Need Towers

Teejai
Teejai Posts: 43
edited December 2004 in Speakers
Ok here is the deal, I'm looking to buy some tower speakers for a living room. This isn't the main room, I have a family room with my HT setup, so it will just be stereo and I don't want to add a sub...at least not right away. I only want to purchase speakers so they will have to work fine with my old JVC receiver (old meaning 10 years but 100W per channel). Obviously with the receiver this isn't going to be high end. The speakers will only be used for music, background noise while making dinner or for the kids to dance around. Must be towers due to having young kids (2 & 3) plus due to the simplistic nature of the setup...cheap. I was thinking maybe Polk R50s, Athenas, or something used. Any ideas?
Yamaha RX-V661
RTi6
CSi5
FXi3
PSW303
Post edited by Teejai on

Comments

  • landry_p2000
    landry_p2000 Posts: 1,313
    edited December 2004
    BestBuy has a set of Athena floorstanding speakers for $149. They should be decent for that purpose at that price.
    Main Set-up: 55" 120 hz Samsung LN55B650, Onkyo TX-SR806, Emotiva XPA-5, Emotiva XPA-2, PS3 Slim, Sony BDP-S560, Apple TV (160g), Panamax M5300-PM, Polk Audio CSi5, RTi10's, FXi3's, RTi4's, and SVS PB12 Plus

    Bedroom: Panasonic 50" S2 Plasma and Panasonic BD65 blu-ray player, Onkyo TX-SR707, Emotiva XPA-3, Emotiva UPA-2, KEF IQ7's, IQc, IQ8Ds, and SVS PB10-ISD
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited December 2004
    If you're getting Athena "anything" at $149, you doing real good. Of course, I'm a little biased. I'll pit my Athena's against anything under $1200 bucks.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited December 2004
    Steve -- I bet those Athenas are wonderful. You almost convinced me to buy a pair of AS-F2's. I'd love to hear them someday (but not at Best Blah).

    Can you spot me a round trip ticket from Georgia to Arizona? I'll pay you back, really I will.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,986
    edited December 2004
    Only thing REAL affordable I have right now, in a small tower design is RT8's.

    Cheers,
    Russ
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
  • landry_p2000
    landry_p2000 Posts: 1,313
    edited December 2004
    Originally posted by steveinaz
    If you're getting Athena "anything" at $149, you doing real good. Of course, I'm a little biased. I'll pit my Athena's against anything under $1200 bucks.

    Anybody want to "blind" test for pink slips?

    (damn, I took that kinda personal huh?)

    I'm serious Steve! Those turds have the AS-F1s for $149 on the website. They are the first set displayed on the floor speaker section. I thought about getting them myself. I almost picked those AS-F2s before I discovered Polk Audio. They were warm and smooth. Very nice. I don't like Bestblah myself. I am a Circuit City Man.:D
    Main Set-up: 55" 120 hz Samsung LN55B650, Onkyo TX-SR806, Emotiva XPA-5, Emotiva XPA-2, PS3 Slim, Sony BDP-S560, Apple TV (160g), Panamax M5300-PM, Polk Audio CSi5, RTi10's, FXi3's, RTi4's, and SVS PB12 Plus

    Bedroom: Panasonic 50" S2 Plasma and Panasonic BD65 blu-ray player, Onkyo TX-SR707, Emotiva XPA-3, Emotiva UPA-2, KEF IQ7's, IQc, IQ8Ds, and SVS PB10-ISD
  • Teejai
    Teejai Posts: 43
    edited December 2004
    BB has the Athena AS-F1 for $141.99 each...last week they were $99 each. I tried to listen to them when BB first started carrying them but you know how crappy their setup is...maybe I'll give BB another shot. So these are better than the Polk R50s? I listened to those a long time ago too but I bought my RTi6s instead. Outpost was selling the R50s for $90 each.
    Yamaha RX-V661
    RTi6
    CSi5
    FXi3
    PSW303
  • okiepolkie
    okiepolkie Posts: 2,258
    edited December 2004
    Outpost is also selling the cherry R30's for $130/pr. I would buy some if I had a use for them(and extra $$$).
    Tschüss
    Zach
  • gregure
    gregure Posts: 871
    edited December 2004
    Can I just say that for music alone anything less than the RTi line would be a crime. R50's for music??? Please.

    Sorry had to add my two cents.

    See if you can find some RTi 8's on clearance at Circuit City or another place. I scored on 2 pairs of Rti 6's. One at CC for $150, another pair at a small higher end place for $220. They're out there, but you have to look.
    Current System:

    Mitsubishi 30" LCD LT-3020 (for sale**)
    Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Concert Grand (Rosewood)-Mains (with Audioquest Mont Blanc cables)
    CSi5-Center (for sale**)
    FXi3-surrounds (for sale**)
    Martin Logan Depth-Sub
    B&K AVR 507
    Pimare CD21-CD Player
    Denon 1815-DVD Player
    Panamax M5500-EX-Line Conditioner
  • okiepolkie
    okiepolkie Posts: 2,258
    edited December 2004
    How bout these towers?
    RTA 8TL

    Seems to be a good price to me. I guess shipping would be the determining factor though.
    Tschüss
    Zach
  • Fulmer
    Fulmer Posts: 26
    edited December 2004
    R50's for music??? Please

    Hey now, don't knock the R50's. I happen to think they sound quite nice for music. I'd say I've listened to more music on my system in the last month (since the purchase of the R50's) than I did in the last year with Rt25i's as my mains. They're a little bright perhaps, maybe a little sloppy in the bass (they are a ported speaker after all), but to my ear they are right on. I don't regret my purchase one bit. Long live the R series!
    Fulmer

    TV: Hitachi 51F500
    Receiver: Yamaha HTR-5240
    Mains: R50
    Center: CS245i
    Surrounds: RT25i
    Sub: Atlantic Technology T70
  • TheReaper
    TheReaper Posts: 636
    edited December 2004
    Originally posted by Teejai
    Must be towers due to having young kids (2 & 3) plus due to the simplistic nature of the setup...cheap.
    Taking another angle to this.

    The grills on the R50s are fairly rugged and don't come off easily. And if you do break off one of the grill posts (about the only part that might break). The grill can easily be held on with duct tape (preferably black). The downside with the R50s might be, if you give them a good knock on the side (as in a kid running into them). They would probably fall over, and they do have some weight to them.
    Win7 Media Center -> Onkyo TXSR702 -> Polk Rti70
  • Sami
    Sami Posts: 4,634
    edited December 2004
    Must be towers due to having young kids (2 & 3) plus due to the simplistic nature of the setup
    How about small bookshelves mounted on the wall? A lot more safer than towers and not hard to setup. Polk RTi6's, Athena AS-B1's for example or if you don't want to spent much, R15's from Fry's (Russ posted they are selling for $49 a pair). Also you could get Polk Atrium speakers that are in-/outdoor and have mounts already.
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited December 2004
    Originally posted by landry_p2000
    I'm serious Steve! Those turds have the AS-F1s for $149 on the website. They are the first set displayed on the floor speaker section. I thought about getting them myself. I almost picked those AS-F2s before I discovered Polk Audio. They were warm and smooth. Very nice. I don't like Bestblah myself. I am a Circuit City Man.:D

    That's a heck of a deal; basically the AS-B2 in a tower cabinet...
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
  • mesquitehead
    mesquitehead Posts: 312
    edited December 2004
    I have a pair in good shape, 2-8" and one tweet in each tower...they are black and can be bi-wired or bi-amped down the road. $200 and shipping from 78748 Austin ,Texas
    "Thats great... but how does it sound"
    http://www.burginmcdaniel.com/

    http://mixonline.com/gear/reviews/audio_burgin_mcdaniel_komit/

    Yamaha RX-A820 (networked with wireless bridge), Carver M-1.0t, Carver TFM-35, Carver C-1, Polk SDA1c's (x2 pair), Polk RTA 8tl's, Polk RTA 11tl's, Polk Monitor 5, Polk CS 400, Polk PSW 650, Rega Planar 3, Sony DVPNC555ES SACD/DVD, Panny 65" Plasma, Roku

    2007 Tundra 5.7 TRD DC
    Pioneer DEH-80PRS
    Polk SR6500
    SI BM 12" subs
    Zed Gladius
    Zed Deuce
  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,986
    edited December 2004
    MShead, you've got a pm.

    Cheers,
    Russ
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
  • stereo55
    stereo55 Posts: 418
    edited December 2004
    Hate to plug anything for Tweeter.com (due to the last online price fiasco) , but to help a fellow Polk member ....


    Polk T90e's (aka: european version of Monitor60's)
    SDA-2B's ~ Pair SDA-CRS's ~ ,*** Main listening: Maggies MG1 ~ Polk SDA 2B's ~ Monitor 10's , 3-pairs (2 pairs moded into SDA's w/SDA-2B/CRS cross-overs) , * DCM TF600's * Mission M71/M72 *** Main brdrm FRT: RTiA-5's /Presence RTi-4 / LSI-704 Cntr / Rear FXI3's ~~~ Assorted Main listening rm : , 2- Heathkit W-5M /tube mono blocks (Parasound P/HP-850)* * 2- Altec Lansing 1590b's/mono blocks (Yamaha C-45) * CM Labs 35D * Dynaco ST-70 ~ Occasionally ~* Yamaha CR-820/A-760 ,* Sansui AU-317/AU-217 * Carver 900 rec *2-Dynaco ST 120* 1 Hafler DH-220* Marantz 1040 ... more
  • Teejai
    Teejai Posts: 43
    edited December 2004
    Thanks for the replies everyone. There are few good ideas tossed around which helps. I think I can rule out the bookshelf speakers due to placement restrictions. WAF plus the everything is going into a corner which doesn't work well for wall mounting. I'll probably keep an eye open for Athena towers or shop the wonderful world of eBay.
    Yamaha RX-V661
    RTi6
    CSi5
    FXi3
    PSW303
  • chenj16
    chenj16 Posts: 148
    edited December 2004
    Originally posted by steveinaz
    That's a heck of a deal; basically the AS-B2 in a tower cabinet...

    AS-B2 has the 6.5" woofer whereas AS-F1 has the 8" woofer, correct me if i'm wrong...
  • Teejai
    Teejai Posts: 43
    edited December 2004
    Originally posted by chenj16
    AS-B2 has the 6.5" woofer whereas AS-F1 has the 8" woofer, correct me if i'm wrong...

    Correct, the AS-F1 has the 8" woofer. Anyone know if they use the same tweeter?

    BTW, I still haven't jumped on anything yet so if anyone else has something different to suggest I'm open to it.
    Yamaha RX-V661
    RTi6
    CSi5
    FXi3
    PSW303
  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,583
    edited December 2004
    Steve,

    I dont know about comparing the Athena F-2 to anything under 1200$ a pair. There are so many speakers out there that would be pretty hard to match up against.
    Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,775
    edited December 2004
    Definitive Tech BP6B - 150 Used + S/H
    The BP 6B
    Leading experts agree that Definitive's revolutionary bipolar loudspeakers are sonically superior to any conventional speaker regardless of size or price. Our least expensive tower, the astonishing BP 6B, brings all the dramatic benefits and sonic superiority of full-range bipolar technology to a new level of affordability.



    BP 6B Specifications:
    Dimensions: 7" W x 11" D x 35" H
    Frequency Response: 25 Hz — 30 kHz
    Rec. Assoc. Amplification: 20 —175 Watts/channel
    Efficiency: 91 dB
    Nominal Impedance: 4 — 8 ohms
    Drivers: Two 25 mm pure aluminum dome tweeters blended by a Linkwitz-Riley crossover; two 14 cm mineral-filled homopolymer-coned bass/midranges.
    Finish: Jewel-like piano black lacquer or golden cherry.
    Weight: 42 lbs. Speakers are supplied with an optional spiking kit.
    Retail: $299.00 ea.

    I own this speaker, and while it is a good speaker. If you can spring for the 8B, I would advise it. But this speaker will definetely offer the most bass for the money (no subwoofer), etc. But it will lack the musical sound - more for HT. I havnt heard the BP8B, but it is supposed to be a souped down BP10B, which is an awesome speaker...

    Definitive Tech BP8B - 200-250 + S/H Used
    The BP 8B
    The BP 8B is an extraordinary full-range bipolar loudspeaker which offers award-winning sonic performance superior to competitors' systems selling for twice its price and more. The BP 8B 's taller cabinet and cast basket drivers deliver even more extended bass response than the BP 6B. Its exquisite, jewel-like piano-gloss black or natural oak finish complements the finest home furnishings, and its sleek, ultra-compact design takes up only 1/2 sq. ft. of floor space.

    BP 8B Specifications:
    Dimensions: 7" W x 11" D x 38" H
    Frequency Response: 22 Hz — 30 kHz
    Rec. Assoc. Amplification: 20 — 200 Watts/channel
    Efficiency: 91 dB
    Nominal Impedance: 4 — 8 ohms
    Drivers: Two 25 mm pure aluminum dome tweeters; two 14 cm mineral-filled homopolymer-coned, cast-magnesium basket bass/midranges.
    Finish: Jewel-like piano black lacquer or golden cherry with wraparound black grill cloth (optional white cloth available separately).
    Weight: 46 lbs. Speakers are supplied with an optional spiking kit.
    Retail: $399.00 ea.
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.