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  1. #1
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    Boston Acoustics?

    A question for the audiophiles,what do you think of Boston Acoustic,I have my first pair...vr 950 lynnfields,so far very satisfied.I like em over any Polk Audio that I have owned so far,Ive been using Polk since 1983 or so,with the exception of one pair of Infinity,just wondering the general reputation of BA"s.Got my new for 1/2 price too!

  2. #2
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Strange that they have such a low profile because I've always liked the Bostons. I think part of it is because they made a fairly radical change to their design philosophy about 10 years ago, which put off a lot of their long time customers. Before that change, they designed acoustic suspension speakers with polydome tweeters and an adherence to a balanced and tight sound. Their signature sound was the heir apparent to the classic "New England" sound of AR, Advent, and KLH, among others, and it won a fairly large following in the 80s.

    The Lynnfield was a big change for them because with that design, they simultaneously went to a ported cabinet and a metal dome tweeter, which increased the efficiency and gave it an edgier and more aggressive sound. Those first Lynnfields sounded very different from Boston's previous speakers, and it seems that since then they've been trying to tame their successive releases and reign in the rough edges. Overall, I like them, but other companies seem to have passed them by in recent years.

    Also, it seems that Boston has focused more on their car audio and multimedia lines.

  3. #3
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    Yeah, I'll agree with Wooch...

    ...with his assessments. They certainly don't have the allure they once did, but I feel their speakers are at least competitive now, pricing considered.

    It's kind of funny, no one ever mentions these as a (relatively) affordable speaker. I think they are, dollar for dollar, as good as Paradigm, B&W, Energy, PSB and a bunch of others. NO ONE ever mentions the new Bostons. I'm not saying they're the best in one or all areas, but certainly worthy of an audition.

    Don't forget - these older Bostons (maybe like Wooch is referring to) were some of the "high-end" shops best stuff back in the early 80s. I remember (and bought) these along with the KEFs, Alisons, Snells, Cantons, Polks, and a few others. Klipsch was always around... I bought these and still regret it! :^) No, not THAT bad, just not the sonic leap I was expecting over my trusty Bostons.

    If you are happy with them... thats all that matters!

    You know what they say about opinions (especially other people's... hehe)

  4. #4
    JSE
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    Boston does seem to get overlooked a lot. I own newer VR 965 mains. They have the built in subs. I love their sound. It took a little tweeking, but they sound awesome. I auditioned a lot of speakers. I listened to Paradigm, Energy, Vandersteen, Polk, Phase Tech, Infinity, PSB, Mirage, B&W and some others. I think it really came down the the Energy C9's and the Bostons. They both had their strong points but I felt the Boston's did both HT and 2 Channel very well. A lot of speakers I listened to did one or the other very well but lacked on the other side. For instance, the Vandersteen 1c and 2c. They are amazing 2 channel music speakers but I felt they were weak on HT. Paradigm, I felt the exact opposite. The Energy C9 seemed to do both well much like the Bostons. I would have been happy with either the Energy or Bostons. In came down to me getting a killer deal on the Boston's through a corporate discount program my company has with a West Coast delaer. I knocked off about 48%. I ended up getting the mains, center and surrounds for the same price as 2 Energy C9s. I could not pass that up.

    For someone like me that does not have room for a seperate sub, the VR965 mains are great. The subs take a little bit to calibrate and blend, but once they are set properly, the speakers sound great.

    JSE

  5. #5
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    I've listen to Older-can't remember i think late 80's- Boston and KEF Bookshelf speakers side by side hooked up to all Carver(<-----remember them?) gear. Boston was very ver good but KEF blew me away. KEF midrange was so good it was unbelievable. But back in them days i was a butt-broke college student. I could barely afford dinner let alone $500/pair speakers....

  6. #6
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    In my yet to be completed search for a nice set of low end mains...the Boston VR (1,2,3)series is towards the top of my list along with the B&W 600 series. I think Bostons are certainly well suited to music...nice and clear, good for clean recordings I think. The upper ranges certainly seem to stand out compared to similar speakers, but the lower and mid range aren't necessarily lacking. They didn't seem to sound as full as the B&W, but then again I didn't listen to them in the same room. I haven't really listened to them much from a traditional HT perspective, since i'm not really a movie kind of guy. Anyway...in my shoping around I've listened to a lot of stuff, the vast majority of which I couldn't begin to afford, and to my ears the Boston's are in the top few brands as far as music listening is concerned. I'm in my audiophile infancy so I can't really say more than that.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    Strange that they have such a low profile because I've always liked the Bostons. I think part of it is because they made a fairly radical change to their design philosophy about 10 years ago, which put off a lot of their long time customers. Before that change, they designed acoustic suspension speakers with polydome tweeters and an adherence to a balanced and tight sound.
    Yep- I was one of those customers. I have some Boston T830's and matching center I just posted on ebay tonight! I finally replaced them with some Dynaudio's. Personally, I never liked anything better than these Boston's I had. I like the traditional sealed enclosure with these speakers. If I would not have heard these new dynaudio's that blew me away- I would still be playing the Boston's. Until the Dynaudio's, I was never truly impressed unless I was willing to shell out $3500 or more for mains!

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