Accurate speakers for $200-500 (1 Viewer)

[Doug Z]

I see your point, if it keeps the cost down then so be it. Swan gets so much good word of mouth already why bother.

 

[TonyWright]

Word of mouth on these forums is how I found out about Swan.

Picked up a set and never looked back. They are quite stunning to look at too. I had mine delivered to my office as I wouldn't have been at home to receive them. My colleagues were all drooling over them.

I think the 2.1's would be an outstanding choice for that $500 budget.

If you decide to take a closer look at them, Jon Lane over at TAI is full of great info there. He tipped the scales for me when I was deciding on my setup. Very knowledgable (sp?) and outstanding customer service there.



Tony

 

[john ingram]

But which ones are small, sound great, and will look very nice? I really do mean small too. Like bose sized or slightly bigger. They really dont have to go very low. Just flat to wherever they drop off. Do you guys have some direct links to these products at a trustworthy store with good prices?
Thanks

 

[Chris Quinn]

The RAD micros are your best bet at that size and Brian can do custom veneers. I believe Brian Bunge has demo pairs he can send out to you. Brian is a regular contributor here on HTF search his profile or you can find more info here.

 

[john ingram]

Arent those just the tang band 3" $35 drivers in a nice wooden box veneared? Why such a high price? Also the other ones he is offering are all just do it yourself designs that he is now selling. And for $100 each or is that a typo? Is it pair or each?

So basically you will buy the Rad Micros if you dont want to build them by yourself for a third of the price? Right?

 

[Chris Quinn]

Your right, Brian is under-charging versus everyone else's driver(s and crossover) and a box if the driver is $35 before materials and labor for building the box. He could call them BOSE and sell them for $1000.

 

[john ingram]

I know he could do that. Im sure these are much better than the bose crap for $1500. Bose is just a bunch of hype built by advertising and has nothing to do with good sound at all. Instead you get altered music so that they can make there little ported paper wizzer tweeters appear to be loud.

Where do you buy swan?
Where do you buy the rads?
I dont want to just trust anyone. Is there an official online store or anything for this stuff? Anywhere on ebay with good feedback.

 

[DavidCooper]

www.theaudioinsider.com

Thats where you will find Swan speakers. The 2.1's are really big if that is a concern for you. I saw you posted that you wanted to stay small. You should still give the Swans a try. I think it would be VERY difficult to send them back once you hear them.

 

[Chris Quinn]

RAD are sold consumer direct from Rutledge Audio Design only. http://www.rutledgeaudiodesign.com/speakers.htm

 

[Chris Quinn]

NHT SuperZero might fit the bill too. But at 86dB they need power. Onecall carries them and is a reputable internet company.

 

[Chris Quinn]

Ascend Acoustics HTM-200s may be a good choice since I re-read the need for a center channel. I believe they are acoustic suspension(no port)too. Here is the Ascend 200 measurement graph.

 

[Rory Buszka]

Rudledge Audio Design makes very nice-looking boxes. Much nicer than I could build myself at this point, I'm sure of that. I don't think they get a fair shake, because there just aren't that many reviews of them. I think that there need to be reviews of a speaker before people will buy them sound-unheard. Without the reviews, people won't try them and then they won't get a good reputation, regardless of how well they do their thing. SVS has reputation, HSU has reputation, Axiom has reputation, Swan has reputation. RAD can hang with most or all of the above in terms of performance (particularly in the area of speakers, not so much on the subwoofers but I can't say for sure on that) and also in terms of price (you get real, true furniture-grade cabinets with marvelous finish for a decently low price) but since RAD has not done much to build up a reputation, they will probably remain the small-time operation that they are. I don't think you'll go wrong with the RAD Micros. Those 3" drivers will do things you'd only expect dome tweeters to do.

 

[john ingram]

For someone who is NOT interested in bass or buying a sub and wants extremely small speakers but expects good sound do you think these would go low enough for the average person? I mean will they sound super tinny without a sub to a non-audiophile old grandma with a big room?

 

[Chris Quinn]

PM or call Brian and ask him. Or go to the Rutledge Audio Design forum at Audiocircle.com here is the link and ask there.

 

[CurtisSC]

I have heard the RAD Micros in my home. For such small speakers, they sound very good. The are not tinny at all, and are on the warm side, although Brian did mention to me that some "tuning" can be done.

As far as needing a sub, it depends on the type of music, and how loud you want them to play.

 

[john ingram]

How does the in home trial work? Does he just trust you with the speakers and mail them to you to try or do you have to pay for them first and then theres a money back gaurantee? How does it work?

 

[CurtisSC]

Brian had a demo pair that was in San Diego. He emailed me asking if I wanted to hear them, I said sure....so he had the guy ship them to me. I then shipped them to someone in Chicago. I think that demo pair has been sold. Contact Brian...he may have others.

 

[Brian Bunge]

John did send me an email but since a lot of the questions have been asked here as well I felt it a good idea to respond here.

The Micros are an excellent speaker when you want small, unobtrusive speakers with big sound for their size. It's true, they aren't going to blow anyone away with their bass impact, but toms and even a little bass drum are well within their capabilities. I have a pair in my armoire in my bedroom right now without a subwoofer and they sound great. Some would call it blasphemy, but if I want a little more bass, I simply turn the bass tone control a notch or two above flat and they sound full range enough to be quite satisfying even with a little Heavy Metal. Of course you have to be cautious with the volume, but they are plenty loud to satisfy most people I'd imagine.

As far as the in home trial, the pair of cherry Micros which Curtis heard are still in Chicago. No one has asked for the audition lately and a buddy is the one who has them so I've just let him hold onto them for a while. If you're interested, I only require a credit card # and billing address for security purposes should you refuse to return them or send them on to the next person. You are also responsible for boxing them back up and paying the shipping costs to the next person. Shipping shouldn't be more than $25 or so from one end of the country to the other. Curtis could probably give you a general idea of what it cost him to ship them from LA to Chicago.

 

[Pete_M3]

Some of you need to take remedial reading (you know who you are ...).

He said "I'm looking for a pair or two of smaller speakers and a matching center channel" for $500. Although it's not clear whether he needs 3 or 5 speakers, he needs at least 3, and some of you recommended speakers that cost at least $500 a pair.

Three Ascend CBM-170s are less than $500, but they are a lot larger than Bose cubes.

 

[john ingram]

Brian,
I would be very interested in a demo. Do i have to give out my credit card number or can i use paypal? I surely dont do this on the forum. You have a storefront site somewhere right?