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Speakers to make even Raffi sound good?

OK, so nothing out there can make Raffi sound good. (You have no clue what I’m talking abut if you aren’t a parent.) I need to do something about the system we have in our playroom. My good system (Von Schweikert/Outlaw Audio/Dac2/etc. (consistent since ’03!)) is up in the living room, but we often have music playing while my daughter plays. I can’t stand listening to it any more. That said, I’m a stay at home mom now and now exactly rolling in dough. I’ve cannibalized our two channel Dennon receiver from the bedroom (no time to hang out there any more). I also stole the CD player, just a Sony SACD changer. Actually, we’ll use her iPod quite a bit. (*gasp* never happen for my music. Compression is evil.) So, we aren’t talking the highest quality sources to begin with. That said, the Cambridge Soundworks cubes aren’t cutting it.

I’m limed by safety. This is the one totally childproofed room in the house. I can’t run long speaker wires. I need everything out of reach. So, I’m thinking bookshelf speakers. Much as I’d love to get a set of VR1s for the playroom, I can’t see spending that kind of money. The aren’t many good used deals these days.

How to make the best of this situation?
joyelyse
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,756 posts
 
I'd agree with the Polk recommendation, even the smaller Polk R15's sound amazingly good at their usual discounted price of $79 and I've seen them on sale at Fry's for $49 a pair.

A truly kid-proof option that would be a step up from the cubes would be to get a pair of Radio Shack Minimus 7's off ebay and upgrade the capacitors and crossovers with the kit sold by 'litekeys', also on ebay. The all-aluminum enclosure and grills will take a beating and they do sound pretty nice after the upgrade.
mwilson
430 posts
 
What about in-walls? That'd remove the cables from the picture as well.
joyelyse OP
42 posts
 


Look, I'm not as enamored with Cambridge Soundworks as I once was, and I know price is often not a good indicator of quality (BOSE anyone? LOL) But do you really think that $49 Polks are going to sound better than $400 Cambridge Soundworks Newton Series Bookshelves?

I'm not actually worried about the speakers holding up to kid torture. I'm just explaining why bookshelves and why I'm not spending a fortune for the quality I'd get for my own system. I literally have them on the top of a bookshelf, where my daughter and her friends can't reach them. She's around my VR2s upstairs and never messes with them, but I'm always with her there. (Though she tends to climb on the subs, which has *gasp* marred their beautiful finish. We've tried to stop this but have sort of given up. Of course, now that I'm reminded what they cost by visiting VSA's website, I think I'll try harder.)

I'm not up for putting anything in the walls, though it was a good idea. My husband isn't around much these days, and I'm not putting in anything myself. Nor am I rebuilding anything. I haven't even managed to shower yet today.

So, I guess this was really a "What bookshelf can I buy w/o spending too much that will be a significant upgrade in sound quality from my M60s?" post. I probably should have just done a search for bookshelf rather than playroom. LOL

Joy
gregm
3,396 posts
 
Let's re-phrase the question: can anyone recommend small spkrs that can be hung on the wall?
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Still think that superzeros will fill the bill. They have an integrated ball and socket wall mount. Add a small sub and you're in business if you want full range; otherwise if you are not concerned with deepest octave you've got very nice minimonitors that can be placed out of harms way at a minimal cost. If you ever go HT, you can get 5 SZ's for about $350.0.
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