WTB: Mini Monitors/Stereo Receiver

Hi,

I've recently landed the job of director of a new art gallery and I've been doing renovation work on the 100+ year old building for the past 3 months. I'm wanting to mount speakers to the corners of the wooden (bead board) ceiling. The room is approximately 17'w x 24'l x 10'h. It's an art gallery, so I want something small and unobtrusive - being 10' high will also help keep it out of view. I originally looked at the ELT/Gizmo special, but I don't think I will be able to spend that much (at least not now). So, I'm wondering if anyone has any cheap, small, and mountable speakers that will fit the bill. I may also be interested in a cheap stereo receiver to pair them with.

Doesn't look like many from AV123 have registered here yet, but appears to be all the important people.

Collin

I think I found the receiver...but probably a no-go on the monitors......I should dig it out this weekend and send it to you for the cost of shipping?...Is that ok?

Robert,

You are too kind. The receiver sounds good and thanks for looking for monitors. Those 525's you have on eBay would be nice, but I think I'll try and snag something cheaper on eBay or somewhere. Send me an email at Fennrisulfr at gmail dot com with payment info. PayPal alright?

You know, I was about to make a post about my renovation work with the art gallery and then the AV123 forums closed. Maybe I'll make a post here, since it seems to be our temporary home for now.

Thank you so much,
Collin

Audio Advisor has a nice sale going on right now on a NAD Receiver/CD/DVD combo and they throw in the speakers for free! www.audioadvisor.com However, you can get a better deal right now from Parts Express. They have the little BR-1S Speaker Kits on sale for $99 a pair... in fact this week it is even less... that's for a pair of really nice little speakers, especially for the price. To get better speakers you would have to spend, say, $279 for PSB Alpha's. In fact you should check out Dr. Dave's forum and look through all the Budget speakers in the Between $100-$500 class. These are all good speakers. No bad ones here. Some are really good... PSB, Epos, AV123, HSU, etc. There are about a dozen or so really good budget speakers listed. The Parts Express BR-1s are a step down... but it's not a big step. These are not "cheap" speakers. I have several audiophile speakers... and currently five pairs of BR-1S. I like to build the kit... it's simple, in one evening... and put them in the guest room and if the grandkids or visitors are amazed nice sound and express an interest, I give them a pair. You can improve them further by changing the crossover. The plans are on Dennis Murphy's web site.

http://netlowdown.com/budgetav/index.phpat This is Dr. Dave's BudgetAVTalk Forum.
http://murphyblaster.com/content.php?f=pe_br1.html This is Dennis Murphy's Speakers web site.
http://www.oaktreeent.com/ This is Oaktree Enterprise web site
www.parts-express.com
www.audioadvisor.com

There are a number of very affordable pretty good receivers out there. AV123 is now selling Harmon-Kardon receivers. You'll only need a two-channel receiver for music. If you want to put together a complete HT (Home Theater) set-up, you'll need a 5.1 or 7.1 receiver. Onyko makes very good receivers. I like Onyko. They got a really good review recently in, I believe it was Stereophile magazine. I have Onyko. You can buy these and other brands... Pioneer, for example, Yamaha, etc., at any of the onlinie discount electronic stores. Shop and compare prices and save a lot! You can get a new Sherwood receiver from Parts Express for under $200. Audio Advisor and other places have the NAD amps and recivers on sale. You can get a NAD C720BEE Stereo Receiver from A-A now for $200 off... $399.99! NAD is a audiophile step up from the above listed receivers. Lovely sound.

You can buy nice fully refurbished vintage stereo receivers from Oaktree Enterprises for low prices. I'll edit the URL in later.

Hope that helps.

I just picked up a pair of Klipsch KSB 1.1's in white on ebay for $50. Not bad, and they fit the bill perfectly. The white will blend in well and they already had omnimounts on them so I can mount them to the wooden ceiling. I definitely didn't need audiophile quality so these fit the bill well.

As far as a receiver, I'll check out Parts Express, but am also open to anything used you guys have laying around. Again, I'm looking for something around $50 - just a cheap old receiver - nothing fancy. A Gizmo would be nice to save space, so that may be another option on the higher end of my budget.

This will only be used for quiet background music at the gallery, so expensive equipment isn't really necessary.

Robert, do you still have that old receiver you mentioned? Shoot me a PM.

YHPM

Have you checked the local pawn shops and Goodwill? I've found really good stuff at both places, but you have to check often and regularly. A couple of my doctors were in a building across the street and I had to go there twice a week. I'd park my car, go in and straight to the electronics in the back and look at the brand names of the amps while giving the speakers the old knuckle-rap test.... "ding... ding... ding... ding... THUD.... ding.... Whoa, backup, what was that?"