What stereo(s) do you listen to? What do you want?

Originally Posted by Pezzaturra

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Bought 4 budget Phono amplifiers (Cambridge, Rotel, Monolithic, Creek) dismissed all of them as being inaccurate in one way or another

sold them at a loss and waiting for Graham Slee Reflex C which hopefully will be competent enough to support all vinegar-pissing reviews. If all fails back to the "drawing board".

I hate this hobby.
You should have tried the EAR 834P used at $800 and be done with it. I am using a Jolida JD-9A at $500 and it is terrific.

What is the best or some of the better center channel and sub options at the low end of the price range? I'm looking for stuff I can find slightly used or on clearance/auction.

I am cheap!

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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Take a close look at the Cambridge Audio and NAD lines...For speakers look at PSB or Paradigm entry levels.

You got a thing for Canadian hi-fi gear, especially from Lenbrook?

I have a modest 2-channel setup (80 watts) with the NAD 352C integrated amp and 2 x PSB Image 2Bs. Love it. Haven't felt the need to add a sub even.

OOPS: wrong amp

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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You should have tried the EAR 834P used at $800 and be done with it.
Our review I remember it took heaven and earth to get one for review. Tim's an interesting designer.

Originally Posted by jakejake

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Have any of you guys listened to the Reference 3a MM de Capo monitors?
Yup. Not a huge fan. Only at a show, though. Not always the best milieu. I did hear the larger Reference 3A Grand Veenas sounding very good at the show.

Anyone have any experience with these? I've never really looked at center channels before, so I have no idea what I really need. What I want is clear, audible dialogue. I can get the above center channel for $65 if it's pretty decent, or you can recommend something else. Just picked up a Harman Kardon AVR-254 and I'm going to be (hopefully) picking up 4 of the Best Buy Insignia bookshelf speakers made by Radiient for around $15 a piece for side and rear channel speakers. And I currently have 2 JBL J2060's that I've been using forever that will probably end up being my fronts. So yeah, I'm two speakers shy of 7.1. Help a brother out!

Originally Posted by audiophilia

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Yup. Not a huge fan. Only at a show, though. Not always the best milieu. I did hear the larger Reference 3A Grand Veenas sounding very good at the show.

Anthony, spend some real time with them if you can. They are very good speakers.

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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Anthony, spend some real time with them if you can. They are very good speakers.

Will do. I know Tosh's products very well but his speakers only in show conditions. Will try to get a pair for review. They're just down the road. Very nice family company.

Old Marantz receiver through old Marantz DAP through old KEF speakers. Mmmmm.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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Anyone have any experience with these?

I've never really looked at center channels before, so I have no idea what I really need. What I want is clear, audible dialogue. I can get the above center channel for $65 if it's pretty decent, or you can recommend something else.

Just picked up a Harman Kardon AVR-254 and I'm going to be (hopefully) picking up 4 of the Best Buy Insignia bookshelf speakers made by Radiient for around $15 a piece for side and rear channel speakers. And I currently have 2 JBL J2060's that I've been using forever that will probably end up being my fronts.

So yeah, I'm two speakers shy of 7.1. Help a brother out!

There are a variety of speaker companies that sell direct and offer pretty good products for the price. I haven't listened to any personally, but they generally get decent reviews. Check AVSForum.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

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There are a variety of speaker companies that sell direct and offer pretty good products for the price. I haven't listened to any personally, but they generally get decent reviews. Check AVSForum.
This is distinctly unhelpful. I'm not looking for audiophile grade **** here. I'm looking for the best value under $100 on a center channel or sub. Whenever someone asks this question on AVS, it's always one of two things either "buy a $500+ center channel, it's a great value" or "find a center channel that matches your fronts". I'm not going to do either of those things, because a center channel that would match my fronts would be 20+ years old and they didn't really make them back then. And I don't want to spend more than $500 on the whole damn setup. I am asking a simple question. I want a under $100 center channel that doesn't suck too bad. Someone out there in audio land MUST have a suggestion other than "make more money".

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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So yeah, I'm two speakers shy of 7.1. Help a brother out!

I'd accumulate cash position for 10.1 or 31.2 down the road and wait strategically.

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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This is distinctly unhelpful.

Frankly, very few people are going to benefit from 7.1 given the environments they view/listen in. I have a good system, but I only have 5.1. I would first worry about proper position of your current speakers. And if you limit yourself to 5.1 you can get better speakers. No movies are mixed in 7.1 btw, so you're really not missing out on anything by only having 5.1.

Axiom audio is the company I was thinking of. Again, i've never listened to them myself, but they're popular on avs. It would be hard to go wrong with something by Paradigm at almost any price as well. They take a sane, engineering based approach to product development, so I never have trouble recommending them.

You seem to watch a lot of movies though. I'd encourage you not to go cheap on the speakers. It makes a huge huge difference in the overall experience.

Originally Posted by Pezzaturra

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I'd accumulate cash position for 10.1 or 31.2 down the road and wait strategically.

Maybe someday... But I think I'd have to have a much larger room.

Originally Posted by GQgeek

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Frankly, very few people are going to benefit from 7.1 given the environments they view/listen in. I have a good system, but I only have 5.1. I would first worry about proper position of your current speakers. And if you limit yourself to 5.1 you can get better speakers. No movies are mixed in 7.1 btw, so you're really not missing out on anything by only having 5.1.

No I cant. Either I'm going to spend $100 on a center and $100 on a sub, or I'm not. Aside from the $106 HK receiver I just bought, those are the two most expensive parts of the entire stereo system. The surrounds I'm getting are pretty routinely praised for sounding like much more expensive $300 speakers. I'm getting them for around $30 a pair. There is a large waste of money than happens between $30 a pair and $300 a speaker that I have no interest in exploring.

I don't really care that no movies are mixed in 7.1. I have a 7.1 surround receiver and I want seven speakers and a sub.

Axiom audio is the company I was thinking of. Again, i've never listened to them myself, but they're popular on avs. It would be hard to go wrong with something by Paradigm at almost any price as well. They take a sane, engineering based approach to product development, so I never have trouble recommending them.

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I saw the Paradigms. They are one of the brands I'm looking at. I'll check out the Axioms.


Yes, I'm familiar with all the "brands" on AVS. I read it too. Like I said, AVS is mostly not helping me figure out which one I am going to buy because of information like in your first paragraph. I'm going to buy a center channel for under a hundred bucks whether you think I should or not, because I can. I could care less about all the reasons it's not "worth it" or whatever. It's worth a hundred bucks. No more.
If nobody ends up giving me and recommendations, I'll probably just end up with something from Craigslist.

You seem to watch a lot of movies though. I'd encourage you not to go cheap on the speakers. It makes a huge huge difference in the overall experience.

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Currently I watch movies with a 4 speaker stereo setup with AIWA boom box speakers as my rear channels. So... Spending $300 is not cheap. I am not going to save up for a bunch of speakers that I play at low to moderate volume in a 12x12 room on a 25" Dell monitor. I don't really give a **** about audiophile nonsense. I want something nice that will last a while and doesn't look or sound like ****. I will be moving the gear into a different room sometime this year. I want to spend less than $100 on a center. I want to spend less than $100 on a sub. Seemingly nobody in the world has a recommendation on this.

I find this amusing.