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$7k and a gun to your head: which LCR are you taking?

Chromatischism

Chromatischism

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11'x12' dedicated room, 50/50 music and movies on a 7.1.4 system.

(2) 15" ported subs, -6 dB at 11 Hz
77" OLED
Denon AVR w/XT32

No furniture restrictions.
Could be floor standing or stand mounted.
United States.

I don't need speakers with fancy woodwork, but I don't prefer the utilitarian studio monitor look, either. They should look decent and due to the size of the room, they shouldn't be too wide.

I'm aware of some of the usual suspects. But what would you go with?
 
Hmm, for that money you can get 3x KEF LS60... (If you have an acoustically transparent screen?) On the other hand maybe some of the coaxial Genelecs are in range, especially secondhand...
 
Philharmonic HT towers and Philharmonic HT Center channel.

I just really like these speakers a lot, and they sound great when properly crossed over with subs (those Purifi drivers handle low-mid range better than anything I have heard). They look great, and size-wise are a good match for 11x12.
 
Wg916 said:
Philharmonic HT towers and Philharmonic HT Center channel.

I just really like these speakers a lot, and they sound great when properly crossed over with subs (those Purifi drivers handle low-mid range better than anything I have heard). They look great, and size-wise are a good match for 11x12.
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This was my answer too. Perfect for this situation. I adore my HT's.

Problem is getting them, the wait times are long. Satin Walnut is in stock.
 
Chromatischism said:
Dennis makes great stuff. No question.

My concern with those is they are quite imposing (wide) in a room that's pretty tight on space.

The Ascend Sierra ELX towers come to mind but I wanted to see what others thought.


vs Sierra ELX, what's your take?
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The HT's are thin - 8.5" W x 11" D
Very comparable to the Sierra ELX with ribbon, but I think they look a lot better than the Ascend.
 
Well I voted with my wallet and went Revel f226Be and C208 center because I found a great deal. But for current production centers I would go KEF R6 all day, and since most people think matching the L/R is important: R7s.
 
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Chromatischism said:
These are probably great, but if the Ascend Sierra ELX and Philharmonic HT Tower compare well against something like the KEF Blade, is this a fair fight?
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This was kind of attempted in the past. No is the best answer - the bass response and point source presentation of the Blade will surpass both the Ascend and Philharmonic. On the other hand, the Ascend and Phils will have that enjoyable wide directivity. And both usually need a subwoofer depending on the content.
 
Mort said:
This was kind of attempted in the past. No is the best answer - the bass response and point source presentation of the Blade will surpass both the Ascend and Philharmonic. On the other hand, the Ascend and Phils will have that enjoyable wide directivity. And both usually need a subwoofer depending on the content.
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Yeah. I'm talking about the KEF R recommendation--it will be a step down from the Blade, so I'm not sure if it will keep up with the others.
 
Chromatischism said:
Yeah. I'm talking about the KEF R recommendation--it will be a step down from the Blade, so I'm not sure if it will keep up with the others.
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Ah gotcha. R7 meta is a fine speaker. Do you know if you want wider or narrower directivity/dispersion? The feature sound of the Philharmonic is the wide directivity which most people like. I like both and listen to systems that are wide and medium/narrow. For general use in a larger room, I recommend wide.
 
Mort said:
Ah gotcha. R7 meta is a fine speaker. Do you know if you want wider or narrower directivity/dispersion? The feature sound of the Philharmonic is the wide directivity which most people like. I like both and listen to systems that are wide and medium/narrow. For general use in a larger room, I recommend wide.
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This is a really good question because I've thought about it myself. I haven't heard these speakers with wide dispersion, so I don't know what I don't know.

What I can say is that I really like the controlled/constant directivity I heard from Buchardt. They aren't wide or narrow, more in between, with smoothly declining sound off-axis. The detail and imaging are amazing.

And perhaps similarly, I also liked and preferred my system set up as "midfield" where speakers and seats are not near walls. The detail makes itself more apparent since the direct vs reflected sound ratio changes. And I love the sound I get from my IEMs.

This sounds like I'd be a good candidate for KEF-- but I really don't know. Those are a little more narrow than I'm used to and the top end is less airy without a waveguide to spread the high frequencies.
 
So far, nobody has addressed the second part of the question!!! Sure, some great answers on LCR speakers for under $7K.

But there has been a completely lack of conversation addressing the acoustic impact of a gun — or any other object, for that matter — being held against one side of your head ... while the other side of the head is completely unobstructed and free of any objects that would interfere with the acoustic sound path. :cool:
 
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Obviously the speakers need to be identical. Given an apparent unwillingness to move the TV up enough to fit towers, three of the bigger KEF R-series meta “centers” across the front makes a lot of sense IMO. Or if you luck into a warehouse full of the double-8 Revel Performa3 “center.” If you want wider, given the small size of the room, 3x Revel M126Be may work very well and be well under budget. Actually that’s what I’d do — modernize the AVR to something with ART and use 3x M126Be. That would be better than throttling the system with Audyssey.
 
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