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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
loomisjohnson
2,021 posts
 

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 

norton
106 posts
 

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.

parkergetdean
1,082 posts
 

speakers in your price range

steve59's avatar
steve59
1,984 posts
 

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

pdxmonkeyboy OP
5 posts
 

So the used Focal 948 purchase fell through.  The speakers that the seller was going to buy got sold, so now he is holding on to them. 

Im the interest of best sound for the $ i am going to build a pair of anthology II's. About $1300 for drivers and xover and another $400 in wood, venner, and laquer. 

If you are interested, here is a link; https://www.speakerdesignworks.com/anthology-ii

 

and no, mine are NOT going to be that ugly :) 

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