Bang for the buck home bookshelf speakers

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Hillbilly SQ

BURNED OUT
Cliffnotes-Hillbilly is taking his audio snobbery into the house and needs some badass tonally pleasing bookshelf speakers that don't cost an arm and first born. For those who aren't skimmers keep reading:poke:

Alright folks, I'm getting a seemingly well taken care of Denon 7.1 receiver that's about 9 years old from someone I trust for a deal I can't pass up. He just wanted more modern bells and whistles and it will be a HUGE step up from my current Onkyo 5.1 that cost me $200 back in 08-09 and this Denon I'm getting cost around a $1000 new I think. Has auto eq and a 9 band eq with time alignment. And 120rms per channel at 8 ohms and 160 per channel at 6 ohms. He can peek in and say what the exact model number is. Should be a great unit to build a good 2.1 system around and even go the surround sound thing in the future if desired. Even has preouts I think to add a separate amp for speakers...he mentioned that anyway.

Anyway, right now I have my old 2001 model Cerwin Vega LS12 3-way speakers in use and they aren't bad for pissing off the neighbors and general TV watching but I'm not into pissing off the neighbors anymore and I'm wanting to build a more refined sounding setup. My plan is to use these big 2.75 cube monkey coffins as stands for the bookshelfs and keep them hooked up for nostalgia and if I ever decide to get stupid like I did 15-20 years ago when the neighbors were threatening bodily harm on me for loud music (yes that really happened a couple times!)Luckily I only have one house now that isn't separated by a big field and they don't seem to be easily bothered by people living life around them:)

Here's what is really catching my eye so far. Arkansas is Klipsch country since they're based in Hope, Arkansas. I hear the new ones have addressed the horny sound the old ones had and sound pretty buttoned up. Still has that toed up treble that they're known for. The Elac speakers I'm looking at cost less than half of what the Klipsch I'm looking at cost but have been said to be a more "safe" option. More neutral sounding but not as refined as the Klipsch I'm also linking below. Dude that goes by "Zero Fidelity" on YouTube seems to give really good unbiased reviews and is tight with Steve Guttenberg. I'm fully aware that there will be a lot of great options that I'll have to take a leap of faith on just like with car audio gear. I can audition the Klipsch speakers no problem local but just about everything else worth mentioning would require traveling and quite honestly they're gonna sound different once I get them home anyway. Here's the speakers I'm looking at. Anything else y'all can suggest worth researching I'm all ears. Only reason I'm looking into Klipsch is because of the rave reviews they're getting from "audiophiles" and I'll have actual EQ capability for them. The Elac's seem like they'd fit my tastes better in raw form pre-eq. I'll probably pair whatever I get with a powered subwoofer whether I diy that or get something that looks good right out of the box. Getting where I'd rather pay a little more and just get something already like it needs to be vs messing with diy:(

https://www.klipsch.com/products/rp-600m-bookshelf-speaker
https://www.elac.com/product/b6-2/?r=us
 
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In all honesty I wouldn’t spend too much on a setup that you’re going to power with an AV receiver. I have a pair of Speaker Art Super Clef’s that were originally powered by the front l/r of my B&K AVR507 (150x2). When I finished gathering my 2ch equipment, Mitsubishi DA series, I used the Clefs in that setup. They were night & day better in the 2ch setup. The B&K is considered to have the best amplifier section of any AV receiver so it’s no slouch. It’s my theory that all av receivers employ processing directed towards HT even when in a 2ch mode as a friends loaner Denon produced the same results.

Maybe just find a decent, affordable, set that’s geared towards HT & not worry about the 2ch sound quality?
 
My budget is flexible but when I do this I won't be throwing money out willy nilly. To me $500 should be more than doable for a GOOD pair of 6.5" bookshelf speakers. I'm viewing this the same way I view car audio gear where the law of diminishing returns starts to kick in hard above a certain price point. Beyond a certain point you get into fractions of a percent improvement that may or may not be important for the price paid. For me to really pay up I would have to be blown away after hearing them at a dealer. If I can't hear something beforehand I don't want to really sink too much into them. Just doing research and searching for unbiased reviews. My tonal preference is fairly flat sounding because that's how I tune my truck.
 
rmenergy said:
In all honesty I wouldn’t spend too much on a setup that you’re going to power with an AV receiver. I have a pair of Speaker Art Super Clef’s that were originally powered by the front l/r of my B&K AVR507 (150x2). When I finished gathering my 2ch equipment, Mitsubishi DA series, I used the Clefs in that setup. They were night & day better in the 2ch setup. The B&K is considered to have the best amplifier section of any AV receiver so it’s no slouch. It’s my theory that all av receivers employ processing directed towards HT even when in a 2ch mode as a friends loaner Denon produced the same results.

Maybe just find a decent, affordable, set that’s geared towards HT & not worry about the 2ch sound quality?
Click to expand...

You are 100% correct. This is why I feel like $500 is a good cap for a good pair. It's what I would be comfortable spending if I had to. And MOST of their play time will be tv watching.
 
Somewhat random thought...I don't want to be like my rich doctor uncle who powers high end speakers like Klipsch LaScala with a plain receiver. Those pieces of audio furniture deserved better!
 
Hillbilly SQ said:
You are 100% correct. This is why I feel like $500 is a good cap for a good pair. It's what I would be comfortable spending if I had to. And MOST of their play time will be tv watching.
Click to expand...


I had this same thread on AVS forum and I got some great recommendations... Let me see if I can dig it up...
 
When I was setting up my 2ch gear, I replaced the Super Clef’s with a pair of Marantz Imperial 6G’s. I replaced the caps & tweeters & made a new grill for them so they looked good. I actually really liked them whether they were playing music, movies or my sons games. You can find them really cheap these days as well. I know you said no DIY but a really nice set that’s been gone through will likely run you $100-150. They are a bit large for bookshelves though. I have a poor picture of that setup from about 10yrs ago & before I made the grills. I’ll try to find & post so you can see that they are “larger” bookshelves.
 
Size isn't really a factor as long as they aren't tall floor standing speakers since I'll be using floor standing speakers for the "stands" and as nostalgia pieces to relive my youth from time to time. And I feel you get more for your money when you're not paying for a tall cabinet that may or may not be fully utilized by the woofer.
 
The receiver is a Denon 990. As we talked if you find the Denon not satisfactory enough for front speakers you could run it for your surrounds, dsp, and audio decoder (it supports up to TrueHD and DTS-MA) then use the front L R preout to a 2 channel amp.
 
Hillbilly SQ said:
Cliffnotes-Hillbilly is taking his audio snobbery into the house and needs some badass tonally pleasing bookshelf speakers that don't cost an arm and first born. For those who aren't skimmers keep reading:poke:

Alright folks, I'm getting a seemingly well taken care of Denon 7.1 receiver that's about 9 years old from someone I trust for a deal I can't pass up. He just wanted more modern bells and whistles and it will be a HUGE step up from my current Onkyo 5.1 that cost me $200 back in 08-09 and this Denon I'm getting cost around a $1000 new I think. Has auto eq and a 9 band eq with time alignment. And 120rms per channel at 8 ohms and 160 per channel at 6 ohms. He can peek in and say what the exact model number is. Should be a great unit to build a good 2.1 system around and even go the surround sound thing in the future if desired. Even has preouts I think to add a separate amp for speakers...he mentioned that anyway.

Anyway, right now I have my old 2001 model Cerwin Vega LS12 3-way speakers in use and they aren't bad for pissing off the neighbors and general TV watching but I'm not into pissing off the neighbors anymore and I'm wanting to build a more refined sounding setup. My plan is to use these big 2.75 cube monkey coffins as stands for the bookshelfs and keep them hooked up for nostalgia and if I ever decide to get stupid like I did 15-20 years ago when the neighbors were threatening bodily harm on me for loud music (yes that really happened a couple times!)Luckily I only have one house now that isn't separated by a big field and they don't seem to be easily bothered by people living life around them:)

Here's what is really catching my eye so far. Arkansas is Klipsch country since they're based in Hope, Arkansas. I hear the new ones have addressed the horny sound the old ones had and sound pretty buttoned up. Still has that toed up treble that they're known for. The Elac speakers I'm looking at cost less than half of what the Klipsch I'm looking at cost but have been said to be a more "safe" option. More neutral sounding but not as refined as the Klipsch I'm also linking below. Dude that goes by "Zero Fidelity" on YouTube seems to give really good unbiased reviews and is tight with Steve Guttenberg. I'm fully aware that there will be a lot of great options that I'll have to take a leap of faith on just like with car audio gear. I can audition the Klipsch speakers no problem local but just about everything else worth mentioning would require traveling and quite honestly they're gonna sound different once I get them home anyway. Here's the speakers I'm looking at. Anything else y'all can suggest worth researching I'm all ears. Only reason I'm looking into Klipsch is because of the rave reviews they're getting from "audiophiles" and I'll have actual EQ capability for them. The Elac's seem like they'd fit my tastes better in raw form pre-eq. I'll probably pair whatever I get with a powered subwoofer whether I diy that or get something that looks good right out of the box. Getting where I'd rather pay a little more and just get something already like it needs to be vs messing with diy:(

https://www.klipsch.com/products/rp-600m-bookshelf-speaker
https://www.elac.com/product/b6-2/?r=us
Click to expand...
I've got a pair of these that are surprising on the low end and amazingly realistic.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/polk-a...r-black-washed-walnut/5507264.p?skuId=5507264
 
Right now it's looking like the Wharfdale's linked above and the Elac's I linked are the two front runners. Also wanting to stick with a 6.5" woofer for better room filling capability. I really want to give the Klipsch rp600m a try but the price just isn't justifiable at this point.
 
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