jcw1138
March 29th, 2007, 8:55 PM
Hello all. I've been reading and rereading this forum for around a month now and I've been helped tremendously by the collective knowledge here. I'm hoping now for some advice specific to my particular situation, even if only in general terms. I understand how subjective this all is and how the room can make or break a setup.
Environment: Living Room opens to kitchen which has two open doorways to hallway leading upstairs and dining room/front room area. total distance (from end of kitchen to living room) 25'w x 18'd x 8'h or 3600 cu. ft.
Current setup:
Pioneer Elite VSX-55txi (7x100)
JBL Northridge N38 tower L and R
Frequency Response (–3dB)45Hz –20kHz
N-Center
Frequency Response (–3dB)80Hz –20kHz
N26 L and R surrounds
Frequency Response (–3dB)55Hz –20kHz
Sub was a PB 12, it's been dead for a few months.
What I'm looking at now is a VTF 2.3 sub matched with either a VT-12 setup or perhaps some bookshelves, like the HB-1's with an HC-1. The 2.3 is a done deal, I've already ordered it :^)
In general terms, are the vents good enough that I would notice an improvement over these lower end consumer JBLs? My biggest complaint with the JBL's has always been that I thought they were bad at dialog. They're just kind of muddy and hard to understand. This is either with manual calibration or even when calibrated automatically with the receiver.
The thing that holds me back from just trying out the vents is that I've always had some kind of bias towards satellites because I usually associate them with HTIB sets or bright and tinny Bose setups.
The problem isn't helped when everyone always qualifies their VT-12 comments with, "for their size". I want to know how they stack up against medium sized bookshelves in a normal, non-dedicated theater setup. Is bigger better in the average setup? In an average joe living room, with usage being 90/10 home theater or TV/music, is the VT-12 likely to perform better than what I already have and how much more improvement would it be to go with the HC-1/HB-1 setup? Has anyone tried out both?
I'm interested to know if anyone here tried out the VT-12's and ended up returning them for either HSU's other speakers or some other and if they decided ultimately that satellites were either for them or not for them and how they arrived at this decision....
I'm digging the reviews I read + thinking about how great it would be to have the speakers essentially hidden. I also get a vibe that these are likely better than the JBls, size and specs nothwithstanding. Is that warranted? Is it possible to go from even a cheap tower/bookshelf setup to a satellite setup and be pleased? Are there any other people out there that have converted from anti to pro satellites? :^)
I know I could audition them with little risk/cost, but I guess if the HC-1/HB-1's are almost always a significantly better choice, then I'd rather just save for them.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Environment: Living Room opens to kitchen which has two open doorways to hallway leading upstairs and dining room/front room area. total distance (from end of kitchen to living room) 25'w x 18'd x 8'h or 3600 cu. ft.
Current setup:
Pioneer Elite VSX-55txi (7x100)
JBL Northridge N38 tower L and R
Frequency Response (–3dB)45Hz –20kHz
N-Center
Frequency Response (–3dB)80Hz –20kHz
N26 L and R surrounds
Frequency Response (–3dB)55Hz –20kHz
Sub was a PB 12, it's been dead for a few months.
What I'm looking at now is a VTF 2.3 sub matched with either a VT-12 setup or perhaps some bookshelves, like the HB-1's with an HC-1. The 2.3 is a done deal, I've already ordered it :^)
In general terms, are the vents good enough that I would notice an improvement over these lower end consumer JBLs? My biggest complaint with the JBL's has always been that I thought they were bad at dialog. They're just kind of muddy and hard to understand. This is either with manual calibration or even when calibrated automatically with the receiver.
The thing that holds me back from just trying out the vents is that I've always had some kind of bias towards satellites because I usually associate them with HTIB sets or bright and tinny Bose setups.
The problem isn't helped when everyone always qualifies their VT-12 comments with, "for their size". I want to know how they stack up against medium sized bookshelves in a normal, non-dedicated theater setup. Is bigger better in the average setup? In an average joe living room, with usage being 90/10 home theater or TV/music, is the VT-12 likely to perform better than what I already have and how much more improvement would it be to go with the HC-1/HB-1 setup? Has anyone tried out both?
I'm interested to know if anyone here tried out the VT-12's and ended up returning them for either HSU's other speakers or some other and if they decided ultimately that satellites were either for them or not for them and how they arrived at this decision....
I'm digging the reviews I read + thinking about how great it would be to have the speakers essentially hidden. I also get a vibe that these are likely better than the JBls, size and specs nothwithstanding. Is that warranted? Is it possible to go from even a cheap tower/bookshelf setup to a satellite setup and be pleased? Are there any other people out there that have converted from anti to pro satellites? :^)
I know I could audition them with little risk/cost, but I guess if the HC-1/HB-1's are almost always a significantly better choice, then I'd rather just save for them.
Thanks for any thoughts.