Easy answer, as I had very similar requirements. I found the Paradigm Atom bookshelf speakers to fit the bill. The white ones are especially attractive and they also make a matching center channel. When I first got them, my main speakers were in transit back to the factory for some overdue upgrades. During the 8 weeks for updates and shipping both ways across the country, I used the Atoms as my main speakers. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they are! In fact I liked them so much, I ended up buying two more pairs for side and rear channels! Truly a fantastic bargain in the high end world of expensive speakers. I listened to some very expensive top end speakers and frankly, these Atoms give them a damn good run for their money. In some ways, they actually bested the big boys. I do believe the Atom is a giant slayer in the world of speakers. I noted they are on sale at most places right now, too; so it is a good time to pick up a pair. And, when my main speakers came back, the Atoms went moved to the home theater, which is why I bought them.
Advice for bookshelf speakers
It is time for me to consider getting some new speakers and I'd like some advice. This is a secondary system where I watch movies the majority of the time but I still like the speakers to sound good on those occasions when I listen to music. I need to replace my left, center and right. The speakers I am replacing are KEF XQ1s and an XQ2C. I can live with just a left and right if the manufacturer does not make a center channel. These will be driven by an AVR, not separates and will have a sub to pick up the lower frequencies. I have some WAF dimensions that need to be adhered to: 9"-10" from the back wall, no taller than 17" and the left and right tweeters will be 55" apart. I would prefer there not to be a precise sweet spot since we sit in various areas on the oversize couch facing the speakers. I'm not really too hung up on budget. Somewhere between $2-4K total would be where I would like to be.
Given the above, I was thinking about sealed or front vented. I don't think rear vented would be good for this situation but I could be wrong. I have only done internet viewing and no listening. I have looked at Salk's website and have also thought about ATC and ProAc. I've also looked at Ascend (too narrow of a sweet spot?), Fritz (rear vent), Watkins Generation 4 (are these vented?) and others and just wanted to bounce it off this group. Thanks in advance.
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The Usher Mini-X Diamond is definitely worth a hard look. The looks give them high WAF, they’re front ported, and they use the top diamond tweeter from their $28,000 flagship TD20 speakers, which is quite amazing given the sub $4k price of the Mini-X DMD. They’re also not hard to drive so should work fine with your AVR, and Usher speakers sound incredible. I’d stay away from ATC for this reason as they really need some power to get the best out of them. Hope this helps, and best of luck. |
- 41 posts total