If you like loud dynamic sound then for under $1000 you are definitely on the right track! |
If you could tell us about your room, priorities and biases, we might be able to better serve you. |
The room is a long skinny room around 50' by 25' with cement walls. Mostly used for music but also needs to work well with movies. I love a strong bass with music so it has to have a larger subwoofer. I am unsure if i should get matching satellites or if its smarter to have a stronger speakers infront with surround speakers that are smaller. I was thinking the klipsch quintet 2 or getting two klipsch floor standing speakers and their 12 subwoofer and adding the center and surrounds later. I haven't been able to find a decent audio place around here to listen to different set ups, although i am trying a new place about 45minutes away in hopes they will have better inventory. I'm open to any suggestions, different brands; really doesn't matter to me as long as they sound well. |
Would it be a dumb idea to buy off of ebay new or used? |
Ebay is fine in my experience. But the bidding process is aggravating. You pretty much have to use a sniper unless it is something that doesn't have much interest. I bought a great pair of old Phase Tech PC series speakers for almost nothing that way.
I tend to prefer subwoofers for sound below 70 Hz or so because you can move it around to overcome room problems. And subs have gotten much less expensive. |
A room 50'x 25' with cement walls is going to present you a real challenge to fill for $1K. I don't mean to sound discouraging but that's a large room, no question. Yes, a large subwoofer is going to be needed for sure. But they alone for this size room could run close to $1K or more. My room at 13' x 23' x 8' with furniture, carpet, and drapes on a cement first floor was challenging enough. I've spent over $4K to finally get the sound and bass I want with 5.1 Surround Sound (B&W, Marantz, NAD, & Rotel, Monster cable, etc). The 5.1 fills the room vs 2 channel stereo which doesn't (at least not for me). I love hearing the music in front of and behind me. If you could close off part of the room and make a smaller listening room, carpet it, etc., it will be easier and less expensive to get the sound and bass you want. Yes, you can purchase 2 loudspeakers and a receiver for under $1K but will it be to your satisfaction for that size room? Not sure. Read Robert Harley's book, the "Complete Guide to High-End Audio" or his other book on Home Theater. All the best. |
Yes I completely agree with Regalma1 about Ebay. Unless there are lots of the same item, chances of winning the bid are slim. I've been there and unless I'm desparate, I will no longer bid on Ebay. It's not worth the aggravation. I'd rather buy the item for what it's worth. I would be skeptical buying any audio components on Ebay. The folks on Audiogon on the other hand are far more credible and trustworthy. It's their hobby. This is just my opinion. |
You are way better buying here than on fl-ebay. |
What do you guys think about these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Klipsch-Quintet-II-Black-Klipsch-KSW-10-Subwoofer-NEW_W0QQitemZ230131463825QQihZ013QQcategoryZ32861QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
They are more of a budget speakers but by klipsch, so I would figure they would sound pretty well. I would still need a receiver to power them, but then i could always slowly upgrade into a nicer system. But I'm at the moment more concerned with how these would sound. |
I've never auditioned Klipsch loudspeakers but much of what I've read and heard is that they are certainly in the "mid-fi" to "hi-end" category depending on the particular product line. I read over the specs and you have a number of things in your favor. The set is brand new with a 90 day return warranty. The feedback of this seller is highly positive with a 99.8% favorable record. You would probably not get much bass extension out of the 4 - 7" high satellites (freq response 100hz-20kHZ) and from the center channel (120hz-20kHZ) so you'll definetely need the sub-woofer. The 10" sw has a freq response of 29hz-120hz which is decent but power rating is only 55 watts. The satellites and center have a sensitivity of 90dB which is average. Again though, are these enough speakers and is the subwoofer powerful enough for your size room? Hard to say without trying them out. See if the seller would let you return them if you're not completely satisfied with the sound and that your room may be too large. I see the warranty they are promoting is focused on defects only. Well that's my input to you. Hope this is helpful to you. |
What would be a good place to just buy drivers? I would assume i could get some nice drivers and build the boxes in my free time. I am debating whether or not to do this but I do like the idea of building the boxes myself. I have read up on the "how to," and think its easily done right. Is this a bad idea or good idea, I think is what I'm really asking. Thanks PDN for pointing out the low wattage on that subwoofer, I would definately need to replace that with a bigger subwoofer.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Quintet-III-speakers-New-in-Box_W0QQitemZ140120059996QQihZ004QQcategoryZ32861QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
and
http://cgi.ebay.com/Klipsch-Synergy-Series-12-Inch-650-Watt-Subwoofer_W0QQitemZ140119021568QQihZ004QQcategoryZ3275QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Just the items themselves, I wouldn't buy from either of those sellers. But that would put me right at budget after receiver, but I can not find anywhere to hear these Quintet III because they seem to be above Best buy and Circuit City, yet below every high end place around(which really has me worried). |
Cwaigy:
Try www.partsexpress.com. You'll be able to purchase a wide variety of drivers, enclosures, and crossovers here. As far as this being a good idea or not, I would go in to this knowing it's a risk and that the speakers may not turn out to be the sound you need or want but it would be an excellent learning experience. Would this be your first time or attempt to build loudspeakers? I think it would be fun and again a great learning curve. Glad I could help out a fellow audio hobbyist. Let us know how they turn out if you do make a pair. All the best. |
Can you also point me in the direction of a good brand, the only one on there I know is amazing is JBL; sadly that would be out of my price range. I have built some dinky speakers before that I'm currently using to hold me over until I find some nice speakers. Thanks. |
Do you mean a brand of finished loudspeakers or just the drivers? |
Just the drivers. Thanks. |
need to know more about the room, listening habits, volume level, how many viewers/listeners, acoustics, etc, etc, etc. |
Sorry don't know about those. Just finished speakers. Sorry. |
Alright thanks everyone, I'm still debating what I'm going to do. I'm going to check out birch pricing and see if I can figure out a way to power these speakers if I make them since I will need a decent amount of power. Also need to research crossovers and decide if I want to try the ribbon tweeters. I somehow have a feeling I may end up with the rb-61s. |
Considering your budget, the size of your room, and your desire for strong bass out put, I think your idea of using Klipsch' is a very good one indeed. While their sound isn't my cup of tea, they can be very affordable to power. |
