Chris Martens, Can you please help?

david007 -- Wed, 05/23/2007 - 05:54

Hello,

I am in the process of looking for a 5.1 Surround Speaker System (Bookshelf or Monitor Systems Only, no Towers) for our living room and our budget is up to $2K for the Speaker System and I would like to get the best that I could get within this budget. In the most recent issue 78 of The Perfect Vision (June/July 2007), Chris Martens reviewed the Quad L-ite Speaker System and he indicated that, and I quote "The Quad L-ite speaker system is one of the four or five best $2K surround rigs I've ever heard". I would really like to know the names of the other three or four best speaker systems beside the Quad L-ite so that I can have a small set of samples to audition to at local stores. Can you please help me with the manes of the other three or four best speaker systems Chris?

I also wellcome all others' opinions regarding this "Best $2K 5.1 Surround Speaker System" topic. My current pick would be the Image Epic Theater System from PSB since I really like the sound of the B25 pair for stereo music.

Your helps are greatly appriciated. Thank you very much.

David.

gdandas -- Sat, 01/26/2008 - 12:40

David

I was about to post this exact same question in this forum when I saw yours. Can you tell me if you received any responses to this request?

Thanks,
Gus

Tom Martin -- Sun, 02/10/2008 - 17:53

Check out this Buyer's Guide:

http://www.avguide.com/the-perfect-vision/75/sub-2k-surround.php

CEO and Editorial Director, Nextscreen LLC

Chris Martens -- Fri, 04/11/2008 - 18:22

I must sheepishly admit I've been away from the forum for many months, mostly because launching Playback magazine has been about a gazillion hour/week effort for me, from mid-2007 onward. My apologies.

But now, let me tackle the original question. At the time I made the comment, the other sub-$2K systems I had in mind were (in alphabetical order):

1. Definitive ProCinema 1000 system (reviewed by me in TPV 70)
2. Klipsch RF-52 system (reviewed by me in TPV 75)
3. Paradigm Cinema 330 system (reviewed by Arnie Williams in TPV 75)
4. A sub-$2k variant of the PSB Image system (reviewed, in somewhat more costly form, by Neil Gader in TPV 59).

The original question was posed by a reader interested primarily in systems based on monitor-type speakers, which would rule out the Klipsch and Paradigm systems, above. However, I think both the Klipsch Reference-series and Paradigm Monitor-series speaker families have the right basic ingredients for creating good, monitor-based systems.

Chris Martens
Editor, Avguide.com/Playback/The Perfect Vision