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Speaker advice

Ok... so I am pretty new to the whole high end audio setup and had a couple questions. Please keep in mind that my budget is fairly limited and my expertise is on the elemetary end. So, I'm looking to you guys for help.

It appears that each time a friend or relative gets new speakers/surround sound, it sounds more amazing than the last person's. For instance, My uncle has a Klipsch RF-82 setup with surround sound etc. I thought it sounded absolutely amazing. My buddy is rocking Focal Electra 927 limited edition... which are awesome. My questions is, with my budget of about a thousand dollars, am I better off with low end Klipsch (RF-35) or saving up a little more and trying to score a used set of Focals (obviously not 927's)? My absolute max would be around $1200 as I can't justify any more spending... not having a great familiarity of what I'm buying (opposed to what I'm hearing). Any advice would be appreciated and sorry about the wordy post.
FYI... this would be for music (jazz, classical, rock) and home theatre, as well. I would pick up the remaining surround sound components as my budget allows.

Thanks...
big10purdue
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Kef IQ9's from audio advisor on blowout for less than $800/pair...read the reviews, especially Hi Fi + product of the year issue! You will have serious sound on a budget.
veroman's avatar
veroman
298 posts
 
if HT is definitely in your future, i second the advice about monitors and sub. get them used and 1200$ will get you a very nice set up with plenty of slam for rock and movies. advice... shy away from monitors that rely too heavily on sub for normal deep bass reproduction. sub is best used for deep deep bass and harmonics or it gets tricky to fine tune. jmo. dont forget the room treatments or it is all a waste of effort!
lou_setriodes's avatar
lou_setriodes
672 posts
 
Big10 - before I can offer you any advice, I'd like to know a little more about your system and your preferences.
1. Which Hafler amp do you have and how is it being used?
2. Is the Elite being used as a preamp in your system? 3. What other sources do you have and is your $1200 budget solely for speakers?
4. You listen to jazz, classical and rock but at what kind of sound levels?
5. You have a fairly nice sized room - is it a very live room (hardwood floors, hard surfaces, etc) or a dead room (w/w carpeting heavy drapes) where sound gets absorbed as opposed to reflected off of surfaces?

Since you like a lot of different types of music it comes to reason that you would be most happy with a speaker that is very neutral sounding and presents all types of music in an authentic even-handed manner as opposed to a speaker that emphasizes the bass or treble. Also, since you wish to try to integrate this into a home theatre system, to get the best bang for the buck, I would suggest a 3 piece system - a subwoofer/satellite system.

This type of arrangement has the advantage of being much smaller than large floor standing speakers but has the same full range sound as a floor standing speaker. To me, this makes the most sense and there are many, many options to choose from.
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
I'm tellin ya, check out the Kef IQ9's on blowout or the new IQ90's which are still only $1600 new...they are great, refined all around speakers. READ THE REVIEWS AND AWARDS!!
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>READ THE REVIEWS AND AWARDS!<<

That's the last thing you should do.

Go listen for yourself. Speakers are the most personal and subjective component in any system.

There's far too much muck, mud, and dirt in reviews.
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