Best value speakers available
I don't think you really get to hear the music until you get into a speaker like the Ref 3A's. These guys really light it up. I know you bass freaks out there are going to "#hit" but that is the truth. You can almost have state of the art sound with the $2500 List price mm de Capo's. and if you want more base just get a HSU sub woofer direct from them for about $450. Whats not to love. Jim www.soundsrealaudio.com |
Hello guys. i'm assuming we are talking about previously enjoyed speakers here. I see many very good suggestions at various price points.However.... at the $1K mark,given the proper room and set up,and when recreating the illusion of real music in your room,for the music lover... the original Quad 57 has no real competition!I have also seen 3 panel acoustats as well as their 2+2 model sell for less than a kilo-buck here on the gon,they are pretty near indestructable,Have decent bass,very good midband resolution and play loud enough to rock and roll, as well as throw a giant 3 dimensional sound stage.That said...They do need some power to energize them, Can be mesmerizing with powerful tube amps.Simply put, a no brainer for the money. Cheers! |
I'm going to throw my beloved Quad's into the list - the 11Ls / 12Ls for a bookshelf cannot be beat in their pricerange. The 12L easily bettered the B&W603 and I've seen others note that it compares favorable to the B&W805 even. http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/quad_11_12_e.html |
Three years ago when I was in the hunt for new speakers I listened to B&W, Paradigm, Tannoy, Martin Logan, Linn, Revel 20's, Vandersteen, Sonus Faber, Vienna Acoustic and a couple of others when I finally came across Hales Design Group T-5's. The Vandersteen 5's lit my hair on fire, but at the time I didn't want to spend $9K on speakers. To me the Hales seemed to leverage the finest attributes from the other speakers I had listened to and synergize them into one package (minus the incredible Vandersteen 5 bass). |
Hello, I own a pair of german Canton Ergo 900DC. After reading a great review on this speaker in the may 2003 Absolute Sound, It got me curious enough to seek out a pair for audition. Boy, at $ 2,000 per pair, they are not exactly cheap but they as the Absolute Sound reported, ''a minor miracle'' After shopping extensively,and auditionning to exhaustion, I could only find handicapped-in-the-bass micro-monitors or stand mounted speakers. Here's what you get with the Canton Ergo 900DC. A somewhat ''big'' speaker at 40 inches tall that is wrapped in beautifull REAL cherry wood. I'm tired of whimsy-looking small boxes. A classic design, with rounded edges instead of the all-square square box. A classy METALLIC removable grille. And most of all, a rich, full sound, unlike most monitors in this price range. Fit and finish are just so excellent, and compete with speakers at 3 times the price. Very good quality binding posts, bi-wireable, and 20-20,000 hz specs that are rare in anything approaching this price range. Somewhat harder to drive 86db sensitivity, so make sure you have enough power, because these babies need it to come to life. Just amazing value, it's a LOT of speaker for the money. By the way, I am a previous owner of $ 15,000 Verity Audio Parsifals so I'm a spoiled audiophile. Are the Cantons as good? Of course not, but they sure could put to shame many ''big name'' speakers at twice the price. A few B&W's come to mind..*wink* . All in all, fine German engineering, it's worth to seek them out for a test drive. By the way, in my humble opinion, the Karat line does not sound anywhere as good or as natural, although the imaging is pretty good because of the slim design. So for my money, it's Ergo all the way... Do they make any money on these? |
The very early AR's have to be on this list. The various iterations of the AR-2 and AR-3 were budget speakers based upon price, but have stood the test of time as great sounding boxes. Of the more modern offerings, I agree that Vandersteen makes good speakers in their price range. However, when I compared them to Thiels, I was universally convinced that the Thiels were worth the extra money. Pretty much the entire Thiel line are good bang for the buck speakers. My father-in-law has some CS.5's, which sound ridiculously good for under $1k. I have a pair of CS3.6's, and I think that they hold their own against speakers costing up to twice their MSRP. A little lower on the price scale, I think that PSB and Paradigm offer good value for the money. Tom. |
I owned Maggies for six years but unfortunately I had to part with them due to smaller size room in the new abode. The room I have is not big enough for the Maggies to breath in. I switched to the Paradigms Studio 40 v.2 but actually derive more pleasure from the circa 1978 Chartwell LS3/5a mated with the REL Strata III. My answer to the question would be, LS3/5a (with or without the subwoofer) for smaller rooms and Maggies for larger rooms. If and when I move again and luck is on my side (larger room for system setup) I will go for the Maggies agian and nothing else. The model I would consider would be 1.6 or 3.6 (or newer offering at the time in same series). IMHO Maggies are the best bargain in the hifi business. By the way, this thread can be split into two categories, one should list only new with mention of list price so there is a proper comparision between various brands and models. Value for money used speakers is a very vague term. I have heard stories of folks buying Mint LS3/5a's at garage sales for as low as US$5 (five) from old ladies who thought their husbands got them with the secondhand $200 computers. The person who bought them knew what he was buying, certainly a mint LS3/5a for a fiver cannot be beaten when it comes to "value for money" |
I also will applaud the Green Mountain Audio Europas. I congratulate Roy for finding a way to produce these speakers at this retail price point. It is a tribute to great design and smart production that he can do this. It raises the bar for other speaker manufacturers out there. The cast marble enclosure not only provides significantly better performance from a sound perspective, but also allows for an extremely competitive price point. I for one am thrilled that great audio can be had for less than a fortune. It is products like this that can reach a significantly larger audience and turn more people on to the joys of great sounding audio. |
One way of looking at speaker value is how it contributes to the sound quality of the playback system as a whole. I believe that the source and amplifier contribute more to overall sound quality than the speakers do, so at any given system price point, at least to some extent, the cheaper the speaker, the better the sound. I've always liked the value offered by the formerly ubiquitous 8 inch, two-way, acoustic suspension bookshelf speaker (Linn Index, original Klipsch KG2, AR 18, etc.). Large enough to move some air, with a good source and amplifier, this type of speaker can make satisfying music. Being broke after buying an LP12/Basik Plus/Basik/Naim Nait setup, I used some cheap Jensen's borrowed from my older brother for several months, and even they sounded great. I'm still enjoying the 8 inch, two-way in the form of Linn Saras. |
This is all very subjective. Nevertheless, audiophiles seek the best possible [flat, detailed] reproduction of the original recorded sound. After experimenting with several different systems (B & W, Martin Logan, Maggies, among others), I decided to risk a blind purchase of the Newform Research R630 pair (the 30-day return policy helps a lot in that decision). Not only am I very happy with the result, but I believe that they will sound better still in a bigger room, in my next house. There is nothing comparable in the market, in their price range. To get the same good result, I'd have to go up to B & W's Nautilus 803, at $5,000/pair. |
I have to agree with some of the postings above. I've been out auditioning speakers up to 10K and I haven't found anything as consistently musical and satisfying as the Harbeth Compact 7. They totally sound "right" and are soooo engaging. Deepest bass is not there but from 40hz up this is, IMHO, a very difficult speaker to beat. Above 10K I recently heard the Wison Sophia which is very, very nice. |
By far for overall balance from top to bottom the 2008 breakthrough loudspeaker, a show stopper by many at the last 2 shows ,the NSR Sonic Research D-s Sonatas. Compared to the Hyperion968 these were much more natural and went even lower cleanly, and the music just was effortless,with a dissapearing act you rarely get from most loudspeakers even at 3x their cost ,at under $5k once they are setup properly and reviewed for sure they will win awards, keeep your eyes on these guys you heard it here first. I am for buying a pair ,and in any color you want ! |
MMG for around $500 new.....just ridiculous. I also like Omegas with their new sub,for around 1-1.5G street. Actually it is going to be this combo or M&D new mini monitors for my 3th system. It all depends which way i will choose to go- tube or SS amplification. Shanling MC-30 or City Pulse SA-77 HYBRID INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER or Little Dot T 150 Tripath amplifier or Jungson JA-88D or Classic No. 6.6......yes I know - a lot of choices. Well, these all are under 1G and that is what I am looking for. There are few others but what is the point of mentioning them all........ |
Vandersteen and Magnepan have been the best values in high end for decades. I'm biased on the Vandersteen because I sell them, but the reason they are such a good value is that nearly all of the money is spent on the guts and not on the looks. This is true of the 1C, 2Ce Sig mkII, 3A Sig, and standard Quatro. Maggies, which I don't sell, have always been a great bargain. They are nice people too. |
The NSR - D-3 loudspeaker, Truly Vandi and Maggi are stil hard to beat , please remember I just sold a fully modded Maggi1.6 with a Rel sub it may be a hair more transparent then the NSR Sonic Research D-3 but not by much ,neither the Maggi 3.6 or Vand 3 or their %7k speaker can touch it for overall dynamics , depth of instruments and realism and superb soundstage and imaging this speaker just dissapears truly you would need to speand 2x this to be in the ballpark 2008 loudspeaker of the year in real time, You will see several reviews coming up this year ,but no paper reviews I asked the owner, Tas or stereophile expect you to dump at least $30k minimun or your product stays on the back burner. Politics ,I have spoken with many manufacturers and this is a fact. |
in order for a speaker to be considered a "best value", you must like that speaker. if a particular speaker is considered a good value, but you don't like it, it won't be a good value for you. if you like a speaker and think the price you are paying for it is worth the pleasure from listening to it it could be a candidate for best value. given those factors, i would consider quads unlimited quads a good value and the analysis audio omega a good value, as well. there isn't a "best value" until i have heard all of the commercially available speakers. it is possible that there could be a speaker i prefer to the quads or omegas and so that speaker would be a better value. |
I have heard every major brand out there and was at the show for days just to hear I work as a custom installer for Audio .The Nsr Sonic D-3 Loudspeaker was beating up on speakers at more than double their under $5k price was . I could not find any glaring weakness no matter what kind out music I threw at it .the speakers not only was crystal clear but dissapeared in the room with Bass that was as good as a REL Sub.I did notice the High quality drivers and the Xover must be equally good for I just got into the music and forgot about everything else. |
hi audiophile1958: i too was at the show and the venetian, this past january. i am looking for a speaker system in the $10,000 range. i briefly visited the nsr room at the alexis park. in no way did i hear the timbral realism i heard from the analysis audio omega or roger sanders hybrid electrostatic speaker. conces do not compete with panels with respect to accuracy of timbre, period ! . |
to Mrtennis .I donot know when you were there but there was a problem with a modwright pre that took a lot away from the setup as a whole I heard them on the last day in the afternoon when everything was sorted and they just vanished in the room ,read all the other show reports out there ,they heard the same things I did . Roger sanders speakers are very clear they are electrostats they should be.the Nsr speaker can do several things better than stats including tunefull bass ,imaging,and dynamics.The NSR Sonic D-3 is now in the production end and is noticable beter than the proto types at the show and please remember this was a $5k loudspeaker .they have a Reference Xover which are the finest parts in the world from Duelund and this transforms this speaker against anything at $10k I heard it recently while in New england for under $5500, and the Patented bass wil cleanly play any note of a concert grand Piano ,go to http://www.hifidelityaudio.com and they can tell you more. |
Optimus LX8 LX5 These sell on Ebay for $100 pr, Smaller LX5 for $20-75pr Amazing Lineum 360 degree ribbon tweeters.I use them with my plasma TV for hours of nonfatiging listening. Voices sound like they are in the room .Highs have great 3d spatiality .Bass has punch. They are the best bookshelf Ive ever listened to. |
I recommend the Eminent Technology LFT-8's. They may be a bit high at $1800 to $2000, but their sound compares favorably to speakers five times their cost. In my opinion they beat or match many of the big electrostatics with their liquid sound. The electrostatics tend to sound grainy to me in comparison with the Et's. The ET's employ a push pull design which makes the signal they produce more linear than other planars. Others planars have magnets only on one side, causing the magnetic field to be weaker farther from the speaker; therefore as the diaphram moves outward, it experiences a weaker magnetic field, losing control and linearity. With magnets on both sides, the Eminents eliminate this problem entirely. The sound they produce is magic, with a very large multidimensional soundstage, deep, wide and tall, with good dynamics and midrange to die for. The new "B" version boasts a much improved tweeter, with neodymium magnets for control. If you are a fan of the planar sound, you can't go wrong with these speakers. I own 2 pairs of earlier models, and couldn't be more pleased with their sound. Bruce Thigpen, one of the inventors and owner of the company has no problem speaking directly with his customers and is very accomodating. Not only that, but he produces almost everything used in the speakers on site in Tallahasse Florida, employing folks who are local to the area. Add these factors up and in my opinion you come up with an unbeatable bargain for high end planar sound. Hope this helps and good luck with your search, Ron |
hi ron: i have auditioned the lft 8s, 6s and the earliest, the 3s. i find with the hybrids, that the cone and planar elements produce two dsitinct sound patterns, perhaps, partly because of the radiating patterns which are unique to each driver type. there have been reports of a seamless blend between cone and panel, yet, i hear two different speakers. i don't consider my ears a national treasure, yet i often differ with other audiophiles about the continuity between cones and panels. is it possible that the recordings i use when evaluating stereo systems makes it possible for me to observe the discontinuity between panel or cones, or is there another explanation ? |
Vandersteen, new or used they are a huge value. My 2c's are 25 yrs. old and sound better with every upgrade. I suspect most Vandersteen owners do not approach the the performance limits of their speakers due to placement and setup. They will reveal weakness in upstream components but sound good in the process. It's common to read that Vandersteens sound veiled. That issue fell by the wayside when I purchased modern, not expensive, cables. They do appreciate a bit of power, but I suppose much of this is true with most quality speakers. |
Eminent Technology LFT-8B Legacy Focus HD I reviewed these speakers with differing technologies on Dagogo.com for the purpose of presenting them as excellent values with good build quality and unexpectedly high performance. I continue to use them both in reviewing due to their superb performance. The LFT-8B is an upgrade model using an improved tweeter to great effect, with far more integration and seamlessness in presentation than the 8A version. The Focus HD is a complete redesign from the Focus 20/20. I consider these speakers authentic bargains. If someone wants comparisons to Vandersteen and Magnepan, they will need to read my reviews. |
The Omega -Hemp driver loudspeakers, these loudspeakers are hand built with many excellent real wood finishes and the single driver ported enclosure gives a solid Bass. Their new Alnico magnet full range driver delivers some of the finest imaging and soundstage I have even heard even at much higher moneys and the complementary Deep Hemp powered Sub is better than any Rel I heard in the low bass no it is not like a velodyne ,for the loudest bang it is all about hearing a Pure sounding natural Bass and they work well with any speaker they are that good and very fast and priced very good and Made in the U.S.A which is a rarety nowadays with a solid customer service! I am hoping for the Summer ,the press seems to agree with me -Omega and Redwine audio has picked up several awards the last few years together. |
