Beemer

Looking to upgrade my front speakers from my current 5 year old KLH speakers. My budget is about $500 - $600. I have listened to a bunch of speakers and I have narrowed it down to either the

JBL Model ND310 Northridge Series Floor Speakers for $560/pair

or

POLK RT6001 Towers for $500/pair

Any input on the above mentioned models or suggestions on others would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

edclem

I hate to throw a wrench into things, but have you listened to some of the less mass market lines?

such as B&W, Paradigm, PSB, Definitive Technology...

IMO, they often both sound and are built significantly better (even for a given price) than mass market stuff.

gimmedvd

I have owned the Polk RT600i for about 6 months and I enjoy them. They sound very good and don't take up much space. I am thinking about trading them up at circuit city using their trade in program and paying the $200 difference (they were $299 apiece when I got them) and getting the RT 1000i for $399 apiece they are now.

Mole177

heres my view, i have the whole Northridge series, and i love it, i got them at the outlet so, basically the floor speakers were 125 ea, but i do enjoy the sound!

solid-jp

My choice goes to the Polk's. I have all Polk speakers and love every one of them. My main's are the rt1000i's. Great speakers at an excellent price. So there's my two cents.

Tommy Boy29

Check here: http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage...tionId=6588660

Pair of JBL S312 (better set than the Northbridge series). I got a pair of these from Ubid and they are absolutely awesome. They sound really really good. PLus, you can't beat the price.

Beemer

Thanks for all the info guys. Now you really got me thinking. I guess I have few more questions now based on your feedback...

1. Where can I sound test the speakers mentioned by edclem i.e., B&W, Paradigm, PSB, Definitive technology.

2. Second question was for mole177 or anybody that can answer. You said that you got your JBL's from an outlet. Was that a JBL outlet or an outlet store that sold speakers in general?

Again thanks to all that replied for your informative posts and I'll keep on researching a little bit more.

edclem

the only place you can hear these will be in local specialty audio shops. all of the companies above have web sites which will show you authorized dealers in your area.

As I said, it's my opinion that you'll be better off in the long run with speakers from one of these lesser distributed companies that specialize in speaker technology. But, remember, this is this guy's opinion. Your ears should be the judge. If you try them out, and find that you like the JBL's (or others) more, then that's what's right for you.

B&W: http://www.bwspeakers.com/
PSB: http://www.psbspeakers.com/
Paradigm: http://www.paradigm.com/
Definitive: http://www.definitivetechnology.com/