[pearle]

Check out the RBH 41-SEs.

http://rbhsound.com/41se.shtml

I've owned these for about 8 months and like them quite a bit. They cost about $600 US w/o stands.

 

[Ctn]

Quote:

Originally posted by Trawlerman The KEF Q series are a great speaker. I've got a pair of Q15.2s that take pride of place alongside my Spendors / Quads and ProAcs. They are that good! To my mind, the only downside is that i've found that to get the best from the Q15.2s one needs to have a amplifier that can put some power it's way. It tend to sound very ordinary otherwise. In the right setup it can rival speakers at least 2-3 times its price. I'm very impressed with the Q15.2s

I found them quite bad sounding.
I think they did some eq'ing to boost the high frequencies.

The bass is sloppy and slow.

Not much magic in the midrange either.

Not very good value for money imo.

 

[Pappucho]

Get these.....B&W CDM1SE's

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=14991


Used but still in very good condition (from pics) and very highly regarded speaker. Great price as well.

Edit: SOLD! Anyone here buy them?

 

[zeplin]

yes, any of the Kef speakers can sound very bla out of the wrong setup. as does any speaker...but with the Kef's, it's more pronounced and a part of their charcater. i don't think anyone should get them unless they will have a lot of good clean, high quality power to run to them. i power mine with an Arcam integrated amp and they sound full, rich, with a wonderful deep end. but if i power them with my Onkyo receiver, they sound thin and lifeless.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Totem MIni-Mites (?name) are supposed to be pretty good, too.

 

[hempcamp]

I currently own the Acoustic Energy Aegis One that I got for a steal (overstock, $135/pr), a very versatile loudspeaker and not too damaging to classical pieces. Doesn't blow my neighbors away either (I live in a condo). They match well with my very humble NAD L-40.

But if I could afford any bookshelf speakers on the market right now, I'd go for the Sonus Faber Concertinos. It makes my bones shiver to hear them sing at the audio shop.

I also like the sound of the PSB Image 5T, but not for classical and jazz pieces. The Wharfdale 8.2 didn't suit my ears at all in the brief period of time I listened to them in store.

--Chris

[edit]

Oh, almost forgot: there's a pretty good bookshelf speaker review in Aug/Sept issue of The Absolute Sound. Image 5T, Concertos (not Concertinos), and Wharfdales all reviewed there.

 

[Ctn]

Quote:

Originally posted by zeplin yes, any of the Kef speakers can sound very bla out of the wrong setup. as does any speaker...but with the Kef's, it's more pronounced and a part of their charcater. i don't think anyone should get them unless they will have a lot of good clean, high quality power to run to them. i power mine with an Arcam integrated amp and they sound full, rich, with a wonderful deep end. but if i power them with my Onkyo receiver, they sound thin and lifeless.

They were far from thin and lifeless. They were very coloured.
My first impression was...who are they kidding?

This is the first speaker that I have listened to that the high frequencies actually hurt my ears.

This impression is from their Q series.

 

[pbirkett]

As a previous owner of Wharfedale Diamond 8.2's, I'd have to say that they are ok for cheap starter speakers, but if you want something that you will keep for a while, I'd hang on and gets something better. They are a bit flat and lifeless. The likes of the Mission M51's and B&W 602S3's, Monitor Audio Silver S1's and Dynaudio Audience 42's all cost more, but all thrash the Wharfedales for sound quality IMO.

 

[GirgleMirt]

okay! Well thanks all for recommendations, advice, etc.. but turns out I didn't even buy bookshelves

I got a pair of Totem Arro! Paid 1200$CDN/884$USD for them

They're almost a compromise between a floorstanding and bookshelf since they're pretty small yet...

I wanted to wait until I had time to play with them before posting, but redoing the room they're going in is taking more time than planned and the speakers have been in their box for almost a week so I'll just post now

So basically, out of ALL the bookshelfs speakers I've heard, the paradigm was cheap and very good sounding. B&W also had nice contestants and so did wharfedale. But the totem Rokks just sounded amazing and could be had for not too much more (Rokks > mites and cheaper too since they're discontinued). Monitor Audio S2 sounded pretty good also!

the price difference for bookshelf+stand wasn't THAT much from floorstanding.. Also, bookshelves had a bit of lack of lower end, also they don't look as serious as floorstanding, I had extra $ lying around, so I just decided to go floorstanding.

In floorstanding, I really liked the Monitor Audio S6 and Totem Arro. Both were similarly priced (totem a bit cheaper) and they both 'stood out' from the others. Both were more expensive than most floorstanding though: PSB, Dahlquist, Energy, Paradigm, etc.. BUT, I found that what I was looking for was closer with those 2.

The arros are special... ULTRA slim, slick, small, yet, they sound HUGE and highly detailed! My first reaction when hearing them: "Ok... which speakers are playing? Those big ones? no?! THOSE SMALL ONES?!!? "

Hehehe, they're very special

Mentions of other speakers in misc categories:

KEFS: Q1 & Q3. Someone said warm? ... *WARM*! They weren't my cup of tea

I much prefered the sound of the Q5! More detailed, much, much better IMHO. Q1&3 were just too warm.. The rest wasn't really impressive either. I heard the Q5 right after though, and it was a huge improvement, warm but not overly, much better highs and mids! Someone else was listening to them, constantly yabbering (talking) with the 2nd salesman while I was trying to listen to them... "oh now they make small speakers that are soo good like when I was blah blah balh" I wanted to scream STU AND LISTN FOO but didn't... Also the dumby bought the Q3's which IMHO were worst than the Q1 because they had even *more* bass than the already bassy Q1.... (can you tell I'm not very fond of the overly bassy sound

)

Boston: Salesman: "drivers are made of ?rubber? and will basically last forever". Oh thats good! Listen to the speakers... UH?!??! What?! Know when u go out of a plane and your ears are messed up because of the pressure? Like how that sounds? If so, get boston! IMHO, they sounded HORRIBLE! They win the 'worst speakers I've heard' prize!

Paradigm ?Studio 100?: Floorstanding. Normally 1600$+ cdn from what the salesman told me, new one came out, offer floor demo 1100$. Listened to them quite a bit.. They sounded kinda weird.. something wrong but I couldn't quite put my fingers on what exactly.. I think it was too much base and annoying tweeters.. Right after I tried S6, and WHAM, thats what a speaker should sound like! Discarded the paradigms right away. The paradigms could be played much louder IMHO.. But that wasn't what I was looking for...

Titus Triange floorstanding: Very warm no? Also more highs if I'm not mistaking.. 1500$CDN

Magnepan: WEIRD!!! Wasn't sure whether I liked them or not... just... strange...

Also PG Lam or something like that wasn't too bad, but more expensive than the Monitor audio S6 and Totem Arro

Anyway, can't wait to plug the speakers

 

[vrao81]

Nice to hear some of your impressions. I too thought the Paradigm Studio sounded a bit harsh. And the Monitor Audio Silver series is excellent, I heard the small S1 and WOW that was an awesome speaker! Now I want to go and do some more speaker listening myself

.
Not surprised you didn't like Boston, a few of their models are Ok, but most are junk and are easily dusted by the competition. They do make some nice computer speakers though

 

[GirgleMirt]

lol yeah hoping to hear some of other people's impressions on some of the speakers

And sorry if the last post is all 'messy' and unstructured.. Basically written very quickly at work over the course of a few days.. Quite busy these last few days!

 

[Sovkiller]

Did you take a look at the Axiom, they have pretty good speakers for very cheap, factory direct sales, even a whole home theater system, sometimes the even have a demo or b stock sales the blemished are completelly irrelevant if you could find them, very simple and good designs according to the reviewers, I was thinking personally in give them a try, they offer also 30 days trial money back guaranteed and free shipping...any other opinion on those of any members that have tried them...

 

[GirgleMirt]

Nah sorry man already bought the speakers! (see end of last page

) and I didn't see any Axiom's anywhere...

In total I went to about 8 shops and I thought that was more than enough! At one time I was pretty confused after hearing many speakers and trying to discern every difference, qualities, etc... And said ah frig it I'll just listen and pick what sounds right & sounds best to me without trying to be too analytic about it.

Basically, I really liked the Totem Rokks but still I was more drawned to the Arro's (more base, more complete sound, better look, no stands, etc..). The totems just impressed me more than the other speakers I've heard. Monitor Audio S6 was a close 2nd though. Anyhow, went thru most of the local audio shops, so thought it was time to actually buy something lol.

Totem Rokk image: http://www.technofile.com/articles/totem_rokks.html

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by GirgleMirt Nah sorry man already bought the speakers! (see end of last page ) and I didn't see any Axiom's anywhere... In total I went to about 8 shops and I thought that was more than enough! At one time I was pretty confused after hearing many speakers and trying to discern every difference, qualities, etc... And said ah frig it I'll just listen and pick what sounds right & sounds best to me without trying to be too analytic about it. Basically, I really liked the Totem Rokks but still I was more drawned to the Arro's (more base, more complete sound, better look, no stands, etc..). The totems just impressed me more than the other speakers I've heard. Monitor Audio S6 was a close 2nd though. Anyhow, went thru most of the local audio shops, so thought it was time to actually buy something lol. Totem Rokk image: http://www.technofile.com/articles/totem_rokks.html

axioms only sell factory direct, no stores carry them, check www.axiomaudio.com IIRC according to the reviewer those beat some of the more expensive ones....

 

[GirgleMirt]

thats probably why I didn't see them anywhere

I'm pretty sure though that if you don't like them and return them, its at your cost and shipping 2 biggas floorstanding probably isn't too cheap!

Also I'm curious, how much do the Totem Arro costs in the states?