Small Bookshelves for both music and movies? ($200 - 400) (1 Viewer)

[AaronMK]

My brother is looking to replace a front pair of Bose speakers in his home theater (A big step foward, of course).

His budget is $200 - $400. Right now, he is considering the following:

JBL Northridge E30
Cambridge SoundWorks Newton Series™ M60
Cambridge SoundWorks Newton Series™ M80
Boston Acoustics CR75B
Boston Acoustics CR85B
HTD Level 3
HTD Level 4
Polk Audio PLK RTI4BK
Polk Audio PLK RTI6BK
Infinity INI ALPHA20BK
Axiom M3ti


He doesn't want them to be bigger than 15" inches. He wants them to be able to sound great with both music and movies.

He will be matching them with a JBL center channel and with Boston Accoutics surrounds. While I would think that a pair of JBLs would be a great match for that center channel of his, I am not sure about consistency between brands and the correctness of that assumption. He also listens to music in straight stereo (no DSP modes that use more than the two mains and the sub). His music/movie ratio is 50/50, so if some of these are really a lot better for music, he would probabably be willing to compromise the matching to his center channel just as long as pans don't sound completely out of whack.

His sub sucks, but living in an apartment, he isn't going to be looking for a setup to play deep bass at high volumes anyway. On that note though, decent response at lower frequencies (at least in the context of bookshelf speakers), is a consideration as well.

All advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[CurtisSC]

You might want to add Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 to your list.

Here is the lastest review, and you can find more on their website. Also visit www.ascendforum.com

http://goodsound.com/equipment.shtml

 

[Pablo Abularach]

I second CurtisSC recomendation, the best speakers you can get inside the $400 range are CMB-170.

But if you want to save a little, JBL studio series bookshelfs do a very good job for HT, check

JBL S26 $150
JBL S38 $250

 

[Jeff_Fitz]

There is a poll on AVS right now titled Best Value in a Small Bookshelf. I think the size criteria there are a little more stringent than your friend's, but you should find some useful information in the accompanying thread.

Hope that helps,

Jeff

 

[DarrenAlan]

I would also add the KEF Q1s to that list. For pure music listening -- especially if he values imaging and soundstaging -- they are very very hard to beat.

And they excel with voices, too, so are good for HT. Eventually he could upgrade the center to match and have a pretty killer system for not a lot of do-re-mi.

P.S. Full disclosure: I'm a KEF fan and have two pairs right now -- Q15 and Q3.

 

[AaronMK]

Thank you for the suggestions.

I passed on JBL, KEF Q1, and Ascend recommendations to my brother.

He doesn't want to order blind and risk return shipping if he does't like the speakers, so I think the Ascends are out.

The Boston Accoutics CR85B are on the top of his list now because he likes how they sound (can't argue with that reasoning), but hopefully he'll give the KEF's a listen.

If he likes the KEF's are there places he can order them from that might save him some dough?

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Lew Crippen]

You might want to check out some of the online companies. Curtis has already suggested the excellent Ascend 170s. For a somewhat different sound (and a different look), you should check out the Rocket 150.

I'm not personally familiar with Axiom's products, but they get very good reviews.

 

[BrianAe]

I'd add aperion audio and swan to the list. www.aperionaudio.com.

 

[Lew Crippen]

He doesn't want to order blind and risk return shipping if he does't like the speakers, so I think the Ascends are out

That is very understandable. There are plenty of people who will demonstrate these products in their own homes. Check out audioenvy.com for Rockets. I’m not sure of the site for the Ascend products, but I do know that Curtis keeps close tabs on this subject. You might send him a PM and ask.

Or a post at the AV123 website will likely also produce results.

 

[John S]

Well, you can't go wrong with JBL s38's, they are failry amazing for the money. But, I don't think they quite make the size grade and are best placed horizontle.