Passive Bookshelf Speaker Selection

I'm a big fan of Dali in that price range.Entirely IN HOUSE construction in Denmark.Wood/Paper pulp midbass drivers that have a wonderfuly organic midrange hard to find in that budget range along with an extended,smooth Silk dome tweeter..Very good imaging & staging..Hard to fault...

Speakers SHOULD be HAND TUNED to your ears. Stop fussing and buy whatever you like. You have admitted that you cant listen to them so theres no other way to decide than to just choose one randomly. 

@freediver Thats just your opinion though. How is that going to help the poor fellow decide if everybody posts a different opinion?

And exactly what is that CRAP you spout EVERY DAY?OPINION.He ask for opinions genius.

 OP DO NOT LISTEN TO A WORD THIS IDIOT SPOUTS,HE HAS THE REP OF BEING A COMPLETE CLOWN!

These Wharfedale Dentons might fit the bill. You can return them if you don’t like them!!
https://www.musicdirect.com/speakers/wharfedale-denton-80th-anniversary-bookshelf-speakers-pr
Here is a review!!
https://www.whathifi.com/wharfedale/denton/review

Unless you plan on using tube gear, I wouldnt even consider the Klipsch.

Kenjit perhaps you could make a suggestion. At least the other members pointed him in a specific direction. 

And exactly what is that CRAP you spout EVERY DAY?

The opinions of a master tuner who has been on the merry go round and is no longer on it. 

He ask for opinions genius

Dali may suit your ears but may not suit his ears. Even if it did, it would only be by chance. Your room will sound different to his. 

Speakers SHOULD be HAND TUNED to your ears.

Hearing aid, YES.
Speakers, NO!
Every person in the listening room have their own ears.

The Klipsch RP-600Ms or RP-150Ms are both great, not overly bright with great dynamics. I own them both plus RF-3 lls that are in your face bright in the Klipsch horn tradition.

A speaker IS a hearing aid. It's a giant hearing aid. Every speaker is tuned differently because every designer has a different amount of hearing loss. The trouble is the speaker you buy is unlikely to match your ears. If it does, it will be by chance. Do not be duped. 

You can try the HSU HB-1 Mk2 HB-1 MK2 Horn Bookshelf Speaker  or the HC-1 Mk2 which is a center channel that you can stand upright which is what I did in my office HC-1 MK2 Horn Bookshelf Speaker Both of these are good and if you don't like them you can just ship them back.

kenjit:

A speaker IS a hearing aid. It’s a giant hearing aid. Every speaker is tuned differently because every designer has a different amount of hearing loss.

The mistake you’re making kenjit, well one of them anyway, is a common one. You think of the human ear as a microphone and the human brain as some kind of printout or readout. As if all we do is register energy levels of vibrating molecules and graph them out on some kind of screen in there somewhere. Big mistake. (And who’s watching the screen then, eh?)

Not that its not an easy enough mistake to make. We have an ear drum, and little bones, and nerves, and it looks an awful lot like a microphone and wires. But then it gets to the brain and that’s where this simplistic mechanistic view falls to pieces.

We don’t register frequencies, kenjit. We recognize patterns. You need to stop obsessing on hearing and spend a little time thinking about listening. Hearing is passive. Hearing is when the audiologist puts headphones on and plays some noises and you indicate whether you hear them or not. All the stuff you keep talking about with speakers, that’s hearing. That is NOT listening!

Listening is not passive. Listening is active. Hearing is primitive, reflexive. Listening is actually a very high cerebral function. Listening is how we learn to know the difference between a violin being played well and a violin being played poorly. You cannot tell the difference by frequency response. You can only tell by listening.

Once you understand the difference between hearing and listening then so many things fall into place. You will see why it is that all these different speakers are actually a good thing. Because when we listen to music its the patterns that carry us away. When the patterns are believable enough we no longer feel its a recording or a speaker we feel its Jennifer Warnes. But just as you can hear your girlfriend and know its her even if muffled by a blanket that ruins the frequency response, in other words ruins the sound that you hear, when its really her you know it by the patterns.

You know this is true. You could easily tell a perfectly frequency correct recording of your girlfriend apart from your actual girlfriend talking to you through a blanket. The blanket totally ruined the frequency response but not the patterns. I’m repeating this over and over again because its a big deal and you (and a lot of other people- you are NOT alone!) need to get it straight. Not just so you’ll quit bugging us listeners about it either. But because this gross misunderstanding is doing nothing but holding you back.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Some people simply find certain speakers better at revealing the patterns than others. Even if the frequency response is off. Because we HEAR the frequency response, but we LISTEN to the patterns.

Maybe you just need to become a better listener. I don’t know. Plenty of weak listeners out there. Anyone can’t hear for example how some wires obviously sound better one way than another, its not because they can’t hear. Its because they aren’t listening. Give it a try. Go and listen. You will see.

Kenjit’s negativity sounds like he may simply suffer from some form of depression (very common) and might benefit from some professional help.

IMHO

+1 mapmanI have a small dark room in the basement that I could let Kenjit use for a year or two until he gets better.

For a speaker that punches way above its $350 price point you might look at these.

https://www.chanemusiccinema.com/index.php?route=product/product&manufacturer_id=14&product_...

If you dont mind the basic black boxes these are a great value. 

But just as you can hear your girlfriend and know its her even if muffled by a blanket that ruins the frequency response, in other words ruins the sound that you hear, when its really her you know it by the patterns.
We don’t register frequencies, kenjit. We recognize patterns. You need to stop obsessing on hearing and spend a little time thinking about listening

I have already made this point myself. I have golden ears which means i have good listening skills. My hearing is not special. I dont claim to hear 30khz or even 20khz. But I hear things that other audiophiles miss all because i am a superior champion at this. I know what patterns to look for. I use my reference recordings and with those i hear how EVERY speaker is WRONG and BROKEN. 

ALL speakers on the market are broken because they never consulted me when designing them. They use their measurements to tune their speakers flat as a pancake and then call it a day. Speaker design is a hoax.

I have the Klipsch and run them with tube DAC, preamp and amp with tubes, even with good NOS tubes. At over 100 hours, they are fine for folk and jazz, but too bright, forward, fatiguing for anything else. I’m moving them to home theater uses only. I got mine for 413.00 at Crutchfield. I think a mellower, more balance speaker is out there. 

Funny you say that because the Triangles are currently at the top of my list, along with the B&W 607s. The Triangles are coming in stock soon so trying to figure out between the two which one is a better fit. I hope the NAD is a good match with the triangle. They should power them well enough! Thank you for your advice!!

In my opinion, The Triangles will play louder and be more dynamic. The Triangles will be a little more laid back.

It would be a toss up for me between the B&W 606 and The Triangle Borea BR03.

The B&W 607 should be compared to the Triangle Borea BR02.

Get the Triangle BR03!  I think you’ll be very happy that you did.  Good things come to those who wait 😁

You’re right about klipsh being bright and fatigue after a short while. IMO, B&W fall into this category too unless you have a warmer sounding amp.  Also, don’t listen to some clown that says buy whatever and hand tune them. With speakers, you need to listen to a variety of different brands to get a feel how they sound, especially with your amp in your room. What sounds good to somebody might sound terrible to you.
Some bookshelves that you might want to listen to are totem rainmakers/model 1’s/maybe the arros, and the usher s520‘s

Why not consider used gear? That would greatly expand your possibilities.

Also, something like the Elac Debut 2.0 B6 is inexpensive enough to just go buy and if not suitable can be turned over to another motivated buyer for, probably, close to what you paid. 

Have you considered Tekton? The Mini Lore is currently selling at $575, delivered.

I have a pair of PSB Imagine B's idle since I recently purchased the PSB T2's. They were originally $1089.00 and I will sell them for $500 if you are interested in used bookshelf speakers. PSB is the sister company to NAD and should work great with your NAD 316 bee.

I own these and can recommend them for neutral sound - NHT SuperOne 2.1, NHT C3, Elac UB5. Just remember one person's neutral is another's dark or forward. I recently heard the Focal Chora 826 and did not think it was bright or overly detailed, so perhaps that will give you an idea of my neutral.  

However, the speakers I listed are 85-87 db so may not play as loud as you want with a lower power amp. (I did not look up the power rating of your NAD pick). 

Good luck with your search. You have to start somewhere so pick one with good reviews and go with it for a year or so, then consider adding to your speaker collection.

You should get whatever electronics aside from speakers first.  After that is all set up, buy speakers from someone who will let you return them if you don't like the sound.  Also you could try the used speaker market and some of those dealers will also allow returns.  NHT SB3's are really good, if you can find a pair.

I heard a crazy good pair of paradigm, a brand I usually find to bright, but this pair listed for $600 and rocked! 

About three months ago I was basically looking at exactly the same genre of speakers. Around $500 for the pair, good dynamics, neutral to slightly warm, great clarity but definitely not overly detailed or clinical or harsh. I actually bought five pairs of speakers off Amazon to demo (all of which had free return shipping) and one off Crutchfield which was only $10 to ship back. 30 days to try them out and though it’s not practical to truly break them all in for the most accurate comparison, it’s better than no home audition at all. I tried the NHT SuperOne 2.1, ELAC Debut Reference, PSB Alpha P5, Monitor Audio Bronze 2, Wharfedale Diamond 11.2, and the KEF Q350. Very similar to what you’re looking at as well.  The system I was putting together was for a friend that wanted a very simple set up that would allow for the integration of a turntable and Sonos streaming and ultimately we decided on a Sonos Amp for the cleanest, simplest option. This friend is not at all interested in venturing down the audiophile rabbit hole, so to speak, so the Sonos Amp works very well.  Regarding the speaker demo though, I will say that a couple really surprised me. I had never heard any of them in person before but was very familiar with each model based on reviews and threads discussing them. The NHTs sounded nice but being a small, sealed cabinet they really need to be augmented by a sub in my opinion for rock/indie music especially.  The cabinet finish with its very cheap plastic wrap was about par for a $100 each speaker.  The Monitor Audio Bronze 2 was forgettable and I think the Silver series is where MA begins to have solid offerings.  The ELACs were pretty beefy bookshelf speakers and definitely had a cool, contemporary look. I’ve owned the UB5 and think it’s a better speaker but the Uni-Fi line is not the easiest to drive and definitely benefits from better upstream gear. The Debut Reference was just ok in my opinion and that was surprising because I had expected it to be in the top 2. Honestly though, it really needed a proper amount of time for break in before I would write it off completely. ELACs offerings are really solid for the price. But at $600 the Reference needed to wow me a bit more. The two big surprises were the PSB Alpha P5 and the Wharfedale Diamond 11.2. The PSB is a pretty small speaker but the bass output was quite impressive and only bested by the Wharfedale and KEF speakers. It isn’t much to look at but I don’t mind the simple utilitarian look personally. The reversed arrangement with tweeter in bottom is aesthetically interesting a common design for many PSB models but it also puts the tweeter quite low and on 24” stands (which is what we used) it’s not ideal. They would need to be on taller stands for most people in most set ups. Overall sound was good with them but they weren’t as refined or capable of extracting detail as the two best options I tried. This brings me to the Wharfedale Diamond 11.2 which was probably the biggest surprise of all of them. I demoed the Walnut model and was immediately impressed with the overall fit and finish for that speaker. Very nice cabinet design and wood veneering, bottom port location looks good and helps with placement options and damn is it a big, robust speaker!  Nearly 20 pounds each and it feels like it. And the sound was equally impressive. It had great bass output for a bookshelf speaker, clean midrange, and was actually quite adept at retrieving detail as well. It was just a great all around speaker and I don’t think anyone would be disappointed with it for the money. I paid $500 for the pair but noticed it was just recently on sale for $400 for the pair. At that price there are very few options that can compete in the new market in my opinion. That is just a crazy good deal for a fantastic speaker.  If I hadn’t tried the KEFs my friend would own the Wharfedales for sure. It wasn’t even close between them and the other four below them.
The Q350 was truly awesome though. It had the best and most authoritative bass of all six speakers we tried and it also had the best clarity and detail retrieval. Just a wonderfully well rounded speaker that plays about any genre of music well and maintains a balanced, neutral character.   As clear and detailed as this speaker is it never comes off as harsh or fatiguing. I’m a big fan of the Uni-Q design as a whole and I personally own the LS50s, but the Q350 was really, really impressive to me and my friend.  In her small-medium sized living room, which opens up to the kitchen next to it, the Q350s had no trouble filing the entire space with enough low end output to not really mourn the absence of a sub. That was probably the biggest surprise for me. Overall the Q350 sounded like a speaker that was a level up from the other options and based on price it sort of is. I think it’s worth every penny of the $700 asking price but the fact that I was able to buy it for around $425 new made it the obvious pic. For $600 retail, I’m sure the Q150 sounds similarly fantastic, although since it’s only $100 less than the bigger Q350 I’m not sure I would ever consider it. I think the Q150 would have to be $500 to be a real consideration. That said, it routinely goes on sale for half off and at $300 for a new pair there’s no other new speaker that is competitive in my personal opinion.  Good luck in your search and hopefully this info helps a little bit given the plethora of options out there.

I have the BRO3's by Triangle. First speaker I had to turn down the volume to really enjoy. Not for near field. I enjoy them.  Dynamic, clear, crisp. Well made. I haven't put them in my large room yet with my main system. Using them with an AFA integrated. SS,  75 watts. Nice match. Joe

Given the 40wpc of the NAD316BEE and concerns about possible listening fatigue, I would lean towards the PSB or Wharfdale recommendations. Both are relatively easy to drive and polite in the higher frequencies.  

ProAc

ALL speakers on the market are broken because they never consulted me when designing them.

That tells you ALL you need to know about this guy.....

Hello,
Maybe the Buchardt S300 if you have to keep the volume low and the s400 if you can rock them out a little more. Also you cannot go wrong with Phil Jones ELAC speakers. Good luck and don’t forget to add atleast two subwoofers down the road. 

I paired the NAD  C 316BEE with ELAC Debut 6.2 speakers and they sounded rich and balanced.  Great soundstage for the price. My turntable was a Linn Axis.  Unfortunately I had to return the NADs because the model upgrade had exchanged the rec out with a turntable input and I was digitizing my records at the time.  But I was very happy with the sound. 

I don't doubt that the pairing of the 316BEE with the ELACs makes for good sound for the dollar. However, room size and volume levels have to be considered. I have been a fan of NAD sound, having owned several of their class A/B integrateds. The ELACs are not the easiest speaker to drive on the aforementioned list. 

Just picked up a pair of revel M16


they’re astounding for the price.

Martin Logan Motion 16 bookshelf speakers were closed out by Audio Advisor and Magnolia  for about $450/pair. You can find a nice pair used for $300 or less. I use them in my bedroom system And have been very pleased every time I listen!

They are identical to the more expensive Motion 15 with a more conventional cabinet design. The Motion 15 have a sloped top panel.

+1 for the Elac Debut 2.0.  I bought a pair for $244 about three weeks ago.  They have about 60 hours playing time on them, and this morning as I've been sitting here listening to them, opened up further to a new degree of spaciousness.  The soundstage just grew in width and depth and the bass continues to be copious and tight (I'm listening from about seven feet away).  The other day I was feeling the pressure jets coming out of the front ports, but I'll be damned if I can recall what I was listening to.  They'll play plenty loud and clear, and I'm only pushing them with a plain Kenwood KR-A5060 receiver dumping 100 wpc into them (it hardly warms up when playing to 85-90 dB SPLs).  The speakers are getting plenty of good, clean power from this receiver.  Connected to a separate amp with even more juice would allow these to be used in a medium-sized room to good effect.  They are very musical speakers for the price (despite being touted by some as more geared toward home theater).  They're clear, detailed, powerful, have plenty of bass, and represent a killer value.  

Ellac or Advent 1

They're clear, detailed, powerful, have plenty of bass, and represent a killer value.  

@hartf36

or you are overexaggerating. The fact that you mention no downsides proves that. 

I’m pleased to share my opinion in an effort to be helpful but as we know, it’s only an opinion; it’s subjective...based upon my equipment (Arcam), my room (home office, about 12’x15’), my musical preferences and my ears. I’ve owned Klipsch, KEF and B&W bookshelf speakers and while all of them I found satisfying, of course each had their own sonic signature. Klipsch I found bold, forward and fast...great dynamics too, but I wouldn’t consider them “warm” or highly detailed. Great for rock and jazz; less satisfying with classical.

KEF, while a touch more laid back and less dynamic than Klipsch, had more detail and texture...with a deeper soundstage. Upper midrange was excellent, and vocals were clearer and more precise than the Klipsch.

Finally, while also less dynamic and forward than Klipsch, B&W for me had the best overall balance and a greater sense of realism. The overall presentation seemed more ‘right’ for a small speaker..with the widest and deepest soundstage, better and more clearly defined spatial imaging, and fluidity between the lower and upper frequencies. And yes, of the three of them I feel B&W has the most “warmth”.

i hope this is helpful. Enjoy the process, and I trust you’ll make the right decision...and love the decision you make.

or you are overexaggerating. The fact that you mention no downsides proves that.

Save your false choices, Skippy.  I have neither the time nor the inclination. 

Try a used Vandersteen model 1.Great sound that you can pick up for a few hundred bucks or less.It's 36" high and 10" wide. Vandersteen has dedicated stands which you probably find on Ebay or other used sites.

Your choices sound  good.Listen and enjoy, remember get what YOU like .You are the one who will be listening  ,unless your married. DON'T  worry about what others may say....just sot back and enjoy.

I’ll second the wharfedale Dentons, alternatively for more bass, I’d go for the diamond 225’s. Zero fatigue with either...

Hi everyone-

Sorry this is a late update, but thanks for all of your help and suggestions. After some final research, I decided on Triangle BR03s, which I’m going to run through the IOTAVX SA3. They seemed like the best balance of neutral/warm with life and a slightly forward sound. Thanks again for all the advice (and the entertainment)!