Floor Speakers

[Peter Friedman]

A good friend is ready to buy a pair of new floor speakers. They will be used for both home theatre and music. She is prepared to spend about $1,000. for the pair.

Would welcome any suggestions for her to consider.

[Chuck Nessa]

Not enough personal or other information to answer. Seems like a bunch for tv/dvd if that's what it is.

[marcello]

Have her check out this company: http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/products/bronze-bx/

They make a wide range of speakers. I've heard their Bronze Series. Perfect sound and beautifully made.

[StarThrower]

A grand isn't very much for good sounding full size speakers. All I can say is don't buy low end Paradigm speakers. They sound like crap. I have B&W's, and they sound good. But they retailed for 1800 bucks 13 years ago.

[bogdan101]

Best thing to do is to visit local audio dealer and listen to the new/used speakers they likely have set up. Bring your own favorite music. Take notes on what you like, go home, research the internet for fair price. Go back next day and make offer if there is something you really liked. Don't be afraid to offer less than the sticker price and haggle a bit. Good luck!

[Kevin Bresnahan]

$1K is not a lot. However, you can get some serious speakers for chump change with New egg's sale on Polk speakers. I haven't heard them in a while, but Polk used to make some nice speakers and the customer reviews are still pretty good.

For instance: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290272 $220 each, 440 a pair with free shipping.

I have used new egg a million times both at home & at work and they are great to deal with.

EDIT: The sale ends tomorrow (2/28).

Edited February 28, 2013 by Kevin Bresnahan

[Tom in RI]

Gee, I would say $1,000 would buy a lot of speaker if one considers used. I bought a pair of ADS L1290II's off eBay last year for the grand sum of $301.50. Earlier this week I picked up a set of Altec Lansing Model 14's for $400. I am no expert but if one is patient there should be a pretty god deal of options available in, say, a 3-6 month period in any reasonably populated area. The B&W's mentioned above that retailed for $1,800 13 years ago would be sold for well under $1,000 if made available used today.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Tom in RI

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Gee, I would say $1,000 would buy a lot of speaker if one considers used. I bought a pair of ADS L1290II's off eBay last year for the grand sum of $301.50. Earlier this week I picked up a set of Altec Lansing Model 14's for $400. I am no expert but if one is patient there should be a pretty god deal of options available in, say, a 3-6 month period in any reasonably populated area. The B&W's mentioned above that retailed for $1,800 13 years ago would be sold for well under $1,000 if made available used today.

Older used speakers can be a great bargain, but Peter doesn't seem to be asking about that. There are drawbacks to used speakers. I know someone who bought an older pair of ADS L series speakers and he had to rebuild the crossover. The capacitors were all pretty much shot. A co-worker who has old B&W 802s from the 80s had to rebuild the crossover and it cost him over $200 (each speaker) for the audio grade capacitors in there. It was also not for the untrained as it was not a simple L/C circuit. There must've been 10 caps in each speaker. Then there's older speakers that need to be re-foamed. Not for the faint at heart.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Kevin Bresnahan

[Scott Dolan]

Thumbs up for Polk Audio. I've been using them for decades. Still one of the most transparent speakers for under a grand.

[Peter Friedman]

Thanks for the comments. These speakers are not for me. I have some very good speakers in a few different rooms in my house.

My question was to help out a friend who is looking to buy some decent floor speakers primarily for listening to music.

One problem is that the number of specialty audio shops where one can go and audition speakers has greatly declined. Here in Tucson the

choices are very limited. Back when I bought my top pair of high quality speakers I was living in Rochester , New York and had the opportunity

to visit about 5 audio shops and listen to a large variety of speakers.

[marcello]

Peter, speaking of Rochester and those Monitor Audio Bronze BX - 6 loud speakers I noted above. They can be had for $999.00 from Audio Renaissance in Rochester.