Best speaker under $500


I am looking for my first audiophile system and am, of course, on a budget. Any suggestions? Thanks.
pmcmanis

Showing 1 response by jim

The Maggie SMGa's are decent when buying on a budget. Get them set up correctly and they get most everything right. Errors are those of omission -- a good thing at this level. These can be had *very* inexpensively if you are patient and shop around. I see them for $250-$300 from time to time.

Now for a shameless plug (my first ever, really). Depending on your amp, I have a pair of Apogee Centaurs that are just sitting. (Since I went to the very large CLS/SW800 set up my concession to my wife is that I won't set these speakers up in the bedroom again -- OK, I can live with that.) Anyway, these have the same ribblons as the Stages (my old main rig speakers) and an eight inch long throw woofer.

These are quite good and I will let them go for a song -- especially if you are in SoCal. And especially today when I found out that the Kinergetics subs that I bought for spare drivers have different ones than my SW800's. Now have two more large boxes to explain when my wife gets back from Tokyo. And, I have the new (used) Oracle turntable to explain. I guess she should never leave town.

Again, you need an amp that will drive them. I'd suggest clean power at 75 watts or more. The detail that the ribbons provide will be far and away better than any other "budget" speaker that comes to mind. If you can swing the power requirements I promise you a screaming deal.

Good luck in any event.