$200/pair Speaker Round-up for Two-Channel and Home Theater Listening

BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Yep they are great speakers for the money. S&V did a shootout last year where they came out on top and absolutely smoked the Axiom M3v3s. However, we were trying to keep within a $200/pair budget. Since this article seems to be pretty popular, maybe we should do another at a $350/pr or $500/pr price point. I'd welcome suggestions and volunteers to write it up ;)
Linky to the article (for the curious)
http://www.soundandvision.com/content/review-clash-minispeakers#cIi5kwWzmS5mhfaq.97
I nominate HB1's for HT usage and Ascend CMT170's for music
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
I owned a pair of the Sonys. I really like them, much better than the Pioneer SP-BS22LR speakers, which I also have. The Sonys are very detailed and have decent bass for the size. I ended up giving them to my son. Peace and goodwill.
They are one of the better options out there, and I also prefer them over HTD.

People tend to shy from them - however, many would be surprised.
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
Since this article seems to be pretty popular, maybe we should do another at a $350/pr or $500/pr price point. I'd welcome suggestions and volunteers to write it up ;)
And I'd be willing to bet Dennis' Affordable Accuracy Monitors would beat em all, dollar for dollar! Especially since the Infinity Primus series got the ax. Last year I had a lot of down time, but am back to home renovations this year. Do hope to make further review contributions in the future, tho! Would really love to pull off my own double blind tests with each speaker in mono... only the latter is most likely, of course.

As for the anechoic chamber, I know you fully understand how the series of measurements Floyd and his team developed can quite accurately predict in-room response above the transition frequencies. Though, he did it for a manufacturer to ensure the quality of their own speakers against others, not quite the same tune as a reviewer.

*waves hand* But is that not the 'truth' we all are looking for? :cool:
 
Morgan Audio

Morgan Audio

Audioholic
I had a great experience with the debut series and the Sony Core system. Loved them both but The DEbut wins this one I think
 
M

Motrek

Junior Audioholic
...
Let us know which speaker on our list is your favorite or if you have alternative recommendations.
I don't have experience with many speakers but I do own the Wave Crest Audio HVL-1s and the Ascend CBM-170 SEs (not reviewed). I've spent many hours watching TV and movies with both.

The HVL-1s have notably more bass "thump" than the Ascends even though they don't play as low. I'm not sure how to explain this, except that maybe it has to do with the port location (front vs. rear).

Otherwise the HVL-1s aren't as clear as the Ascends. With the HVL-1s, I often felt like I had to turn the volume up to make dialogue clearer, except that increasing the volume didn't really help. The Ascends sound "thinner" in a very pleasing way. Maybe this also comes down to port location and the HVL-1s are leaking some midrange?

I think the HVL-1s are good speakers for the price, given my limited experience. I briefly had access to some older SVS bookshelf speakers that basically had the same size, price, and specs as the HVL-1s and they basically sounded the same.

Anyway, I think the CBM-170 SEs are clearly better and they only cost about $100 more, so if you're buying new, I would recommend the Ascends vs. the HVL-1s unless you're on a VERY tight budget.

The equation changes if you're buying used. I got my HVL-1s for a steal and for the price they're amazing. Then again, I've seen a few good deals on used CBM-170s too.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
I had a great experience with the debut series and the Sony Core system. Loved them both but The DEbut wins this one I think
To each his own, but I was quite disappointed with the Debut B5 that I compared with the AA's:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/elac-b5-vs-philharmonic-affordable-accuracy-new-monitor.97171/
Also check the link in post #5 to see a commentary on the Elac B6.

I have found that unless there is something truly poor with the sound of a speaker, I cannot compare speakers at different times and in different rooms. Too much depends on the room, my mood...and most importantly, my audio memory sucks! That is why I use a system to level match and instantly switch speakers. Even using an A-B switch on a standard receiver is a problem because you have to bump the volume up or down and if speakers A are more efficient than B, every time you switch to B you hear the abrupt decrease in volume which is disappointing and when you switch to A you get the "improvement" of louder.
 
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M

Motrek

Junior Audioholic
To each his own, but I was quite disappointed with the Debut B5 that I compared with the AA's:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/elac-b5-vs-philharmonic-affordable-accuracy-new-monitor.97171/
Also check the link in post #5 to see a commentary on the Elac B6.

I have found that unless there is something truly poor with the sound of a speaker, I cannot compare speakers at different times and in different rooms. Too much depends on the room, my mood...and most importantly, my audio memory sucks! That is why I use a system to level match and instantly switch speakers. Even using an A-B switch on a standard receiver is a problem because you have to bump the volume up or down and if speakers A are more efficient than B, every time you switch to B you hear the abrupt decrease in volume which is disappointing and when you switch to A you get the "improvement" of louder.
It's a shame that the Elac Debuts aren't world-beating speakers. I haven't heard them myself but they got lukewarm reviews from Average Joe Audiophile and NoAudiophile. Both reviews had a LOT of positive things to say about them but also quite a few caveats.

What do you use to switch between speakers? I'll connect two different speakers to my computer and use the left-right balance setting to quickly switch between them. My office is symmetrical so this works fairly well but I wish I could also do automatic level matching.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
It's a shame that the Elac Debuts aren't world-beating speakers. I haven't heard them myself but they got lukewarm reviews from Average Joe Audiophile and NoAudiophile. Both reviews had a LOT of positive things to say about them but also quite a few caveats.
Yeah, I was really hoping they would be the amazing speakers they were being hyped as. It would be great if all of the sudden you could get the sound of a quality $500 speaker for $250!

What do you use to switch between speakers? I'll connect two different speakers to my computer and use the left-right balance setting to quickly switch between them. My office is symmetrical so this works fairly well but I wish I could also do automatic level matching.
I have two Marantz SR-6001 receivers to level match two pairs of speakers. Once that is done, I mute one receiver and thereafter, every time I hit the mute button it instantly switch between speakers, making it quite easy to detect differences in the middle of a note or phrase.
In truth, you probably don't need identical receivers, realistically, as long as 1) both receivers are working properly, 2) set to "Pure Direct", and 3) the speakers do not present a load to challenge the receiver's limits, differences between receivers will be negligible compared to the differences between speakers. If you have concerns about differences, you can always swap and see if you previous evaluations hold true for the speakers.
 
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BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
It's a shame that the Elac Debuts aren't world-beating speakers. I haven't heard them myself but they got lukewarm reviews from Average Joe Audiophile and NoAudiophile. Both reviews had a LOT of positive things to say about them but also quite a few caveats.
NA, found b5 to be decent speaker for living room setups and there are certantly worse options at $200/pr price point. http://noaudiophile.com/ELAC_B5/. It could've been a winner at that price range if Ascent,Wavecrest and most importantly AA didn't exist :)
 
H

herbu

Audioholic Samurai
I mute one receiver and thereafter, every time I hit the mute button it instantly switch between speakers
One remote triggering both receivers? VERY COOL!!! What a neat idea!!!!!
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
NA, found b5 to be decent speaker for living room setups and there are certantly worse options at $200/pr price point. http://noaudiophile.com/ELAC_B5/. It could've been a winner at that price range if Ascent,Wavecrest and most importantly AA didn't exist :)
I'll have to begrudgingly add Sony SS-CS5 to that list.
I generally feel that Sony typically is riding a little too much on their reputation by often selling average products at premium prices. However, this bookshelf speaker is an exception (especially now that the price has dropped by about $40). It certainly doesn't have the bass of the AA's, but if a sub will be in play, they are wonderful speakers for $220!
 
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E

<eargiant

Senior Audioholic
If it were me, at that price-point there's no doubt that I would choose the new AA Monitors from Dennis Murphy's Philharmonic Audio.
 
M

Mest30

Enthusiast
Does anyone know how the AAs are against RBH Sound R5BiR bookshelves? They are on amazon for $220.
 
afterlife2

afterlife2

Audioholic Warlord
Great deal! I'd give the RBH a go since you can always return them if not satisfied. I always wanted to try them and now you can try them for me, but yeah give them a go. :D The AA's for sure will have better BASS though.
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
Does anyone know how the AAs are against RBH Sound R5BiR bookshelves? They are on amazon for $220.
I'd bet that the crossover work on the AAs will be much more reveling. I'm sure both sound well and the finish of the RBH is a little better.
 
Morgan Audio

Morgan Audio

Audioholic
Does anyone know how the AAs are against RBH Sound R5BiR bookshelves? They are on amazon for $220.
Try them both if possible, RBH has excellent return policy and amazing reviews
 
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