Any thoughts?

[Slalomguy]

ok,after much research I have come up with the following compact HT combo.
Panasonic SA -XR50 receiver to drive KEF KHT 2005.2 speaker system.
As I cant actually audition the system I would appriciate your comments.

[neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com]

My advice is that you shouldn't buy gear you can't hear and try first.
If you have to travel to a decent dealer where you can hear and try
gear, then include that travel in your AV budget. And remember to buy
from that dealer too.

There are several strong reasons for only buying gear from a real-life,
bricks-and-mortar dealer:

1) A lot of AV gear is very complicated (and often clumsy) to use. So
you want to try before you buy to make sure it's easy for you to use.
Hard-to-use gear will be used less by you. Been there, done that!

2) The only way to judge speaker quality is by listening to the
speakers. Bring along some favorite CDs and DVDs you know well, then
use those to audition speakers.

3) If you have problems with the gear, or just plain don't like the
gear you buy, it will be much easier to work with a real dealer.

[David B.]

neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com wrote:

> 2) The only way to judge speaker quality is by listening to the
> speakers. Bring along some favorite CDs and DVDs you know well, then
> use those to audition speakers.

I believe it's preferable to audition at home instead of in a store.
The store dosen't have my room or my gear. This is one reason I favor
internet direct companies over B&M.
>
> 3) If you have problems with the gear, or just plain don't like the
> gear you buy, it will be much easier to work with a real dealer.

Again, I believe it's just the opposite with the better internet direct
companies. If I don't like something I ordered, I ship it back, no
questions asked. I'm out the cost of return shippiing but I've had a up
to a month and a half for the audition so that's well worth the shipping
expense.
Internet Direct is winning customers by offering great service and
price. It requires more homework on the part of the consumer but I like
the homework.

David

[Slalomguy]

both points of view are correct of course
and both methods are less than perfect
personally i find auditioning aspeakers makes me uneasy
salesman seem...,well you know what I mean
and unless you have heard hundreds,like the salesman,or the speakers are
particularly good or bad,most of us just pretend we know what we are doing

"David B." <dsbalfoo@syr.edu> wrote in message
news:42127499$0$58616$143e8eca@news.syr.edu...
> neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>> 2) The only way to judge speaker quality is by listening to the
>> speakers. Bring along some favorite CDs and DVDs you know well, then
>> use those to audition speakers.
>
> I believe it's preferable to audition at home instead of in a store. The
> store dosen't have my room or my gear. This is one reason I favor
> internet direct companies over B&M.
>>
>> 3) If you have problems with the gear, or just plain don't like the
>> gear you buy, it will be much easier to work with a real dealer.
>
> Again, I believe it's just the opposite with the better internet direct
> companies. If I don't like something I ordered, I ship it back, no
> questions asked. I'm out the cost of return shippiing but I've had a up
> to a month and a half for the audition so that's well worth the shipping
> expense.
> Internet Direct is winning customers by offering great service and price.
> It requires more homework on the part of the consumer but I like the
> homework.
>
> David
>
>

[rdclark]

Slalomguy wrote:
> ok,after much research I have come up with the following compact HT
combo.
> Panasonic SA -XR50 receiver to drive KEF KHT 2005.2 speaker system.
> As I cant actually audition the system I would appriciate your
comments.

I think the ideal way to buy speakers is to narrow down the choices by
reading reviews, establishing prices, and evaluating
features/installation options so as to develop a short list.

Then find dealers, online or local, who offer no-questions-asked
returns on items you're not satisfied with.

Then start ordering the speakers. Audition them in your actual
listening room, which sounds like no other room on earth, particularly
a dealer showroom.

Send them back. Order another set. Repeat as necessary.

This approach is loaded with hassles, and there's a strong temptation
to accept the first set of speakers you buy and install, because the
prospect of uninstalling them, repacking them, and shipping them back
is daunting, to say the least.

But I've rarely heard speakers in a showroom that sounded anything like
the same in my own listening room, so I'm not as strong a proponent of
lengthy auditions in stores as I once was. If two systems are of high
enough quality that their primary audible differences (besides style)
are fairly subtle, then those subtleties can translate completely
differently, and unpredictably, in two different rooms.

High quality speakers from any reputable specialty manufacturer will
cover the audible spectrum, will play reasonably loudly, will not have
a distinctive (immediately noticeable) quality of their own, will not
buzz, will not "beam," will cross over properly to the matching
subwoofer -- all that stuff. The differences are more subtle than that
and, as I said, will reveal themselves differently in different rooms.

I think the KEF speakers you cite are in this category. There might be
another system in that price range that you like better, but these will
not be *bad.* They will not rob you of any part of the HT experience
that some other comparably priced speaker would deliver. But they might
not match your room as well as another system might, and there's only
one way to determine that.

As for the receiver, well, it's decidedly entry level but it will do
the job. I have a Technics (Panasonic) receiver that's a couple of
years old that has been reliable and sounds okay. I'd probably prefer
the Onkyo 520 in that price range (I've seen refurbs for $150) but the
Panasonic will be OK.

RichC

[Mark Storkamp]

<neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1108501958.581372.17340@g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> My advice is that you shouldn't buy gear you can't hear and try first.
> If you have to travel to a decent dealer where you can hear and try
> gear, then include that travel in your AV budget. And remember to buy
> from that dealer too.
>

There are exceptions to every rule. And I have anecdotal evidence to prove
it :-)

About 10 years back I needed headphones. I took a couple of CDs with me to
Radio Shack and tried every headphone on display. I easily narrowed it down
to two (I couldn't believe how lousy even some of their most expensive ones
were) and got the least expensive of the two.

I recently needed to replace them. Everywhere I went all the headphones were
in sealed plastic packages. There was no option of trying them out, so I
ordered Grado SR80s based on reviews I read on the internet. I couldn't be
happier with them. (and I don't find them all that uncomfortable either). It
probably took more time to wade through the reviews on the internet than to
audition the headphones originally took, but if you are careful, you can do
quite well buying sight unseen.

AMEN BROTHER
<neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1108501958.581372.17340@g14g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> My advice is that you shouldn't buy gear you can't hear and try first.
> If you have to travel to a decent dealer where you can hear and try
> gear, then include that travel in your AV budget. And remember to buy
> from that dealer too.
>
> There are several strong reasons for only buying gear from a real-life,
> bricks-and-mortar dealer:
>
> 1) A lot of AV gear is very complicated (and often clumsy) to use. So
> you want to try before you buy to make sure it's easy for you to use.
> Hard-to-use gear will be used less by you. Been there, done that!
>
> 2) The only way to judge speaker quality is by listening to the
> speakers. Bring along some favorite CDs and DVDs you know well, then
> use those to audition speakers.
>
> 3) If you have problems with the gear, or just plain don't like the
> gear you buy, it will be much easier to work with a real dealer.
>

"David B." <dsbalfoo@syr.edu> wrote in message
news:42127499$0$58616$143e8eca@news.syr.edu...
> neilnewsgroups@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> > 2) The only way to judge speaker quality is by listening to the
> > speakers. Bring along some favorite CDs and DVDs you know well, then
> > use those to audition speakers.
>
> I believe it's preferable to audition at home instead of in a store.
> The store dosen't have my room or my gear. This is one reason I favor
> internet direct companies over B&M.
> >
> > 3) If you have problems with the gear, or just plain don't like the
> > gear you buy, it will be much easier to work with a real dealer.
>
> Again, I believe it's just the opposite with the better internet direct
> companies. If I don't like something I ordered, I ship it back, no
> questions asked. I'm out the cost of return shippiing but I've had a up
> to a month and a half for the audition so that's well worth the shipping
> expense.
> Internet Direct is winning customers by offering great service and
> price. It requires more homework on the part of the consumer but I like
> the homework.
>
> David

point well made, but the better lines of speakers dont have internet direct
deals like you describe.
Arent you afraid of missing out on some of the better speakers out there?
>
>