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[benn600]

I know someone who swears by Klipsch and I'm curious to what you all think.  I was (for fun) looking at the Paradigm top of the line.  A complete speaker system from them can run $18,000!  Klipsch uses horns which are one of the most efficient sound producers and they tend to sound very good at high levels, which is very important in my case.

[boydn]

I'm a HUGE Paradigm fan but, I also like my brothers Klipsch.  Everyone has different taste in speakers so, I say listen to as many as possible then make your decsion.

[ThoBar]

Everyone has different taste in speakers so, I say listen to as many as possible then make your decsion.

*nods*  Wise words. Choose according to your taste, requirements, and of course budget.

Be sure of your requirements. If high volume is one of your primary concerns, be sure to place that above 'quality' or even personal taste (to a degree). It's no good to have a speaker that sounds great, but then gets blown because its been pushed too hard. (been there, done that... ahh the expenses of youth...)

[benn600]

That's what I have a hard time figuring out.  You can buy a $15,000 set of speakers and then find out that it is not able to handle a moderate load!  Why isn't there a standard for quantifying how loud speakers can go?  Watt ratings seem worthless.

[Listener]

You are right.  A spec that

I'd suggest that you read the measurement section of some speaker reviews on the Stereophile web site.

Some specs that matter:

sensitivity: in dB for a standard input level.  Lower sensitivity means more power will be required to get the same volume level in the room

frequency response on axis: both on-axis and averaged room response

frequency response graphed as a function of angle off axis.

sound radiated from the enclosure as a function of frequency

sound decay as a function of frequency: do sound stop promptly or ring

impedence curve:  How does the speaker's impedence (resistence, capacitance and inductance combined) vary with frequency?  Speakers with a complex impedence curve are harder for an amplifier to drive well.

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About Klipsch and horns in general: A horn speaker and especially a corner horn can be very efficient (i.e. has high sensitivity and plays loudly for a small input signal).  That doesn't mean that it sounds better than a speaker with lower sensitivity.  Watts are cheap now.

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I'd suggest that you read more and learn more before spending much money on speakers. Product brochures aren't much use.

Bill

[Peter_T]

I absolutely love my paradigm Reference 9s... Like others have said here, you have you sit down and listen to a set of speakers before figuring out what you like.  I found Klipsch and KEF speakers to be very strong on the high end (a little too much for my taste) while lacking a little on the lows.  Contrasted with some similar priced and sized paradigms, they sounded awful to my ears.  (again - everyone's different... it's a bit of a "what's your favorite colour" question)

The paradigm sound is full and rich, the larger models (I think Reference 7 and up?) have integrated subs, really filling out the bottom end.  Great for anything rock, pop, loud.  Also great for bassy jazz like a Mingus album or Bitche's Brew.  Fantastic.

[gappie]

i think 500$ speakers in a good acoustical surrounding are much more worth the 15000$ speakers in a dead room.

[jgreen]

benn, whatever you do, don't choose your speakers purely on the basis of how they sound--you could end up with a GROSSLY inferior set of speakers!  Price also has to factor into it. Obviously, more expensive speakers sound better, so I wouldn't waste my time standing around in front of a prospective set of speakers, you know, hearing them. 

My advice, read all the audiophile reviews you can get your hands on.  The impartiality of these reviewers has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt--you can rely on their opinions!  I think if anything, you need to read up on jargon.  AFAICT, effective jargoneering is what makes a particularly expensive set of speakers stand out from the crowd.  After all, nobody's going to listen to these things, they just get put in a dark room and talked about. 

Do you know how many starving people $18,000 can feed, and for how long?  I say, send them your old speakers!  They're made of wood, right?  Highly nutritious. . . . 

[Listener]

benn, whatever you do, don't choose your speakers purely on the basis of how they sound--you could end up with a GROSSLY inferior set of speakers!  Price also has to factor into it. Obviously, more expensive speakers sound better, so I wouldn't waste my time standing around in front of a prospective set of speakers, you know, hearing them. 

My advice, read all the audiophile reviews you can get your hands on.  The impartiality of these reviewers has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt--you can rely on their opinions!  I think if anything, you need to read up on jargon.  AFAICT, effective jargoneering is what makes a particularly expensive set of speakers stand out from the crowd.  After all, nobody's going to listen to these things, they just get put in a dark room and talked about. 

Do you know how many starving people $18,000 can feed, and for how long?  I say, send them your old speakers!  They're made of wood, right?  Highly nutritious. . . . 

Benn, I read enough of your posts to know that you are always changing things.  jgreen has just the advice for you.  Anything you learn will just dull the pleasure of replacing equipment every few months when you read some raves for a different product by random users on the web.  It just isn't much fun to do your homework so that you can make a good decision the first time and be happy with it for a few years.

Benn, I didn't suggest that you avoid listening to speakers before buying something.  It has been getting harder and harder to audition all the alternatives before you buy.  Some of the best alternatives are not sold in stores now.

One practical suggestion: get a Radio Shack sound level meter and take it with you to each store.  Adjust the volume level to be the same for each listening session.  And remember that the room acoustics and speaker (and listener placement) will be different in each store and will affect the sound.

Someone mentioned Paradigm.  Another reliable Canadian manufacturer is PSB.

Bill
 

[benn600]

I have the $50 Radioshack sound level meter.  I wanted it for several years but couldn't ever find it because I kept searching for dB meter, which did not return anything.

I use it from time to time and just to make sure I'm not overdoing loud music.

I think $5,000 would be a decent approximate budget goal for speakers.

As far as upgrading a lot...I don't feel like I do.  It's more about how I am always talking about it.  If I never discussed these things, then ya know.  And I'm sure you all have a much nicer automobile.  And no debt has its benefits, too.

[boydn]

I forgot in my last post, I've been reading a LOT about SVS's new line.  You might check Sound & Vision magazines forum @ http://forums.soundandvisionmag.com/ . Rave reviews on the SVS.
http://www.svsound.com/products-spks.cfm

[Listener]

I have the $50 Radioshack sound level meter.  I wanted it for several years but couldn't ever find it because I kept searching for dB meter, which did not return anything.

I use it from time to time and just to make sure I'm not overdoing loud music.

I think $5,000 would be a decent approximate budget goal for speakers.

As far as upgrading a lot...I don't feel like I do.  It's more about how I am always talking about it.  If I never discussed these things, then ya know.  And I'm sure you all have a much nicer automobile.  And no debt has its benefits, too.

Benn, I didn't intend to say anything negative about your upgrade habits. I said that you change things a lot.  I've followed your posts for some time and find your energy level to be remarkable.  I didn't know anything about your track record on upgrading components.  My remarks were really aimed at meeting jgreen's sarcasm with a bit of my own.

> Why isn't there a standard for quantifying how loud speakers can go?  Watt ratings seem worthless.

Your earlier post prompted me to offer some suggestions for measurements that are meaningful. 

Here is Stereophile's measurements for a current paradigm speaker:

   http://www.stereophile.com/budgetcomponents/907para/index4.html


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There aren't as many high-end audio stores in my area as there used to be.  The ones that remain usually let you take a demo unit home to try it out.  Doing that for speakers at different price levels might give you a sense of what you get at those price levels.

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I found that my Radio Shack meter was quite useful in evaluating speaker response at my listening position as a function of speaker placement and placement of my listening chair.

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My wife and I do like cars that handle well.  Power is good too.  We try not to spend too much buying them and we keep them for 100+ K miles.  I'm sure that many people have spent more on one SUV than we spent to buy our two current cars.

Bill

 

[jmone]

I vote for www.axiomaudio.com and for under your $5K budget you could get the following setup 7.2 Epic 60 http://www.axiomaudio.com/epic60_500main.html# which would work with your Yami Receiver.

They also have a great forum driven by experienced & not toooo biased users (a bit like here!)

Thanks
Nathan