Topic: Under $500 bookshelf speakers

[su6oxone]

I've always liked Polk speakers.  I use seven of them in my home theater setup, and couldn't be happier with them.  They have a wide range of bookshelf speakers in the sub-$500 range:

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_37900/Bookshelf-Speakers.html?tp=186&nvpair=FFBrand%7cPolk+Audio

[crossthreaded]

in this economy I would keep an eye on the pawnshops.  maybe leave a card and tell them to call if they get anything high end in.

[Nick's Picks]

damn'd good idea right there.
I've found some real deals on speakers in pawn joints.

[Nick's Picks]

Plus..., just to sew a seed....
Hydra-Audio is currently developing a line of monitors that will be:
1.  absolute furniture grade cabinetry and design (exotic woods and venere finishes)
2.  good componants (8" mid bass driver and plannar tweeter)
3. highly efficient (92db @ 1m)
4. custom designed Xover (by me)
5. well under $500 per pair.

give me two months to refine the prototypes, get them to folks to review for me (private reviews / feedback rants..etc), and I should be ready by mid to late summer.

[plucks]

nick-
add me to your list

i don't have any speakers, so i'll be glad to be one of the reviewers!

[Nick's Picks]

[rjp]

I was sitting on the fence about buying a set of monitors, and today I did an A-B-C shootout between the Mackie MR8, Yamaha HS80M, and M-Audio BX8a Deluxe. I found the Mackie too muddy, the Yamaha too bright, and the M-Audio just right. After I brought them home and set them up, properly positioned, I was even more impressed with them - the imaging is out of this world, and I found the treble, midrange, and bass to be very well-balanced. Of course, your ears may vary... but I'm quite happy with these monitors.

They are a bit bigger than "bookshelf" though, unless you have tall bookshelves. 

[Tim]

whatcha driving them with? Congrats on the new speakers

They were B&W's largest bookshelf speakers, since discontinued, so they incorporated a lot of the technology of the higher end models (e.g. kevlar cones).  If you read the reviews, people claim they just keep sounding better as they upgrade the components behind them. 

This has been my experience as well. They're certainly not the end all/be all of speakers but as I have upgraded my system over the years I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the speakers have held up. I'd say they are real workhorses, I've had them in a variety of rooms with various gear and sources and they also perform well and at times they sound spectacular. I'm very happy with the room they're currently in, they really shine now that I have them setup just exactly how I like.

[som]

Ascend Acoustics make some very affordable bookshelf speakers. I have a pair that served as my main speakers for a few years, now they're for home theater only. Very nice, especially for the price.

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cbm170/cbm170.html

[plucks]

ok..i've got an awesome lead/deal on the Epos m12i in the works.

What do you all know about "bi-wiring" between the tweeter/sub on speakers??  I am only hooking into a basic sony receiver which i use for my entire setup.

[Tim]

I bi-wire and I think it has smoothed out my high-end and given me a better defined midrange. I did it a couple of years ago and haven't looked back. Get some good speaker cable

[plucks]

yeah, i've heard it helps tone down the brightness.  But if the speaker has the "4" inputs and my receiver only has "2" per left and right, how does that work?

well if i get the "spade" ends to hook into my receiver i guess they are able to go D.P. into each receiver slot
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/cables/messages/4953.html

[sparkey]

I bi-wire and I think it has smoothed out my high-end and given me a better defined midrange.

Glad to hear its working out for you.  No one on TS will judge you for your lifestyle.

[Tim]

yeah, i've heard it helps tone down the brightness.  But if the speaker has the "4" inputs and my receiver only has "2" per left and right, how does that work?

bi-wire doesn't require separate speaker posts on the amp end. just run a bi-wireable cable from the amp and split it at the speakers. Now if you want to bi-amp that reequires one amp for the woofer (or midrange in this case) and another for the tweeter.

I bi-wire and I think it has smoothed out my high-end and given me a better defined midrange.

Glad to hear its working out for you.  No one on TS will judge you for your lifestyle.

[plucks]

Tim i realized i asked a dumb question, i revised my initial...