A good friend of mine works at Definitive Audio and as he upgraded his original home theatre (pre-job) he sold me his old equiptment. I mixed and matched for a long time, till my wife insisted I narrow the system down. I guess she had something against Laser Discs, Mini-Discs, Cassettes, and DATs.
So I saved up, sold the old stuff and compiled the following budget system, that I must say blows away several of my friends systems costing substantially more money!
I read it several places before I purchased them, and now I am a believer, the Paradigm Titan is the absolute best speaker under $500 on the market...oh yea, you can get 4 of them for $500!
The latest addition is the 50" Sony SXRD Grand WEGA 1080p rear projection TV.
I am not sure what my next step is other than upgrading the speaker cables for the surrounds.
UNEXPECTED UPGRADE! After months of trolling Craigslist, I finally found a really good deal and upgraded my fronts to Paradigm Studio 60V2's! Of course now I need to retune the system. I noticed an immediate improvement in the amount of mid-bass, that fills out the bottom end. It seems like the Studios link to the Fathom better than the Titans. I am waiting on a pair of Tranparent Speaker Cables so I can Bi-amp out of my Pioneer tuner, which I feel will again increase the quality of the sound another fold!
I made the biggest leap forward yet in sound quality today! I had my friend who used to work for one of the high end shops in Seattle come over and tune my system. He moved my Front a little, moved the Fathom across the room, and changed just about every setting in the tuner to adjust the system to my living room. We then proceeded to watch Master and Commmander, and I realized how poorly my system was set up. It was unbelievably better!!!! If you have the chance or can afford it have someone knowledgable tune up your system, especially if you are using multi-channel!
A few weeks ago I also added a Sony Playstation 3 for the Blu-ray capacity. It really makes my TV shine!
*System Update* I bought a JL Audio F113 Fathom Subwoofer yesterday and got it set up last night. Getting it tuned and tweaked on Sunday. Can't wait to watch on of my reference movies.
Here I sit with $2,800 in my hand. What to do, what to do? I have done a lot of research and listening since January. I am leaning towards upgrading to the JL Audio Fathom f113. I keep reading reviews and talking to people in the know and it seems like this sub makes the rest of your system sound better when used with the "tuning" system in the sub. The other item on my list would be a Pioneer blu-ray player when the new ones come out in a couple of months. Toughts?
Tmcginn, I will give Definitive credit where credit is due, they will get you addicted! I spent my day listening to some of my favorite music, I just finished watching Independence Day and am leaning even more towards the Fathom. All day I was reminded that my system as it stands does everything I want it to do, except it isn't quite serious enough about the very bottom end. The direction I am going would still be the same, just starting with the one part of my system that doesn't quite do what I want it to now. The future would consist of S4's on a seperate amp, matching center, and a whole lot better source, and a Gotham Sub!!!! :-) I really think most people would be really surprised at the performance of my current system. Since you are here in Seattle, you should come check it out! Tony
I love the JL Audio subs especially the Gothem. I actually heard it at Definitive Audio. At first I thought the seats were on a Dbox but it turns out it was the sub, I couldn't believe the power. Keep in mind that I have never really been a fan of subs, as a vast majority causes the bass to dominate everything or they become real expensive and don't seem to add a lot. JL audio on the other hand adds a ton to the low range without taking over the role of the other speakers. I guess it kind of depends which direction you want to take your system. For the price of the sub you could instead add Studio 60's the matching center cc570 (I think) and the ADP surrounds. This is what I have, but some people would hate this, as I have found that a Pioneer with Paradigm Studios tend to sound a little sterile. Don't know if this is true for all their speaker lines. You could look at the ver3 as they supposedly are not that different from 4 but would be used. Supposedly v2 is quit different. Thanks for the offer but I have been working with someone at the Bellevue store who really seems to know his stuff. I just wanted to hear other people's opinions as I spend of lot of money there and want to make sure that I am not overpaying. The one problem is that when he sold me the speakers he did not tell me that I would like them so much that I would become addicted and would be back for more.
Tmcginn, No need for apologies! The negative points you bring up are on my mind. I realize that I will have to add an amp if I go with the 100's and probably even to get the best out of S4's. The big downfall of switching series would be needing to upgrade my center channel, another good $1000 plus! My mind changes a little every day. Today I am leaning towards a simple upgrade: JL Audio Fathom f113 to replace the PDR-12. Also see my thread in the Speakers Forum: Paradigm Choice Help. I can't speak for Definitive as a whole as I only know a couple of people who work in the Bellevue store. The people I deal with have a great philosphy, that people who really love music and/or movies end up there sooner or later, and they simply want to educate them on how to enjoy what they love even more. I can also tell you that they are the most educated enthusiasts that I have ever met in all my shopping experiences. We can connect offline if you would like a referall to "my guy".
One major problem with either speaker in this case. It lies with your Pioneer receiver. Studio 100s have a tone of drivers and require a ton of power. Not sure that the signatures require so much; however that integrated lacks clarity so I doubt the Signatures will sound any better than say the monitor series. I would think they would also be a horrible mismatch with your current center. Sorry to be terribly pessimistic, but there are plenty more reasons to buy either speaker. Just some considerations I wish I had known before buying my current system. I would personally go with the 100s (assuming your amp can power them) as they will be more dynamic, probably will match up with the center better and may sound better than the Signatures and that amp. Either way, you would have a kick a** system. I have had a Pioneer Elite receiver with Paradigm Studio 60's v3 and think that was one of the best purchases I have made. I recently added Rotel 1080 200x2 watts continuing to use my Pioneer Elite as a pre/pro and my system is so much more alive, never thought the Paradigms could sound so good. BTW I too live in Seattle and got most of my stuff from Definitive Audio. In your opinion do they know their stuff or are do they just have good sales tricks?
Now I really need some feedback from other members. An Audiogon member here is Seattle has Studio 100's V3 for sale for about $400 less than I can buy a pair of Signture Series S4's V2. I tend to do more home theatre than straight music. Which would you choose?
Since you already have experience with Paradigm I would suggest looking at the Paradigm Studio series of speakers. Having owned a pair I can only rave about the performance. The studio 20's and 40's are the bookshelf versions with the 60's and 100's being the floorstanding models. I had the 40's and quite honestly they were amazing. All but the 100's should be under $1000 which keeps the budget from breaking. The 60's would be a great choice if you are looking to get into a floorstanding speaker. If you view my system you will see B&W 600 series currently in use and they are on par with the studio series from Paradigm. Slight variations between the 2 lines with ultimately the user liking certain characteristics over others. Both the studio series and the 600 line from B&W would be a great improvement over the current set-up. One last note, whichever way you choose to go make sure to look at matching the L-C-R or left, right and center speaker from the same line and company as you want a seemless front end for theater applications.
Nissancrazy, Thank you for the speaker placement information. I will take some time over the couple of weeks to play with the positioning and see what kind of improvements I can get. I am a little restricted on how far out from the wall I can go with the speakers. Too far out they start getting in the way of using the room. This is not a decidated room, and the house is getting smaller with the addition of a baby a month ago.
I am really considering my next move, new front speakers. Considering keeping the rest of the system the same, what speakers should I be auditioning? I love shopping so please anyone chime in here, I will make the effort to give a listen to your suggestions.
Speaker placement is a unique aspect of system set up and will differ in each situation.
First figure out if you are dealing with a front or rear ported speaker. Rear ports placed close to a wall will increase bass response, but often at the cost of highs and mids. My suggestion is to start by at least getting the speaker 1 foot away from the wall and go from there. If you are not opposed to it..... use masking tape to mark starting positions on the floor and then take notes moving the speakers a little, (often an inch or two is all you need) while listening to a familiar track. Also look to 'toe in' the speakers a bit which refers to pointing the tweeter towards the listening position, this again is a process of trail and error but you will know when it 'clicks' into position.
The other issue to account for is thus: get down next to one of your speakers on the side and you should be able to clearly look to the other speaker and draw a line or a string to the other tweeter. This line should be free of intrusions like a tv or rack. Without this clear line between speakers you will have a very difficult time getting the vocals and soundstage to snap into position.
What you are shooting for here is to actually hear a vocal placed somewhere in the middle between the two speakers, when there is in reality no speaker there. Again about 8 feet apart for the speakers should be a good starting position but this may vary depending upon your listening room and furniture.
I have experimented with throwing a blanket over my plasma that rests between the speakers and have liked the results. The best case would be that there is nothing between the speakers, however, this is often difficult given restrictions of space and furniture.
Give the above suggestions a shot and I am sure you will be pleased.
Great start. Paradigm has always been a solid speaker and outperforms speakers costing much much more, IMO. If you can get the bookshelf speakers out from the wall and attempt to keep them around 8 feet apart.
