Stereo Speakers

vanity

[beenaround]

I would like some input on which in wall speakers to choose to replace the Polk ATi-A9 tower spkrs I have. I love the speakers but want to free up some space without sacrificing the sound quality I have

Price is not an issue. My listening preferences are mid 40's to mid 60;s and some 70's stuff all played at moderate to low level. I have a Parasound 2100 pre amp powered with Parasound 2250 2 channel amp (250 WPC). I also have a Cambridge DAC (DacMagic)

All my music is in WMA and MP3 (minimum 250 bps) form and stored on a hard drive as well as on thumb drives.

Any advice any of you can give me will be greatly appreciated as I have had no personal experience within wall speakers.

[cuban leaf]

I have a couple of Oktava 319’s that I modified that sound pretty good. One of the reasons I got the Zoom was because I could plug them directly into the back and do four track recordings. But I’ve found that it is just so convenient to take the Zoom anywhere to get just about anything that it’s all I take.

I did have fun once recording my daughter at a coffee shop. I have a Panasonic Lumix GF1 4/3 still camera that also does great 780P video but lousy sound. So I recorded the sound with the Zoom and video with the GF1 and then used Adobe Elements to synch them up. It’s a piece of cake since they are both digital and once you get it right, it is right for the entire length of the video.

I was shocked how easy it was. You literally slide the audio with the mouse until it looks right. I used a transient in the recording that was easy to see and hear.

It’s a lot of fun doing it but for me my end result has very little practical use. It’s just fun.

[Erasmus]

I now have a box crammed with speaker wire with some over 100’ long. Some of it is agw22 but most is 16 or thicker. I probably have all the speaker wire I’ll ever need, but still, when I see a bunch for a buck or a quarter, I have to buy it.

You sound like a prepper.

≤}B^)

[Political Junkie Too]

I'm still listening to my Bose 901 Series V speakers that I bought in 1986. They predate the Acoustimass stuff.

-PJ

[cuban leaf]

Duh! :-)

[Erasmus]

For the entrepreneur, the objective is not to belittle these people, but to figure out how to serve them and make money at it.

I, for one, would like to buy the final amplifier tubes from old 50-500KW radio transmitters and build them into top-end audio amplifiers for 100’s of K$. With big enough tubes (6 ft tall, water cooled) you could even make the amplifier zero-feedback pure class A.

Come to think of it, back in the 70’s I actually saw something like that. It was a wall full of wide green cabinets with meters along the top and glass windows at eye level, so you could see the tubes glowing. It resembled closely a 50KW AM transmitter, except that it was all audio, no RF. It was driving a shake table in a mechanical testing lab. The transducer beneath the table went up to maybe 40 Hz, but it could shake a 50 pound piece of equipment at that frequency with a peak amplitude of a couple of inches. Required 10’s of KW to do that.

[Erasmus]

cuban: How about a $50,000 turntable.

ch8: What's a turntable?

me: they used to use them to turn around choo-choo trains.

[beenaround]

There are plenty of Bose supporters. I recall when the 901;s were first introduced back in the 1970’s. They were quite the thing back then.

It’s in the last several years that things appear to have headed south for them.

[MikeD]

I recently recorded some music with producer David Hentschel (Genesis, Elton John, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, etc)

OK, I'm impressed. For FReepers not in the know, David Hentschel engineered the first Queen album and played ARP synthesizer on "Rocket Man" and "Funeral For a Friend."

[dfwgator]

For FReepers not in the know, David Hentschel engineered the first Queen album and played ARP synthesizer on "Rocket Man" and "Funeral For a Friend."

He produced the best of the Collins-era Genesis albums, namely "A Trick of the Tail" and "Duke".

[sushiman]

Ever since I was old enough to know better, I’ve loved Polk speakers . Bought my first pair ( floor standing but at the moment can’t remember the model # ) around 1981-2 . Shipped them along with entire stereo system when I moved to Japan in 1985 . Used until 1995 and then sold them ( entire system actually ) to my Tokyo neighbor before returning to the States where I planned to buy a completely new system . She is still using those speakers by the way . In NH bought Onkyo components & Polk LS-50 pair . Long story but had to return to Japan 6 months after getting back and shipped the stereo along with other stuff back to Japan . A few years later , after the warranty had expired , I experienced a little distortion in one speaker . Determined that it was definitely a tweeter or driver buzz so contacted Polk by phone . Explained the problem and they asked for my address in Japan . Sent me not only one but two complete sets of drivers and tweeters via Express at NO CHARGE ! Unreal , right ? Not giving them up anytime soon. http://www.polkaudio.com/products/ls50

[Syntyr]

No but you can still listen to the speakers and decide what you like. Then understand that the in wall install might not be as good but will be close.

If you don’t like the free standing speakers you probably wont like the in wall one!

[cuban leaf]

Yeah. I agree with that.

[job]

Well, don’t get me wrong, I bought my Mission speakers off of ebay for way less, and only did so after I sold my big paradigm floorstanding speakers.

[oh8eleven]

I'm no audiophile but I do believe in the law of diminishing returns.
Nevertheless, if you can say that a $2000 speaker is better than a $1000 one, more power to ya'.