Sensible Sound's annual speaker recommendations

The Sensible Sound (TSS) magazine has published their annual speaker recommendations in the July/August 2002 issue, and their recommendations are listed below. There may be some readers of this forum who scoff at "TSS" as an audio publication, particularly as a high-end oracle, but IMO their evaluations have as much validity as those found in TAS and Stereophile. The one aspect of their recommendations that I found particularly interesting are the number of models by Legacy Audio that are included in their recommendations. I recently had a chance to hear the Legacy Audio Classic that belongs to a friend, and I was quite impressed. Based on that one listening experience, I hope to listen to other models when a dealer is eventually established in the Seattle area.

Without further preamble, here are the recommended speakers in order of ascending price, followed by the recommended subwoofers. I have also summarized their comments (FWIW).

SPEAKERS:

1. PSB Alpha A/V ($249): These speakers give new meaning to the old adage, "good things come in small packages".
2. NHT SB-1 ($300): Combined with NHT's SW-10 subwoofer, the result is excellent overall sound.
3. PSB Image 2B ($400): Clean, supple mid-range; unaffected highs; generous helping of mid-bass. Musical, apparently gimmick-free; strengths belie their price.
4. Athena Technologies S1/P1 (S1, $275; P1 woofer, $275): Offers great set-up flexibility; excellent performance for the price.
5. NHT SB-3 ($600): Offers flat response and hint of bass in a bookshelf-sized unit.
6. Phase Technology Teatro 7.5 ($650): Excellent, well-balanced performer at the price.
7. NHT S-4 ($1,000): Outstanding treble performance, adequate bass, in a compact floor-standing system.
8. PSB Stratus Mini ($1049): Can sound dull in some systems, but fine speakers overall for the price.
9. Legacy Audio Studio ($1100): Fit, finish, and cabinetry superior to competitors; sense of dynamic ease and fullness of sound that belie small size. Also has two switches on back on speaker that can used to slightly contour sound.
10. Vandersteen 2Ce ($1300): Still sounds darned good. Not the best speaker in any particular sonic category, but very good for the money in all sonic attributes.
11. Mach One Acoustics M-Two ($1500): Very clean mid-range and treble; light but tight bass. Extremely robust construction.
12. Paradigm Monitor 90P ($1500): Built-in subwoofer offers flexibility in adjusting to room size and placement considerations.
13. Paradigm Active/20 ($1600): Accurate powered monitors that offer great flexibility in system integration and placement. Combined with Servo-15 sub, they make one heck of a powered sub / satellite system.
14. Paradigm Reference Studio/100 ($1800): Superb bottom end for a speaker of this price/size.
15. Dunlavy Audio Labs SM-1 ($2000): Clean, focused sound. If you want more bass, you will likely need a powered sub.
16. Dunlavy Audio Labs SC-II ($2500): Extremely clean and focused sound with excellent imaging characteristics of the pinpoint variety. A bit shy in the deepest bass.
17. Coincident Speaker Technology Super Conquest Series II Supreme ($2500): Lacks the power-handling and deep bass of the Legacy Classics, but counters with excellent imaging.
18. NHT 2.9 ($2500): Can sound a bit bright on some material, but capable of excellent imaging and focus.
19. PSB Stratus Gold ($2550): Not outstanding in any particular area, but very good in every performance area. Hard to beat overall, especially at the price.
20. Ohm Walsh 200 Mk-2 ($2600): Offers excellent bass performance and coherent overall sound with a wide soundstage. In the right room (medium size), can sound quite lifelike.
21. Audio Advancements Maxeen ($2700): Good imaging, decent bass, and very refined overall presentation.
22. Legacy Audio Classic ($3175): About 2/3 of the performance of the Audio Legacy Focus at just over half the price. Better bass and dynamic impact than any other full-range speaker in this list except for Legacy Audio Signature III?s, with gorgeous cabinetry.
23. Legacy Audio Signature III ($3950): Excellent bass performance that can be tailored to the room. Big sounding speaker that can work in both large and small environments.
24. Dunlavy Audio Labs Cantata ($5000): Three-way system with truly flat frequency response above 250 Hz, and adequate if not spectacular bass performance. Excellent pinpoint imaging.
25. Legacy Focus 20/20 ($6000): Outstanding dynamic capability, gorgeous cabinetry, and ability to be tailored to sound their best in nearly any room.
26. Legacy Audio Whisper ($14,500): Does not match the low bas of the Focus, but has better imaging overall, and an extremely broad horizontal "sweet spot". An extraordinary speaker system that must be heard to be believed. (This speaker was recently given a similarly outstanding commentary in a review by Anthony Cordesman in TAS.)

SUB-WOOFERS:

1. Parts Express Subwoofer Kit ($350)
2. PSB Alpha Subsonic 5 ($449)
3. SV Subwoofes 20-39cs Passive Sub ($480)
4. Hsu Research VTF-2 powered subwoofer
5. SV Subwoofers 16-46PC ($850)
6. Hsu Research TN1220HO ($900)
7. Hsu Research HRSW12vA ($1000)
8. Bag End Infrasub 18 ($1500)
9. Paradigm Reference Servo-15 ($1500)
10. Velodyne HGS-10 ($1800)
11. Sunfire True Sub Signature ($1900)
12. Velodyne HGS-12 ($2150)
13. Legacy Audio Point One ($2400) (has highest SPL of any sub on this list)
14. Velodyne HGS-15 ($2400)