Mission/Eltax Speaker Comments?

[SteveC]

Hi all,

My Creative DeskTop Theatre 2500 is ageing rapidly now (and I've realised that I need proper speakers - not 5 tiny cubes and a poor sub) and so I've been looking around at some new speakers on RicherSound's site...

Any comments on the Mission 700's?
http://www.richersounds.com/cgi-bin/productInfo.cgi?sid=29232010c.123456&productID=3912

Any comments on the Eltax c205's?
http://www.richersounds.com/cgi-bin/productInfo.cgi?productID=3909&sid=29232010c.123456

I'm thinking of having soemthing like the Eltax ones at the front, and the missions as the rear. I haven't got a new amp yet... that'll have to wait a bit as I'm working to a budget! :)

Any other ideas of cheapish speakers? I see Curry's do 'ACOUSTIC AV120' floorstanding speakers for £50 - they any good?

[SteveC]

... or the Mission 6 pack? Anyone got this set? (Thanks to the bargain forum) these are available cheap...


EDIT: hmmm the 6 pack is looking good: http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/frame.html?http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/SpeakerPackages/Mission/Mission700Series.shtml

[clayts]

You gets whats you pay for - the Eltax Century 205 and Acoustic Solutions speakers you mention are pretty cheap and tacky - if you can stretch to the Mish 6, go for it, although you don't get a subwoofer with that, AFAIK.

[MikeK]

If the AV120 speakers are the same small Acoustic Solutions floorstanders I heard recently in Curry's, then for £50 they are pretty good.
True, the finish isn't all that great (but it's as good as quite a few other budget models I've seen), and they don't really have a name badge on them so to speak, but they sounded fine to me considering the price.

Depends on what you call cheap for the Mission 6pk.
It's 5x Mission 70 small bookshelf speakers and an 8" active sub.
I've seen them advertised for around £260 - probably not a bad deal all things considered.

If you are a bit strapped, one of the best VFM deals I've seen recently, has to be the Teac LS5.1U set from Richers, for £120 (with a copy of What HiFi ad). True, it may not be high end hifi, but it'll blow your DT2500 away, and considering what you get for £120, is quite remarkable value for money IMO.

Remember though, that both the Mission and Teac sets (as well as any other speakers mentioned), must be driven by an AV amp, which it sounds like you don't yet have.
Probably the best value DD/DTS AV amp/rec'vr is the Kenwood 5050, again from Richers for about £150.
If you want clearer advice, post back with exactly what you have at the moment, what you'd like to have, and exactly how much your budget is.

[SteveC]

Thanks MikeK!

Right - you're correct about me not having anything at the moment :) I have just the desktop theatre. I want to get a nice new Amp and a half decent set of speakers to go with it, although I can't afford it all at the moment, so I'll get one of the two now, and the other in a month's time or so.

I can spend a couple of hundred quid or so on the speakers, and a bit more on the amp. I don't mind getting separate speakers to make up the set, or I don't mind getting an all in one set of speakers (like the mission 6 pack). I just went to get the mission set from curry's but they've none left :(

[MikeK]

Originally posted by SteveC
Thanks MikeK!

Right - you're correct about me not having anything at the moment :) I have just the desktop theatre. I want to get a nice new Amp and a half decent set of speakers to go with it, although I can't afford it all at the moment, so I'll get one of the two now, and the other in a month's time or so.

I can spend a couple of hundred quid or so on the speakers, and a bit more on the amp. I don't mind getting separate speakers to make up the set, or I don't mind getting an all in one set of speakers (like the mission 6 pack). I just went to get the mission set from curry's but they've none left :(


The problem is, you can't use one without the other.
So unless you want to get a special offer while you can (eg the Teac LS5.1U set) then you may as well wait until you can afford both at the same time.


It's all relative of course, and very generally speaking (although this is far from always the case) usually the more you spend, the better it gets. Having said that, if you look out for special offers and end-of-line gear, you can often get a system for a few hundred pounds which is every bit the equal of some systems costing more than twice as much.
As ever too, it also depends on your own expectations - I'm not trying to suggest that you can get a system which will compete head on with a reference THX system for £300 - but many people don't want or need that kind of setup.
If all you want to do is enjoy movies in DD/DTS without spending a small fortune, then around £300 will get that, in reasonable quality (certainly far better than your current DT system - no offence), if you spend your money wisely.

[SteveC]

Hi Mike,

Yeah - I know I can't use one without the other :)

Anyway - I've been looking around today, and have found Sony's STR-DE475 receiver for £200 - £50-odd cheaper than Currys... so I might get that, and beg/borrow/steal some speakers to go with it. I could also get those speakers from Currys I mentioned earlier for the fronts and use the current speakers I've got on my DTT2500 for the centre and rear. (Or not bother with rears at the moment).

Or, on the speaker front - Sony have a set which goes with this Amp... bringing the total up to £375. Ah decisions decisions!

Actually, I've just remembered - I know someone with those speakers from Currys - I might buy the sony amp and try out his speakers and if I like them... get them, otherwise, buy some more expensive ones.

edit - BTW: the speakers from Curry's I'm talking about are £49.95 and called 'ACOUSTIC AV120' and are the best part of a metre high (79cm).

[SteveC]

Right.. I got the Sony Amp, and have currently got a pair of those currys speakers on it and it doesn't sound too bad... they're a touch muffly... the tweeters are too weak compared to the bigger speakers.. a quick adjustment on the amp though and it sounds not half bad... now got to get some proper surround/center speakers.