$23 speakers at Best Buy that measure well and sound good

[Wodgy]

Just a heads-up for anyone interested in decent speakers for a very low price. Best Buy is selling these for about $23 each ($46/pair):
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1138085354138

The construction is very good for the price, with a bevelled front baffle and a curved back:

What's more, some of the speaker DIY guys I respect (AJ, John Krutke) have both listened to and measured these speakers and found they're a good value for the price. On axis, they're not perfect... but like coaxials tend to be, their power response is more even than a conventional MT speaker.

Anyway, I haven't heard them myself, but given the price, construction quality, measured technical competence, and positive subjective feedback on these, I thought I'd point them out to Head-Fiers. You probably won't go wrong if you're looking for an inexpensive set of speakers. (Plus, you're guaranteed they at least measure better than Bose and Zu Druids

)

Here's a diyaudio thread about them:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showt...0&pagenumber=1

 

[soundboy]

You've beat me to posting about this Best Buy speaker, Wodgy. There were, at last count, 3 threads on this speaker over at audioasylum.com.

I am going to get a pair and try them out.

 

[soundboy]

Looks like the speaker in question was manufactured by a company called Radiient (check out the surround speakers in the Helios series). The founders of the company include the co-inventer of the HDMI interface.

And here's the B&W N805 lookalikes for $200.00/pair

 

[skyline889]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy Looks like the speaker in question was manufactured by a company called Radiient (check out the surround speakers in the Helios series). The founders of the company include the co-inventer of the HDMI interface. And here's the B&W N805 lookalikes for $200.00/pair

Busted!

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy Looks like the speaker in question was manufactured by a company called Radiient (check out the surround speakers in the Helios series). The founders of the company include the co-inventer of the HDMI interface. And here's the B&W N805 lookalikes for $200.00/pair

Interesting.

Just so no one is confused by your second comment, those are *not* the B&W 805 clones that have been floating around on AudioGon for some time under the name "Aural Ersatz" or "TAD 803" and imported by Bizzy Bee. i.e. Not these ones:

Those are a scam. They are an attempt to rip off the look of the B&W 805, contain cheap drivers, no crossover, and do not measure well. All they have going for them is the look.

The speakers you linked to from Radiient are a different product. I doubt they intended to generate speakers that look like B&W 805s. First off, they're much uglier, but moreover, the 805 is a conventional MT speaker while these are coaxials with a supertweeter. No way would they have gone to the expense of a coaxial driver if the goal was just to rip off the 805s. Also, judging from the $20 Best Buy speakers, some decent engineering may have gone into them.

 

[soundboy]

Just located a review of Radiient's N805 look-alikes. May give you an insight into how those $46.00/pair speakers may sound.

Edit: Here's a review of the Helios speaker system. Keep in mind that the surround speakers in this system are the ones available at Best Buy for $46.00/pair.

 

[sbulack]

WOW!!! Another one of "Wodgy's Sweet Spots(TM)". I've ordered a pair of these from BB. BTW, I'm still (very happily) using the Terratec EWX 24/96 sound card that you recommended a while back for its quality and value. You surely CAN pick 'em (that's what happens when product picks are based on knowledge and experience, measurements that make sense, and a good ear to boot). I realize that you've said you've not heard these Insignia(TM) speakers, but I'd like to replace a pair of speakers with a "scooped out" FR that I use in a small room, and I've learned (from a number of successful previous purchases) that a Wodgy Sweet Spot is a terrible opportunity to waste. Thanks again, Wodgy!

When these speakers arrive, and I've had a chance to hear them, I'll contribute my impressions of them to this thread.

 

[tedtropy]

How well would these work as replacements for the cheapie speakers that came with an Onkyo home theater systems, specifically the HT-S570? Granted, the wouldn't exactly be tone-matched to the center speaker anymore, but would it be a considerable improvement on the left/right and possibly rear surround end? Currently the front and rear left/right speakers are the 100W peak 8ohm one it came with. Thanks.

 

[ooheadsoo]

For the price, I'd replace them all.

 

[YamiTenshi]

I was actually looking for a new pair of computer speakers. Would these be overkill for a small office/bedroom setting?

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy And here's the B&W N805 lookalikes for $200.00/pair

Apparently, these lookalikes have an advanced oblate quasitriangular antiresonant (OQA™) cabinet design, time-aligned phase-coherent coaxial midbass/high frequency drivers and a low-diffraction hybrid multilayer front baffle. I mean, this must be the greatest load of marketing BS I have ever heard in my life!

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder Apparently, these lookalikes have an advanced oblate quasitriangular antiresonant (OQA™) cabinet design, time-aligned phase-coherent coaxial midbass/high frequency drivers and a low-diffraction hybrid multilayer front baffle. I mean, this must be the greatest load of marketing BS I have ever heard in my life!

Once again, they don't look much like the B&W 805.

Cutting through the marketing, the "quasitriangular" cabinet just refers to the shape, which has no parallel surfaces, which helps to eliminate standing waves. The curves are actually done with deep kerf cuts, which isn't optimal, but what does one expect for $23 each? A fun mod would be to fill the kerfed cuts with a mixture of wood clue and sawdust.

These are time-aligned. That's not BS. It's easy to do because the acoustic center of the tweeter is pushed back.

The front baffle is low diffraction because the edges are bevelled and because the tweeter is waveguide-loaded, both of which eliminate edge diffraction anomalies on axis. I have no idea what the multilayer claim refers to.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Wasn't the baffle made of 2 sheets of 5/8" mdf? There's your multilayer.

 

[classicalguy]

Has anyone listened to these speakers, preferably with a T-Amp? How do they sound?

 

[soundboy]

No T-amp though....just Marantz CD player, Parasound pre and Adcom poer amp.

Of course, it's not my system.