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Quality of Stereophile Class A speakers at 2K?

It seems over the last few years the lower bound of “A – Restricted Extreme LF” in Stereophile’s recommended components is getting much cheaper. I have not had the chance to compare many of the speakers in class A, but I wonder if speakers are getting much better for the money, or if the reviewers are getting older and more complacent in reviewing?

Any thoughts?

Current class “A-Restricted Extreme LF” speakers at about $2000 are:

Infinity Intermezzo 2.6 $2200 (street price $1100)

Revel Performa M20 $2000

Triangle Celius $1995 (street price $1750)

I just wonder how these really compare against the more expensive Class B and Class A speakers

PS I know we should not read reviews etc etc, but it is still a metric that many people use.
sargon2003

Showing 1 response by botrytis

botrytis
179 posts
 
I feel there is a 'snob' fest going on at Stereophile. I have listened to some of there rated 'class A' speakers and found them wholely lacking. I also notice they mainly rate the really expensive speakers higher than most of the lower end speakers, for example. I also feel that some speakers get a class A rating just based on reputation and previous ratings.

I think there are MANY overlooked speaker companies out there. I have a set of speakers that have been only rated in one or two magazines - price $1200 (Royd Doublets). I think they would rate well against speakers many times their price. Does the low price make them bad - NO - it makes them an amazing buy.

I wish speaker manufacturers would market their goods like most wine makers do. There are some excellent wine values at very low prices. That is make some speakers for lower prices, that sound great - JMLabs is one of the few that I think is doing this. I do not like the B&W low end speakers - I find them wholely lacking any character - just 'thump boxes'. This way as people get more money, they can try the higher lines of the same company.

If anybody in or around Michigan would like to hear what Royd has to offer, just email me.

Dave
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