Best Bang for the Buck Speakers?

[topspeed]

I'm amazed that in 3 pages of under $2K bang-for-buck speaker recommendations, I haven't seen one mention of Ed Frias' EFE speakers!! Nor has anyone mentioned BIC, Acoustech, etc. Now I do not own any of Ed's speakers (YET), nor have I heard them. But considering how a couple of other forums are filled to overflowing with RAVES about Ed's products, I would have thought someone would have mentioned them here. His B-15 import bookshelfs are $690/pair. In fact in his new import series, only the top of the line T-50 costs over $2K, at $2890/pair. His second biggest tower the T-42 is $1290/pair.

From the Original Post:

My list includes but is not limited to:
1) Von Schweikert VR1 and VR2 (betcha didn't see that one coming )
2) Maggie MMG (for $500, how can you really go wrong?)
3) Paradigm 20v3 (boy, that's a terrific little speaker)
4) EFE AR.com DIY (never heard it, but I trust Kex's ears and Ed's clearly knows what he's doing)
5) Epos ELS3 (very accurate although completely lacking in the bottom octaves)

Many members here own and rave about his speakers as well as his generosity. I talk to Ed about cars every couple of weeks and can attest to the fact that he's a genuinely nice guy. Thanks for the rec's on the other brands. Next time, take a moment to read the OP.

Welcome to the board .

[einsteinjb]

From the Original Post:

4) EFE AR.com DIY (never heard it, but I trust Kex's ears and Ed's clearly knows what he's doing)

Many members here own and rave about his speakers as well as his generosity. I talk to Ed about cars every couple of weeks and can attest to the fact that he's a genuinely nice guy. Thanks for the rec's on the other brands. Next time, take a moment to read the OP.

Welcome to the board .

Whoops!! I DID read the OP! How the heck did I miss that?? Sorry, should have paid closer attention. Well you did only mention the AR.com DIYs rather than his main custom series or his ext mods, and I thought they were probably all worth a mention. Besides what everyone says about the sound, the T series are bee-YOO-tiful in their black piano gloss finish with cool yellow drivers. They definitely look like they cost more than they do.

Speaking of which, has anyone had the chance to compare the AR.com DIYs to Ed's B-15 bookshelfs? He'll build you a DIY for around $600 which is almost the same price as the B-15 so I'm very curious if anyone has comments on how they compare.

[ichigo]

Ascend Acoustics CBM-170SE/CMT-340SE

[audiomadness]

I would like to throw in the Pinnacle AC650 (paid $250)....hideous looking bookshelf speakers, but wonderfully flat and warm sounding. Positioned right, I would put these up against speakers costing 2-3X times the amount.

I've since retired the Pinnacles and have found a pair of Phase Technology 4.5's that sounds even better for $130/pr.

[speakeroligist_38]

einst I owned a set of AR.coms that Ed himself built and I let me just say they were very good. The midrange is so incredibly realistic you will swear the artist in performing right there in your living room. And as you mentioned Ed himself is an absolute gentleman. I was and still am impressed by him but I dont think the Ar.coms are quite on par with my Paradigm Studio v.3's. The 20's are better and more effecient. Significantly more articulate and better low extension and the imaging is unbelievable. But the 20's do cost more and as such should perform better. Hope this helps.

[jtgofish]

I have buillt 2 pairs of the AR.com Ed Frias speakers.These were for friends.They are very refined and coherent speakers and sound a bit like some of the excellent but pricey stand mounts from Spendor and Proac.For the cost they are a bargain and will provide fatigue free listening.

JT

[speakeroligist_38]

jt like you I owned a pair of Ar.coms that were built by Ed frias himself and cost $600 a pair. Ed measures and matches each compnent with respect to the drivers and X-overs. As expected they were excellent speakers. However, I also own a set of the Paradigm Studio 20 v.3's and was able to do an A/B test between the two and in every category IMHO the Studio 20 v.3's were better. The 20's imaged better, were more effecient, had a larger soundstage, much better low frequency extension, and were more articualate in the upper midbass regions. The tweeter was also more open and airy w/o and harshness or sounding rolled off. Dont take me wrong the Ar.coms are excellent speakers and are better than many out there BUT the Studioi 20v.3's are in another class all together and should be given their $800 a pair pricetag. It is just very hard to beat the Studio 20v.3's all around performance in the $800 or less category of stand mounted speakers. The Studio 20 v.3's truly are giant killers.

[jtgofish]

Good to know that there are some commercial speakers around like the Paradigms that offer such good value.The AR.com kits are a bit amplifier sensitive.I suspect they would sound good on the end of a digital amp.They aren't really happy with most valve amps and need a really good 80 watts RMS transistor[oxymoron I know].
JT

[markusp]

Some best bang for the buck speakers I love are:

• Aurum Cantus Leisure 2 SE Mk II ($1400 CDN)
•Â*Totem Acoustics Sttaf ($1800 CDN)
• PMC DB-1 ($1300 CDN)
• Dynaudio Audience 52
• Elac BS 203.2
• Elac BS 204.2


Have owned some of these and extensively demoed others and feel that for what these speakers do, they do it extremely well, especially those with ribbon tweeters. Have also owned B&W DM602s (too bloated for my liking but a good buy for the $$$) and Paradigm Studio 20s v. 3 (good speaker for the money but not my cup of tea so to speak).

[vinyladdict]

WOW! 4 pages and not a single mention of the NHT SB-3! One of the finest monitors I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. Smooth, detailed, deep controlled bass - just amazing. Impossible to beat at $600/pair. Have to agree with the VR-1's too - incredible as well but at twice the price of the SB-3s.