I'm in the market for speakers for my HT setup. I'm about 70/30 movies/music but the 30% is VERY important to me.
I have some experience with higher end speakers, and am looking for an exceptional value. While I'm willing to accept that I may not be happy at this price range, i'm not willing to settle...i'll just wait till my price range meets my expectaions :-)
I've tried SVS SCS-02(m) and while they are not bad speakers, they simply do not fit my needs. I'm currently considering HSU HB1-mk2's, Wharfedale Evo2-10's, and most recently ARX A2's. Each 'set' would be purchased with the voice matched center and later the surrounds. LFE will currently be handled by an appartment friendly KEF sub (or just re-directed to the mains to keep neighbors happy). In 13 months I will be moving into a house and at that time will be picking up a propper sub (if today that would be the Hsu VTF3.3).
I've just left* a HT setup with a Klipsch Refrence 7 channel setup and a Phasetech Power12. * I moved out of a house that I've shared with a roomate for the past 10 years to move in with my Fiance...so I'm rebuilding!
I am going to copy/paste a bit from a different forum so you may get an Idea of where i'm at/looking for.
In refrence to the SVS SCS-02 set:
In response to a question of Center Chnl Placement:
Sorry for the wall of text. But I was hoping to get some input since the experience is a little thin with ARX on the AVSforum (as with the wharfedales).
Current thoughts are:
HSU- Dynamic and detailed but may leave me wanting for a high end sub NOW, larger than normal toe-in may cause a smaller "sweet spot" in my listening area.
Wharfedale- Posibly the most musical of the offerings (thinking prior to learning of arx), should stand alone without a sub for now, ooh Kevelar drivers and pretty curves...and a good percieved value (currently 50% off entire evo2 line). May have that "sleepy" sound brittish speakers have a tendancy to lean toward.
Arx-WOW, that's a lot of tech packed into a low price. Seems like they would be just what I'm looking for in terms of musical excitement and HT dynamics. The planar-mag tweeters that I've had the oppertunity to hear in the past have NOT left me wanting for detail, however they have had a fairly unforgiving sweet spot for listening...but 'unconventional' speakers were never really thought to be in my price range.
I've read about everything I could find, and I'm overly impressed with Jon Lanes Knowledge and involvement with the community. It shows a lot of class and passioin for his products! BTJ has also been one of the posters that have really made me take notice of this line. I LOOOOOVE live music. I often thought that working the sound board in large venue's would be a dream job. I go to more concerts than my wallet likes, and spent a log time in my 20's working in local bars that had live music nightly (The Bluelight Live for anyone from Texas). The idea that someone with BTJ's background was so taken with these speakers is encouraging!
I'd love to say that I always listen to refrence music, but that's just not the case. I listen to a lot of jazz, but more often than not it's Texas Country, Metal (from maintstream to the cookie monster variety), Rap (enough to identify the songs in BTJ's vid's), and Classic Rock. Arx dont seem to shy away from any of that!
I have some experience with higher end speakers, and am looking for an exceptional value. While I'm willing to accept that I may not be happy at this price range, i'm not willing to settle...i'll just wait till my price range meets my expectaions :-)
I've tried SVS SCS-02(m) and while they are not bad speakers, they simply do not fit my needs. I'm currently considering HSU HB1-mk2's, Wharfedale Evo2-10's, and most recently ARX A2's. Each 'set' would be purchased with the voice matched center and later the surrounds. LFE will currently be handled by an appartment friendly KEF sub (or just re-directed to the mains to keep neighbors happy). In 13 months I will be moving into a house and at that time will be picking up a propper sub (if today that would be the Hsu VTF3.3).
I've just left* a HT setup with a Klipsch Refrence 7 channel setup and a Phasetech Power12. * I moved out of a house that I've shared with a roomate for the past 10 years to move in with my Fiance...so I'm rebuilding!
I am going to copy/paste a bit from a different forum so you may get an Idea of where i'm at/looking for.
In refrence to the SVS SCS-02 set:
I've had the speakers in place for about a week now and I have mixed feelings about them. Please take the following evaluation with a grain of sand, as I'm not comparing them with their price range, just using my own thoughts.
Positives:
AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE!
Understated astetics that help the speakers disappear, VERY neutral sound, good detail at higher volumes, non fatiguing, better than expected imaging and weight of sound.
Negatives:
They are not as mid-forward as I would have expected from a M-t-M speaker. The center especially keeps me thinking that I need to nudge up the center gain a bit. At low-moderate volumes they do not have the detail that I was hoping for. I often find myself wishing dialogue was a bit stronger in just about everything I watch.
Movies- These speakers do a surprisingly good job with being seamless across the front stage and don't drive you out of the room with an overly bright experience, like so many HT speakers can do trying to "sizzle".
Pardon my broad conclusion but here goes:
Musically, they sound about where I expected - HT tasked speakers that don't really keep me wanting to go through my music collection to "re-listen" to songs/albums. The best way I can describe them is by comparing them to a particular Movie Theater chain. These speakers (at volume) sound EVERY BIT as good as any of the "side" Movie Theaters in a Cinemark Movie house, but nowhere near the dynamic impact and detail of Cinemark's XD theaters. For the Price, I'd say they are amazing speakers that would satisfy 90% of the listeners out there (the same group that would rather NOT pay an additional 4 dollars for a seat in the XD theater). Personally, I think that I've been exposed to a little bit higher end, and am going to need to look elsewhere for satisfaction. Focal Utopia's in the car could be the cause.
I know it's VERY unfair to hold a budget speaker to the standard of $1200 components...but I had to give them a shot.
Now, I have 3 contenders in mind (still exploring the bang for budget sector):
STILL: Wharfedale Evo2-10's (and matching Center)
HSU HB-1 mk2 and center
NEW ADDITION:
Arx A2 x 3 or A3x2 +A2
I'll try and do a little more of an in-depth review when I get time. Great speakers, just not for me.
Positives:
AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE!
Understated astetics that help the speakers disappear, VERY neutral sound, good detail at higher volumes, non fatiguing, better than expected imaging and weight of sound.
Negatives:
They are not as mid-forward as I would have expected from a M-t-M speaker. The center especially keeps me thinking that I need to nudge up the center gain a bit. At low-moderate volumes they do not have the detail that I was hoping for. I often find myself wishing dialogue was a bit stronger in just about everything I watch.
Movies- These speakers do a surprisingly good job with being seamless across the front stage and don't drive you out of the room with an overly bright experience, like so many HT speakers can do trying to "sizzle".
Pardon my broad conclusion but here goes:
Musically, they sound about where I expected - HT tasked speakers that don't really keep me wanting to go through my music collection to "re-listen" to songs/albums. The best way I can describe them is by comparing them to a particular Movie Theater chain. These speakers (at volume) sound EVERY BIT as good as any of the "side" Movie Theaters in a Cinemark Movie house, but nowhere near the dynamic impact and detail of Cinemark's XD theaters. For the Price, I'd say they are amazing speakers that would satisfy 90% of the listeners out there (the same group that would rather NOT pay an additional 4 dollars for a seat in the XD theater). Personally, I think that I've been exposed to a little bit higher end, and am going to need to look elsewhere for satisfaction. Focal Utopia's in the car could be the cause.
I know it's VERY unfair to hold a budget speaker to the standard of $1200 components...but I had to give them a shot.
Now, I have 3 contenders in mind (still exploring the bang for budget sector):
STILL: Wharfedale Evo2-10's (and matching Center)
HSU HB-1 mk2 and center
NEW ADDITION:
Arx A2 x 3 or A3x2 +A2
I'll try and do a little more of an in-depth review when I get time. Great speakers, just not for me.
My center channel is not ideal, but is not at all terrible. I have a Mists 73838 and matching stand. The center shelf is set to it's lowest setting to accommodate the Center Channel and Receiver Height. On this shelf the CC Tweeter level is about 24" below ear level but I have played with the tilt angle extensively. The Yamaha RX-A2000 uses YAMMO or w/e it's called. But does an 8position calibration with a pretty slick parametric eq. I either set the eq to "through" meaning it does 0 work, or on "Front" so that it only timbre matches the front 3 speakers. (Flat timbre matches the whole system).
I spent some time late last night, and early this morning just listening to music. These speakers are impressive, and once you take into consideration the cost they are AMAZING. They give a broad soundstage and image extremely well.
What they don’t do is make me forget that I have other places to listen to music :-) The "tonal quality" of my mobile Audio setup is pretty hard to beat, but I never got around to making it image the way it should (by building custom kickpanels/pods for the mids and time aligning the tweets). At work I have a set of Audio engine A2's that (near field) produce a 3d image and expansive soundstage that is a lot of fun to listen to. STRONG mids, very detailed highs, and good midbass (sometimes a little too hot).
For music, I'd like something in-between. Something with an exciting Mid/detailed high, convincing soundstage and great dynamics. For movies I love quick, dynamic sound with startling vocal clarity.
Last night I watched "Morning Glory" on Blue Ray(I did mention I live with my Fiancé, right). Although I would hardly consider it reference material, it does have a lot of good dialogue with a good musical score. There were times that the music and ambiant noise just overtook the dialogue. I DID end up bumping the Center Gain abit and it helped tremendously....until an effect panned across the screen and it was comically unbalanced. Kind of an "exit door effect" in a movie theater.
Anway, I'm a little bummed that these didn't do the trick, but I'm back in a familiar place...trying to imagine what I'd like!
I did an in-home audition of Nautilus 804's about 10 years ago and loved them. I almost liked the 805's better in a HT setup. I know I’ve got high expectations and am looking at entry level pricing, I’m holding out hope that there is a gem out there...kinda like a Corvette C6 being hailed as a super car for 1/3 the price!
I spent some time late last night, and early this morning just listening to music. These speakers are impressive, and once you take into consideration the cost they are AMAZING. They give a broad soundstage and image extremely well.
What they don’t do is make me forget that I have other places to listen to music :-) The "tonal quality" of my mobile Audio setup is pretty hard to beat, but I never got around to making it image the way it should (by building custom kickpanels/pods for the mids and time aligning the tweets). At work I have a set of Audio engine A2's that (near field) produce a 3d image and expansive soundstage that is a lot of fun to listen to. STRONG mids, very detailed highs, and good midbass (sometimes a little too hot).
For music, I'd like something in-between. Something with an exciting Mid/detailed high, convincing soundstage and great dynamics. For movies I love quick, dynamic sound with startling vocal clarity.
Last night I watched "Morning Glory" on Blue Ray(I did mention I live with my Fiancé, right). Although I would hardly consider it reference material, it does have a lot of good dialogue with a good musical score. There were times that the music and ambiant noise just overtook the dialogue. I DID end up bumping the Center Gain abit and it helped tremendously....until an effect panned across the screen and it was comically unbalanced. Kind of an "exit door effect" in a movie theater.
Anway, I'm a little bummed that these didn't do the trick, but I'm back in a familiar place...trying to imagine what I'd like!
I did an in-home audition of Nautilus 804's about 10 years ago and loved them. I almost liked the 805's better in a HT setup. I know I’ve got high expectations and am looking at entry level pricing, I’m holding out hope that there is a gem out there...kinda like a Corvette C6 being hailed as a super car for 1/3 the price!
Sorry for the wall of text. But I was hoping to get some input since the experience is a little thin with ARX on the AVSforum (as with the wharfedales).
Current thoughts are:
HSU- Dynamic and detailed but may leave me wanting for a high end sub NOW, larger than normal toe-in may cause a smaller "sweet spot" in my listening area.
Wharfedale- Posibly the most musical of the offerings (thinking prior to learning of arx), should stand alone without a sub for now, ooh Kevelar drivers and pretty curves...and a good percieved value (currently 50% off entire evo2 line). May have that "sleepy" sound brittish speakers have a tendancy to lean toward.
Arx-WOW, that's a lot of tech packed into a low price. Seems like they would be just what I'm looking for in terms of musical excitement and HT dynamics. The planar-mag tweeters that I've had the oppertunity to hear in the past have NOT left me wanting for detail, however they have had a fairly unforgiving sweet spot for listening...but 'unconventional' speakers were never really thought to be in my price range.
I've read about everything I could find, and I'm overly impressed with Jon Lanes Knowledge and involvement with the community. It shows a lot of class and passioin for his products! BTJ has also been one of the posters that have really made me take notice of this line. I LOOOOOVE live music. I often thought that working the sound board in large venue's would be a dream job. I go to more concerts than my wallet likes, and spent a log time in my 20's working in local bars that had live music nightly (The Bluelight Live for anyone from Texas). The idea that someone with BTJ's background was so taken with these speakers is encouraging!
I'd love to say that I always listen to refrence music, but that's just not the case. I listen to a lot of jazz, but more often than not it's Texas Country, Metal (from maintstream to the cookie monster variety), Rap (enough to identify the songs in BTJ's vid's), and Classic Rock. Arx dont seem to shy away from any of that!
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