Best Bang for the Buck Speakers?

[Geoffcin]

Its starting to look like most of the best bang for your buck are owned my you guys. Odd,so many wise shoppers.

While a couple of the speakers that I recommend are from the same company, I don't own ANY of the speakers that I recommended!

[LEAFS264]

PSB Stratus Silveri's and the Stratus Mini Both are fantasic speakers


Jay

[vr6ofpain]

If you want to go cheap, i.e. <$200:

I recall these Boston's (CR8) sounding pretty good when I listened to them some time ago:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...766942210&rd=1

Or another pair I saw, though I have never heard. Looks promising for $75:

[nick250]

The best value for me has to be the Paridigm Atoms. For $195 (that was a couple of years ago, they may be more now) you get amazing sound. And another vote for the Studio 20's.

[kexodusc]

Hmmmm....
Lots of good models mentioned here.

I like the Ar.com's, I replaced my Studio 20's with these (v.2's, the v.3's might actually be a micron better overall than these, maybe I'll do a head-to-head someday)... At under $200 in parts it's great...I think you could get a wee bet better with $180 in parts, especially if you were happy with an 80Hz crossover point and intended only to use these with a sub, but as an already designed kit they are an impressive value. Like all speakers, might not be to everyone's tastes though...they get compared to Revel's for sound characteristics...I haven't heard any speakers by Revel so I'm not sure.

Dayton BR-1 kit from Parts Express: $140...are you kidding? These easily compete with GOOD $350-$400 speakers...I've personally compared a pair of $400 Boston Acoustics (model escapes me)and Paradigm Mini Monitors to these. I'm still not sure which I like best, but that says it all... A complete, and awesome 6 speaker system for $450? Sign me up. They're a bit on the ugly side though)

PMC DB1- Very nice speaker for $1000, I wish I heard these years ago.

Totem Rainmaker: $800 CDN for a speaker that rivals the Studio 20v.3, with a better midrange IMO...bass is a bit light, but what's there is tight and accurate. Totem is a hit and miss company, but this one is a real hit with me.

For subs, I'm with Paul on the Dayton Quatro...anything that can top the 12" Titanic for 1/2 the price is my kind of sub...You won't get 115 dB of SPL, or below 19Hz, but if sound quality is more important to you than specs, this is the way to go! If that damn plate amp ever arrives I'll finish mine and post a more thorough review.

[vr6ofpain]

Dayton BR-1 kit from Parts Express: $140...are you kidding? These easily compete with GOOD $350-$400 speakers...I've personally compared a pair of $400 Boston Acoustics (model escapes me)and Paradigm Mini Monitors to these. I'm still not sure which I like best, but that says it all... A complete, and awesome 6 speaker system for $450? Sign me up. They're a bit on the ugly side though

I've considered picking these up, just to build them and have a listen ($140 shipped). Are they good? Unfortunately the Search will not take "BR1" or "BR 1" or "BR-1"....which is really annoying because someone might have reviewed it on here.

[Mark111867]

I have to agree with Geoffcin regarding the Cambridge Soundworks Newton M80's. They are nice speakers for the money. Money well spent IMO.

[kexodusc]

The BR-1's have some tweeter issues, could use a bit better cabinetry and won't play ear bleeding loud, but you will be surprised at how well they keep up with $400-$500 speakers. That being said there's only so much the BR-1's can do.

I've heard 2 pairs now, there's been some revisions to the tweeter since the initial design. I'm no stranger to inexpensive speakers, having owned Paradigm Atoms, Titans, PSB Alpha's, and currently Axiom M3Ti's. The BR-1's in my opinion are better than all of these and approach, if not surpass the Mini Monitors I use to own in terms of performance...Though they have an overall warm sound to them, much different than the Mini Monitors - I find most budget speakers to be bright and not as smooth at the top end, perhaps a reflection of listening preferences...if you like bright speakers the BR-1's will be at a disadvantage. Excellent details from the Dayton silky tweeter though.
I have no doubt that for $140 in parts and a bit of skill, you could DIY a better speaker, but these already have all the hard work done for you. An incredible value. IMO, easily the best "entry level" speakers out there, which is saying a lot considering how many good $200-$250 speakers there are out there these days. They can be assemble in an hour or so. Throw in $15 for a nice cherry vinyl wrap or $20 for wood veneer and you can fix up the looks too.

Take the plunge, come back, and be the first to write a glimmering review...

[jocko_nc]

Ditto that prior post on the little Daytons... I bought a pair for my 9 year-old, to go with a bunch of old equipment I had laying around. For the money, these little guys are pretty darn hard to beat. They are NOT bright, on the contrary very subdued. You cannot blast them. However, the sound quality will surprise and impress. Did I mention $140.00? I was not sure what to expect, but for the money (free shipping) I decided to give it a try. I would not have been terribly disappionted if they were junk... Quite the opposite, I was completely overwhelmed with what I received, for the money.

I have bought lots of stuff from Parts Express and have never been let down.

jocko

[Woochifer]

If you want to go cheap, i.e. <$200:

I recall these Boston's (CR8) sounding pretty good when I listened to them some time ago:

I always thought that Boston's acoustic suspension speakers (the A and T series models) were very much underappreciated in their time. Fortunately, this means that a lot of those speakers are available for cheap on Ebay. I still use a pair of the bookshelf A40s in my two-channel system. Their current CR bookshelf series has some of the best stuff that they've made since they discontinued their original A series models.

That HD series model that you posted below was one of their first ported models. IMO, Boston's first group of ported speakers was disappointing in their sound quality.

[jocko_nc]

Put me down for Vandersteen 2Ce's... I have had them for 14 years now and still get great enjoyment from them. As an "acquired taste", I would definitely recommend hearing them. You may find you love them, then again you may not. Avoid a mistake either way.

jocko

[Soundideas]

SDAT SB-E639D speakers for only $250.00! www.sdatgroup.com One of the best buys on the market today! Could these speakers be better sounding than Paradigm studio 100v3's, that's what someone on ecoustics forum is saying! LOOK!........ http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/145226.html They are comparing these speakers to really good speakers here..... http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/144638.html

[topspeed]

SDAT SB-E639D speakers for only $250.00! www.sdatgroup.com One of the best buys on the market today! Could these speakers be better sounding than Paradigm studio 100v3's, that's what someone on ecoustics forum is saying! LOOK!........ http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/145226.html They are comparing these speakers to really good speakers here..... http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/144638.html

SDAT, huh?

Lessee, we've got a B&W clone, a Legacy clone, and a dome tweeter disguised to look like a ribbon. What's more, all of the speakers, even the small bookshelf model, have the exact same frequency response of 20hz-20khz. Wow. That's pretty amazing, especially when you consider that they used different drivers for each speaker. Most manufacturers tend to stay within the same design parameters across the lines. SDAT must really be onto something, huh?

OK, for any newbies reading this thread, these are the epitome of White Van speakers. Stay far, far away.

As for Soundideas:

GO AWAY SHILL!!!

[drseid]

Yeah, I love that bookshelf speaker that does 20hz-20Khz in particular as well... Maybe that is at -100db... :-)

---Dave

[Pyrrho]

With a budget of $2000/pair, I would probably go with Aurum Cantus Leisure 2SE (retail $1299, though you can probably get a couple of hundred off) and add a Hsu Research VTF-3 MK 2 subwoofer ($699). I love the ribbon tweeter on the Leisure 2SE, and the little 5 1/4" woofer is amazing for its size. You can read about these at:

http://www.kellsieavdesign.com/products/Leisure2SE.htm

http://www.hsustore.com/vtf3.html

But if we are talking about the best deal in audio, giving the best sound for the least amount of money, I think the Magnepan MMG for $550 is it, assuming you have an amplifier that can deal with 4-ohm speakers. (I know, this has been said repeatedly in this thread, but they really are an amazing speaker at that price point.)

http://www.magnepan.com/the_offer.php

[einsteinjb]

Hello folks,

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.

Then if you really want to buy cheap, folks rave about Ed's extensively modified BIC Venturi speakers. I just picked up a pair of stock BIC DV62CLR-S centers on ebay, which don't sound amazing but I'm sending my xovers to Ed for modification next week, and a lot of people rave about the incredible sound from these CHEAP speakers once Ed's had his way with them. I can post an update on them once I've installed the mods. I will have paid a total of just about $200 for the pair once I have them done, including shipping.

If you want to contact Ed, who happens to be a really decent and incredibly knowledgeable guy who answers emails promptly, his email is efespeakers@commspeed.net. He's replied quickly to every question I've sent him so far. You can read about his work on audioreview.com, audioholics.com and avsforum.com.

Anyone have experience with his speakers? Bueller? Bueller?

Also I've not heard these either but plenty of people recommend BIC's Acoustech line for good cheap speakers, especially for HT. They're available at amazon.com and often ubid, among other places. They're often compared favorably to Klipsch's Refence line.

I do own a pair of Boston Acoustic CR75 bookshelfs, and I owned a pair of their old A40Vs til I actually wore out the foam surrounds after about 11 years of hard use. I used a kit to repair them but they never sounded right again so I bought the CR75s and love them. I overpaid ($300) for them at Tweeter, but they're available now on Amazon for $180/pair, which is a steal for how they sound. Note that if you go with these, they play clean and loud with a nice detailed sound, fairly good low end for their size and price, but they are a bright speaker. I EQ them in my studio with a 15 band/chan. graphic just to cool the upper mids out and warm up the lower mids a bit and they sound stunning in a small room paired with a small sub. Acoustic instruments sound especially nice on them with the emphasized highs, though if you don't EQ them they'll fatigue your ears after a while if you crank them or play rock on them. I tried them in my 12 x 14 x 8' HT room and found they didn't have the beef to really do the job there as mains, but they're great as surrounds.

I have to also second the recommendation for B&W 600 series. I have a pair of DM602s2s I really enjoy, and the S3s are an improvement. I've heard them accurately described as a "polite" speaker -- not very bright, just a nice warm speaker with pleasant midrange and clean highs. Bass is cool for their size, but I use them with a sub. A friend has a HT system with DM604s3s in front, 600 series S3 center (don't know the model #), and DM602s2s for surrounds, and it's a really beautiful sounding system matched with his Paradigm PW2200 sub. Every speaker in that system is well under $2K.

As far as subs go, SVS and Hsu seem to be the value and quality leaders for under $2000. The Paradigm PW2200 I mentioned ROCKS the house, absolutely stunning for HT at around $800, sounds decent for music if a bit boomy in the room I've heard it in. Probably get better value with SVS or Hsu.

I just bought a Cadence XSub (wrote a HUGE review of it on avsforum.com) and I have to give it a major recommendation if you want a sub for under $250 that rocks the house for both music and HT. I want a bigger, tighter, faster sub eventually but for now this one's doing a great job and I definitely feel it's worth more than what I paid for it.

[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 .

[snickelfritz]

The best sounding dynamic speaker I've auditioned in the $2000 range was the B&W 805N.
Nothing I compared it with could approach the overall transparency, coherence and vivid detail on vocals.
I think you'd need a good sub and a really clean (Class A) amplifier to fully leverage the potential of these speakers though.

I also agree with the Studio 20 recommendation, but the 805N is definitely a better speaker, which is hardly surprising considering the difference in price.