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Modestly priced bookshelf speakers for cabin.

I have a small cabin in the country where I spend weekends.

Current system is a 1980's Toshiba 25wpc receiver I got in high school. Bose 2.2 bookshelf speakers that are about 28 years old. They actually sound okay to me most of the time. $14 Sony DVD/CD player from Goodwill.

Even though this 'system' is sufficient most of the time, I've got the hi-fi bug since getting my home system and I've started thinking about slowly upgrading the cabin system on the lowest budget I can.....since I can't really justify doing it at all. ;-)

Rarely do I do any serious listening down there but would like to be able to when I have the chance.

So my first step is to replace the Bose speakers. Looking to spend no more than $350 or so. Is it possible to significantly improve on the Bose at that price? (I'm assuming yes).

The only thing I've even considered is the Klipsch RB-61 IIs or RP 160Ms. Why Klipsch? Back in the 70's my eccentric uncle used to have a massive pair of them that I thought were cool. Open to other options and advice.

Thanks for any advice.


n80
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
glupson said: "I do not have an answer to sub question but, the way it seems from here, you will be replacing that Toshiba receiver much sooner than you now think."

I am trying to resist the impulse but you are probably right. But I can hardly bear the thought of not using the old Toshiba. I think I got it in 1980. My Dad got it from his friend who sold Toshiba gear. I think it was a floor model because there was no way I could have afforded it new, although it did come in the original box. I remember seeing it on the cover of some stereo magazine and it got good reviews if I recall. It went with me through college and med school. Pretty amazing to think it has been running all these years. 

It has a loudness button. I like that.

fstein's avatar
fstein
199 posts
 
Dyna A25 at <$250 a pair
mrdecibel
3,067 posts
 
You buy a powered sub that has high level ins ( speaker terminals ), which connects from the speaker outs of the toshiba just as it were a pair of speakers. In most set ups, the Toshiba would feed the sub, the sub then feeds the satellites, were it the Bose or anything else. easy peasy.
builder3
771 posts
 
n80, what you get out of a "tower" speaker is the drivers up at a proper height, and the ability to move them around. You can have this with bookshelf speakers if you put them on a proper stand, but if they're just on a shelf, the sound will suffer. None of this matters, of course, if you're only looking at "casual" listening.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Thanks mrdecibel. I tried this briefly with a B&W sub that I had but it was just a muddy rumble. But now I'm pretty sure I did something wrong. Gave the B&W back to its owner. 

builder3, good info. I asked this same question in another thread since it had not been answered here and it also seems like better and deeper bass is possible with the tower due to cabinet/port configuration.

In my specific case it would actually be easier to place a tower than a bookshelf so now I am leaning toward a lower end tower. If the bass is indeed okay (and okay is all I really need) then I might not need a sub at all. Which would also be good since space is tight.
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