1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Home audio question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by brad34695, Dec 11, 2007.

  1. brad34695

    brad34695 New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2007
    99
    0
    0
    Location:
    Tampa Bay Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    I am in market for looking for some high quality speakers. I am interested in purchasing a pair up to $750. Can anyone give me sugguestions? Bookshelf or regular size speakers are fine. I was thinking about buying a set of Bose. Any advice is greatly appericated, thanks!!!!

    Brad
    Tampa Bay Florida
     
  2. lenjack

    lenjack Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2006
    804
    114
    0
    Location:
    Pennsylvania USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I won't give you a specific recommendation, but I think you'll find from those in the know, that Bose is widely considered overpriced junk. You can do far better for less money.
     
  3. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,080
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I've been out of the home audio portion for so long I cannot be of much help but I did see that Telarc is now using ATC speakers in their establishment. Telarc is known for creating very high end cds and resampling older ones to make them sound much better. I do not know if they have anything in your price range though.
     
  4. Presto

    Presto Has his homepage set to PC

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2005
    1,326
    24
    0
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I would recommend staying away from the big box stores. Visit stores that only deal in hifi. The good stores will quickly steer you away from Bose. Bring your favorite CD so you can have a listen to the speakers before you buy them. I bought a set of B&W 602.5 towers for around $750. My home system is finally better sounding than my mobile system! :). The sky's the limit when it comes to how much you can spend on audio. Things can get pretty crazy.
     
  5. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2004
    1,765
    14
    0
    Location:
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I once bought a pair of lightly used Paradigm Studio 40s for $800 ($1200 new). That's a price/performance level that going to be hard to beat. They hold their own with speakers costing twice as much.

    Suggest you check out the speaker forum on AVS Forum (avsforum.com). When your budget is 10x as much, check out Audiogon (audiogon.com).

    Review: http://www.paradigm.com/en/pdf/reviews/fronts/studio40_review_188.pdf

    Link: http://www.paradigm.com/en/reference/speaker_only-specification-27-1-2-13.paradigm

    I like PSBs in that price range too. I've owned them before too.

    BTW, lenmark is absolutely correct about Bose. They totally suck. Overpriced junk and considered a complete joke by everyone who has the slightest interest in decent sound reproduction.
     
  6. koa

    koa Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2005
    980
    45
    0
    Location:
    Hawaii
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Check out this company for Internet purchased speakers. Great customer service and helpful advice on the forums. I have purchased speakers from them. I would not recommend Bose.

    http://www.av123.com/
     
  7. HighBreed

    HighBreed Member

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2007
    113
    3
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles/Orange Counties
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
  8. lenjack

    lenjack Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2006
    804
    114
    0
    Location:
    Pennsylvania USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Ascend Acoustics thruogh the internet. Fabuolus products, in your price range, superb customer service.
     
  9. jhall

    jhall New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2007
    71
    0
    0
    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
  10. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2007
    10,664
    567
    0
    Location:
    Adelaide South Australia
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    You guys must have better ears than me. I wouldn't spend $750 on a whole sound system.
     
  11. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2004
    1,765
    14
    0
    Location:
    Silicon Valley, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    [​IMG]

    This system belonging to an audiogon.com member was featured on their front page. My rough guess is about $200,000 US. Front speakers are $40k a pair, and each of the two Mark Levinson amps for the L+R front channel is $20k a piece.
     
  12. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2007
    10,664
    567
    0
    Location:
    Adelaide South Australia
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    It must be hell for a person with such fussy ears to go to a cinema.
    I suspect there was no money left for cinema tickets.
    I also suspect this person would wait for the DVD release.
     
  13. Presto

    Presto Has his homepage set to PC

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2005
    1,326
    24
    0
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    ^^^

    It's better to not know what you're missing. Finding that perfect or different sound can get addicting. I'm knee deep in mobile audio because I keep stockpiling good deals on higher end equipment.
     
  14. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2007
    5,051
    481
    97
    Location:
    Flushing, NY
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Actually, I think that the handful of audiophiles I've known, love and appreciate music first and foremost. Their pursuit and enjoyment of better sound equipment is just something they like to do. They still appreciate and enjoy listening to music, even when its sonic reproduction is a little dodgy.
     
  15. brad34695

    brad34695 New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2007
    99
    0
    0
    Location:
    Tampa Bay Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    First of all, I wish to thank everyone who responded to my original post. My first thought for Bose was only because I recent got a pair of their noise quieting headphones that I was very impressed with. Or maybe I'm just impressed too easily.

    I have researched Paradigm speakers via google and www.avsforum.com as recommended. No one seems to have any bad things to say about them, and if pressed I could go up to $1,000 on a pair which seems to be within their price range. I located a dealer locally who sells them, so I'll be checking them out before the end of the month.

    Again thanks to all who responded, and if there is anymore advice or sugguestions you like to give please feel free.

    Brad
    Tampa Bay Florida


     
  16. Banjoman

    Banjoman Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2007
    124
    0
    0
    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Just to complicate your life, the speakers you may select in a "show room environment" may, and probably will, sound completely different in your living room. I've had a pair of speakers for 30+ years that have been in several different rooms in different homes. It's always an adventure to see (hear) how they will sound with each move. The best sound to me came when they were in a high-ceiling room. Now they live in my bedroom with an eight-foot ceiling. The room is quite large though and they sound pretty good. The bass varies the most room-to-room.

    For consistent sound quality room-to-room, I'd stick with those Bose headphones. :p
     
  17. Dave

    Dave New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2003
    340
    2
    0
    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Brad,

    I would agree with the others to stay away from Bose.

    http://www.head-fi.org/forums/index.php?

    The above site specializes in portable audio.. earphones, etc., but I think there are some very knowledgeable contributors there, and I think they'd steer you in the right direction.
    If at all possible, try to listen before you buy. Good luck.
     
  18. lenjack

    lenjack Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2006
    804
    114
    0
    Location:
    Pennsylvania USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I agree that speakers will sound different from room to room, and obviously from showroom to your room. Be sure you have complete return priviledges before you buy.
     
  19. Doc Willie

    Doc Willie Shuttlecraft Commander

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    1,714
    141
    0
    Location:
    Out there, somewhere
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    You got any extra stuff to get rid of, let me know.
     
  20. Doc Willie

    Doc Willie Shuttlecraft Commander

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    1,714
    141
    0
    Location:
    Out there, somewhere
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    It is worth learning a little about acoustics, and saving some money for room treatment. You can get carried away with this too, but tightening up the bass (most often ignored, most important to do) is not hard:

    http://www.ethanwiner.com/

    Do some study before you start throwing money at heavily advertised stuff like Auralex or dangerous stuff like eggcrates.