Small form factor home theater speakers

[JZStudios]

I bought one of Yamaha's HTIB situations with some NS-P40 speakers, which I'm actually rather happy with. I'm using it as an overkill desk setup, so I have the little speakers tucked neatly under my monitors. The sound quality is pretty decent, but I'm just wondering if there's an upgrade path. I don't have space for the larger bookshelf speakers, but I haven't seen much small form factor speakers, and certainly not any worth a damn.

[TheFlyingTraut]

Do you have the little proprietary connectors on the back of them?

[JZStudios]

4 hours ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

Do you have the little proprietary connectors on the back of them?

Nah, just the standard little red and black crimp clamp things... don't know what they're really called.

[TheFlyingTraut]

Just standard speaker terminals. You can use other speakers, but those little home theater in a box things rarely put out any power. I know the boxes say "198754398257329 WATTS OF POWER!" but those are max ratings not RMS, and those receivers or players that output that, are nowhere near 90% efficient, so you'd get around 20w rms MAYBE after a half hour of listening after the unit heats up. Desktop speakers sound better at that point. 

 

I wouldn't go through the trouble of buying more/better speakers, until you're ready to invest in a newer setup. IMO. Just curious, what would your budget be?

[JZStudios]

1 hour ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

Just standard speaker terminals. You can use other speakers, but those little home theater in a box things rarely put out any power. I know the boxes say "198754398257329 WATTS OF POWER!" but those are max ratings not RMS, and those receivers or players that output that, are nowhere near 90% efficient, so you'd get around 20w rms MAYBE after a half hour of listening after the unit heats up. Desktop speakers sound better at that point. 

 

I wouldn't go through the trouble of buying more/better speakers, until you're ready to invest in a newer setup. IMO. Just curious, what would your budget be?

Well the Yamaha system is a standard Yamaha 5.1 receiver bundled with a standard (though small) 5.1 speaker setup. Dunno what the RMS really is though.

The receiver is a RX-V379 (which has been slightly outdated by a new model containing HDR support)

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/av_receivers_amps/rx-v379_u/specs.html#product-tabs

The little NS-P40 speakers are actually pretty damn decent considering their size and super light weight. The woofers a bit meh though.

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/speaker_systems/ns-p40/index.html

 

But like I said I'm just wondering if there is any upgrade path that isn't 7 inch bookshelf speakers. I have a triple monitor setup and have the front speakers floating under my side monitors on a little plywood L-bracket I made. Don't really have the room nor want of large bookshelfs.

[TheFlyingTraut]

Oh I know what bundle you got. That receiver can handle some better speakers. So here's the caveat with that receiver. If you want to put some nicer speakers like some fancy KEF's or Bower and Wilkins 686's, that receiver just won't do them justice. There are some other smaller "satellite speakers" that you could get, quality is better, but you wouldn't want to spend that coin to do all 5.

 

What exactly are you wanting to do? Do a 2.1? Do you like the surround sound idea?

 

I have a pair of Sony 3 way speakers and a 2 channel amp that sits under my monitor. They are larger bookshelfs, but sound is good for what I need.

[JZStudios]

4 minutes ago, TheFlyingTraut said:

Oh I know what bundle you got. That receiver can handle some better speakers. So here's the caveat with that receiver. If you want to put some nicer speakers like some fancy KEF's or Bower and Wilkins 686's, that receiver just won't do them justice. There are some other smaller "satellite speakers" that you could get, quality is better, but you wouldn't want to spend that coin to do all 5.

 

What exactly are you wanting to do? Do a 2.1? Do you like the surround sound idea?

 

I have a pair of Sony 3 way speakers and a 2 channel amp that sits under my monitor. They are larger bookshelfs, but sound is good for what I need.

I've got the 5.1. The rears are just attached to the ceiling. Another reason I don't want bookshelfs, I'm assuming anything heavier will just rip out of the drywall and I don't want to mess with anchors.  I don't think I'd want to downgrade to just a measly plebeian stereo without good reason.

There might not be any upgrade for what I'm particularly looking for. Just wondering if there was anything between these little cheap speakers and the larger bookshelfs. That Bowers Wilkins isn't too massive, but for $530/pair on amazon I ain't ready for that.

 

To be clear I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. The volume and power currently are fine, just wondering if there's something else in the same size category that maybe sounds a bit better, not that the Yamaha speakers are terrible. Frankly I'm more interested in a new sub since I think that would be a more immediate difference. This one will hit the low notes pretty reliably, but lacks punch in some scenarios. It's not terribly consistent about it though, maybe it's just a difference between media with dedicated LFE and something just using the crossover.

[kodi41]

JZ, I have a Creative 7.1 system I am not using- It is very good for what it is- better then Klipsch Promedia IMHO which I also have. They are both in the garage presently.

 

HT box stuff generally is not of very good quality- I mean no offence.

 

Were it me, I would concentrate on the front mains and the sub. FYi, since you want small- check out M&K very good stuff and there are plenty on eBay for very good prices. M&K subs are very good I own 2 of their MX-350's for my HT set up. Then as you build the system up you can upgrade the receiver.

[kodi41]

JZ check these out- new they were 2k- that woofer can easily be replaced/repaired. They are left and right and notice they have presence switches, really help when critical listening.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Miller-Kreisel-M-K-S-100-Speakers/323475654486?hash=item4b50a6c756:g:LgwAAOSwUIxbsPzh

 

or these

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-Of-M-K-Miller-Kreisel-SOUND-K5-Satellite-Speaker-1-K7-Satellite-White-K-5/323456858836?hash=item4b4f87fad4:g:ZMgAAOSwXUdbo94r

[JZStudios]

2 hours ago, kodi41 said:

JZ, I have a Creative 7.1 system I am not using- It is very good for what it is- better then Klipsch Promedia IMHO which I also have. They are both in the garage presently.

 

HT box stuff generally is not of very good quality- I mean no offence.

 

Were it me, I would concentrate on the front mains and the sub. FYi, since you want small- check out M&K very good stuff and there are plenty on eBay for very good prices. M&K subs are very good I own 2 of their MX-350's for my HT set up. Then as you build the system up you can upgrade the receiver.

You're misunderstanding what I bought with your own preconcieved misconceptions. It's a standard home theater AVR and speakers, just bundled together. I'm not buying some limp cheesedick 5.1 DVD player thing.

However, I have it set up at my desk for my own little audio bubble and those 3 and a half foot tall (1.25 meters) front speakers you linked won't exactly fit on my desk.

I'm not interested in the Klipsch PC speakers or the Creatives as they aren't very good. The little Yamaha speakers I have are surprisingly decent for being lightweights.

[kodi41]

wow

2 minutes ago, JZStudios said:

You're misunderstanding what I bought with your own preconcieved misconceptions. It's a standard home theater AVR and speakers, just bundled together. I'm not buying some limp cheesedick 5.1 DVD player thing.

However, I have it set up at my desk for my own little audio bubble and those 3 and a half foot tall (1.25 meters) front speakers you linked won't exactly fit on my desk.

I'm not interested in the Klipsch PC speakers or the Creatives as they aren't very good. The little Yamaha speakers I have are surprisingly decent for being lightweights.

Wow- you sound angry. Preconceived? Either way never mind. Just trying to help. BTW, if you did some research you would find they are not 1.25 meters tall they are about 10 to 12 inches with a small foot print and will blow the doors off of your Yamaha set up. But then you know what yer talking about so I'll leave you to it. Have a great day.

[JZStudios]

15 hours ago, kodi41 said:

wow

Wow- you sound angry. Preconceived? Either way never mind. Just trying to help. BTW, if you did some research you would find they are not 1.25 meters tall they are about 10 to 12 inches with a small foot print and will blow the doors off of your Yamaha set up. But then you know what yer talking about so I'll leave you to it. Have a great day.

Your idea of 12 inches is a little lost on me.

People also hear HTIB or AVR+speaker bundle and assume it's a $100 piece of shit DVD player thing and they first thing people do is say "You shouldn't have bought that. Buy something big and expensive instead."

It's not helpful. I didn't ask for AVR recommendations since I have one, and those speakers you linked are massive.

[Blasteque]

On 9/24/2018 at 1:55 PM, JZStudios said:

I've got the 5.1. The rears are just attached to the ceiling. Another reason I don't want bookshelfs, I'm assuming anything heavier will just rip out of the drywall and I don't want to mess with anchors.  I don't think I'd want to downgrade to just a measly plebeian stereo without good reason.

There might not be any upgrade for what I'm particularly looking for. Just wondering if there was anything between these little cheap speakers and the larger bookshelfs. That Bowers Wilkins isn't too massive, but for $530/pair on amazon I ain't ready for that.

 

To be clear I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. The volume and power currently are fine, just wondering if there's something else in the same size category that maybe sounds a bit better, not that the Yamaha speakers are terrible. Frankly I'm more interested in a new sub since I think that would be a more immediate difference. This one will hit the low notes pretty reliably, but lacks punch in some scenarios. It's not terribly consistent about it though, maybe it's just a difference between media with dedicated LFE and something just using the crossover.

In my experience there really isn't an "in between"; you either have small surround sound package speakers or bookshelf speakers.  There are some beefier surround sound satellite speakers out there from time-to-time, Velodyne had a nice 5.1 system that was quite "in between", but they drop those products long ago.  You can try looking for something on ebay that is a step up from the small Yamahas you have (I grabbed a pair of the before mentioned Velodynes off ebay that someone was parting out because the sub had died).  Onkyo also had some decent, heavy-ish surround sound satellite speakers a while back.

 

Otherwise, I'm with @TheFlyingTraut on this one: the simplest upgrade path is bookshelf speakers, but they will be larger.

[JZStudios]

3 hours ago, Blasteque said:

In my experience there really isn't an "in between"; you either have small surround sound package speakers or bookshelf speakers.  There are some beefier surround sound satellite speakers out there from time-to-time, Velodyne had a nice 5.1 system that was quite "in between", but they drop those products long ago.  You can try looking for something on ebay that is a step up from the small Yamahas you have (I grabbed a pair of the before mentioned Velodynes off ebay that someone was parting out because the sub had died).  Onkyo also had some decent, heavy-ish surround sound satellite speakers a while back.

 

Otherwise, I'm with @TheFlyingTraut on this one: the simplest upgrade path is bookshelf speakers, but they will be larger.

Yeah, I figured as much. Maybe if I didn't have 3 monitors I could fit some bookshelfs... Oh well, I'm fairly happy with the Yamahas I currently have.