Decent speakers for mid-level AVR


Greetings, 

First time poster here.  I am looking to upgrade my home theater setup with a better set of speakers.  Been doing a lot of research, worried if the speakers i am looking at are going to be able to be driven with my AVR

 I have an Onkyo tx-rz50 that pushes 120 watts into two channels.  i omly have mains, a center channel and small surrounds.  Well, i do have this massive folded horn sub but it has its own amp. 

Been looking used in my area.  Listned to a set of paradigm premier 85f.  Nice, but a little  bright for my liking.  There is a local with a set of Focal aria 948.  I hear gppd things about them, but also hear they are power hungry. 

I dont really "rock out" much anymore, typical classic rock and 90s alternative rock se sensabilities.  and home theater of course.  

Any thoughts?  trying to stay under $4k for a pair.  i know that is pretty low end for auudiophile, but what can i say... i own 7 motorcycles and only one pair of speakers. 

 

thank you! 

pdxmonkeyboy

@pdxmonkeyboy Good luck with your audition of the 948's.  I really am a fan of the Focal sound and paid $2,400 for my 926's (gently used of course) so $1,600 for the 948's from my perspective is a steal.  Give us a full report afterwards including how they might fit in with your amp you purchased.

Fwiw I've had good results pairing focal (in my case Electra and cobalt) with a mass market avr (Yamaha, then pioneer elite). Which isn't to say it'll be as good as quality separates, but focal tend to be easy to drive and revealing. Enjoy 

I think B&K made great stuff so you can't go wrong there. I used one of their amps for 20 years and it never missed a beat. As far as speakers go, I'm totally hooked on the Totem sound and would highly recommend listening to some if you ever get the chance.

7 bikes nice, mine  are

2024KTM 1290sas

2022 1290 SDR

2011 K1600 GTL or  one for any flavor. Likely a small displacement dual sport will be in my near future.

 When reading speaker reviews i found out the hard way to pay more attention to placement reviews, that in reality placement determines how a speaker really sounds. I've got a 20-25 year old pair of VA beethovens I'd put up against anything below $5k currently out there, but they only reach 95 db cleanly. A lot of people appreciate fun & loud over accurate and  Klipsch has been popular a long time. I broke into my kids inheritance and bought b stock Yamaha ns 5000's and have to admit they're to good for ht duty. $4k is a good budget