Perlisten S4b bookshelf speaker review

[shadyJ]

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Perlisten left a tremendous impression on us when we reviewed their flagship tower S7t speakers earlier this year. It was a speaker that pushed passive loudspeaker technology forward in a big way. It had a huge dynamic range, near-perfect on-axis response, outstanding directivity control, subwoofer-level bass extension, and a cool, futuristic look. One of its only potential problems was that it was a fairly large loudspeaker, and what if you wanted that technology without the size or weight? Enter the Perlisten S4b. We had seen what Perlisten could do in a large tower speaker, but how well would their technology lend itself to a much smaller form factor? Read our full review of the S4b to find out!

READ: Perlisten S4b bookshelf speaker review

 

[KollyKibber]

Very interesting review, thank you.

It seems like the floorstanders don't really justify being nearly double the price?

I am tempted by these speakers and will hopefull try them once they have a UK distributor.

I have a 17'9x12' room, would the floorstanders be wasted in that small of a space? I plan to use 2 subs either way.

 

[shadyJ]

Very interesting review, thank you.

It seems like the floorstanders don't really justify being nearly double the price?

I am tempted by these speakers and will hopefull try them once they have a UK distributor.

I have a 17'9x12' room, would the floorstanders be wasted in that small of a space? I plan to use 2 subs either way.

One of the nifty things about the towers is that they are a large speaker that could be used in a small room nicely, unlike many other large towers. And they absolutely do not need the addition of subs to help them out. The tower do have some advantages over the bookshelf speakers. Firstly, they maintain the directivity control down to lower frequencies. Second, they have more headroom in the bass driver ranges, so 1kHz and below. You won't likely benefit from the extra headroom in a small room though, unless you are determined to lose your hearing. And of course, the towers have deeper bass extension, however, that isn't a big deal when you include subwoofers.

 

[ErinH]

Oh, cool! Someone just sent me this link. I actually reviewed these as well and our results match within reason. Really impressive speaker. Great review as always, James. I'd like to get on the phone with you sometime to talk about this speaker.

 

[Hetfield]

Oh, cool! Someone just sent me this link. I actually reviewed these as well and our results match within reason. Really impressive speaker.

No offense but at almost 3,500 bucks these should be super, duper impressive I'd say. They look amazing.

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[ErinH]

No offense but at almost 3,500 bucks these should be super, duper impressive I'd say. They look amazing.

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Okay.

 

[Eppie]

Was hoping their smaller towers and bookshelves would come in at a lower price point, but I understand that there is some serious engineering behind these speakers, and I like the looks. I'll have no problem recommending these to my rich friends.

 

[gene]

Join us Monday evening at 11pm EDT for our livestream:

 

[KollyKibber]

One of the nifty things about the towers is that they are a large speaker that could be used in a small room nicely, unlike many other large towers. And they absolutely do not need the addition of subs to help them out. The tower do have some advantages over the bookshelf speakers. Firstly, they maintain the directivity control down to lower frequencies. Second, they have more headroom in the bass driver ranges, so 1kHz and below. You won't likely benefit from the extra headroom in a small room though, unless you are determined to lose your hearing. And of course, the towers have deeper bass extension, however, that isn't a big deal when you include subwoofers.

James,

Thank you very much for your comments. This is really helpful. I will have to try them for myself, but your remarks are very useful for my future AV setup. I will have to consider bookshelf speakers rather than floorstanders as I had originally considered.

 

[Mikado463]

No offense but at almost 3,500 bucks these should be super, duper impressive I'd say. They look amazing.

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unless I'm reading it wrong it's more like 8k for the pair and another $1500 for their stands, that puts them in with plenty of pricey competition

 

[Trell]

$1500 for a pair of stands is expensive.

 

[Hetfield]

unless I'm reading it wrong it's more like 8k for the pair and another $1500 for their stands, that puts them in with plenty of pricey competition

No way! I just did a real quick search but that's insane. I don't want to tell you want I expect from speakers that are 8 grand and 1,500 for stands? How honestly do they sleep at night charging 1,500 for stands? You can probably get 90-95% of the performance of these "high end" boutique speakers for 75% less money paid but that's just my opinion. Everyone can call me cheap or worse but that's just my philosophy.

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[Hetfield]

$1500 for a pair of stands is expensive.

Just a tad insane. I get annoyed when I see 200 dollar stands. 1,500 is bonkers territory.

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[lovinthehd]

No way! I just did a real quick search but that's insane. I don't want to tell you want I expect from speakers that are 8 grand and 1,500 for stands? How honestly do they sleep at night charging 1,500 for stands? You can probably get 90-95% of the performance of these "high end" boutique speakers for 75% less money paid but that's just my opinion. Everyone can call me cheap or worse but that's just my philosophy.

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The price of 7990/pr and 1500 for the stands are at the beginning of the review. They are nice stands and probably custom made in small quantities?

 

[Mikado463]

No way! I just did a real quick search but that's insane. I don't want to tell you want I expect from speakers that are 8 grand and 1,500 for stands? How honestly do they sleep at night charging 1,500 for stands? You can probably get 90-95% of the performance of these "high end" boutique speakers for 75% less money paid but that's just my opinion. Everyone can call me cheap or worse but that's just my philosophy.

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yeah I hear ya but having not heard them I guess it's tuff to judge. But I do know for less money one could score a mint pair of Revel Studio 2's (used) that I feel would represent a better value. But then new vs used, we're not talking apples to apples.

Regardless, they reviewed wonderfully and in the world of high fidelity it's quite common to witness exponential price increases to extract the last 10% of performance. Suffice it to say those purchasing this combination will not be losing sleep over the $$ spent !

 

[shadyJ]

No way! I just did a real quick search but that's insane. I don't want to tell you want I expect from speakers that are 8 grand and 1,500 for stands? How honestly do they sleep at night charging 1,500 for stands? You can probably get 90-95% of the performance of these "high end" boutique speakers for 75% less money paid but that's just my opinion. Everyone can call me cheap or worse but that's just my philosophy.

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The stands are custom-made for the S4bs and S5ms. They have a screw hole pattern particular for those speakers. They are extremely nice stands and weigh a ton which gives these speakers a stable platform- not easy to do when the S4bs weighs 25 lbs and the S5ms weigh 42 lbs. They have a polished gloss black trunk and polished brass pieces. The machining on them is really good. Are they over-priced? I don't know, but if you are shelling out $8k+ for bookshelf speakers, the extra cost for the matching stands probably doesn't bother you that much.

If it were me, the stands I would get would be these which are even more expensive. But they are about the right height and would be very stable as well as have a matching gloss finish, plus they would fill out the bass nicely.

 

[lovinthehd]

If it were me, the stands I would get would be these which are even more expensive. But they are about the right height and would be very stable as well as have a matching gloss finish, plus they would fill out the bass nicely.

LOL took me a second to get that....

 

[Eppie]

LOL took me a second to get that....

If they would sound proper under a pair of the Monitors that would be genius.

 

[ryanosaur]

If it were me, the stands I would get would be these which are even more expensive. But they are about the right height and would be very stable as well as have a matching gloss finish, plus they would fill out the bass nicely.

Brilliant.

 

[Hetfield]

Look I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, I'm sure these are amazing but just a bit over the top at 8 grand for the pair and then $1,500 for stands. I honestly don't care what they are made of or how.
But hey Qacoustics has 4,500 dollar bookshelf speakers now with fancy stands too.

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