Bookshelf Nice mids and highs

[Torech Ungol]

I am looking for some bookshelf speakers that have nice mids and highs. Not worried about anything below 80hz as I use my sub for both HT and music. Looking to spend no more then $600. What do you recommend?
I like to listen to Pearl Jam and The Cure for examples of music I mainly listen to.

Thanks for the help.

[RGA]

I am looking for some bookshelf speakers that have nice mids and highs. Not worried about anything below 80hz as I use my sub for both HT and music. Looking to spend no more then $600. What do you recommend?
I like to listen to Pearl Jam and The Cure for examples of music I mainly listen to.

Thanks for the help.

B&W DM 602S3 - preferably a demo of the now discontinued CDM1NT(but pricier)

Possibly Dynaudio but I'm not convinced by the 42...if you can get the Auience 52 for your budget it would probably be my pick under 1k - otherwise the 602S3.

The 602S3 is a rocker but can still manage the essence of classical without destroying it. It also is a big standmount that can belt it out.

Naturally others will have preferences but I can't think of a safer better all-rounder under $800. (they retail for $600)

You will have to add in some stands - ones that you can fill with sand preferably. http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/products.reviews/Label/Range%20600%20Series%203

[92135011]

I like the B&W 600 series stuff, especially for thier vocal mids.
Recently I tried Quad 11Ls and they were really nice too, with a cabinet that beats the B&W 600 stuff with real wood veneers and grand piano gloss finish. Don't know if they are good for your type of music though.
Another one I liked was Wharfedale. Dont know which model that one is though. Although they didnt sound or look as good as the Quad, but they are much cheaper.

All the ones mentioned supposedly received good reviews. The Quad received the product of the year award from...What HI-Fi? for 2 years 2001 and 2002 I think.

[NickWH]

If you will always be using a subwoofer with the speakers there is not reason to buy a larger bookshelf. Typically manufacturers use the same tweeters and crossovers for a line of speakers and all you gain buy going larger is more deep bass. The DM602S3 with it's 7" woofer is wasted with a high-pass crossover of 80Hz. You can save a lot of money by going with the B&W DM600S3 ($350/pair) or the EPOS ELS-3 ($300/pair). The DM600S3 could even be wall-mounted and you wouldn't need to buy stands. In any case don't forget to budget for decent quality speaker cable.

[92135011]

Actually, the DM600 is probably bad at wall mounting due to its rear firing port.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but rear firing generally need more space in the back to sound good. Even if this is wrong, I do know that the DM600 are meant to be away from the wall. That is why B&W made their wall mounting models

[NickWH]

Most rear-firing speakers are meant to be used away from room boundaries. However, this usually only affects deep-bass reproduction. When cutting bass off at 80Hz and/or using foam inserts in the ports, wall-mounting won't have any negative impact. The 600's are the only model in the DM range that have the wall-mount bracket, because of it's light-weight and the fact that it's meant to be used as a surround speaker. You could mount four or more of these speakers around the room with a subwoofer for your HT. This sounds like what the poster is looking to do.

[newbsterv2]

You can do way better than B&W in this price range. You mentioned Pearl Jam and the Cure. I have many of their albums and they are not very well recorded. Mainly the treble is boosted to sound more "detailed". This is fine but a decent speaker will show you all of the recordings flaws. And in my opinion I want to feel the music not observe it immaculately like some speakers will do. Axiom makes some awesome speakers for cheaper prices. I own the Axiom M3ti's as well as various other speakers but the little Axioms are plain awesome for $275/pair to your door. I have these set up in my brother's room and he's always asking me where I put the subwoofer. Well there is no subwoofer. Just the Axioms. These things have rocking fast bass. You can only order them directly from the company's website but you can send em back in 30 days if you don't like em. You have to pay return shipping of course but so what?? Give em a try you'll love em.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/m3ti.html
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/axiom_millennia3ti.htm





I am looking for some bookshelf speakers that have nice mids and highs. Not worried about anything below 80hz as I use my sub for both HT and music. Looking to spend no more then $600. What do you recommend?
I like to listen to Pearl Jam and The Cure for examples of music I mainly listen to.

Thanks for the help.

[RGA]

Just a note. be careful of people saying that Axiom is way better. Often they have never compared the two side by side with the same electronics. Hearing the B&W in a store and then comparing that to what they bought (a bias right away) is not the same things. Like it otr lump it even the good reviews of Axiom call them bright. With metal tweeters it's not a surprise.

Axiom is worht a go I suppose only if you're dissatisfied with what you can actually listen to. Instad of buying the speaker for a home trial why not go to ANY dealer and get them to lend you a speaker for a weekend with zero out of pocket concern or shipping hastles.

When reviewers who are not sponsored by advertising revenue such as Hi Fi Choice magazine or UHF reviews the speaker then I will be more convinced. Until then the reviews I take more as a grain of salt. Enjoy the music.com is a little more even handed as well.

I'm not saying don't try Axiom I have heard some good things but Ihave also read between the lines and I know a dealer carrying them in Canada.

Also it is important to have a front speaker with fuller range capabilites. Having a tiny speaker as a standmount just because you're using the sub below 80hz doesn't mean you should buy a speaker that only reaches 80hz. Chances are the small speaker won't play very loud and if Cure and Pearl jam are your main thing then I suspect it would be nice to belt it out now and again. The 602 will do a better job of that than the 600 or the 601.

You want a speaker to sound relatively FULL all by themselves...not just a tweeter like many sub satelite systems offer up. Subwoofers are not even tryue subwoofers. They are supposed to be subsonic ---below 20hz - most are basically woofers in a box. I looked a huge Velodyne that only goes to 40hz. useless. It'll play louder at 40hz than my standmounts but for $800.00 no thanks.

There is not much info below 40hz in the musical world...get a standmount that can get close to that on it's own and not sound smudged in the mid band.

The Quad mentioned earlier if it's available in your town should get you auditioning.

[newbsterv2]

Sorry RGA but the speaker has so much more an impact on the overall sound compared to the electronics it's not even funny. Sure you can buy a tube amp that's super rolled off in the upper frequencies and then say "well speaker so and so needs top notch electronics to do the speakers justice". I've listened quite extensively to many of the B&W speakers in the entry level range and found them extremely overrated and overpriced. Yes the Axiom's can be deemed bright at times but compared to what the B&W's sound like they're nowhere near as bright. And Enjoy The Music also wrote a very favorable review of the Axiom's as well. After owning these speakers I agree with the reviewer 100%. I once brought the Axiom's to a local hifi store in Chicago called "Holm Audio" to audition some amps and the saleperson never heard of the Axiom's. I then asked him how much he thought the speakers cost based on their sound quality and he said "with that bass and midrange and level of detail I'd have to say around $900". When I told him they cost $275/pair delievered he couldn't believe it.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0402/axiommillennia.htm






Just a note. be careful of people saying that Axiom is way better. Often they have never compared the two side by side with the same electronics. Hearing the B&W in a store and then comparing that to what they bought (a bias right away) is not the same things. Like it otr lump it even the good reviews of Axiom call them bright. With metal tweeters it's not a surprise.

Axiom is worht a go I suppose only if you're dissatisfied with what you can actually listen to. Instad of buying the speaker for a home trial why not go to ANY dealer and get them to lend you a speaker for a weekend with zero out of pocket concern or shipping hastles.

When reviewers who are not sponsored by advertising revenue such as Hi Fi Choice magazine or UHF reviews the speaker then I will be more convinced. Until then the reviews I take more as a grain of salt. Enjoy the music.com is a little more even handed as well.

I'm not saying don't try Axiom I have heard some good things but Ihave also read between the lines and I know a dealer carrying them in Canada.

Also it is important to have a front speaker with fuller range capabilites. Having a tiny speaker as a standmount just because you're using the sub below 80hz doesn't mean you should buy a speaker that only reaches 80hz. Chances are the small speaker won't play very loud and if Cure and Pearl jam are your main thing then I suspect it would be nice to belt it out now and again. The 602 will do a better job of that than the 600 or the 601.

You want a speaker to sound relatively FULL all by themselves...not just a tweeter like many sub satelite systems offer up. Subwoofers are not even tryue subwoofers. They are supposed to be subsonic ---below 20hz - most are basically woofers in a box. I looked a huge Velodyne that only goes to 40hz. useless. It'll play louder at 40hz than my standmounts but for $800.00 no thanks.

There is not much info below 40hz in the musical world...get a standmount that can get close to that on it's own and not sound smudged in the mid band.

The Quad mentioned earlier if it's available in your town should get you auditioning.

[tcontas]

I just bought some Boston Acoustics CR95 floorstanders and am very, very impressed with all aspects of their sound. The CR85 or 75 bookshelfs may be worth a listen. On the CR95, the mids are very clear, not overpronounced or recessed or "honky" or any other negative adjective you can think of. They just sound natural. The highs are handled by Boston's "Kortec" tweeter, which, from what I can make of their marketing hype, is a synthetic, silk-like fiber coated on the inside for stiffness. Whatever the technology, I find the highs to be very realistic, detailed, airy, with none of the hardness or ringing often found in metal domes today. I've listened to so many high end speakers, and so many of them seem to be going over the top in search of the ultimate resolution or detail. Instead, they often end up with very bright, unforgiving, often fatiguing high ends. I've owned B&W, Paradigm, Pinnacle and Klipsch over the years. If you have to have a name like one of those and want to spend big bucks for (in my opinion) overly analytical or clinical high end presentation, that's cool, but these Bostons were real ear-openers. Check 'em out!

[Mash]

Torech
Whatever main 'bookshelf' speaker you select, be sure it is flat at least 1/2 octave below your planned woofer cross-over. An 80 Hz woofer cross-over would mean you need a 'bookshelf' speaker flat down to at least 56 Hz. Otherwise, you will have a 'hole' in your frequency response. The rather detailed Magnepan MMG at $550 delivered will reach down to 50 Hz, below which they die. I use MMG's in my bedroom driven with a Musical Fidelity A2 and the sound is very fine and pleasing if not as smoothly detailed as my Futterman-driven Tympani. But then, the Tympani's replacement is the 20.1R at $12,000 so I am not complaining.........

[topspeed]

I then asked him how much he thought the speakers cost based on their sound quality and he said "with that bass and midrange and level of detail I'd have to say around $900". When I told him they cost $275/pair delievered he couldn't believe it.


A dealer agreeing with you?? The Hell you say! Next thing you know, he might try stroking your ego like he was trying to sell you something. What's the world coming to?

[92135011]

Once again we draw it down to personal preference.
I hear axiom and Boston as being favourites for some people.
For me, I haven't tried axiom, but I didnt like the Boston.

Notice also that the brands I mentioned above are all kevlar cones. Something about kevlar that I have grown to like. Dont really know what it is though. Maybe just coincidence?

[RGA]

A dealer agreeing with you?? The Hell you say! Next thing you know, he might try stroking your ego like he was trying to sell you something. What's the world coming to?

You simply cannot compare a speaker at a dealer with one you have at home - different room different electronics. The axioms are bright sorry to say but they are - the emasurements show it and the reviews say it.

This is not a defend B&W competition...the axiom may be better - but then metal tweeters to me are a strike-out until you get to the price range of the N802.

Tube amps don't roll off the highs they don't gritty them up though which may confuse people.

[Torech Ungol]

Thanks for all the recommendations. I know that listening is the most important factor, but I wanted to get some opinions. You all have been truly helpful. I'm not looking to buy immediately (which is beneficial in that I don't make a hasty decision) so I will have plenty of time to audition all the speakers mentioned above. I know my wife would like them ceiling mounted so that is another obstacle to overcome. Thanks again.