I'm looking at a pair of bookshelf speakers to replace my current Bose Acoustimas 3 Series IV speakers. I'll be moving the Bose speakers to the left and right surround. And until I can afford a proper center speaker be using a cheap Advent speaker to fill in. The bookshelf speakers I have my eyes on are the Infinity Primus 160 Crutchfield has them listed as $239.98 which is right about in my price range [for the pair]. My receiver is a Yamaha RX-V550 if that helps at all. Just want to make sure I'm making a good choice before jumping on them. [bold]Edit[/bold] Would it be smart to buy a subwoofer with these speakers as well? They only have a 6.5 inch sub. If so what do you recommend?
Infinity makes a damned good product; I'll see if I can find some reviews when I get out of work. One thing you MUST consider is that speakers have to be "timber matched" with each other...in short, you'll need to eventually get infinity center and surrounds but not necessary with the sub... this is more important than I can even describe and I learnt the hard way. Say you put top of the line Polks for your front mains and Mirage R-2s for your surrounds...both top of the line speakers....your system will sound like crap because the timber between the front and back is so different. Your system should flow absolutely smoothly between front and back and that WON'T happen if your speakers don't match...so be prepared when you put the bose in the back and center combined with the infinity in front...I understand why you're doing that and it makes perfect sense to wait until you can get really good speakers but be advised that it may sound course and choppy when sound progresses from front to rear and visa versa. Small satellites absolutely REQUIRE a sub and rely heavily on them because it sends more than just the lowest frequencies to the sub but the bottom third of the midrange as well so you can't do without a sub when you're using small satellites. With bookshelf speakers, you don't NEED a sub but you won't get the same sort of firm but very low notes you'll get from a sub...that is why subs are "powered"...it takes far more amplification for those notes than the receiver can deliver in ratio to the midrange and tweeters. So, in short, you can do without the sub with bookshelf speakers (as well as towers) but don't expect the same sort of bass response. You might find the following useful ... will see what I can dig up on the infinities. http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/ht_speakers.html My favorite subs are Klipsch and Mirage but there are plenty of good makes.
Both those brands seem a little bit out of my price range I think. $250 would probably be my limit on a subwoofer but would have to wait a few months. I'm a student working part time so the income is a little on the low side But the cost is worth it for good sound. Which is why the Bose are getting demoted before I give them to my brother in about a year when I can afford something to replace them. But thinking a little to far ahead. Would you recommend a different set of speakers? $500 is my price roof for now, but would set me back on the rest of my planned upgrades. But it would be worth it I think for a higher quality product. And I completely understand about the less then smooth transition from front to back. My setup right now was pretty harsh on my ears when I bought the Yamaha reciever. It lets you tinker with the sound coming out of the individual speakers so its a bit better now but far from perfect. I ended up turning them down just a little bit lower then the fronts to make them a little less noticable. Which was good enough for me. Hoping to do something similiar when I purchase a new pair for the front.
@darkjello No time to write at the moment but I thought I'd post this link. I've never heard these speakers but the specs are really good and I understand they sound great...sure can't beat the prices. Take a peek and I'll see what I can find on them. http://www.fluance.com/
Just searching in google I'm not finding a lot of reviews on them, the two I found, one guy was pretty upset with how the music sounded, and that will be what they're mainly for [no specific genre really] But I'm interested in what you find on them. Don't know really where to go for speaker reviews/news which is why I'm here I probably won't be back until around 7:00 pm EST or so, so no rush.
Don't mean to be a pain or anything, but have you found anything on the Fluance speakers? Or should I stay with the Infinity?
Hi DarkJello! You're not being a pain at all...I'm just running around with only a few moments at a time. Actually, I've look pretty hard and haven't found anything on the Fluance speakers but the Infinity Primus 160s get high praise everywhere so I'd stick with them and not take the chance. You did check to make sure there are centers and surrounds you'll be able to add a later date....ah, there's got to be. I would go with the infinities DarkJello...they get really high praise. When you listen to music, set you front speakers to "large" on your AVR but I'd experiment with setting them to "small" when you're watching DVDs. In routing some of the sound to the sub, it really makes the effects stick out more. I do it sometimes with my Mirages which are huge. Try it and you'll see what I mean....Gerry
You got it, I'll be setting them to large I think until I can afford a sub in another month or so. Then I'll play around with that stuff. I'm fairly certain I saw center and surround speakers availible in the same line but I'll check again before purchase. Would it be advisable to use a second pair of bookshelf speakers for the surround?
I think you'd be better off with real surround speakers more because of the way they disperse sound but crutchfield says they can be used that way: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-77ZMnsnj4UW/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=108P160 I'm not sure if you noticed but the Infinities are shielded so there isn't a problem setting them close to your tv if that's what you had in mind.
Yea I did see that, I'll be rearranging the room so I'm not sure how close to the television they'll be and it's best not to take any chances with that sort of thing. Just for my personal knowledge, about how far away does an unshielded speaker have to be from a televison to eliminate interference?
Hmmm...I'll see if I can find an answer to that one. I imagine it would all depend on the size of the magnets but I'll see what I can dig up.
