Personally, I could dish out over 10 brands to you - All of them rated by various a/v and audiophile magazines. However, before buying you should ask yourself these questions:
1. What type of material will you be playing all the time? CDs or DVDs? What's the %age 60-40?
2. If you're a music person. What type to do you listen to? Pop, Jazz, R&B, Classical?
3. If you're a movie buff. What kind of movies do you watch?
4. What type of room do you plan to put it in? Size?
5. How far are you willing to go or spend for your system?
6. Do you want it all at once? or Piece by piece?
Why do I ask these things?
1. Every speaker has their own set of advantages and disadvantages, so the type of material you listen to really matters.
2. Music people pay more attention to the mids and highs, and less on the bass unless you're a Pop and R&B Person.
3. Movie people pay more attention to BASSSSS and how much SPL the system can do.
4. Speaker placement really matters because total sound quality is really 50% Equipment and 50% Room. Believe me, when you buy your speakers it won't sound the same as it did in the demo room.
5. There is NO perfect system, because each person's tastes are relative to eachother. The holy grail of audio is yet to be found. So be prepared to spend extra tweaks such as good cables, speaker stands, and room treatment materials.
6. There is nothing better than instant gratification. However, buying somthing based on just the BRAND and the sales pitch of the audio guy is kinda dangerous because you may be buying something you may not like at all. A really good pair of stereo speakers will often do the job at 1st, get a center or sub on your next paycheck.
So before buying here are some tips:
1. Know the sound you're looking for. Bring your favorite CD (Original please not pirated), something you're incredibly familiar with. Take your time when auditioning speakers.
2. You're spending LOTS of money for your speakers, so don't believe everything that the sales guy tells you.
3. Price is not a good determinant of sound quality, and the brand isn't everything. Example, Toyota has a Camry, and also has a Revo. Both of them are Toyota cars but suit a different purpose and budget.
4. Magazine reviews are good. Qualified user reviews are a better. (visit
www.audioreview.com)
5. Test music first then movies afterwards. And ask the salesguy to turn off that distracting TV. Just imagine that you're blind, that way your sense of hearing is at full attention.
6. THX speakers have poor highs, they sound terrible for music. They're only good for movies. If the salesman tells you otherwise, I'm gonna kick his ass for you.
7. After listening to everything, buy the one that you're most comfortable listening to.
8. Lastly, make sure your amp or receiver could handle the speaker load. You don't want to burn your speakers on the 1st day.
If you have other questions, feel free to e-mail me anytime...
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