| Re: Monitors - Where to Start?
A lot of good thoughts and recommendations. I might add I was looking not long ago for monitors in the same price range. My final choices came down to the Quad 12L Studio monitors and the Paradigm Studio 20's. I eventually bought the Quads, but keep in mind that once you get to your short list it’s all a mater of personnel tastes and what sounds good to you in your environment (I use environment in a broad sense; room, other speakers, audio gear, type of music). At any rate I agree with others that bookshelf speakers are probably your best choice.
You should think about what you like to hear; detail? imaging? a big sound stage? the 'you are there sound' vs. the 'they are here' sound? etc. etc. When you audition in your home, study these aspects of the sound you hear. Determine what you like, and evaluate accordingly.
Also, since you are setting up an HT system be sure that the sound is good in other seating positions. You don't want speakers with high freq. dispersion so narrow that you need forceps to keep your head in the right position.
If you have the luxury of auditioning a pair of speakers for several days, do it! When people talk about breaking in new speakers, a good deal of what is going on is our ears are breaking in to the new sound we hear (I am probably opening a big can of worms here). Also you need time to see if listener fatigue is setting in. Some speakers that are very impressive when you first hear them are tiresome after listening to them at length.
JCD's suggestion of listening to the spoken word is excellent. It seems the human brain is particularly keen to nuances we hear in speech. I found that listening in the store will only serve to give you an initial first cut on speaker selection. The real test is in you home.
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