Any cheap but good speakers with bass?

Under $500 is pretty tough. The only speaker I would recommend is the Infinity SM-??? I think its the SM-150, with a 12 or 15" woofer, mid and tweeter, and its like 93-95 db efficient. These cost more than $500 through ripoff sources like Crutchfield, but they are available for under 500 a pair elsewhere, if you look (like 50% of what they are from crutchfield). One of my friends got a pair a couple of years ago and they play incredibly LOUD with lots of bass. I think he got them through a visa-type buying service but the only place I have seen them recently is crutchfield. You will know these by the foam tweeters. For the money I would get these if you want volume and bass but look for a price at about 50% of retail because they are not part of the mainstrame marketing by Infinity.

Used AR 303

Have you considered adding a small sub woofer? If so give me a buzz. I have a velodyne ct 100 I am offing. Plenty of punch to back a couple small speakers. This is just a suggestion not a sales pitch. Any sub would do the trick.

Go to www.stereophile.com and read their review of the PSB Image 4T. In their words "The Image 4T's bass performance was uncanny." I own a set and have to agree. In B-Stock they are available for $400/pair at www.upscaleaudio.com.

You might - just might - be able to find a used pair of NHT 2.5is close to your price range; typically they go for maybe around $650? All the bass you could want, and the rest of the sound is pretty good, too.

I also believe that NHT is closing out (or updating) the current "Super" series, and there are ads for the Super-Two for $500/pair.

Cheers,
JHunter

I'll second Dodlb's recommendation of the PSB Image series. I just bought a pair of Stratus Bronze (their top series) about six months ago but in the process I did give the Image speakers a good listen. In terms of bass, they're simply awesome at their price. The Stratus series topped them in terms of treble, mids and soundstage, but I don't think you can find the Bronze for less than $500. PSB speakers are great for the price and have bass in spades!

Howard

I have a pair of Mirage 1090i Speakers, there about5 yrs old and they have very nice Bass. New they want to for $1200.00 but I'm sure you can find some used for 500ish.

I know this is going to sound like heresy on a site like this one, but if you want some real bass, but are willing to sacrifice a bit of finesse, then take a look at the following site's listing for AR speakers.

http://www.accessories4less.com/

Some of the $900 AR floor-standing speakers are discounted to about $400. When you don't have a lot of bucks to spend, but want reasonably full-range sound, you'll have to make some compromises. And before anyone bashes AR, take note that their current speaker line has received some pretty favorable reviews. At the prices listed on "Accessories4less", you want do much better on a pure dollar basis.

Bigboy: Actually a good old pair of Polk Audio 10B speakers in real good condition. You can either find on Audiogon or E-bay I see them quite frequently and for a real good deal. These speakers are approx. 26" tall so if you don't mind the size these will kick out some base and sound good too. You should be able to pick them up for $300-$400 max. Good Luck.

another vote for the cheap PSB's: I picked up a pair of 2B's, from Upscale Audio, factory 2nd's (because of a tiny bubble on the veneer, almost unnoticeable), got 'em for ~$250. (These are for a second system), and the bass is very nice for the price. Actually the overall sound is nice for the $$.

Yo9u can get Mirage OM10s, Definitive Technology BP10s or NHT Super Twos for about that budget.