Best Speakers for Movies

[brttlt]

I know some people push Axioms, but after reading some reviews, it sounds as though they are better for music. My main concern is movies, with music being secondary and I'm in a quandry for speakers!
Help!

[snipsnapsappy]

Wherever you read that, it is false. Many speaker companies can make a speaker that sounds good for HT. HT is just not as taxing on speaker quality as music is. That is why you can buy an HTIB and it will sound good to most ears.

However, the measure of a good speaker is whether or not it plays music well. Reviewers sometimes gloss over a speakers ability to play movies because most speaker companies do it well. However, many reviewers talk about Axioms ability to play great music, which is one of the reasons they are so highly regarded.

Also, with Subwoofers, for HT, most of the time, it is only important if the sub goes down to low frequencies. However, with music, a musical sub can play very fast and very clean while a non musical sub will sound bloated. HSU and SVS and other companies are able to make subs that go down low for movies but are also very fast and clean for music. So you get the best of both worlds.

Axioms have a lot of detail in their sound. When you listen to them, there is just so many more layers to the sound. Instead of just hearing the guitar, you hear the fingers sliding on the guitar with the sound of the guitar. Instead of just hearing a voice, you will hear the actor or singer breathe in and out as well.

So I would recommend buying a speaker that does music well so that it will be able to do music and HT well! I was not a big music fan until I bought my Axioms, now I listen to music more than HT because it sounds so incredible.

[RedBaronF2001]

It's purely subjective to the listener.

However, I have listened to a plethora of different makes & models during my audio obsession years. I have not heard, to date, anything that can compete with Genelec Active Monitors for home theater installations. Their subwoofer system will rattle all your dental fillings out and keep going all night long. Truly an experience!

The setup was Runco CRT FP, ADA Processors, Genelec Monitors, Faroudja NRS/DVD Transport. Room was acoustically treated. CRT shot onto a 130 Stewart Studiotek.

[Sycho]

for the mains
couple of these bad boy's
bout 12 of these for the surrounds (four for each channel)

[brttlt]

hey snip,
which Axioms do you have?

[brian]

Originally Posted by brttlt

hey snip,
which Axioms do you have?

Snippy's new HT -- That's snippy's HT set-up. Might I add, it also contained pictures that started my quest for Axioms. I also have the same 3 front speakers -- and they work great for movies.

[snipsnapsappy]

M22, VP150, 3 QS8's.

[snipsnapsappy]

RedBaron,

If you know anyone on this forum that can afford Genelec's, I would like to know becuase they need to post thier theater on the Your HT site.

[RedBaronF2001]

Originally Posted by snipsnapsappy

RedBaron,

If you know anyone on this forum that can afford Genelec's, I would like to know becuase they need to post thier theater on the Your HT site.

I have had the privilege in my life to sample audio & video equipment I could never afford, no doubt.

You can get "affordable" Genelec systems (for smaller, non-dedicated theaters, like most here) for ~$4,000-7,000 (HT205s vs. 206s) for the system (5.1 setup). What you don't realize is that you don't need amps. Just buy a nice pre/pro and run RCA or XLR connects to them.

Once I find the time (in the process of moving currently), I will post some completed theaters on my site. Unfortuneately, I had no stake in the design of said theater. I merely "sampled" it.

The original question/post, snip, was what are the "best" and I merely stated my opinion. You stated yours.

[Iguana Man]

Hey Red ; I went to the link but found no floorstanders except for the inwalls? Do they even make a floorstander? (just curious)

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by brttlt

I know some people push Axioms, but after reading some reviews, it sounds as though they are better for music. My main concern is movies, with music being secondary and I'm in a quandry for speakers!
Help!

"Best" is in the ear of the beholder my son.....

Get your A$$ out there and listen! Seriously.....no one here can tell "you" what's "best". It's fun anyways....take a road trip to a store that has several different brands (ones you've narrowed it down too), and try out the Axioms too....return policy makes it a no brainer! Or are you sold on the M22's???



Edited: Patience is a virtue brttlt.....take your time.

[RedBaronF2001]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

Hey Red ; I went to the link but found no floorstanders except for the inwalls? Do they even make a floorstander? (just curious)

Not that I have seen. Coming from a studio monitoring background, Genelec only makes custom-install or stand-mount speakers right now. You could place some of their models on the floor, but they would perform best up closer to ear level.

[TT-]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

"Best" is in the ear of the beholder my son.....

Get your A$$ out there and listen! Seriously.....no one here can tell "you" what's "best". It's fun anyways....take a road trip to a store that has several different brands (ones you've narrowed it down too), and try out the Axioms too....return policy makes it a no brainer! Or are you sold on the M22's???



Edited: Patience is a virtue brttlt.....take your time.

I'd have to agree with Iguana Man on this. Speakers is a very delicate issue, and it's like girls.. some like big 00 and some like nice @@. Anyway, I digressed. I am also looking for HT speakers and narrow down to a few, the MartinLogan Fresco and B&W FPM series. I went to MagnoliaHiFi for a demo of the MartinLogan and I was not very pleased. For a speaker that cost $1000+ a piece, I say it's all garbage. But some of the website I went to, they're all giving a rave review.

I then went to DefinitiveAudio and audition the B&W FPM4, the smallest of the FPM Series and I was blown away. The clarity, the image, everything was just perfect... and they're $300 or more less than the MartinLogan Fresco. So there you have it, go out and audition the speakers and hear it for yourself. If it sounds good to you and you think you can live with it for the next few years, buy it! Reading reviews is just really misleading. Though it does give you some ideas.

At any rate, my 2 cents.

[snipsnapsappy]

Those are all trendy Plasma on wall speakers. They have a very poor cost/performance ratio. However, if that is what you are going for, I hear they do sound pretty good, just not as good as comparatively priced floorstanders or bookshelves.

[TT-]

Originally Posted by snipsnapsappy

Those are all trendy Plasma on wall speakers. They have a very poor cost/performance ratio. However, if that is what you are going for, I hear they do sound pretty good, just not as good as comparatively priced floorstanders or bookshelves.

The MartinLogans are on-wall speaker, if I remember correctly. But the B&W FPMs are on-wall or on stand if you want to buy them. They come with two small stands, but that's if you have a table or something to put them on. They're much better than most of the bookshelves I've heard. Of course they cannot match the floorstanding speakers, but for what they are and how they integrated well with the furnitures... it's really great. Sometime you have to factor in the WAF (wife-acceptance-factor) when buying speakers, it's a lot easier to find something that's aesthetically looking than bulky tower speaker or even bookshelves.

Anyway, there are other speakers that's a lot less and sound great. You just have to find the ones that please you. Happy hunting .

[Jellodyne]

I've got Polks RTi's for my front soundstage, and I think they're the best relatively-inexpensive-speakers-available-locally-at-big-box-electronics-stores for movies. So that's a very heavily qualified 'best', but it was good enough for me.

[TT-]

If it were up to me, I'd immediately buy 7 of the Mackie HR824 power speakers and a Velodyne SPL-1200 subwoofer, hell.. maybe 2 of the Velodyne SPL-1200. That would then hook-up to a surround sound processor with balance output and you'll get one hella THX studio-quality-like home theater. But that's just a dream, and I keep on dreaming .

1 Mackie HR824 is about $850 a speaker, time 7 is a lot.

[snipsnapsappy]

I checked out the Mackies, studio monitors usually sound pretty sweet.

Is there a reason you chose them? How do they compare to other studio monitors?

Are they powered?

[TT-]

As a matter of fact, I had a pair of HR824. And they are powered speaker, so you don't need an amp to drive them. You just need a really good processor with balance output, that would rock any hometheater system. They're powered speaker, so cabling them might be an issue as each speaker would need a power outlet. Nevertheless, once you got it setup.. you don't need to turn them up very loud to hear the movie.

I used my pair of HR824 mostly for music and they are precise. I wouldn't trade them for any other bookshelf. If you search around, there's nothing but positive review/feedback about these speakers. The smaller brother is the HR624 or equal in price of HR824 is the HR626. The HR 624 is about $420 per speaker, HR626 is anywhere $750 - $850. The advantage of HR626 is you can position them horizontally or vertically. And did you know that they used the HR626 as a reference speaker for all The Matrix movies?

[chlngr1970]

brttlt, What kind of budget are you talking about here? Also, are we talking 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, .2 at all What are you looking at driving them? How big is the room? These are some factors you need to consider when buying speakers for you HT. Do you want in wall, bookshelf, floorstanding?

In my HT setup, I have Boston Acoustics CR series speakers. When I get my house built, I plan on upgrading to Paradigm Studio series speakers. Hopefully I can afford them by then and also upgrade to a 7.1 separates setup. That, along with a pair of SVS subs, and I should have a KICKIN home theater

j