Thread: Thinking of upgrading my speakers

Hey everyone.

So long story short, I was hoping to get a new TV this year, but that doesn't seem to be working out so well. So instead of that, I was thinking of getting new speakers and selling my Polks.

At the moment, I have:

- Polk Audio Monitor 60 fronts
- Polk Audio CS1 center
- Polk Audio Monitor 30 rears
- Polk RM6750 sub (which isn't as bad as it appears to be, although I do need a new sub)
- My receiver is the Yamaha RX-V667 which I just recently bought to replace a Sony STR-DG820.

What would be reasonable prices to ask for these? They are all in great condition and work just fine. Anyway, as for speakers that I was considering, I was looking at Paradigm. I have heard many good things about their speakers, what do you guys think of them?

I was thinking of this:

- Monitor 9 v6 fronts ($800/pair)
- CC-290 Center ($398)
- Not sure which rears go with the above.

Is this a good setup and how would these compare to my Polks? Will the Yamaha receiver be able to drive these speakers properly?

Thanks so much for helping.

You will definitely want to upgrade your sub. The monitor 9's will open your eyes to the way a speaker should sound. Now all that being said I think the sub is first up, but you should definitely upgrade the speakers too. Now you really should do some auditioning I mean the monitor 9's are fantastic but you might find offerings from other companies to sound better to YOU. Other brands to check out would be PSB,KEF,DEF Tech,Energy, and Klipsch. Find some local dealers and bring your favorite movie or cd and start auditioning!!!

Thanks guys. Yeah the subwoofer needs to be upgraded. I'm actually trying to sell my Polk RM6750 system so I can buy a new subwoofer. The thing about subwoofers though, is that I don't have very many options here in Canada. Future Shop and Best Buy don't sell very many subwoofers and most of them are expensive. The only places that have good ones are smaller dealers and they are too expensive, especially if I'm buying new speakers. However, there are U.S. sites that I can buy from, but then if there's a problem or I don't like it I have to pay for return shipping. Amazon.ca has the BIC America V1220 for $264 and AcousticSoundDesign is selling the BIC PL-200 for $329 through Amazon.com with supposedly free shipping because at the final checkout it doesn't charge me shipping, but their website does. Finding a new subwoofer here is a challenge, the good subs are all from U.S. stores/sites. Future Shop sells Polk, Velodyne, Klipsch, Energy, Yamaha and Martin Logan subs. Best Buy sells Infinity, Klipsch, JBL, Boston Acoustics, Precision Acoustics (which is supposedly a house brand) and Yamaha subs.

Out of curiosity, I emailed HSU research about their VTF2-MK3 and how much it would cost including shipping. It would cost $233 to ship it to Canada. That $509 (sale price) subwoofer would cost me $742. Ouch.

As for the speakers, I can't audition them for about a week or so, and the place where I would go doesn't have prices listed on their website. The store that has them at those prices is farther away and might not have them on sale when I am able to go my local dealer, but this place has everything on sale almost everyday so they will go back down if they do go up. The thing that worries me is that the store that is farther away says they are only authorized to sell Paradigm within their local market, their website doesn't sell them. I live a few cities away, does that mean even if I drove there they wouldn't sell me them? If that's the case I hope my local dealer will still price match them.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye360

Thanks guys. Yeah the subwoofer needs to be upgraded. I'm actually trying to sell my Polk RM6750 system so I can buy a new subwoofer. The thing about subwoofers though, is that I don't have very many options here in Canada. Future Shop and Best Buy don't sell very many subwoofers and most of them are expensive. The only places that have good ones are smaller dealers and they are too expensive, especially if I'm buying new speakers. However, there are U.S. sites that I can buy from, but then if there's a problem or I don't like it I have to pay for return shipping. Amazon.ca has the BIC America V1220 for $264 and AcousticSoundDesign is selling the BIC PL-200 for $329 through Amazon.com with supposedly free shipping because at the final checkout it doesn't charge me shipping, but their website does. Finding a new subwoofer here is a challenge, the good subs are all from U.S. stores/sites. Future Shop sells Polk, Velodyne, Klipsch, Energy, Yamaha and Martin Logan subs. Best Buy sells Infinity, Klipsch, JBL, Boston Acoustics, Precision Acoustics (which is supposedly a house brand) and Yamaha subs.

Out of curiosity, I emailed HSU research about their VTF2-MK3 and how much it would cost including shipping. It would cost $233 to ship it to Canada. That $509 (sale price) subwoofer would cost me $742. Ouch.

As for the speakers, I can't audition them for about a week or so, and the place where I would go doesn't have prices listed on their website. The store that has them at those prices is farther away and might not have them on sale when I am able to go my local dealer, but this place has everything on sale almost everyday so they will go back down if they do go up. The thing that worries me is that the store that is farther away says they are only authorized to sell Paradigm within their local market, their website doesn't sell them. I live a few cities away, does that mean even if I drove there they wouldn't sell me them? If that's the case I hope my local dealer will still price match them.

NO you can buy from any dealer no matter how far away they are as long as you are willing to make the drive.

Yeah that's what I thought. I'm going to email my local dealer to see if they will price match, just so I don't have to drive two hours to the other store.

What rear speakers from Paradigm would match with the Monitor 9s and CC-290 center? I was looking at the Atom Monitors for $255 a pair.

If it was me I would save a few bucks and get the micro monitors, that is what I use and they are great. The atoms are a better speaker but I doubt you would see where your money went with the atoms as far as the rears are concerned, as they only produce ambient sounds.

The place that has them for that price is called Gibbys Electronic Supermarket. They always have sales on basically everything in their store.

Also I was right about them going back on sale, the Monitor 9s and Atom Monitors are back on sale, the CC-290 isn't yet but it will be soon most likely.

Nice, that is a good deal on some fantastic speakrs. FYI check out 6 ave.com they have the micro monitor's for cheap. Also have you considered the studio 20's they aren't much more than the 9's and are on a whole other level (6 ave has them as well). If you haven't given them a listen make sure you do, also look up some online reviews.

I checked out the Studio 20s and they range from $1400 - $1500 at that store, so quite a bit more. Also I don't think 6ave ships to Canada.

Damn, just a thought. The 9's are still really a steal of a deal even at full msrp.

Yea I know I looked at the price and was like, "Oh, well there goes that idea". I'm waiting to hear back from my dealer about price matching that store, hopefully they can.

I imagine you're getting those great quoted prices on the Paradigm's because you're already living in CA. No shipping/customs to worry about. For whatever it's worth, my local Paradigm dealer said they're planning on increasing prices across their entire line "in a few weeks". He wasn't saying this in an effort to convince me to buy speakers that day (I already bought from him).

As a side note, I contacted 6ave a few weeks ago and asked about the Paradigm's. They've decided to drop the line and whatever you see in stock is all they have left.

Good luck and tell us how it turns out!

Originally Posted by Trey

I imagine you're getting those great quoted prices on the Paradigm's because you're already living in CA. No shipping/customs to worry about. For whatever it's worth, my local Paradigm dealer said they're planning on increasing prices across their entire line "in a few weeks". He wasn't saying this in an effort to convince me to buy speakers that day (I already bought from him).

As a side note, I contacted 6ave a few weeks ago and asked about the Paradigm's. They've decided to drop the line and whatever you see in stock is all they have left.

Good luck and tell us how it turns out!

Yeah 6ave has also closed a couple of stores too, not sure what is going on with them.

Originally Posted by Trey

I imagine you're getting those great quoted prices on the Paradigm's because you're already living in CA. No shipping/customs to worry about. For whatever it's worth, my local Paradigm dealer said they're planning on increasing prices across their entire line "in a few weeks". He wasn't saying this in an effort to convince me to buy speakers that day (I already bought from him).

As a side note, I contacted 6ave a few weeks ago and asked about the Paradigm's. They've decided to drop the line and whatever you see in stock is all they have left.

Good luck and tell us how it turns out!

Yea maybe it's because I live in Canada, but the place that has those prices always has everything on sale so I'm not sure.

For those of you that were saying my subwoofer needs upgrading, well I just sold my Polk Audio RM6750 speakers along with the sub, so that means I need a new subwoofer. Should I make a thread in the Subwoofer forum or just continue to talk about it here?