$300 to spend on a pair of mains...

[joez28ls1]

My Brother-in-law has $300 to spend on a pair of speakers that will be used for music and movies. Eventually he will finish it out to be a full 5.1 system. The receiver will be a Panny XR-55.

My question is, are the 200SEs the speakers to go with? I have heard all of the Ascend speakers except these and have loved all of them so my initial reaction was 200SEs are the way to go but I thought I'd throw it out to any of you to comment. I see the other options as being: HSU HB-1, SVS SBS-01, AV123 X-series or ELT525M Mini Monitor, Aperion Intimus 4B.

I know the only way to really decide is to listen to them all and maybe that is what I'll do, but you guys are an awesome source of info, so I thank you for your opinions in advance!

[ebh]

Maybe check with Dave about some B-stock 170s. Those will probably be in the budget and for mains, depending on your needs, room etc., may be a better choice than the 200s, especially if he won't have a sub for a while.

[joez28ls1]

That's a great idea, I will do that, thanks.

[P Seastrand]

I have a friend who put in 200SE for fronts and rears with a 340SE center. He loves the speakers and they sound great in his room. Depending on the room size, the 200SE should do fine. He can always move them to the rears and put 340's across the front later on.

[joez28ls1]

P Seastrand,

That's good to know that your friend likes them as fronts (and rears). I may order these and demo them against one other pair. What other pair of $300 speakers would be the most worthy comparison?

[BradJudy]

There are multiple internet-direct options in the $300 range. Some to consider:

AV123 - ELT525M
Axiom - M2 v2
SVS - SBS-01
Aperion - Intimus 4B
Hsu - HB-1 Mk2

[davef]

That's a great idea, I will do that, thanks.

Hi Joez28ls1,

We had an order cancelletion a few days ago for a pair of B-stock 170 SE ( I believe the last pair) so now we do have a pair of b-stocks ready to go. Please give us a call if you are interested.

[joez28ls1]

Dave,

I will know tonight whether I will be ordering the B-stock 170 SE or the 200SE and I'll call tomorrow. I'm going to compare one of these to the AV123 ELT525 mini monitors and will report back my impressions on them. I don't have any doubt the 170SE will walk all over the ELT525 maybe the 200SE will be a closer match up?

[joez28ls1]

Things have changed a bit so I thought I'd provide an update. The WAF kicked in strong and she prefers tower speakers. I live 30 mins from Aperion Audio and they had some left over 6-series towers from there previous line that when new retailed for $1000 (I don't know there actual model number).

I have been listening to them, comparing them to my 340SEs. My receiver is a Panny XR55, source is a Toshiba HD-2. I listened to Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, Dire Straits and a few others. The bottom line: the 340SEs are far superior in imaging and clarity, they lack some of the lower end bass of the Aperions. The Aperions sound muffled in comparison, the added lower bass extension of the Aperions seems muddy/sloppy . They are not a bad speaker and my brother-in-law is happy with them. For me, though, after having Ascends, I would not be happy with the Aperions.

I wish I could persuade them to go with Ascends (they know how I feel about Ascend) but if towers they want, then in this case, for the money they did okay...I guess :)

[DougMac]

Looks like the original requirements flew out the window. I don't know what he ended up paying, but my guess that for the same money, he could have had 340's on stands. They make good towers ;-).

I have 340's currently being driven by a Panny XR57. I too felt lower bass was a little thin. I think the factors involved are: no mid bass hump programmed into the speakers like I'm used to and the "clinical" sound for which the Panny is known. Room effects are also probably a factor. It took moving my sub, playing with the crossover point and a judicious bass increase on the receiver to give low/mid bass some substance.

Now that my wife is back from a trip, I'm going steal her Toshiba laptop and use REW to analyze the room. I'm also considering upgrading one day to a receiver that has automated EQ, although I've read conflicting reports on how good it does. Even if I go that route, I'll do my best to tune the room first. I think it's better to eliminate a problem than try to compensate for it.

Doug

[curtis]

I had similar thoughts when I compared the Aperion 632 bookshelf(which I would think you heard the tower version of) to the classic CMT-340.

[debo]

The WAF kicked in strong and she prefers tower speakers.

Someone should have kicked back.

[joez28ls1]

The WAF kicked in strong and she prefers tower speakers.

Someone should have kicked back.

LOL