First Speaker setup

I'll check out a couple local best buys to see if they have any to demo. I'll also stick to the 14AWG wires.

After doing a little more research beyond what amazon has to offer, I came up with a few more speakers that a lot of people seem to recommend.

Chane A1rx-c (Link) These are actually discontinued, but Chane has a new model coming out soon.
CBM-170 SE (Link)
HB-1 MK2 (Link)

Would I get more for my money with bookshelf speakers at my price range than towers generally speaking?

Unless they go on sale often, they are almost double my budget. I don't want to spend over $400 on the speakers and a pair of the A3X will cost me $700.

 

I'll add my two cents but first a warning. Nothing at Best buy can compete with what you can get either in a vintage bookshelf or a newly designed but sold at specialty stores type setup.

In addition to he classic Advent another speaker I have owned twice is the Dynaco A-25 going for about $200-$300 a pair used and in decent shape. Another option is you want something to sit on the floor is Dyanco A50s. They can be raised on a block of wood and tilted for decent sound. Moving forward to a more Euro sound but very good is ADS. Any of the ADS bookshelves sound very nice. I had ADS l-710 and L-810s and both were great.

Moving to new stuff, I would definitely chance a blind buy on Elac B6. I have some Jones designed Pioneer towers I use with my tv and while decent, not what I would call on par musically with some of the other speakers I mentioned. These are supposed to be better.

Other used speakers that I would look for locally to save on shipping would be: JM Reynaud, Usher, Alison, Tannoy, AR, Cizek, and Totem. The other advantage to scouring the local ads is you may get to hear it first.

good luck.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAUN-L700A...765646?hash=item3600ecfe8e:g:bdwAAOSwhRxXLOG~

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-ADS...847772?hash=item25bc3c235c:g:gp0AAOSwubRXOJxc

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-ADS...847772?hash=item25bc3c235c:g:gp0AAOSwubRXOJxc

 

Thanks, I'll check some of these out. The only thing about the B6 that was a little off putting was a few reviews saying the midrange was a little recessed and the bass too much. I'm going to try and find more comparisons though.

 

hahaha, just like the Senn 650s unless you modded them.

Another to check out that are more modern are the PSB speakers.

 

@Mystic Definitely look at NHTs and Totems, like @bixby noted. I had NHTs for years and years, and these are clear, honest speakers, though not as bassy. The Totems are more neutral, with a little more body. I love the JM Reynaud (I still have Trentes) but you will have to be a little more careful with amp matching, as the bass needs more control. If you can audition them before you buy, you will get a better idea of how they sound.

Be careful to look for blown tweeters and deteriorating speaker surrounds on older speakers, as those do go through misuse or age.

 

technics sb7000a. can probably find for 300 or even much cheaper. amazing speaker and was most under rated of the under-dogs. i use to own a technics sb-7000a and it quickly became one of my favorite speakers of it's size. just make sure drivers are original and if tweeters are still good and not blown. the original tweeters are some of my favorite for dome tweeters..... reason for me trading off cause i got into larger altecs and i needed space for those and a pair of dual 15 subs and dual 18 subs..if i had warehouse or school cafe room size i would of kept all speakers i had in the past but, sadly haven't found an abandon church/school or warehouse property selling around here that is not allowed for residential use and for reasonable price......

 

what? best buy around me has all the high-end mumbo jumbo audiophile crap around my parts. they even sell you 10k silver speaker wire locally....best buy is part of bigger stores now built onto bestbuy. that's why best buys around my parts became size of frinkin mediumish malls...they have special built sections for the high-end boutique crowd and old geezers to gouk at to finally give them a reason what to spend their retirement on to be the hip old dude on the block.

 

hahaha, I suspect you wrote that with tongue firmly planted in cheek

And for the old geezers who have been into audio for years, trust me, we are too smart to buy into the BB BS. It is truly for the bourgeois who happen to have some cash.

 

you got me. i was just messing around. i know even for basic electronic use i know most people know to stay away from best buy regularly haha. but, the 10k thing was no joke though. i know the best buy locally is consider really high-end income area but, i think they went too far haha where i'm at and was told it will trend to other best buys in high-income areas...

 

I'm hoping to get out to an audio shop in the next couple weeks to try and demo some of this stuff.