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Ok

I'm seriously thinking of updating my speaker system very shortly. My current Pure Accoustics were always intended as a temporary solution. I am starting to notice quality differences now between these and other brands I have heard in stores, friends place etc.

My current equipment is in my sig. I am looking to get the whole 5 speaker system. I will be mainly using them 90% HT & HDTV, 10% music

I have narrowed down my shortlist to to these based on reading forums, reviews and listening to some of them. I will admit I haven't heard all of these in 5.1 set up, but this is the next step - and yes I will go into stores to audition them all, I just wanted everyone's opinions here. I will only list the main speakers - feel free to recommend the rest of the speakers, I know most of them.

Athena F2.2's

Krix Lyrix Gold

Aaron Ats 4's

Richter ??

Energy?

I want to spend a max of $2,000 and I know most of these will fall into that category for all 5 speakers, I am tempted by the Athena's as I have a price of $1760 for the whole setup and I loved what I heard of these.

Hoping that I will also have some cash left over for a new Denon DVD player probably the 1920.

If you guys want to get some comments and suggestions, but please try to stay within these brands unless you think i'm really missing something

Cheers

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Hey Thundabot,

What about the Krix KDX package all 5 perfectly matched to one another, I have heard these before at Carlton Audio Visual, and the sound stage with this set up is seamless, can be had with some bargaining around the $2000 - 2500 range. The Lyrix are a great speaker, but if you intend on using your system for 90% HT & HDTV then the KDX package would be a great match for this.

Jas

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i have to agree with rxv3000. for ht the big floorstanders aren't necessary (assuming you have one sub or more). the kdx package will do a great job. i have them as rears and centre but not mains however i do listen to alot of music. if i only listened to ht, i would consider the neuphonix as a waste of money. i had the kdx-m's at the front for a while whilst i waited for my mains and was extemely impressed with them and how they handled ht.

another advantage of going for bookshelves is the reduction in amplification that is required. if you are going for big speakers, be prepared to spend the money on amps, otherwise its like putting a wrx motor in a ferrari.

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thanks for the feedback guys i have heard many great things about the krix

any ideas on the athenas? i still think they were very nice sounding, i also don't know about the 'bookshelf' look.

i'm also now thinking of maybe putting a dedicated cd player in the room for music too.......

i have to keep remembering to draw a line somewhere

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thudabot,

If you liked the look of the Pure Acoustics, but just now start to find the drivers a bit limiting, have you considered just upgrading the existing cabinets with better drivers & crossovers? I purchased a Dayton 12" subwoofer from Parts express recently. When it arrived it came with this very addictive catalogue. It really got me to thinking how much better I could possibly make my old Eclipse speakers sound if I gave them some better cones. I haven't done it yet (need to wait some after last spend because of WAF) but I'd love to grab just a couple to do one side of the mains as an experiment and ran a direct comparison. I roughly worked out it would only cost approx $100 to find out. A bit left field perhaps, but food for thought ..?

Cheers

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mark1510 - thanx for the idea definatively food for thought, i have DIY'd a few things in the room but i think i want to go for something that's a proved quality product in the speaker department now, since i actually want this to be an 'upgrade'

i won't discount the aarons my friend has a set and they are very nice sounding speakers to my ear, i also don't think that spending 2 or 3 times the money will actually lead to an improvement that's 2 or 3 times in relative terms, i have heard $6,000 speaker and they are very nice but I wouldn't say they are 3 times beter than $2000 speakers.....

anyway

i think i'm going to narrow it down to the aarons, athenas and krix.

nobby - i always would have thought the b&w's would be in the higher price bracket, i haven't really researched them but i have seen and heard a few in stores while other people were demoing them

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You really need to go and listen to a bunch of speakers (at a single shop) and compare and find what you liked. Personally I didn't think very much of the Aarons at all (worst speakers I listened to in that price range). Of course this is my opinion and people will differ, and you might like them. Thats the point. Go and compare the Aaron's, B&W's, Monitor Audio and whatever else takes your fancy. Dont miss listening to the B&W's or the Monitor Audio speakers.... I thought they were very good (but you may not).

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Hey guys if you are seriously considering replacing drivers to acheive a better sound ,, get ready for a huge wake up call.. i have been building speakers for a while now and it truly is alot of hard work and experimenting to get a sound that would cut it , even with $$$$ worth of computer programs it is a make and test and change xover then test then change xover then test then alter xover ETC ETC

i am not trying to dissuade you guys, just warn of the risks involved (spend lots not good result) .

But hey most of you guys are far smarter than me so in a way i hope you try so you can help with my stuff ups..ha ha

Agree with sonique or Legend NICE, and from all reports athena have a good reputation.

goodluck and enjoy

and remember if you replace drivers you will have to redesign xover and dont skimp on tweeter quality

any how thats my 2 cents worth

cheers

Edited by hownowbrowncow
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Hey guys if you are seriously considering replacing drivers to acheive a better sound ,, get ready for a huge wake up call.. i have been building speakers for a while now and it truly is alot of hard work and experimenting to get a sound that would cut it , even with $$$$ worth of computer programs it is a make and test and change xover then test then change xover then test then alter xover ETC ETC

i am not trying to dissuade you guys, just warn of the risks involved (spend lots not good result) .

But hey most of you guys are far smarter than me so in a way i hope you try so you can help with my stuff ups..ha ha

Agree with sonique or Legend NICE, and from all reports athena have a good reputation.

goodluck and enjoy

and remember if you replace drivers you will have to redesign xover and dont skimp on tweeter quality

any how thats my 2 cents worth

cheers

Sage advice there browncow, not sure if people understand that it's not just a matter of replacing drivers and xover adjustment is a real ART. I built speakers for a bit and realised I'll have to be doing it for 20 years before getting any good so I went back to proven kit designs! (getting the new room ready for my Linkwitz Orions has been heaps of fun).

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Do yourself a favour and have a serious look at the new Accusound Range.

Their new "Signature Series" is exceptional value for money. I have been in the Proffesional Music Industry (Engineer) for 20yrs, the performance of this new model was somewhat surprising for the dollars (Ar0und $2000).

I looked at many other brands, including most of the ones you have mentioned. The Accusound 8.3's were just as good, and I was particularly pleased that I was supporting an Austrralian Company.

Finally, someone has produced a system with decent rear speakers (6" Woofers).

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Browncow and Nobby,

(I know I'll get flamed for this.. but here goes anyway). I gotta disagree with you. Unless you’re spending (say) over $6K on speakers, there is no ART and even very little science in speaker production. And at the $2K - $3K price point that represents a good portion of the HT market, it is really a "wham bam, thank you maam" product. Manufacturers control costs wherever they can to be competitive, and one obvious area are the drivers, so I still find it hard to believe that you wouldn't get a HUGE increase in quality by simply upgrading them. Sure you also need to upgrade the Xover and then possibly play a bit with the equalizer on your amp, but that’s half the fun.

If it wasn't true, the car audio market would be in shambles, as their whole marketing concept is "upgrade those cheap factory speakers". Isn't this the same principle?

.... now go easy guys in your reply :blink:

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We're talking about xover tuning with speaker drivers, all of which have completely different characteristics that amongs other things require different xover points. A $2k or $3k pair of speakers is created by engineers and goes through the same process. And even if their process is not done well (shouldn't have bought them) just bunging another driver in the cabinet has a much greater chance of the speaker sounding WORSE than better.

You're talking about something else thats probably better of on the Xfiles.

Maybe if Rick_s sees this he can chime in, he's a speaker builder.

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maybe buy somthing secondhand ( usually save 50 % or so ) else diy if you can.......l made mt first ht speakers from a kit from ME SOUNDS a couple of years ago and it sounded really good...quality crossovers and l made extra hd boxes..plus a great custom 15' sub ( sourced elsewhere ) .all up around $3600........would kick most $10k systems pretty easily..just my 2cents.......cheers ken

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I prefer the Legend and Sonique brands over Krix.

Also Focal and B&W and Elac for International brands.

Audition as many different types as you can.

I agree I preferred the Soniques (I think it was the SAV range and 5.5 somethings?) that I heard over the Krix (Neuphonix, Lyrix Gold, KDX). But again it's all personal preference (And different amps were used in different setups).

I also really like the Focal JM Lab stuff, just wish I had the money to buy their higher end stuff!

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sorry swapping drivers in speakers as being suggested is nuts. if the soudn of the speakers is not upto scratch you shouldn't have bought them to start with. or if you not happy iwth the sound of what you got pass them on and get somethign else. totally dissagre that no skill & design is required matching drivers to cabinets and xovers.

theres plenty of great speakers out there for buying. if you want ot go diy as nobby suggested plenty of established designs out there. ofcourse use exactly the same process choosing between these than with any other.

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I would certainly not go down the upgrade the driver path, a good quality speaker is matched to sound a certain way by design. Drivers with different material and characteristics could make the original speakers sound awful especially if there is a cross over mis match, potentially you could alter its impedance, sensitivity and frequency repsonse if you get it wrong.

I learnt this the hard way getting my drivers repaired in a set of Krix Esoterix II's, they came back with Kevlar cones in the original baskets and they sounded terrible, I had Krix source me some original doped paper units when I had enough of listening to them, a completely different speaker when I fitted the proper drivers, they found their Bass and presence again and I am once again happy with my 12 year old speakers.

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if the soudn of the speakers is not upto scratch you shouldn't have bought them to start with.

Really ??!

Rewind... thudabot started the thread by asking (what I still think is) a fairly common type question.

Ready to upgrade... wanting a better sound.... and btw, what can you do with the old jobbies?

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Really ??!

Rewind... thudabot started the thread by asking (what I still think is) a fairly common type question.

Ready to upgrade... wanting a better sound.... and btw, what can you do with the old jobbies?

I think he meant upgrading his speakers as in getting better ones.

what can you do with the old jobbies ?

flog em off, use them else where, give em away, donate them to charity, leave them out on the nature strip...plenty of options.

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