What are some of the most underrated and overrated loudspeakers you’ve auditioned?

For me personally the most underrated speaker would be the Alon II. It's an ugly duckling, needs plenty of space. But the sound coming out of that speaker is really special!  Soaring highs, boogie factor and good bass. Also the prices they go for.... If people only knew. It stomps on a lot of competition. 

Overrated is difficult. I would say Sonos. Yeah I know. Also those Jbl 's mono things. They can go loud sure....... B&W 800d3 didn't do it for me either

#Offtopic: Tidal! Just compare Tidal VS Quobuz in sound quality. I was shocked and canceled my Tidal subscription instantly 

Paradigm Atom v3- I bought a used pair for $20.00 recently and they sound fantastic in my small bedroom. I can't imagine a $200.00 pair of small bookshelves sounding better, even today.

I didn't care for Klipsch Heresy of unknown vintage I bought used off Craigslist. These were easily the worst pair of hi-fi speakers I ever owned.

The Audio Note AX-Two was a good used speaker for the $300.00 ($549.00 new) I paid in 2007. They now have more than doubled in price at $1200~. I think these are overrated based on all the hype I read about them on AudioAsylum back in the mid 2000's and my ownership experience.

I wanted to add I agree most psb speakers I’ve heard have been pretty good. The Stratus Mini has been my favorite small speaker for awhile now.

It seems like alot of the speaker companies I’ve heard can’t get basic musicality right, which psb does (and the Paradigm Atom v3) so easily. Many companies go for a "analytical" and accurate sound at the expense of being unmusical and uninvolving. With these type of non musicalspeakers I never forget I'm listening to a pair of speakers.

dave123456
You are right,many hyped dac are non musical and many speakers also, perhaps most... Paired them and you will understand the ordeal I go trough at the end of seven years and many thousand dollars of expanse for my journey...Now I am satisfied oufff...Music and analytical microscopes are incompatible in audio, it is my humble experience..."details without whole" are engineered hallucinations or obsessions not music...

From Wildfoxinn " Paradigm Persona (expensive copycat of B&W) and Joseph Audio (expensive speaker with off the shelf drivers, no low diffraction cab or waveguide even, can easily be replicated for a cheaper price)."

@wildfoxinn how did you come to this determination?  As a previous owner of B&W and a current owner of first the Persona 3F and now the 9H I can guarantee you that they sound nothing like B&W.

I would agree B&W is overrated but I attribute part of that to their positioning in Best Buy stores.  This has increased their visibility and likely quality of specific lines to fit that group of consumers.

The Persona's are extremely underrated.  The SQ you get from the 3F for the cost is a steal.  Moving up to the 5, 7 or 9 series the value per dollar decreases.  The 9H is still a phenomenal speaker.  I had never been impressed with Paradigm in the past.  I would never have bought a pair.  The Persona's are a completely different speaker.  Comparing them to B&W is not accurate whatsoever.

Most under rated in my opinion would be the JBL M2 studio monitors.  Most over rated is anything from Wilson.

It's tough to say a whole company is overrated, but I'll take a stab at it.

Overrated: Wilson Audio, I only heard them sound good on 2 occasions.
B&W-i think this more do to their popularity, their have been times I've heard them sound good and horrible but never great.
Vandersteen-they have just never done it for me....most of time I've heard them they souded bloated and slow thru the bass, although for it's price I really liked the 1c.
It's some others I would name but I'm not..
Underrated-Wharfedale, Quad box speakers, Spendor, Legacy, Ohm, Tannoy, Klipsch Heritage series, Polk LSi, JbL,PMC, GR Research, Definitive Technology, Mission, Epos, Phase Technology

I would say some of the most under-rated are Pi Speakers, by Wayne Parham.  In my opinion, the designs of his that I have spent some time with, the 4Pi and 7Pi, are superb.

Wayne offers plans for free, and his designs use prosound drivers which many audiophiles have prejudices against, but he uses really good-sounding, studio-quality ones.   And he is a master of crossover design (he was one of my teachers).

Wayne also offers assembled speakers, but I get the impression that because they are also offered as a kit, they do not have the mystique that many audiophiles are attracted to. 

Duke