Home audio question

I won't give you a specific recommendation, but I think you'll find from those in the know, that Bose is widely considered overpriced junk. You can do far better for less money.

 

I've been out of the home audio portion for so long I cannot be of much help but I did see that Telarc is now using ATC speakers in their establishment. Telarc is known for creating very high end cds and resampling older ones to make them sound much better. I do not know if they have anything in your price range though.

 

I would recommend staying away from the big box stores. Visit stores that only deal in hifi. The good stores will quickly steer you away from Bose. Bring your favorite CD so you can have a listen to the speakers before you buy them. I bought a set of B&W 602.5 towers for around $750. My home system is finally better sounding than my mobile system! . The sky's the limit when it comes to how much you can spend on audio. Things can get pretty crazy.

 

I once bought a pair of lightly used Paradigm Studio 40s for $800 ($1200 new). That's a price/performance level that going to be hard to beat. They hold their own with speakers costing twice as much.

Suggest you check out the speaker forum on AVS Forum (avsforum.com). When your budget is 10x as much, check out Audiogon (audiogon.com).

Review: http://www.paradigm.com/en/pdf/reviews/fronts/studio40_review_188.pdf

Link: http://www.paradigm.com/en/reference/speaker_only-specification-27-1-2-13.paradigm

I like PSBs in that price range too. I've owned them before too.

BTW, lenmark is absolutely correct about Bose. They totally suck. Overpriced junk and considered a complete joke by everyone who has the slightest interest in decent sound reproduction.

 

Check out this company for Internet purchased speakers. Great customer service and helpful advice on the forums. I have purchased speakers from them. I would not recommend Bose.

http://www.av123.com/

 

www.hifi.com

 

Ascend Acoustics thruogh the internet. Fabuolus products, in your price range, superb customer service.

 

I recommend checking out http://www.avsforum.com/
It is an awesome forum for home audio and video products.

 

You guys must have better ears than me. I wouldn't spend $750 on a whole sound system.

 

This system belonging to an audiogon.com member was featured on their front page. My rough guess is about $200,000 US. Front speakers are $40k a pair, and each of the two Mark Levinson amps for the L+R front channel is $20k a piece.

 

It must be hell for a person with such fussy ears to go to a cinema.
I suspect there was no money left for cinema tickets.
I also suspect this person would wait for the DVD release.

 

^^^

It's better to not know what you're missing. Finding that perfect or different sound can get addicting. I'm knee deep in mobile audio because I keep stockpiling good deals on higher end equipment.

 

Actually, I think that the handful of audiophiles I've known, love and appreciate music first and foremost. Their pursuit and enjoyment of better sound equipment is just something they like to do. They still appreciate and enjoy listening to music, even when its sonic reproduction is a little dodgy.

 

Just to complicate your life, the speakers you may select in a "show room environment" may, and probably will, sound completely different in your living room. I've had a pair of speakers for 30+ years that have been in several different rooms in different homes. It's always an adventure to see (hear) how they will sound with each move. The best sound to me came when they were in a high-ceiling room. Now they live in my bedroom with an eight-foot ceiling. The room is quite large though and they sound pretty good. The bass varies the most room-to-room.

For consistent sound quality room-to-room, I'd stick with those Bose headphones.

 

Brad,

I would agree with the others to stay away from Bose.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/index.php?

The above site specializes in portable audio.. earphones, etc., but I think there are some very knowledgeable contributors there, and I think they'd steer you in the right direction.
If at all possible, try to listen before you buy. Good luck.

 

I agree that speakers will sound different from room to room, and obviously from showroom to your room. Be sure you have complete return priviledges before you buy.

 

You got any extra stuff to get rid of, let me know.

 

It is worth learning a little about acoustics, and saving some money for room treatment. You can get carried away with this too, but tightening up the bass (most often ignored, most important to do) is not hard:

http://www.ethanwiner.com/

Do some study before you start throwing money at heavily advertised stuff like Auralex or dangerous stuff like eggcrates.