Best High End Floor Standing Speakers under $2,000

[gene]

FYI;

Bestcovery asked us to write reviews for them with no requirement for actually having product in hand. Its more of an overview site IMO which you can still get useful product info of but I wouldn't call those reviews.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

FYI;

Bestcovery asked us to write reviews for them with no requirement for actually having product in hand. Its more of an overview site IMO which you can still get useful product info of but I wouldn't call those reviews.

I can't stand sites like that.

I refuse to read a single word on those sites.

I hope they would all disappear one day.

 

[ChicagoLR3]

FYI;

Bestcovery asked us to write reviews for them with no requirement for actually having product in hand. Its more of an overview site IMO which you can still get useful product info of but I wouldn't call those reviews.

That doesnt surprise me at all. The reviews all seem like they were done sight unseen. Not to mention they're only about 5 sentences.

 

[ChicagoLR3]

when you say "low" do you mean its physical location on the tower? How did the speakers sound to you? what other brands did he carry? could you do a comparison?

The tweeter seemed like it was only 2 - 2.5 feet off the ground, which seemed too low to me even when seated. If you look at a picture of them, they have two drivers above the tweeter, instead of the tweeter being at the top. unfortunatley, i wasnt able to listen to them on that trip. It was kind of difficult to determine what they officially carried for brands, since there was so much used equipment around. but i know for speaker brands they had PSB, Martinlogan, sunfire, Monitor Audio, and likely several others.

My approach to speaker shopping, and pretty much all electonic shopping, is to read online reviews first, then audition a select group. I feel there are so many brands and models, that it would be time prohibitive to listen to all of them. Not to mention, i need to qualify the selections based on my criteria. i'm dont want to waste my time auditioning HTiB's or a $10,000 pair of towers for obvious reasons.

 

[Kaz-maN]

I totally disagree with the part I put in bolded text. Although receviers and amps all sound the same if operated well within their power limits, its best to eliminate any/all variables if auditioning for speakers only. Eliminate as many variables as you can... this is what I would ...

write down the make and model of each speaker you audition and what you liked and disliked about the speakers you were auditioning. Was the bass tight and deep or was it boomy and loose sounding? Were the mids life like or were they hollow or just too pronounced? Was the treble irritating and harsh or were they dark and not revealing or were they smooththat made you want to listen for more? How was the imaging?

Bring music with you that you are very familiar with and know quite well. To
make it easier to audition HT speaker systems, listen to the main speakers in 2
channel mode with music. Music is much harder to reproduce accurately then a movie soundtrack so if the speakers do well with music, then they will do well with HT. Speakers that do HT well may not do well with music. When auditioning the center channel of the same brand and series as the main speakers, pick a difficult source like an announcer that mumbles alot. If you can understand what the mumbling announcer is saying, then you have a good center channel.

I would go to speciality stores first and start auditioning speakers first
instead of going to the internet first. Once your likes are determined, you can
mention them here and fellow members can make internet brand recommendations based on your likes/dislikes. The specality stores are better setup acousticaly then the big box stores which will make auditioning a little easier. It will give you an idea of what you like in a speaker.

Keep track of what amp or receiver is powering the speakers you're auditioning. Try to get a receiver/amp that closest resembles what you have or want to get. It just reduces another variable when audtioning speakers.


One thing to keep note off. When auditioning speakers, make sure the volume
levels are matched between the diiferent speaker pairs because the louder
speaker pair will always sound better. Listen to levels that you think you
would listen to most of the time because thats how you are going to be using
them most of the time.

I will agree to disagree with the first thing you're saying. To say a receiver is not gonna make any difference in sound is pure stubberness. Sorry to say that, but thats just really what I think. I'm not trying to flame you, but a receiver can affect the way a speaker responds. I've heard psb's sound absolutely fantastic on a $1.8k tube amp. At the sametime though heard the exact same speaker on $10k worth of seperates sound terrible. I mean the seperates were choking the speaker. The equipment connected to a speaker can greatly influence the way it sounds. Pretty much everything else you mention is spot on though.

 

[bandphan]

I will agree to disagree with the first thing you're saying. To say a receiver is not gonna make any difference in sound is pure stubberness. Sorry to say that, but thats just really what I think. I'm not trying to flame you, but a receiver can affect the way a speaker responds. I've heard psb's sound absolutely fantastic on a $1.8k tube amp. At the sametime though heard the exact same speaker on $10k worth of seperates sound terrible. I mean the seperates were choking the speaker. The equipment connected to a speaker can greatly influence the way it sounds. Pretty much everything else you mention is spot on though.

Amps/receivers do not have sound. Receivers that have eq applied will change the sound, but level matched and in a direct mode, no difference if performing within its operational specs

Stubbornness has nothing to due with the science of it. Some tube amps roll of the high frequencies based on design. The things that have "sound" are the source material and the speakers.

 

[3db]

I will agree to disagree with the first thing you're saying. To say a receiver is not gonna make any difference in sound is pure stubberness. Sorry to say that, but thats just really what I think. I'm not trying to flame you, but a receiver can affect the way a speaker responds. I've heard psb's sound absolutely fantastic on a $1.8k tube amp. At the sametime though heard the exact same speaker on $10k worth of seperates sound terrible. I mean the seperates were choking the speaker. The equipment connected to a speaker can greatly influence the way it sounds. Pretty much everything else you mention is spot on though.

Lets clarify this and BTW I didn't take it as a flame, only a difference of opinons.

Tubes sound differently than solid state amps/receivers
Different tube configuartions may sound differently but I'm just hazarding a guess.

All solid state amps and receivers will sound the same IF and ONLY IF they are being operated well within their power band. I'm not rferrring to HTIB devices. I'm speaking about seperate amps and receviers from the likes of Yamaha, Denon, NAD, Onkyo etc. As long as your not straining the powersupply/amp section, they will sound identical. Off course DBT is required to proove it to you as alot of people not only hear with their ears but also hear with their eyes. Hearing with their eyes includes having preconceived ideas of how its going to sound before you hear ir therefore clouding ones actual listening.

Its only when pushing the solid state receivers into/past their limits to you start hearing differences. i.e., a 100x7 Yamaha won't be able to put out the current like a 100Wx7 Anthem or Bryston. However, if you operate the Yamaha and the Bryston had say 5 to 10 watts of power and were not permitted to see which one was playing, you would not be able to tell.

 

[3db]

The tweeter seemed like it was only 2 - 2.5 feet off the ground, which seemed too low to me even when seated. If you look at a picture of them, they have two drivers above the tweeter, instead of the tweeter being at the top. unfortunatley, i wasnt able to listen to them on that trip. It was kind of difficult to determine what they officially carried for brands, since there was so much used equipment around. but i know for speaker brands they had PSB, Martinlogan, sunfire, Monitor Audio, and likely several others.

My approach to speaker shopping, and pretty much all electonic shopping, is to read online reviews first, then audition a select group. I feel there are so many brands and models, that it would be time prohibitive to listen to all of them. Not to mention, i need to qualify the selections based on my criteria. i'm dont want to waste my time auditioning HTiB's or a $10,000 pair of towers for obvious reasons.

Don't let the tweeter location stop you from auditoning them. They didn't get rave reviews from all the audio industry for nothing.

 

[Seth=L]

I will agree to disagree with the first thing you're saying. To say a receiver is not gonna make any difference in sound is pure stubberness. Sorry to say that, but thats just really what I think. I'm not trying to flame you, but a receiver can affect the way a speaker responds. I've heard psb's sound absolutely fantastic on a $1.8k tube amp. At the sametime though heard the exact same speaker on $10k worth of seperates sound terrible. I mean the seperates were choking the speaker. The equipment connected to a speaker can greatly influence the way it sounds. Pretty much everything else you mention is spot on though.

I'll bite. There are lines drawn everywhere in amplification, it can be difficult to figure out which ones cross lines and which don't. Receivers amplifier sections stay in line. Class A/B is what you'll find in 90% of today's AV receivers and as long as they are operating under audible distortion levels they will sound sonically identical. Small factors such as SNR have a minimal inpact on the sound since they usually present as a slight low level white noise that is not audible during any reasonable level of playback.

DSP modes and auto room adjustment features can make or break a receiver's "sound" for home theater use. To compare a receiver's ability in home theater by its DSP modes is unreasonable, and any receiver optimally calibrated with an SPL meter should turn out the same results. The pitfall, most people don't have a burning desire to use an SPL meter to calibrate, so auto configurations have become the norm. I would wager that an upper end Denon with Audessey XT would objectively sound better after being setup in the same room compared to say a mid level Yamaha with the YPAO auto calibration. One of the receivers will likely have an advantage in headroom giving it a better sound at higher levels of output than the competing receiver. But the only difference in sonics would be caused by a limitation of power. However, in most rooms with most speakers it's surprising how little power is necessary to achieve an excellent home theater experience. At any given moment you may be taking 5 watts RMS per channel with peaks of 20-40 watts, not exactly hard for basically any mass market receiver.

Stand alone amplifiers of the transistorized orientation are often sonically identical. The goal of any good amplifier is to produce linear output over the audible frequency spectrum. This is not rocket science for seasoned amplifier designers and manufacturers. Some of the most linear and powerful amplifiers are also the least expensive, take a look at professional amplifiers. Most of them do exceedingly well into virtually any load you could impose with a majority of speakers available, and they have lots of power and are extremely linear in output. Some manufacturers, like Goldmund, may have a different sound. I would not relate this to a linear sound, but a distorted sound. If they alter the amplifier to make it have it's own sound it is no longer linear. If a linear amplifier doesn't sound good with your speakers, blame the speakers. Get speakers that you like how they sound with linear amplifier. It simplifies things a great deal to not have to try to find an amplifier to match the speakers that you don't necessarily like how they sound when fed a clean, undistorted, and linear signal. Why would someone want to make those kind of sacrifices?

Tube amplifiers, unless very expensive, are very colored and non-linear. To get that "warm" tube sound the amplifiers are biased to roll off the top end gently. Some PSB speakers are bright and unforgiving to bad source material or sensitive ears. Again, why are we buying speakers we don't like just so we can search around for the amplifier that makes them sound better to us. Maybe it would be easier to just buy a pair of speakers that sound good when connected to a receiver or Class A/B amplifier and avoid getting into costly exotic separates.

 

[gmichael]

FYI;

Bestcovery asked us to write reviews for them with no requirement for actually having product in hand. Its more of an overview site IMO which you can still get useful product info of but I wouldn't call those reviews.

Could you start off all the reviews with, "We've never heard these before, but we're being paid to say..."
Nah.. Too many people would skip over that and think it was a real review.

 

[Nuance AH]

I'll bite. There are lines drawn everywhere in amplification, it can be difficult to figure out which ones cross lines and which don't. Receivers amplifier sections stay in line. Class A/B is what you'll find in 90% of today's AV receivers and as long as they are operating under audible distortion levels they will sound sonically identical. Small factors such as SNR have a minimal inpact on the sound since they usually present as a slight low level white noise that is not audible during any reasonable level of playback.

DSP modes and auto room adjustment features can make or break a receiver's "sound" for home theater use. To compare a receiver's ability in home theater by its DSP modes is unreasonable, and any receiver optimally calibrated with an SPL meter should turn out the same results. The pitfall, most people don't have a burning desire to use an SPL meter to calibrate, so auto configurations have become the norm. I would wager that an upper end Denon with Audessey XT would objectively sound better after being setup in the same room compared to say a mid level Yamaha with the YPAO auto calibration. One of the receivers will likely have an advantage in headroom giving it a better sound at higher levels of output than the competing receiver. But the only difference in sonics would be caused by a limitation of power. However, in most rooms with most speakers it's surprising how little power is necessary to achieve an excellent home theater experience. At any given moment you may be taking 5 watts RMS per channel with peaks of 20-40 watts, not exactly hard for basically any mass market receiver.

Stand alone amplifiers of the transistorized orientation are often sonically identical. The goal of any good amplifier is to produce linear output over the audible frequency spectrum. This is not rocket science for seasoned amplifier designers and manufacturers. Some of the most linear and powerful amplifiers are also the least expensive, take a look at professional amplifiers. Most of them do exceedingly well into virtually any load you could impose with a majority of speakers available, and they have lots of power and are extremely linear in output. Some manufacturers, like Goldmund, may have a different sound. I would not relate this to a linear sound, but a distorted sound. If they alter the amplifier to make it have it's own sound it is no longer linear. If a linear amplifier doesn't sound good with your speakers, blame the speakers. Get speakers that you like how they sound with linear amplifier. It simplifies things a great deal to not have to try to find an amplifier to match the speakers that you don't necessarily like how they sound when fed a clean, undistorted, and linear signal. Why would someone want to make those kind of sacrifices?

Tube amplifiers, unless very expensive, are very colored and non-linear. To get that "warm" tube sound the amplifiers are biased to roll off the top end gently. Some PSB speakers are bright and unforgiving to bad source material or sensitive ears. Again, why are we buying speakers we don't like just so we can search around for the amplifier that makes them sound better to us. Maybe it would be easier to just buy a pair of speakers that sound good when connected to a receiver or Class A/B amplifier and avoid getting into costly exotic separates.

This is exactly what I think. Very well written, Seth=L.

 

[Seth=L]

This is exactly what I think. Very well written, Seth=L.

Thank you, that's probably my best attempt at explaining it to date.

 

[3db]

Tube amplifiers, unless very expensive, are very colored and non-linear. To get that "warm" tube sound the amplifiers are biased to roll off the top end gently. Some PSB speakers are bright and unforgiving to bad source material or sensitive ears. Again, why are we buying speakers we don't like just so we can search around for the amplifier that makes them sound better to us. Maybe it would be easier to just buy a pair of speakers that sound good when connected to a receiver or Class A/B amplifier and avoid getting into costly exotic separates.

I've heard all the PSB series except for the Platinum line and I've never heard them as bright. Axiom bright, B&W 600 series bright, Klipsch bright, Paradigm's Monitor series bright.. PSB's warm . PSB's unforgiving, yep... they tell it how it is.

Good write up on the amplifier part.

 

[Seth=L]

I've heard all the PSB series except for the Platinum line and I've never heard them as bright. Axiom bright, B&W 600 series bright, Klipsch bright, Paradigm's Monitor series bright.. PSB's warm . PSB's unforgiving, yep... they tell it how it is.

Good write up on the amplifier part.

I understand your subjective position on PSB loudspeakers. If people find them unforgiving to bad material, they will more than likely find them bright sounding as the highs are the most revealing part of a bad recording. I've owned a few pair of PSB speakers and I can say they have a very robust tweeter system that is meant for high power handling and linear output, some folks just don't like how they sound. I liked how mine sounded.

 

[3db]

I understand your subjective position on PSB loudspeakers. If people find them unforgiving to bad material, they will more than likely find them bright sounding as the highs are the most revealing part of a bad recording. I've owned a few pair of PSB speakers and I can say they have a very robust tweeter system that is meant for high power handling and linear output, some folks just don't like how they sound. I liked how mine sounded.

Moving subjective aside, bad recordings don't necessarily mean highs. It could mean sloppy bass, reticement mids, a whole host of other things, not necesarily highs. For instance the vinyl recording of "The Von Bondies" sounds very distored in the midrange as if teh recording levels were set too high opposed to the CD version where the distortion isn't quite so prevalent.

 

[cujobob]

I think one of the most important factors to look for in a loudspeaker is sensitivity...for a number of reasons. You can get excellent dynamics, obviously being the one most people think of...but more importantly for many consumers, you can pair a sensitive loudspeaker up with nearly any amplifier. With the way electronics, surround sound formats, connections, and all of that change...it's important to keep up to date without spending a lot of money while also getting excellent sound quality. The Pioneer 900 and 1000 level receivers have excellent sound quality as tested by Dr. Earl Geddes (the crossover distortion which he measures with his own methods is extremely low) and they cost less than $500 (less than $400 for the 900 level models). With the savings on electronics, it allows someone the ability to buy better speakers which will last quite a bit longer, especially if chosen wisely from the beginning.

In the $2000 range, I recommend GR-Research kit speakers built out by one of the available sources (N3X model), Salk Songtowers as mentioned previously...and I'd also check into some bookshelves. You'll always get better sound quality using multiple subwoofers...not even expensive subs, just have 3 or 4 of them. They will have smoother in-room response and free up the mains to handle the range they can do better. The Gedlee Nathans are just over $2,000, but I doubt there are many speakers that can hang with them. The resolution, frequency response, low compression, controlled directivity, and high sensitivity make for a great loudspeaker. There's also an interesting monitor I found at Selah Audio for around $2000 that uses a wonderful 7" driver with a tremendous RAAL tweeter...it won't be the most dynamic loudspeaker with the highest SPL, but in smaller rooms, should be quite enjoyable.

 

[titanle]

I have these Soundstage Audio 800P towers, they retailed for about $1800 I believe. These are some big speakers! I got them at cost, at that price it was a really good deal! Im not an expert by any stretch but from what Ive been using these speakers for, they sound great. From watching sports, to blurays, to listening to a CD, the reproduction is awesome. One downfall is that they will definitly reveal the flaws in poorly recorded material.

 

[Tech HiFi]

PSB makes great speakers for the money and you can buy last years models from an authorized dealer for cheap cheap on eBay. I have used them in two of my home theaters. But for $2000/pair I'd buy Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures.

 

[PENG]

why are we buying speakers we don't like just so we can search around for the amplifier that makes them sound better to us.

Is this a real question or just to make us laugh?

If it is a real question, I want WmAx to answer.

 

[stanleyg]

I would recommend songtower. I have them from a long time and i am very much impressed with it. Songcentre is also nice and i would go for it if i have to spend a bit more.