Cheap Phase Tech Speakers at Onecall

http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=9866

Limited weekend deal. Selling at a price where your first thought is, ok so what is wrong with them (only thing I can think of is the drab color choice)? Cheap mass market price for speakers that will sound much better than your mass market stuff. I put in an order myself, shipping is pricy, but they are moderately heavy floorstanders and its fedex 3-day so its not too bad. In the end it still will cost less than many headphones and headphone amps . Don't know what they sound like, but they are 2-way (which I like), uses soft-dome tweeters (again something I prefer for musicality, and what do you know they happen to have the patent on them), and it looks like a pretty good company and product to me from my research. I already had an account with the e-tailer, although I've already forgotten what I must have ordered before, but they're reputable.

FYI, this is a techbargains.com find that just happened to catch my eye, most of the time they just regurgitate Dell coupons . Here is the link to give credit where credit is due. http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/57143

I just did an online chat with a OneCall rep (they work even Sundays apparently) to ask a few questions of my own...I cut and paste it as below:

--
Jason M: Good afternoon. How may I help you?

Customer: Why are the Phase Tech Teatro 7.5 speakers discounted so heavily?

Jason M: The line is being discontinued and we got all Phase Tech remaining inventory at a special price.

Customer: Thats what I thought...I ordered a pair to Southern Cal via Fedex 3, is that going by Air? and how are they boxed?

Jason M: Yes they are going air and are double boxed

Customer: One more question, have you heard these speakers and do they rate well even at full price?

Jason M: Yes. They are excellent sounding speakers that sound much better than even much more expensive speakers.

Customer: Thanks, is it all right for me to relay this information on a public messageboard?

Jason M: Yes it is

Customer: Thanks for all your help, have a good weekend
--

Anyways can't wait to try em out. Been using like 15+ year old 2-way soft dome's in my bedroom. Also the 7" VDT woofers should hopefully be much tighter than my old 10" papers .

gah too bad onecall only has the black ones. Anyhow I'm not too worried that they are being discontinued...good 2-ways don't come by too often, most mass market junk is heading towards HTIB (home theater in a box), gimmicy designs or wife-friendly form factors...call me old fashioned, but just gimme a good 2-way! Hopefully the black looks good in person. Comes with 10 year warranty, so this looks like a great buy for those looking for bargain speakers.

Seems like they are still discounted, but not as discounted as when I first posted. I got a pair for less than $260 shipped I believe.

Came today...shipped rather quickly! I need to catch my breath and I'm in decent shape . Box weighed 106 lbs and was approx 43x16x33 inches. Was packed tightly, only shipping damage is the slight dog ear'd corner you can see on the pic. Will open and install soon. Paid nearly $100 for shipping, but for the speed, size and weight I don't think it was out of the question given the overall price. Heck all I did was move it 5 ft, remove big metal staples, and take the stuff out and I'm already tired. That's a full sized harp behind the box btw...so this stuff is pretty large.





Front

Back


Overall quality impressions is very good...comes with owners manual/warranty as pictured and carpet spikes if needed.

Geez you do know speakers take a little while to setup right? Anyhow all I can say is I have a big smile on my face. For $255 how can I not? Blows away my previous speakers. I've heard Paradigm Studio 20's in a showroom and I like the Phase's better. Excellent immersive imaging without tilted or hard highs. Anyhow being speakers they need plenty more playtime and more placement optimizations.

My previous speakers were acoustic suspension (i.e. non ported). These are ported and the bass presence is a bit overblown in the same placement (well at least with the hip hop/rap tracks I'm listening to now)...but my placement is not good for ported speakers. It isn't so bad that I don't think it isn't fixable with better placement and room treatment even in my small room. However I wouldn't go so far as to say you can stick these wherever your small bookshelves are.

As I'm going through my music I notice that it has much more range of sound than my previous speakers. I.e. one album or song sounds much different from another. For example my rap or hip hop has boomy bass, whereas other tracks can be quite mellow. It certainly is more expressive in the lower ranges. Still need to deflate some of that boom down a little bit and clean up and arrange my room.

Really can't complain even for its current price right now...I think they would be a fair buy at their retail price as well. It is obviously head and shoulders better than what you get from the mass market Best Buy models, etc. Also has nice little touches like the name plate on the grill is metal instead of plastic, etc. Wish they had cherry or oak options but oh well. Black looks fine in person and all, but black is pretty boring.

Update - Removed a lot of junk from my room and large side closet...mostly a lot of empty product boxes that I have a bad tendency to keep around in case of warranty repair. Moved the speakers further from the back wall because they were rear ported and that tightened up the bass a lot. Also kept the speakers playing and the bass has settled down a lot and sounds more balanced now. Been playing all sorts of music from 2pac to Bjork or Enya to matisyahu, mogwai, etc...really happy so far. It definitely will produce bass more than any bookshelf and with a moderate room and good placement should sound very good. I think the for the price nothing touches it and it is probably one of the best all-rounders you can get for cheap as most high-end speakers at low price ranges usually have compromises or trade-offs such as in low-bass, etc.

Looks like PhaseTech recently updated their webpage so the model is now officially discontinued. Anyhow I'm going to list a few links to some things I dug up while waiting for shipping.

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speak...0_1594crx.aspx

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?...52022&review=1

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1&page=1&pp=30

http://www.dealerscope.com/doc/285096755703375.bsp

I decreased the toe-in angle and along with the other placement optimizations really balanced the sound out. All in all my speaker setup is really no more expensive than my HD650's and Gilmore Lite, etc (not going to make any comparisons which I typically like or use more...don't want to reveal my true colors ). The whole speakers are x times more expensive is really a myth if you shop smart. These speakers sound mighty fine to me right now with my ol' Audiosource Amp Two. Last post from me on the topic, gonna just sit back and enjoy now. They are still being sold at a discounted price now, but if they do offer more extra weekend discounts on them, I'd give em a shot if you are looking for good speakers on the very cheap.