Any experience with Fluance or BIC America Speakers?

[DigMe]

Ok, since you jokers were such a big help when I was picking out my subwoofer (friendly sarcasm ) I'm now starting to work on replacing my current surround speaker setup so it's not all mix and match garage-sale stuff that I have now. I'm on a budget because we're buying lots of stuff for our new house that we're closing on May 5th. So, based on heavy word of mouth (it's just not possible to hear these speakers in person around here) I think I'm going to end up with either BIC America speakers (Venturi DV62CLR-S center channel for $99 and Venturi DV62si bookshelf speakers for front and rear surrounds at $115 a pair) or Fluance Speakers (Fluance AV-SC center channel at $65 and possibly AV-BP2 bipoles for both front and rear at 100 bucks per pair). I've heard that either of these are a good selection and an amazing value (this turned out to also be true for my Dayton Audio powered sub, which also had great word of mouth). What I want to know is simply do any of you have any experience with either of these in a home theater or music listening situation? What did you think? I've been underwhelmed by most other stuff in this price range and I can always send these back if I end up not liking whatever I get (ordering from www.acousticsounddesign.com) but I'm willing to take a chance based on a ton of great reviews I've heard from both hometheaterforum.com and audioreview.com. I'm leaning towards the BICs because I'm told they have better voice-matching and there are a bit more established but I'm still open.

Not really looking for other suggestions right now unless the speakers are the same price and they are not available in Best Buy or Circuit City (simply because I've pretty much looked into all those already). So...anyone have anything productive to offer on these brands or models?

brad cook

[The Golden Boy]

I've got one of the BIC center channels. I love it, I think it's one with the 2x4" (or so) compliment in it. When I got it it was around $110 and that was a few years ago.

[JMX]

Music-related.

[DigMe]

Originally Posted by JMX

Music-related.

You moved mine but not the Faith No More thread?! C'mon, ump! I guess I just put it in OT because my old home theater subwoofer thread never got moved from there.

brad cook

[JMX]

it's moved now too.

[DigMe]

Just one more little bump here...fishin' for opinions.

I'm leaning towards the BIC America speakers.. They are a long-established company and I haven't heard one negative thing about them. It's hard to believe they keep their stuff so cheap considering all the varied reviews I'm hearing over a spectrum of websites, all of which are extremely positive. I still haven't found anyone on any website that has heard both Fluance and BIC and can compare. The Fluance seem awfully nice on paper with their neodynium tweeters and (what sounds like) high quality crossovers (and damn if those SV-6's aren't pretty!) however, the reviews, while mostly really good, haven't been as consistent as the BICs. Also, the BIC's also have slightly better specs (once again, that's just on paper). Wish I could hear both of them.

brad cook

[The Golden Boy]

FWIW,

The BIC center channel speaker I have looks like something out of the DV52 or 53 series. I'm using it with an older Yamaha surround system, the mains are a set of Bose 301's and a set of Bose 501's and the rear are a set of Infinity bookshelf with the 5.5" driver.

When it was time to choose the speakers I was deciding against a Polk Audio speaker (similar price range- but more expensive) and the BIC. I ended up choosing the BIC because it had MUCH better bass response than the Polk, it just sounded much bigger. At that point in time I wasn't concerned about price, and I wasn't particularly concerned with brand names. I bought the BIC speaker because it was the best sounding speaker to my ear. I couln't come up with a bad thing to say about that speaker, the shielding is perfect, it sounds great, looks great. I'm very satisfied with it.

[DigMe]

Thanks, GB! Good to hear. Where did you buy the BIC speaker from?

brad cook

[The Golden Boy]

Originally Posted by DigMe

Thanks, GB! Good to hear. Where did you buy the BIC speaker from?

brad cook

American TV and Appliance in WI.