Good Tower Speakers for Under $1000

Canyoneagle · « **Reply #20 on:** 9 Jun 2008, 06:24 pm »

Quote from: mcullinan on 9 Jun 2008, 06:17 pm

Boead,
Youve opened the can of worms again! Be prepared to make a significant investment before we are done with you. Hehe.
Now youve done it.
Mike

You've GOTTA LOVE this hobby!

doug s. · « **Reply #21 on:** 9 Jun 2008, 08:12 pm »

you won't find a better true full-range (ie: -2db @ 20hz) speaker for overall performance than the thiel 3.5's. these have fantastic soundstaging, & very good detail & tonal qualities. but, they do need decent power to come alive. however, $1k is expensive for the 3.5's; you should certainly be able to find a used pair for a bit less, & save for a decent amp. even an adcom gfa555 will work well w/the thiels; & these amps (and similar quality from b&k, nad, ps audio, etc), can be found for $400 or less. the 3.5's also appreciate being pulled away from back & side walls to sound their best, but thsi is common to many speakers...

doug s.

boead · « **Reply #22 on:** 9 Jun 2008, 09:00 pm »

Klipsch Heresey III 3 way speaker
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrfull&1217914018

Klipsch RF-7 Cherry
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1217771727

Klipsch Chorus (101db)
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1217427977

You can drive these with a low powered amp which opens the doors to lots of awesome sounding audio that’s affordable for most.

Similar speakers in sound to the Thiels are the Alons (now called Nola), semi-open baffle design, amazing soundstage, alluring vocals.

All these speakers are going to ruthless reveal your source and anything upstream. Be prepared for it and don’t’ blame the speakers, regardless what you buy.

I have a pair of Parker Audio Model 95 signatures. I have/had them for sale but I’m not particularly anxious on selling them. They are one really great sounding MTM design speaker and mine are custom made. Very efficient, no crossover, ribbon tweeter with a cap. Can drive them with a watt or two.

BTW: My 2-channel system is married to my HT so my main speakers get a lot of use for TV and movies.

TRADERXFAN · « **Reply #23 on:** 9 Jun 2008, 09:12 pm »

If I was in your shoes, and I didn't want to build it myself, I would be buying the AV123 x-statik. (if you want to build it yourself gr-research kits like ob-5 or ob-7 are sure to satisfy)

To take it up a notch, you could prob upgrade the crossover when they put out the "skiing ninja" upgrades, if they haven't already.

spons · « **Reply #24 on:** 9 Jun 2008, 10:04 pm »

Try the Infinity Primus 362 towers at about $400 a pair. If you find the need for more bass you can add a 12" Dayton Titanic MK3 subwoofer from Parts Express for about $600 in kit form.

bpape · « **Reply #25 on:** 9 Jun 2008, 10:16 pm »

If you don't mind DIY, the OB series from GR is a very nice speaker.

Bryan

Canyoneagle · « **Reply #26 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 12:59 pm »

Quote from: doug s. on 9 Jun 2008, 08:12 pm

you won't find a better true full-range (ie: -2db @ 20hz) speaker for overall performance than the thiel 3.5's. these have fantastic soundstaging, & very good detail & tonal qualities. but, they do need decent power to come alive. however, $1k is expensive for the 3.5's; you should certainly be able to find a used pair for a bit less, & save for a decent amp. even an adcom gfa555 will work well w/the thiels; & these amps (and similar quality from b&k, nad, ps audio, etc), can be found for $400 or less. the 3.5's also appreciate being pulled away from back & side walls to sound their best, but thsi is common to many speakers...

doug s.

I second this recommendation. A NAD integrated amp might be another suitable bang-for-buck amp to feed these, or, search for a used Acurus power amp/pre-amp for another step up.

TomS · « **Reply #27 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 01:05 pm »

I definitely second the notion of saving a little bit longer and going with the Salk Song Towers. I had a friend ("kevink" here on AC) who started out the route you did and ended up with these instead. Drives them with Onkyo 805. He and his family are thrilled(!!) with them and glad they moved up a little bit.

EthanH · « **Reply #28 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 01:17 pm »

Used Totem Sttafs might be nice for around 800. They're a pretty easy to listen to kind of speaker.

Canyoneagle · « **Reply #29 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 01:28 pm »

I'd jump on this and get some used speakers for $600-$900 if the budget would allow....

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=56633.msg496546;topicseen#new

batmanslc2 · « **Reply #30 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 02:12 pm »

listen to Quad 22 or 21L, very capable speakers!

mcullinan · « **Reply #31 on:** 10 Jun 2008, 02:35 pm »

Quote from: batmanslc2 on 10 Jun 2008, 02:12 pm

listen to Quad 22 or 21L, very capable speakers!

I had the 22Ls, very good speakers. I believe there is a version 2 now with improved drivers.
Mike

KevinK · « **Reply #32 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 10:03 pm »

Quote from: TomS on 10 Jun 2008, 01:05 pm

I definitely second the notion of saving a little bit longer and going with the Salk Song Towers. I had a friend ("kevink" here on AC) who started out the route you did and ended up with these instead. Drives them with Onkyo 805. He and his family are thrilled(!!) with them and glad they moved up a little bit.

Tom is right. The Salk Song Towers are definitely worthy of any praise heaped on them. The soundstage is absolutely incredible. You could easily run a home theater setup without a center channel (phantom center) and not notice - the ST's are that good. Bass extension is excellent but not 'boomy'. Open, clear soundstage and accurate midrange - no mud. Clear, accurate speaker that could compete with more expensive ones easily.

drphoto · « **Reply #33 on:** 19 Jun 2008, 11:39 pm »

How about ProAc 1.5? They might be in that price range used. (well, they'd have to be used, as they d/c'd this model) Very pleasant, musical speaker. Maybe not the most revealing, which can be a good thing w/ less than stellar upstream gear.

Even though they're a floorstander, you won't get a ton of bass.....almost a monitor w/ built in stand.

I regret not buying the pair I demoed in my house.

doug s. · « **Reply #34 on:** 20 Jun 2008, 01:05 am »

Quote from: drphoto on 19 Jun 2008, 11:39 pm

How about ProAc 1.5? They might be in that price range used. (well, they'd have to be used, as they d/c'd this model) Very pleasant, musical speaker. Maybe not the most revealing, which can be a good thing w/ less than stellar upstream gear.

Even though they're a floorstander, you won't get a ton of bass.....almost a monitor w/ built in stand.

I regret not buying the pair I demoed in my house.

proac 1sc's are better than 1.5's, imo. these are the monitor iteration. you lose a small bit of low end, compared to the 1.5, but overall a better speaker. tablette 8 reference signatures are better still. but, none of these are full range floor-standers. much as i love all the proacs, for full-range floorstanders, i would still have to go w/thiel 3.5's. up the budget, & add an active x-over w/dual subs to the ref 8 sigs, & you will have a system that will not be embarrassed by cost-no-object systems.

doug s.

doug s.

ltr317 · « **Reply #35 on:** 20 Jun 2008, 01:55 am »

Quote from: spons on 9 Jun 2008, 10:04 pm

Try the Infinity Primus 362 towers at about $400 a pair. If you find the need for more bass you can add a 12" Dayton Titanic MK3 subwoofer from Parts Express for about $600 in kit form.

Why spend $600 for a subwoofer kit, when you can buy a built Hsu subwoofer for $200 less? Hsu subwoofers are bargains for the price.

drphoto · « **Reply #36 on:** 20 Jun 2008, 03:25 am »

Doug, yer right about the 1SC, but he asked about floorstanders. I love ProAc's. Riduculously expensive new, but used, they are rightous. Again, not the most accurate/transparent speakers, but they make music. Great product from a fairly big name company.

Of course, thanks to this forum we now know about the offerings from the 'little' guys. Based on what I heard from the Salk HT3 at Marble's, you couldn't go wrong w/ the suggestion on the Songtower.

superchad · « **Reply #37 on:** 20 Jun 2008, 04:40 am »

Those new speakers from DCM are pretty good for the coin, I had a huge smile on my face at NYC show last May when I heard them, copared to what I was hearing and seeing for price they were a breath of fresh air and they look nice too.

doug s. · « **Reply #38 on:** 20 Jun 2008, 11:48 am »

Quote from: drphoto on 20 Jun 2008, 03:25 am

Doug, yer right about the 1SC, but he asked about floorstanders. I love ProAc's. Riduculously expensive new, but used, they are rightous. Again, not the most accurate/transparent speakers, but they make music. Great product from a fairly big name company.

Of course, thanks to this forum we now know about the offerings from the 'little' guys. Based on what I heard from the Salk HT3 at Marble's, you couldn't go wrong w/ the suggestion on the Songtower.

if you don't think proacs are the most accurate/transparent, then you haven't heard their latest tweeters, like they use in the tablette 8 reference signatures...

i know this thread is about floor-standers. but, i think atrane wants floor standers for full-range - his system will be doubling for h-t. the 1.5's aren't full-range, imo, so i'd go for monitors before i'd choose them. add stands to proac monitors, & they have the same footprint as the 1.5's. no sense in having floor standers yust to have floor standers - if they're not adding anything to the party, go w/what sounds better.

so, for that reason - if i wanted floor standers cuz i wanted full-range - i would choose the thiel 3.5's at $1k. (which, actually, is a wery high price for them, today.) i have never heard the songtowers, so i cannot comment...

doug s.

Atrane73 · « **Reply #39 on:** 28 Jun 2008, 10:17 pm »

First of all, thank you to everyone for your suggestions and insight. In trying to narrow things down I have a few questions about some of the speakers suggested.

1)Thiel 3.5
--Theses seem to offer what I am looking for, a full range floorstander with a good imaging, detail and bass response. My concerns are that it may be too detailed. I do like a fair amount of detail, but I don't like speakers that are over analytical and sacrifice musicality and warmth. Also I have heard that Theils need a lot of good, clean power to come to life. I am concerned that my Yamaha receiver will not be enough to make them come alive. Also, since this model is no longer in production, where do I find a pair? I have been checking Audiogon and ebay without much success.

2)av123 X-Statik
--I am very curious about open baffle speakers. These seem like the most affordable way to check out the open baffle sound without building them myself (something I would like to do, but I don't have the tools or experience to do so at this point). I like the idea of the room-filling sound stage that open baffle speakers provide and I think that the room I will be using them in is large enough let these shine. However I am concerned about bass response. The specs on these speakers put their -3db point at 65hz which is about the same or less than most monitor speakers. Does anyone have any experience with the in room response of these speakers? How well do they integrate with a subwoofer? I have a crappy JBL sub which is fine for home theater applications, but not very musical. So I would probably have to add another more musical sub with these speakers.

3)Salk Song Towers
--These towers look great. Though,these are out of my price range. Does anyone know if a used pair for under $1000?

4)Quad 22L
--How is the base response, sound stage and musicality vs detail?

I have a 5.1 theater setup right now. So whatever I buy will replace my current JBL monitors I am using as mains and serve as my two-channel listening speakers. There are some serious ascetic considerations as well. My wife hates!!! speakers on stands (my JBL monitors are on top of a long low AV shelf) so that is one of the reasons I am going with floorstanding speakers. Also, nothing that is all black, garishly large or requires placement too far into the room. My wife is an artist and very much into interior design so whatever I buy has to look good. I have also considered adding a better amp to power my mains for music listening. Either building a system within a system or using the pre-amp section of my receiver and a better power amp. Any thoughts on low cost options?

I am also curious about Swan speakers, RAW Acoustics and any other recommendations you may have.

Thanks again.