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getting a little obsessed with my first purchase

alright, I've been into music for a while now, however my budget for audio equipment has always been in the sub 500$ range until now. My GF bless her heart, bought me a DE875 sony for christmas. I want to set up a home theater but my priority is music so I'm gonna start with two loudspeakers. I don't want to spend any more than 700-800$ and I'm looking squarely at used equipment (because I always want better than I can afford). I have been obsessing over the DefTech 2006tl's. However I haven't seen any of these for sale second hand anywhere on the net. I need advice from an old hand here. Is my choice a good one? Can I do better? Keep in mind the low end receiver/amp. Also I have a relatively small living room in an apartment. It's probably around 15-16 feet by 9-10. I have been stressing over this purchase for over a month now and I need to buy something fast for the sake of my girlfriend and my health.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Patrick
elchuppa
audiokinesis
2,751 posts
 
Elchuppa -

I think the Type A's are only moderately efficient, like maybe 86 dB, but I think they are an 8 ohm load which your Sony would have no trouble with. This is my recollection, which is highly fallible - I suggest you contact the seller.

And now that you mention it, they are kinda big for your room! My recollection is they're about four feet tall by two feet wide by one foot deep. If that rules them out, well, I understand - but considering how natural these speakers sound, they are a steal at the asking price.
racerx90
26 posts
 
You could come VERY close to your price range and have a killer setup with a pair of GR Research Paradox 1's and an Adire Rava Subwoofer. It's a great combination that would give you a full range frequency response. The imaging should be excellent, and in addition, it should have plenty of punch and rythm without sounding dry. I think it would be a perfect match for your Sony.

I suggest you go over to Audio Asylum (www.audioasylum.com) and check out the Speaker forum as there have been MANY reviews and commentary on the combination.

The best part is you could buy it new from the factory and have a warranty on everything (if that matters to you.)

Good luck.
soix
9,803 posts
 
Forget the DefTechs. If you're gonna be using the Sony for at least a while I'd generally stay away from speakers with metal dome tweeters, at least in your price range(although the Triangle Zephyrs recommended above may be an exception). This is a recipe for bright/harsh sound.

Given the size of your room you may be better off with monitors than floorstanding speakers, and you'll tend to get more for your money. One suggestion that falls right in your price range used would be Soliloquy 5.0s with their cool and beefy matching stands. The 5.0s produce a good amount of bass for their size, huge soundstage, full midrange, great detail, disappear in the room and are very efficient so should be easy for your Sony to drive effectively. You can add a sub later if you want, but either way you're off to a good start on a great system. Best of luck.

Tim
frogman
7,478 posts
 
I second Audiokinesis' recommendation of the Snell's, IF your long term goal is to build a system around them. If that is in fact the case, I would happily live and put up with sub-optimum amplification until you can afford it. The Snell's are great speakers, and when you can afford to feed them a good source amplified by good electronics, you will have a great, and I mean GREAT system.

I still remember the first time I heard them. Powered by VTL 300's with an Audio Research pre and Oracle/Koetsu combo. To this day, for my tastes, some of the best sound that I have ever heard, bar none. $600 ???, if you can handle their size (they ARE kinda big), a steal if I ever heard of one!!! By the way, at the dealer showroom where I heard them, they were situated very close to if not right up against the back wall; and as I recall, the room itself was not particularly large. Good luck.
rcprince
3,077 posts
 
I would join Frogman and Audiokenesis in recommending the Snell type As--they were among the finest speakers of their time, and hold up very well to modern competition. I auditioned them, Apogee Divas and Duntech Princesses as my finalists before deciding on the latter about 14 years ago, and have always been impressed with their sound. Frogman's observation about where they were located is actually where they are supposed to be placed, virtually up against the wall, which makes them unique among the best high end speakers.
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