Best floorstanding speakers under $1500

[bikemig]

I am getting ready to buy a pair of floorstanding speakers. I recently auditioned both the Paradigm Monitor 9 ($1050) and the B&W 683 (I can get these for $1350 the pair). Are there any other floorstanding speakers I should consider at this price range? If anyone has any experience with either of these speakers, I'd certainly like to hear what you may think about them. Thank you.

 

[its phillip]

I'd take a look at these:
http://salksound.com/songbird home.htm

 

[templemaners]

Revel F12's might also be good to try out.

 

[gpost3]

I'd certainly like to hear what you may think about them.

It is all relative. You should buy speakers that sound the best to "you" in that price range.

Visit your local quality audio stores and try out different speakers in that price range. Take your own Audio CD with you and get the salesman to put that on for you (give the salesman direction, don't take any direction from him). And yes it is likely going to be him because only guys are audio nerds. Buy the speaker which sounds good to you. Simple.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Revel F12's might also be good to try out.

Oh, yeah, I was going to say that too.

$1,300/pr:

http://www.digitalcraze.com/Speakers-Subs/Floor-Standing-Speakers/Revel-159/Revel-Concerta-F12

 

[zumbo]

MB Quart QLS830.

I have a friend with 683's. He and I both KNOW that my speakers are superior in sound quality, and build quality.

His 683's do offer a little more in the low-end when run full-range without a sub. However, there is no comparison as a whole. Plus, we BOTH use powered subs anyway.
http://www.yawaonline.com/mbquql63tosp.html

 

[zieglj01]

It has been a while since I listened to B&W - however, I do not care
much for Paradigm Monitor speakers. The bass is too boomy, The mid-
range lacks good resolution, and the treble is some what lacking and
not real clear. I did prefer the Definitive Tech speakers in the past,
over the B&W around the same price.

Two brands that I would look at, is PSB and Focal.

 

[3db]

PSB Imagine T

http://www.psbspeakers.com/content/110520122125-PSB-Specifications_Imagine.pdf

or the PSB Image T6

http://www.psbspeakers.com/content/110520122522-PSB-Specifications_Image.pdf


These models have garnered nothing but spectacular reviews in the audio industry.

 

[Seth=L]

MB Quart QLS830.

I have a friend with 683's. He and I both KNOW that my speakers are superior in sound quality, and build quality.

His 683's do offer a little more in the low-end when run full-range without a sub. However, there is no comparison as a whole. Plus, we BOTH use powered subs anyway.
http://www.yawaonline.com/mbquql63tosp.html

Frankly, I don't understand MB Quart as an audio company. I seem to recall that high fidelity home audio equipment was their specialty and never knew they did anything else until recently. About 2 years ago I started to see MB Quart audio products enter the car audio market and it appears to be mostly budget oriented. Now when I go to visit MB Quart's website there's not even a way to access the home audio division from the homepage. A Google search tagged with "MB Quart home audio" did get me to a page on their site, but it is severally lacking in information and only exhibits in wall speakers and one 5.1 system that MB Quart offers.

Was the company bought out and bastardized in order to infiltrate an already flooded market?

Revel F12's might also be good to try out.

I've always thought of Revel's speakers as better versions of Infinity.

 

[zieglj01]

Was the company bought out and bastardized in order to infiltrate an already flooded market?

Fostgate Audionics (Rockford Fostgate) owned them for awhile -
Fostgate Audionics failed in their attemp to make home speakers.
They were going to try and do more, under the MB Quart name.
It seems some company in Germany, Maxxsonics Inc. has the
name now. MB Quart did car audio for a long time.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rYzNR1WdG-8J:www.fosgateaudionics.com/newsreviews/2002_FA-BrianCarlsness.asp+fosgate+audionics+and+mb+quart&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

http://www.maxxsonics.com/corporate/news_MBQuart.html

http://wiki.faust3d.com/wiki/index.php?title=PMB_/_MB_Quart

And something interesting here
http://www.mbquarttvmirror.com/
And here
http://www.mbquart.com/main_news.html

 

[rjxox]

axiom m80's axiomaudio.com

 

[zumbo]

Frankly, I don't understand MB Quart as an audio company. I seem to recall that high fidelity home audio equipment was their specialty and never knew they did anything else until recently. About 2 years ago I started to see MB Quart audio products enter the car audio market and it appears to be mostly budget oriented. Now when I go to visit MB Quart's website there's not even a way to access the home audio division from the homepage. A Google search tagged with "MB Quart home audio" did get me to a page on their site, but it is severally lacking in information and only exhibits in wall speakers and one 5.1 system that MB Quart offers.

Was the company bought out and bastardized in order to infiltrate an already flooded market?

MB Quart was on top of the car audio market. Fosgate Audionics (Rockford Fosgate) was taking a hit in market share, and decided to buy MB Quart. MB Quart sold. Fosgate Audionics had MB Quart build mids and tweets for them, and Rockford built subs for Quart. All MB Quart mids and tweets, along with home speakers, continued to be made in Germany.

Dealers were allowed to sell the Rockford branded mids and tweets for a fraction of the MB Quart equivalent. This led to the popularity of the MB Quart brand to slip.

Fosgate Audionics sold MB Quart to Maxxsonics. Maxxsonics moved MB Quart manufacturing from Germany to China. This led to their further decline in market share. This also put the Germans who made and developed such fine products out of work.

Maxxsonics owns the brand name MB Quart. They are no longer affiliated with the original MB Quart (German) company. The MB Quart website is owned by Maxxsonics. Products are Chinese.

The thing is, there is still tons of quality German made MB Quart products out there. The QLS line is one of them. QLS were designed, and handmade in Germany at the original MB Quart factory. Fosgate Audionics owned MB Quart during the QLS production. Fosgate Audionics also owned MB Quart during the QSD car audio line. QSD are considered some of the best car audio speakers ever made.

The original guys from MB Quart got investors together and re-opened the company in Germany under the name German Maestro. Fantastic product, at a price.

If you are attempting to research the original German MB Quart, then you need to be looking here:
http://www.german-maestro.de/US/company.htm

 

[zumbo]

German Maestro Linea S MS F-One is the current equivalent of the MB Quart QLS-830:
http://www.german-maestro.de/US/ms_f_one.htm

The new model is $4000 a pair US. The QLS are $999 a pair.

Here is a comparison of the two:

 

[bikemig]

I appreciate all the great ideas. I found a local dealer and I'm going to audition the PSB Image T-6. I don't want to buy a pair of speakers if I can't listen to them first which limits some of my choices.

 

[zieglj01]

I appreciate all the great ideas. I found a local dealer and I'm going to audition the PSB Image T-6. I don't want to buy a pair of speakers if I can't listen to them first which limits some of my choices.

It can be an interesting journey - good luck.

 

[bikemig]

It can be an interesting journey - good luck.

It is an interesting journey. I've been on a kick this year upgrading my system. Everytime I improve one of my systems (I run music in a few different places in my house and in my office at work), I want to improve my other systems. I recently bought a pair of Sennheiser 595 cans and the sound was so good that I decided to improve the music system in my main rig in the living room. I promised myself I'd stop after this . . . . . . . . Who knew it could be this addicting,

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It has been a while since I listened to B&W - however, I do not care
much for Paradigm Monitor speakers. The bass is too boomy, The mid-
range lacks good resolution, and the treble is some what lacking and
not real clear. I did prefer the Definitive Tech speakers in the past,
over the B&W around the same price.

I have to say it appears we may have similar preferences on speakers.

I did not care for Paradigm and B&W speakers either when I auditioned them. And I love the way those B&W 800Ds look aesthetically too, which is high on my priority list.

Did I ever tell you that I thought the BP7001 & BP7000 sound much, much better than the 800D, 802D, & 803D in every way from top to bottom? Forget the price difference.

And I won't even mention the Salon2, Orion, and KEF 201/2 in the same sentence because they are in an entirely different league.

Anyway, that's just my preference. A lot of people love the sound of Paradigm & B&W.

I did enjoy the sound of the PSB Imagine T when I auditioned them.

I also enjoy the sound of the Infinity P362s a lot, but they don't even have gold plated multi-binding posts, and they don't look very sexy.

Since everyone's preference may differ (some a little, some a lot), we all can agree that you just have to listen to the speakers for yourself because only you can be the final judge.

 

[zieglj01]

I have to say it appears we may have similar preferences on speakers.

Did I ever tell you that I thought the BP7001 & BP7000 sound much, much better than the 800D, 802D, & 803D in every way from top to bottom? Forget the price difference.

I did enjoy the sound of the PSB Imagine T when I auditioned them.

I will always be a PSB fan - and even a Definitive fan. Due to some
budget constraints - I have been Ebay shopping, to play with some
sounds from the past. The Definitive DR-7 was a steal. This is what
I wrote at another forum.

Just wanted to share a special find on Ebay. I won a bid for the
Definitive DR -7 bookshelf speaker, that is from 1991-1994. Audio
review flags it as a floorstander - it is a bookshelf.
http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/definitive-technology/floorstanding-speakers/dr-7/PRD_120916_1594crx.aspx
I won the bid for $15.50 - the cabinet is still in fairly good shape and
all the drivers work - no woofer glue problem. I use to own the little
Celsius speaker, and the current SM350. I have always liked the Direct
Radiating speakers better. This speaker has a soft dome tweeter and
a poly woofer. This thing is still the real deal - and I prefer it over the
SM 350 ( which is a good one). The soft dome tweeter and the bass is
the key to the sound. The bass is tight and tuneful, with no one note
boom. The imaging is sharp, and the sound stage is forward and wide.
The tweeter and woofer seem more balanced than the SM 350. Voices
are clean, clear and realistic - the midrange has good resolution. I have
owned the PSB Image, NHT Classic Two, Paradigm Mini Monitor and the
Monitor, plus mid level JBL > the DR-7 stands ahead to me. The cabinet
is built strong and the crossover is right on. If you can find this around
Ebay or a yard sale or thrift shop - then go for it.

 

[zieglj01]

It is an interesting journey. I've been on a kick this year upgrading my system. I promised myself I'd stop after this . . . . . . . Who knew it could be this addicting,

I have been trying to slow down - however, I seem to be picking up steam.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm a fan of Revel, KEF, Linkwitz, Infinity, NHT, PSB, RBH, Def Tech, Dali, MartinLogan, and Rythmik Audio.

EMP is owned by RBH; JBL, Revel, & Infinity are owned by the same Harman company; GoldenEar Tech is owned by Sandy Goss (formerly Def Tech) so I am probably a fan of EMP, JBL, and GoldenEar also.

One other speaker company I might be interested in is Phase Technology.