Best bookshelf speakers for mids & highs $300-$400

[Winny94]

I'm looking for suggestions for a pair of book shelf speakers in the 300-400 range (obviously lower is better, but if the value is there, 400 is possible).

I plan to run a powered sub, so I'm looking for something that excels at mids and highs.

I do about a 50/50 split between movies and music (Americana music).

Based on my research I'm seeing a lot of the following 3:
Elac ub5
Kef q300
Monitor Bronze 2

Any suggestions between those 3 or suggestions for others?

The room is ~2300 cu/ft. I will run them on a denon x1300, and the sub is a Dayton 1200.

Thanks for any help!

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd consider Ascend 170SEs, Philharmonic AAs before those.

 

[slipperybidness]

Dunno about "best", it's all personal preference once you hit a certain quality level for a price point.

But, something to consider
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/wharfedale-denton-80th-anniversary-speakers-for-sale.109076/#post-1210574

 

[Hetfield]

I'd consider Ascend 170SEs, Philharmonic AAs before those.

Boy Ascend acoustics gets a lot of love, from the lower end stuff to the higher end. I have not heard a bad thing mentioned about them. That's why I'm looking at going Sierra 2s next year.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[lovinthehd]

Boy Ascend acoustics gets a lot of love, from the lower end stuff to the higher end. I have not heard a bad thing mentioned about them. That's why I'm looking at going Sierra 2s next year.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

We often like what we have, too ....I've got Sierra-1s, 170SEs and 200SEs. I'd love to hear the Sierra-2s

 

[slipperybidness]

I have never had a chance to hear Ascends either.

But, those 340SE....to me they just scream "high level performance for the $, and that's all we care about, aesthetics be damned!". I'm in! I like that design goal.

Now, the Sierra 2.....droooooollllll

 

[Hetfield]

We often like what we have, too ....I've got Sierra-1s, 170SEs and 200SEs. I'd love to hear the Sierra-2s

Yeah I really want to hear the Sierra 2s. My idea now is to get 3 Sierra 2s LCR and 2 Luna's for surrounds.

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[lovinthehd]

Yeah I really want to hear the Sierra 2s. My idea now is to get 3 Sierra 2s LCR and 2 Luna's for surrounds.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk and I want to remind everyone of that every time I post

Sounds nice but a bit beyond OP's budget....

 

[Hetfield]

Sounds nice but a bit beyond OP's budget....

Yeah we hijacked the thread. Back on topic. The Ascend 170's are supposed to be pretty great.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yeah we hijacked the thread. Back on topic. The Ascend 170's are supposed to be pretty great.

What you mean we, kimosabe?

ps

 

[Shawnb]

For 3-400, kef q300s or emotiva airmotiv b1. Above that, probably ascends. I was considering getting some Sierra 2, but I think ill go with philharmonitor bmr instead, but any of the above are great.

 

[choombak]

For 3-400, kef q300s or emotiva airmotiv b1. Above that, probably ascends. I was considering getting some Sierra 2, but I think ill go with philharmonitor bmr instead, but any of the above are great.

This here OT, but I’m now curious - any reason for opting the Phil BMR over S2? Thanks.

 

[Shawnb]

Several. I want a raal, so it was definitely ascend or Phil. The Phil is taller, so would fit on my mantle perfectly at ear height, and I expect the bmr mid to be superior to the s2, and the bass as well. This is somewhat important to me as I often like to listen to music in direct/pure. Also, I know Phil's work is excellent, and you get much more for your money. Lastly, it's custom, and I can choose a Salk finish, and that rose red looks damn fine, for not much more money, while the ascends just look ok.

 

[KEW]

This here OT, but I’m now curious - any reason for opting the Phil BMR over S2? Thanks.

If you look at he Philharmonitor, you can see it is very close to the Sierra2 in design with a lower price tag. The next step up within Philharmonic Audios line is the BMR which adds incredible off-axis response to the midrange and a bigger/better woofer. The BMR with +/-2dB from 30hz to 20kHz anechoic response is arguably a full range speaker (for music, not LFE) once you add room gain to the picture.
The BMR used to cost $1650 plus shipping. However Dennis Murphy found a well built stock cabinet from Part Express to save on the cost of Salk's custom work and this dropped the price to $1350 plus shipping which makes it a no-brainer vs. Sierra2, IMHO!
As Shawnb noted, you can still get the Salk custom cabinets and even upgrade to a wide array of unique finishes if that floats your boat.
Personally, I like the curved PE cabinets a lot (though it would be ideal to have Salk's finish work on them)!

 

[Shawnb]

Yes, all that's what I meant to say! And I agree, Kew, I would prefer the nice curved cabinet, but I just can't pass up on salks super fine finishes. We've spent a lot of money in my home on audio, and a lot on art. This will be a combination of the two! Not to mention, I expect these to be timeless. The parts are oem from diy so any time a tweeter or driver goes bad down the road it will be less difficult to replace with a match.

 

[zieglj01]

I'm looking for suggestions for a pair of book shelf speakers in the 300-400 range (obviously lower is better, but if the value is there, 400 is possible).
Elac ub5
Kef q300
Monitor Bronze 2

Any suggestions between those 3 or suggestions for others?

Not really bad options -- however, I like the Cantons

Canton GLS 2 (with Chrono drivers)
https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/cantgls2blka/canton-gls-2-6-2-way-bookshelf-speaker-black-pair/1.html

Canton Chrono 502.2
https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/cantchrono5022blka/canton-chrono-502.2-6-2-way-bookshelf-speaker-black-pair/1.html

Now above your budget, then yes Philharmonic Philharmonitor

 

[Shawnb]

Zeigl, you think the cantons would sound better than the folded ribbon in the emotiva? But I agree, the canton do sound pretty good.

 

[zieglj01]

Zeigl, you think the cantons would sound better than the folded ribbon in the emotiva? But I agree, the canton do sound pretty good.

I believe they would hold up well and give the Emotiva a run for the money, the midrange with the Cantons are good -- I am thinking about doing a showdown with them 2 -- maybe in a couple of weeks.

For me it is more than just a tweeter type -- I use to own some Martin Logan Encore ATF speakers with their tweeter based on RADIA planar technology and they irritated me, they were too shrill -- I also owned the HTD Level Three speakers with their ribbon horn tweeter, and they were somewhat lacking in detail and definition. However, Emotiva is known for good work.

 

[shadyJ]

A certain driver design doesn't mean that driver is especially good, or even better than average. Judge a driver by its measured performance, not its design type. There are plenty of examples of uber-exotic high-priced drivers that had very poor fidelity.

 

[Shawnb]

Does measured performance show how well stage imaging and detail are created? I cant believe that measurements on a graph can capture the complete character differences of the dynamics and dimensionality of sound between to equally good but different speakers. All they can do is show us how close it is to flat, no?