budget bookshelf speakers (1 Viewer)

[Daman]

What would be good bookshelf speakers for around/under 200$ budget? I would be using them in seperate room from the HT mostly for music listening(set as speaker B's) I am currently looking at Polk R20's,Infinity and probably JBL's.. please suggest.
Thanks!
Daman

 

[Daman]

anyone?? and yes im talking about a pair of speakers.. the reciver is rated at 75 X 6 RMS so i guess for 2 speakers it would output more.
thanks!

 

[Thomas Nichols]

I currently use the R20's with a H/K AVR125 and I think it sounds really good. I have 4 R20's A Polk Center and a Dayton sub. It isn't very spendy, but I think it sounds great.

 

[Daman]

thanks Thomas i was thinking of R20's too because they are on discount at Circuit City these days.. i also saw a pair of Klipsch at Best buy which seemed a good option, do you remember what wattage R20's are rated at?

 

[Thomas Nichols]

Yeah, Polk recommends between 20-100W of power. My H/K puts out an honest 45W of power. It is more than enough to make them go as loud as I care to listen. I got them dirt cheap and have never regretted it. I know there is better stuff out there, but for a first system and a start in HT, they have been perfect for me.

 

[Mark Hedges]

I would suggest JBL S38II's. They are large for bookshelf speakers and getting hard to find but they are a bargain at the ~$250 price places have been selling them at recently.

Mark

 

[Daman]

Thanks Mark, well size is a constraint to an extent with me so i dont want them too large but ill have a look at them definetly and keep them in my options, probably Best Buy should have them.. thanks!

 

[Mark Hedges]

Best buy doesn't carry them anymore. You will have to try internet vendors or ebay.

Mark

 

[Greg Kolinski]

I would check out Parts Express's BR-1 kit,have read a lot of good stuff about them

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Paradigm atoms $189, or titans $229.

Those were the prices, I think they just went up a few bucks, but excellent speakers especially if you listen to music.

 

[NickSo]

Ive been lookin for budget bookshelves so far (slightly lower price than your budget), and here is what i found (prices in CAD):

Paradigm Micros ($107 open box): Great price, but the speaker isnt that great compared to the Atoms. For an ultra low budget system without much emphasis on sound quality these would be okay. They have lower end tweeters than the rest of the Performance lineup, and it shows. COmpared to the Atoms, they sounded congested, and muffled.

Paradigm Atoms ($189): Dealer quoted me a great price for these speakers. One of the better sounding ones of the ones ive demoed. With $200 USD budget, i'd check out the Titans. But seeing you're from the US< paradigms may not be as great a deal.

Polk Audio R15 ($199): I really like these ones. Good high end, very 'airy', giving alot of atmosphere. Not as good on the low end as the Atoms, but still quite good. The R20's should have more in the lower end. Very smooth sounding, i like these a lot.

Athena AS-B1 ($229): Nice sounding but i found them fairly BRIGHT. Similar to the Atoms, but brighter and more harsh. Decent speakers, but would rather get the Atoms.

JBL E20 ($299): I dont know if it was the room i was in, but both times i heard it (in two different showrooms of the same chain store), i was NOT impressed. The first time (probably due to placement), the bass was just overwhelming and muddy. Both times i didnt find it was as 'airy' as the Polks or the Paradigms.

Mission M30 ($199): Tiny speakers, nothing spectacular, not a great price either. Would rather take the Paradigm Micros.

One of the stores just got in the PRIMUS line from Infinity, they look like they sound very nice. I am VERY anxious to demo the Primus 150's ($199) after Stereophile gave them good reviews. They had the 160's out, but it was not set up correctly.

My Rankings so far (based on what i would buy):
Paradigm Atoms
Polk R15
Athena AS-B1
JBL E20/Paradigm Micros
Mission M30

 

[DarrenHo]

i got the primus 150s at circuit city. i like them very much. they sound much nicer than the boston hd5s i had before. just the the matching primus c25 center chanel today. it sounds very nice also.

 

[Joshua H]

I have a couple pairs of s38's and find them quite good, and they get as loud as I could care for on my old Kenwood ("rated" at 100wpc). My roommate last year liked to crank techno... I like them a lot for my rock and hip-hop.

Caveat: insert cheap plug here. Since it's my first system (and now I found these forums) I have an itch to try something new. So, if I find homes for my babies
they're out the door. I was actually thinking of keeping the older (ie sell for less) pair for music at the pc Anyways my sale post is in the Hardware For Sale forum.

Ask others about the s38's tho, don't just take the word of the guy selling it.

 

[GregBe]

Daman,

Since you live in Boston, I would check out Cambridge Soundworks. I compared them to most of the speakers in this thread and I think they sounded better to my listening tastes. The M50's list for $200. I wound up buying the M60's for $250 (They are listed for $300, but CSW is always willing to deal with you if you ask). Not only did they sound great, but they are really good looking speakers. They come in real wood veneers in blonde maple or mahogany.

Greg

 

[Daman]

Wow! So many comments firstly thanks to all of you for posting up and helping me out.. ok heres the short list then

Cambridge -M50 or M60's(depending on what deal i can get)
Paradigm Atoms / Titans
Polk R15's or R20's(in fact these days Circuit city has a deal where both are of same price- 65$)
Primus 150's
Ill try and preview them all over the weekend and let you guys know what i felt thanks a ton for your help !!

 

[Daman]

hey everyone!!
Have been reviewing speakers from the past 2 weeks based on everyones recommendations and would like to share what i liked.. i reviewe Polk Rti's(forgot the number) , Klipsch,JBL,Athena and Cambridge M50's and M60's and the best ones i liked were M60's amongst all of them.. hands down.. probably Polk and they are pretty close so will go again and audition both to make sure which one i like better though the Cambridge ones do look a lot more prettier thanks for pointing me that way Greg!
So heres my view
1. Cambridge M60's - Polk Rtis
2. Athenas - Cambridge M50's
3. Klipsch
4. JBL's
I dont remember the model numbers of some of these guys but they were all there at bestbuy/circuit city and CSW stores.
Hope to short list one of the Cambridge or Polk guys this weekend and go for them..man am i excited
Thanks again!
Daman

 

[Drew_W]

I'll add Energy C1s to the list. Those speakers look great without their grills. Stylin!

 

[Daman]

where would i be able to audition them Drew? I wouldnt want to buy them online without auditioning them first.. any ideas?

 

[Drew_W]

You can't buy Energy online anyways. And I'm sure there are plenty of Energy dealers in Boston, and I wouldn't think that you'd save a whole bunch by not buying them from a reputable dealer.

Check www.energy-speakers.com as they have a dealer locator on their website.

 

[Daman]

cool.. i found them around 12 miles from my place, will go today evening and check them out,will post up tomorrow about my exp i hope the choices dont become too difficult now