apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Here you go! The speakers are the size of strawberries, and the subwoofer obviates the need for a separate receiver because it has a Dolby Digital decoder built-in and several modern inputs (read optical). You can pair it with Sony's wireless module for the rear speakers and forego stringing all that nasty wire. This is the solution for me. I am all about simplicity.


"Sony HT-IS100 BRAVIA Theater Micro-System (Set of Six, Black)" (Sony)


"Sony AIRSA10 S-AIR Speaker System - Black" (Sony)

"Sony WAHT-SA1 S-AIR Digital Wireless Speaker Unit (Black)" (Sony)

$900!!!

Question is, do you need speakers for Home Theater or just for 2 channel (stereo listening)? Sounds like you dont want a subwoofer. If thats the case, then 2-way bookshelves (has tweeter and mid range driver) might be for you.

Remember that subwoofer shouldnt be set to loud. It's suppose to blend well with the music/HT and not overwhelm. A properly adjusted/calibrated subwoofer should even call attention to itself and you should not even recognize as to where the bass it's coming from in the room.

As an audio enthusiast...Definitive technology definitely a good choice if you want small size speakers that produces great sound. $900 bucks is not steep price to pay for a speaker is well made and sounds (5 times better than Bose).

Bose doesnt have enough bass (low end) because the speakers are very small. It's not enough to produce low bass. Also their so called bass module is not really a subwoofer. It's more like a mid-range driver.

B&W, KEF, PSB, Paradigm, Orb audio, Gallo, Boston acoustics, Monitor audio, Klipsch are other speaker brands that make speakers with a small footprint that you might want to listen as well

i mean should "not" call attention to itself

The physics of speakers aren't really all that complicated, and the reality of tiny speakers is that they're never going to sound that great. I'd look at systems with a minimum of a 5" woofer, especially if you're not going to have a sub.

Sony's basic bookshelf series does a nice job for an incredible price. A pair of SS-B1000 is about $50 and can be easily hung up on the wall if that's what you're going for. SS-B3000's are $75ish a pair and add quite a bit more bass (they have 8" woofers, but are still compact enough to fit on a bookshelf due to some clever design). The predecessor to this speaker took top ratings from consumer reports - outperforming much more expensive systems.

I would recommend some Mirage nanosats (they sound far larger than they really are) and a Martin Logan sub.

go to audiogon and look around. You will find some very great prices on generally lightly used speakers there.

You will absolutely find something better than Bose (WAY better) for less than $1000. Now out of business, but M&K are great, JM Labs are very nice (the Sib & Cub), etc.

Go do the research and listen whenever possible.

-R

Energy's Take 5 sub/sat system is a great value - a much better deal than Bose.