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Speakers or surround sound system reqs

Starpower said:
Sonos gear is nice and Costco carries some of it.
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Military PX’s also carry Sonos at good prices if you can shop there. And all ex military can shop at a PX no matter how long you served. You don’t have to be retired from service.
 
GAJ said:
Great price/value on good sound for the money, but buy a pair of the bookshelves first to make sure the sound is to your liking and if not, $12/box return shipping withing 60 days.

These would be your front left/right speakers if you enjoy them.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107ES15BK/Polk-Audio-Signature-Elite-ES15-Black.html?tp=186

If happy with those here are the surrounds and center speaker to match.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107ES10BK/Polk-Audio-Signature-Elite-ES10-Black.html?tp=186

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107ES30BK/Polk-Audio-Signature-Elite-ES30-Black.html?tp=189

This is a tremendous subwoofer value; there is no better value out there for a very good sub. 22hz extension with room gain which is amazing given the price.

https://rslspeakers.com/speedwoofer-10e/
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The price is right and my hearing tails off around 4kHz, superior sound quality is not a problem. Thank you for your recommendationsand unless anyone has any other solutions I'm going with yours.

My poor wife has been listening to music from the TV and on Her phone for the past 5 years and she's ready for a big improvement yea man
 
Jammer said:
The price is right and my hearing tails off around 4kHz, superior sound quality is not a problem. Thank you for your recommendationsand unless anyone has any other solutions I'm going with yours.

My poor wife has been listening to music from the TV and on Her phone for the past 5 years and she's ready for a big improvement yea man
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4khz???

At least that is almost the full range of a piano.

330913d1271424698-frequency-range-chart-reference-various-musical-instruments-freqrange.jpg
 
FYI, there’s nothing special about surround speakers compared to regular speakers except that they are configured to be mounted on or in walls or ceilings. And they usually will be somewhat lacking in low frequency response.

If you have room for full range speakers for your rear speakers, there’s nothing wrong with using them.

For instance, if I had a place to put them, my surround speakers would have been the same towers as my main left and rights. But as I had no space for them, I used ceiling speakers.
 
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Jammer said:
The price is right and my hearing tails off around 4kHz, superior sound quality is not a problem. Thank you for your recommendationsand unless anyone has any other solutions I'm going with yours.

My poor wife has been listening to music from the TV and on Her phone for the past 5 years and she's ready for a big improvement yea man
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They just went on sale. ES30 center is $60 less, ES15 pair now $60 off and ES10 $50 off.
 
I'm still rocking a Bose system that cost me $2,000 back in 2008. Only issue I've had with it lately is for some reason it randomly shuts off and the remote has started acting a bit wonky, but it has survived literally 8-10 moves with me through various states and apartments. One of the main reasons I bought it vs my old Cambridge Soundworks setup was it was far more compact and KISS to move, disassemble, reassemble, etc. It also was more than enough for smaller living spaces where I couldn't even crank it without getting noise complaints from the neighbors.

People hate on Bose like people hate on iPhones. Far as I'm concerned it's more than good enough and "just. simply. works."

So one aspect I haven't seen many touch on in this thread is - what size space are you trying to fill? If your living room is 30'x30' then yeah Bose is going to sound lacking though it'll get the job done. If your living room is 15'x20' Bose will be more than enough.

Sure you could spend less and get a bit more and go the custom build everything kind of route, and many people do that. I've done it before and will likely do it again. But IMO there's nothing inherently wrong with getting a Bose setup.

That all being said, I've got my eye on a nice Klipsch setup next. Haven't decided on exactly what, just most likely going to go with Klipsch for my next setup once the Bose system finally shits out completely. I give it another year or so maybe. I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it at least.
 
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NorCalAthlete said:
That all being said, I've got my eye on a nice Klipsch setup next. Haven't decided on exactly what, just most likely going to go with Klipsch for my next setup once the Bose system finally shits out completely. I give it another year or so maybe. I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it at least.
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Back in the day is had Bose 301s and 901s when they made actual standalone speakers. Enjoyed them both. The cube setups that you and my friend and in laws had were "fine" as you say but they don't make those anymore. They just make soundbar setups...expensive ones at that.
 
GAJ said:
Back in the day is had Bose 301s and 901s when they made actual standalone speakers. Enjoyed them both. The cube setups that you and my friend and in laws had were "fine" as you say but they don't make those anymore. They just make soundbar setups...expensive ones at that.
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Oh man, I hadn't looked at their site in a while...didn't realize they basically only make rear surrounds + subs + soundbars now and no more 5.1 systems.

Granted, soundbar tech has gotten way better and can sound pretty damn good when augmented with surrounds and a proper sub, and it's going to be more than enough for the average person...but again it's going to come down to the size of the room you're trying to fill I think. The larger the room / more open the floorplan, the more you're going to want standalones / towers / etc.
 
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If you don’t have any money, a sound bar makes music but not that good. You want something that can allow you to spread the speakers apart. Usually 8 feet on the average.

I once had a pair of Bose 501’s. Sounded OK but they depended on room acoustics. I traded them in for a pair of JBL L100 Centuries which were vastly superior for the same cost. I still have them. They sound as new and they are now over 50 years old.

My brother bought a pair of Bose 301’s many years ago. All the speaker cones disintegrated years ago. Like I said, Bose makes lousy speakers.
 
GAJ said:
Great price/value on good sound for the money, but buy a pair of the bookshelves first to make sure the sound is to your liking and if not, $12/box return shipping withing 60 days.

These would be your front left/right speakers if you enjoy them.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107ES15BK/Polk-Audio-Signature-Elite-ES15-Black.html?tp=186

If happy with those here are the surrounds and center speaker to match.

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107ES10BK/Polk-Audio-Signature-Elite-ES10-Black.html?tp=186

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107ES30BK/Polk-Audio-Signature-Elite-ES30-Black.html?tp=189

This is a tremendous subwoofer value; there is no better value out there for a very good sub. 22hz extension with room gain which is amazing given the price.

https://rslspeakers.com/speedwoofer-10e/
Click to expand...

A RSL setup looks like a great fit to replace my really old Energy Connoisseur setup from the early 2000s.
rslspeakers.com

Rogersound Labs

RSL Speakers - A division of Rogersound Labs - is a factory direct loudspeaker manufacturer, since 1970, based in Los Angeles, California. Family owned and operated.
rslspeakers.com rslspeakers.com
5.1 set of speakers+subwoofer for under $1K, sign me up :)
 
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gnahc79 said:
A RSL setup looks like a great fit to replace my really old Energy Connoisseur setup from the early 2000s.
rslspeakers.com

Rogersound Labs

RSL Speakers - A division of Rogersound Labs - is a factory direct loudspeaker manufacturer, since 1970, based in Los Angeles, California. Family owned and operated.
rslspeakers.com rslspeakers.com
5.1 set of speakers+subwoofer for under $1K, sign me up :)
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Unbelievable deal, no doubt, and you have three subwoofers to choose from.

10E suitable for small/medium spaces, 10s for medium/medium large spaces and the 12s for larger spaces though I'd likely choose two 10S for larger spaces for a better spread of bass and a more compact size for each sub as the 12S is effing huge and larger than many 15" subwoofers.
 
GAJ said:
Unbelievable deal, no doubt, and you have three subwoofers to choose from.

10E suitable for small/medium spaces, 10s for medium/medium large spaces and the 12s for larger spaces though I'd likely choose two 10S for larger spaces for a better spread of bass and a more compact size for each sub as the 12S is effing huge and larger than many 15" subwoofers.
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I got the 10S setup https://rslspeakers.com/products/10s-mkii-cg23m-5-1-home-theater-system-1 last week to replace my 20+yr old Energy setup. Sounds great, subwoofer is fantastic and ginormous lol.
 
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gnahc79 said:
I got the 10S setup https://rslspeakers.com/products/10s-mkii-cg23m-5-1-home-theater-system-1 last week to replace my 20+yr old Energy setup. Sounds great, subwoofer is fantastic and ginormous lol.
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Congrats, so glad you are happy, it's a steal at that price.

In the world of very good subwoofers the 10S is tiny.

Nor even a 16" cube.

The 12S, is H: 22 1/4” W: 18 7/8” D: 22 1/8” which is larger than my 1350watt 15" sealed sub.

Make sure in your receiver to set all speakers to "small" if that is an option, with a 90hz crossover for all speakers to the sub.
 
cheez said:
If you want stereo sound quality, I'm running AudioEngine A5s with the S8 powered subwoofer and they sound amazing.

For surround sound (7.2) I'm still running an older Bose system (Acoustimass) and haven't found a reason to upgrade that yet. You can find them used on the cheap these days.
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I also have the same Audio Engine speakers in my office. Speakers are in bamboo and the sub is black. Power is a tiny Nuforce amp. It sounds amazing. And you can get them as refurbished units for less.

For my family room I have Paradigm towers, a Definitive Technology sub, and B&O ceiling speakers for the rear.
 
Abacinator said:
Just curious, why all the audio nerds hate on Bose?
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I think it's because they always tried to come across as the ivory tower or ivy league of audio. Kinda like BMW calling themselves the "ultimate driving machine". When you set yourself up so high, you better deliver, or else.

Bose's claim to fame has always been tricks like sound processing, reflected sound, and Wave ducts. Back in the day, they used to give you an "active equalizer" when you bought their speakers. Otherwise they'd sound only so-so. The speaker drivers themselves were nothing special. In fact they were famous for shoving the same drivers into multiple models, to save money.

Then they would keep selling the same models for many years, with no changes. Again, to save money. They could get away with this because of their sales & marketing guys. The power of the brand. I interviewed with them 30+ yrs ago, and they were sending out guys to people's homes to demo the Wave radio, blindfolding people and asking them to see if they could tell the difference between that little radio and their home system. Setting it up in such a way that they would win. It was hilarious :rofl

I never thought their OEM automotive systems were all that great. Not compared to Harman Kardon, Mark Levinson, Naim, and even B&O. The Bose system in the Mazda RX7 had a subwoofer attached to a huge plastic "wave duct" that took up about half the luggage space. It was silly, but again, it was just a marketing ploy to show off their name.

Nowadays, most of their profit seems to come from headphones and earbuds, from people who don't know there is better stuff for half the price.
 
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Abacinator said:
Just curious, why all the audio nerds hate on Bose?
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I have bad Tinnitus, so I need some background music playing all the time. I've always had an "un-sophisticated ear", so I don't appreciate audio quality like some do. But my brother is an audiophile and did a side-by-side comparison of bose and sonos, and I could definitely hear that the sonos was a much fuller/warmer sound... but I never would have noticed on my own.
 
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