Boston Acoustics Bravo speaker (1 Viewer)

Anyone try the Boston Acoustics Bravo speaker yet? They are priced about the same as Paradigm's Mini Monitors but are they in the same league? Thanks.

I've not listened to the Bravo; I do have the CR2. I am curious as to why nobody on here mentions the Boston Acoustics line more. For the money, they seem to be excellent performers. Perhaps I'm just not the audiophile everyone else is but when I've auditioned B&W, Paradigm, etc, I just can't justify the difference in price to upgrade from my VR 950's. The one time I was truly wowed was when listening to B&W 603's being driven by some McIntosh equipments and I would dare say the B&W's were not the true source of my amazement. I'm thinking of buying a used VR-10 to pair with my mains as I've heard it is an excellent center. Good luck.

Kip, go for the VR12. If you can find one that is. Its much better. And still pretty cheap used.

Joe, I have auditioned the bravo and the paradigm. I am very biased when it comes to boston though . I think paradigm makes some excellent speakers and are a great value but I do not think they sound as clean and natural as the boston. I am sure that someone will be quick to knock on my opinion so let me reiterate, paradigm IS and excellent speaker AND a great value. I really do like paradigm but when doing blind tests with them (with other very big paradigm fans) the bostons always seemed to have an edge in the highs and detail. Both are laid back speakers IMO but I simply get a little bit bored with the Paradigm sound, it almost seems as if it is just missing that little extra oomph. Don't get me wrong, they sound amazing and would probably be my next choice in speakers if I did not hear the Bostons. The thing I like about the brave is the shape and the various ways you can set them up. But you need to listen for yourself if possible and let your ears judge.

Kipp, I understand how you feel about Bostons not being too widely spoken of on this or any forum. I have never heard an unhappy Boston owner. The vr-910 is a great center. but I do agree with Ken about the vr12. I think boston made a mistake with the 910 by just making it a two-way with a passive radiator. The 12 has a tweeter with a mid range driver just below it and two bass units on either side. Very much like there monster vr920 and prettier vrmc. You can proabaly find one used on e-bay for a decent price.

Evan and Ken,
Thanks for the response; it was not my intent to hijack this thread. The VR-20 is a HUGE center and I'm looking a used VR-10, not 910. The original VR-10 has the same configuration as the VR-12 but the bass units are a bit smaller. The tweeter is vertically aligned with a 3.5 mid-range speaker and the two bass unit are on either side.

I absolutely love the Boston sound as I stated before for Joe, I doubt you will be disappointed with the Bravo if it is anything like the Boston's I've used. They are really smooth and easy to listen to.

Anyone have an idea when the model change on the Boston VR line is?

I just bought a pair of Boston Bravos to be used as surround back speakers in a 7.1 configuration. I have older Boston VR speakers in my home theater. A pair of VR30's (tower) are used for the fronts, a VR12 center and another pair of VR30's for side surrounds. I do not have the Boston Bravos connected yet. I am looking for a speaker stand that will hold the Bravo. However, I did listen to them as surrounds in a 5.1 setup. They sounded great. Then again, as Evan mentioned, I too prefer the highs and detail that the Bostons seem to have. I sold a complete Paradigm setup (mini monitors front and back with center channel, not sure of model) that I bought new to purchase used older VR series speakers. The VR12 center was bought new right before Boston Acoustics discontinued it. A friend of mine had the older VR series in his home theater and I always liked the sound better than the Paradigm. At the time, we had identical electronics (Denon 5700 receiver and Pioneer Elite DV-05 DVD player).

hi joe

i work for the official dealers for Boston in South Africa,
we have had nothing but praise for the Bravo's in fact I did a demo for a customer the other day, who was blown away by the sound, and on top of that they really look good.

Michael, it is not ideal for the Bravo's to be put on stands, the corner placement works best and it will increase the bass output without the distortion, and standing waves

Hey Simon, Quick question; I have heard rumors that boston is going to be re-doing their vr series speakers to have a wood finish as opposed to the big sock they have now on the towers. I heard this was going to be this year. Any truth to this. Thought you might know. I personaly hope they do. That is the only knock I have on my speakers (vr965 fronts), they are not the prettiest thing out there . Thank you in advance.

hi evan
yes you are right, boston have finally decided to bring out some of their ranges in a beech finish, which i personally prefer, although the cherry finish still looks good, this beech/wood finish,is a new development, the vr series, although with good sound, are just plain ugly in my opinion we barely sold any here, in fact most of our retail dealers would not stock them.

We have the 965's on show and I think they sound great, they are the perfect bridge speaker between the CR series and the VRM's

That is fantastic news Simon thanks for the info. Of course now I have to ask the obvious question....when will these be available? I bought my 965's from Tweeter in Nov. last year and have a 1 year upgrade deal with them. Do you think they will be out by then. Any hints will be greatly appreciated and plus I'll stop buggn' ya .

Recently I saw the CR range in a light cherry finish at Magnolia HiFi....it looks, and sounds, great. I still have fond memories of my BA CR8.

i think they are supposed to be coming out in the summer in the US which is soon, we were told our winter, so it is your summertime. the cr range is probably going to be availabe in beech, a cr8 came in the other day for repair, the problem was with the guys amp and not the speaker, anyway it was playing on one channel of a Rotel RSX 1055 with a CR95 on the other, i couldn't tell the difference.

The previous CR range was great! I had the CR8 with the heat sink behind the Kortec tweeter and the metal grills. Its imaging capability was amazing. The CR8, matched with its matching center and surround speakers, plus a powered sub like the BA VR-500, can still run circles around the current competitors. In fact, the set up I decribed was "Surround Speaker setup of the Year" in Video magazine (now incorporated into Sound and Vision magazine) for 1996 (if my memories are right).

Anybody listened to the CR75 or CR85 speakers? I've got CR7's up front but would like to move up. Prices I've seen so far are:

CR75: Pair for $225 US
CR85: Pair for $300 US
VR 950: Pair for $520 US

How do these prices stack up?

Thanks,
Kip

My local dealer for BA (The Good Guys) sells the CR85 for $300.00/pair as well (that's only price I remember). I like the new CR range, which is basically an updating of the previous generation. There's also a new floor-standing model for the CR range as well.

I have been looking at the Bravos' for use as rear speakers, but have shied away because of cost ($400 per pair). I did check them out at Ultimate Electronics and liked the sound. One thing I noticed was that there was almost no hiss when nothing was playing, but the source volume was turned up. The sound that they produced was noticeably cleaner than any of the similar sized speakers. They also have the great small, corner-friendly shape that would allow me to mount them where I need them.

I was also planning on trying them out as front speakers (if I bought them) so I could replace my floor standing speakers, and free up the space in the room. The big black primary speakers look like crap alongside the victorian decor of the room.