Best speakers for home theater/voice clarity?


I presently have a Von Schweikert VR4/Gen II- the bass is superb, but the voice intelligebility is very poor. I even bought a pair of ribbon supertweeters from VS, to no avail. I am considering the B&W 802D, the Martinlogan SummitX, and the Magnepan 3.6 or 20.1. Also the Salk HT3 if I ever get a chance to hear them.

My room is 14x18'. For home theater, the most important feature is voice clarity, 2nd is bass depth and clarity, and 3rd is dynamics.

Any comments on the above, or other suggestions would be very much appreciated.
tvjunkie20
Yes this is normal for high end audiophile type speakers. These sell because of boom booom tizz. Nearly all manufacturers do this so I am in no way trying to single out Von Schweikhart. It is very simply the same as voicing your speakers with a bass and treble boost - it sounds impressive in a shop floor demo.

My room is 14x18'. For home theater, the most important feature is voice clarity, 2nd is bass depth and clarity, and 3rd is dynamics.

Professional models of speakers like ATC or PMC or Meyer or Westlake are what you are looking for. These are used in countless studios for mastering 5.1 audio. Pros want a flatter more realistic response so the speakers tend to be voiced for better accuracy rather than being impressive boom boom tizz sounding. Pros also seek speakers that convey proper dynamics rather than the prototypical consumer designs that compress the mid range at movie SPL levels.
totem forests or winds I have found the best voice clearity
one thing about HT there is no standard in mixings of DVD and the voice doesn't alway come out of the center channel
so I made sure that all 5 of my speakers went down to 30 hz
This is very strange. The best thing about my VR4 genII's is the midrange/highs and unbelievable wall to wall soundstage I get. The bass is almost pathetic and I have been forced to use subs to get the bass where I want it. I believe the issue may be the electronics/room/placement rather than blaming the speakers. I think you will be dissapointed if you think changing speakers will give you the magic you seek. Getting great sound is all about getting everything right, so blaming the last thing in the chain is why some endlessly change speakers hoping for the magic to materialize only to find their cash dissapear instead.
Getbettersound.com

Room and setup should be addressed first. Save your money and optimize what you have.