap vinyl wrap peeling off the corners (aka Klipsch RP600M)

- Works with any amplifier under the sun. A second-hand Yamaha, Denon/Marantz amp under $100 pairs perfectly.

- Cheap

@pehrafano  Come back and check out your thread. Good advise provided. 

+1 Pioneer Andrew Jones

Had the Pioneer SP-FS52 for years before building my high-end system.  Andrew Jones is a speaker design guru with a long history of proven track record at various companies.

I am not tech-savvy at all, and I'm really sorry if this is the wrong place to post it, but I'm looking for a pair of small decent home speakers for music in the $300 range. 

I've heard people on reddit discourage people from buying Beats and Bose but that's the extent of my knowledge! Can someone recommend a pair of speakers to me? Or direct me to the correct subreddit if I'm not in the right place?

Thank you!

I got this,..

your budget is tricky, it’s a grey zone. There are some big quality swings between a 100 and 600 bucks. You would be sent back and fourth at Best Buy between the Magnolia and the soundbars guy.

Elac is a good suggestion and benchmark to compare other speakers to.

You can get high end PC speakers for $300 if that’s your source.

Yes, Beats and Bose and even B&O are not discussed here, for a good reason. 

Big plus +1 for the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR. Eventually paired with one then two SVS subwoofers in your budget range should serve you nicely until you hit the Lotto.

I assembled two Pioneer BS22 7.1 HT systems for friends, one using two SVS SB-1000's and another with two Velodyne DD-10 Plus. Since they budgeted on the DD's they planned on upgrading the Pioneers. That was over two years ago.

While not in your budget my ownership with the then top of the line Paradigm Studio 100 v1, v2 and S8's I cannot recommended brand. 

There are some other good suggestions here you should take a hard look at.

Welcome to the Mob.

it's safe to say this is good value for $299 at 50% off

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/kef-q-series-5-25-2-way-bookshelf-speakers-pair-walnut/6379830.p?skuId=6379830&ref=212&loc=1&extStoreId=438&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5P2aBhAlEiwAAdY7dMuaK6P84fqOW-vqUv1rFT5QJJMFgUpV2G_WmHre7AydgpuPNsU8hRoCcpgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

There ya go! Op should jump on the KEF you linked unless good used deals around.

other thing to look at are the JBL studio stuff. While back they went on sale off and on and apparently sound pretty damn good. Pretty efficient so may sound ok with a crapper Receiever or whatever the OP has 

pair of Polk Audio Signature Elite ES20 over on usaudiomart for ~$300

The Triangle Br02 are $250 on Amazon right now.