While waiting on the SVS MTS-01 speakers (a few months out) I've decided to run through some speakers, not without cost obviously because reselling them I always come up short. I'm trying to stay within the $1000 or less range for a 5 speaker setup, L/C/R and surrounds.
I currently have the SVS SBS-01 setup, and for the money, these are hard to beat. Highly recommended for small rooms like mine (11.5' W x 19.5' L x 8' H = 1800ft^3). These are my reference speakers, so to speak. I have been extremely impressed with these for their size... even in our great room they faired well, but might be a tad on the shy side for the larger rooms. I have been running these off my Earthquake Cinenova Grande amp (300wpc) which is no longer in my setup (I'm at this moment without - can you believe it?
) I am eager to hear how these will sound with my new Yamaha RX-V1700 receiver that will hopefully be here in a few days.
I've tried the JBL Northridge setup with the E90s and EC35, using the SBS-01s as surrounds, and again, for the money, they are very good speakers. They started out a little bright and maybe a tad harsh, but after several hours of break in, they mellowed out satisfactory to me. I have no final complaints with these and would recommend them as well. You get a lot of speaker for the money. They appear to be liked very well and if you are budget minded you will not go wrong with these.
Next on the list of speakers I'm considering are some speakers that have received some really good reviews. The Ascend Acoustics CMT-340s and HTM-200s. The potential setup would be the CMT-340s to go across the front and a pair of HTM-200s for the rears. With the pedestal stands for the L/R fronts and shipping, I would bust my budget of $1000 by 48 bucks ($1048). These would be the most expensive speakers I've owned since my VMPS RM30s.
I would very much enjoy hearing from those who own or have owned Ascends and/or any other suggestions of similar priced range speakers I could consider tinkering with.
