Bic pl-89. Good quality or no?

[amayseng]

hey guys I came across the Bic pl-89's which are dual 8s woofers with 250rms and db 98. They have fantastic reviews. I was thinking of them for my rear channel speakers for the corners of my room about 7' away from the main listening position.

If they are great quality I may run them as mains as they look elegant.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[amayseng]

A: Specifications
Price (MSRP): $499/Each
Design: Video-shielded 250-watt (600-watt peak) two-way horn tower with dual 8" woofers.
Frequency Response: 25Hz - 23kHz
Sensitivity: 98dB @ 1 watt, 1 meter
Drivers: Two high power 8" poly-injected woofers with butyl rubber surrounds, one 6 1/2" mid/high frequency aluminum dome horn with neodymium magnet.
Magnetic Shielding: YES
Gold-Plated Terminals:YES
Recommended Power: 10-250 watts per channel RMS, 600 watts peak power.
Impedance: 8 ohms
Dimensions: 43"H x 11"W x 10"D
Weight: 39 lbs. (15.9 kg.) Each
Warranty: Extended 8 Year Parts see less

 

[shadyJ]

They should be fine as rear surrounds. I doubt very much that they are really 98dB sensitive. I think a 7 foot distance might be a bit close for that kind of design as well. If you are planning on expanding out to a 7.1 or even an Atmos system, I would not use those as surrounds. For 5.1 they might work nicely.

 

[amayseng]

They should be fine as rear surrounds. I doubt very much that they are really 98dB sensitive. I think a 7 foot distance might be a bit close for that kind of design as well. If you are planning on expanding out to a 7.1 or even an Atmos system, I would not use those as surrounds. For 5.1 they might work nicely.

Just 5.1.
Good enough for fronts?

I'm curious if this is a good quality brand or not.

 

[Bucknekked]

I'm curious if this is a good quality brand or not.

amayseng

I see your post count is relatively small so I will say welcome to the AH forum.
Its a wild and woolly forum for opinions so you've come to a place where there are a lot of them.
The good news is most of the opinions here are grounded in real world experience.

Is BIC a good quality brand or not? Loaded and leading question.
I suppose it depends a great deal on your budget for audio, your experience with other good quality speakers, and your interest level.

If you have a high interest in great quality sound and you have a fair number of speakers you've listened to, I would wager most people here would probably not put BIC in their top 5. Budget always plays a role so if your budget is constrained and your interest in high quality audio isn't really the top of your need list, maybe the BIC is a "good enough" choice.

I am a firm believer in great speakers as the basic building block of any home audio system. Stereo or mulitichannel HT, the basic building block is a high quality speaker. More bang for the buck there than anyplace else or anything else. With that emphasis, getting the best speaker you can, even if you have to take 6 months and save some coin, is the best way to insure you get what your looking for.

I don't know that I would put BIC on any top 5 list. Just my two cents.

 

[amayseng]

amayseng

I see your post count is relatively small so I will say welcome to the AH forum.
Its a wild and woolly forum for opinions so you've come to a place where there are a lot of them.
The good news is most of the opinions here are grounded in real world experience.

Is BIC a good quality brand or not? Loaded and leading question.
I suppose it depends a great deal on your budget for audio, your experience with other good quality speakers, and your interest level.

If you have a high interest in great quality sound and you have a fair number of speakers you've listened to, I would wager most people here would probably not put BIC in their top 5. Budget always plays a role so if your budget is constrained and your interest in high quality audio isn't really the top of your need list, maybe the BIC is a "good enough" choice.

I am a firm believer in great speakers as the basic building block of any home audio system. Stereo or mulitichannel HT, the basic building block is a high quality speaker. More bang for the buck there than anyplace else or anything else. With that emphasis, getting the best speaker you can, even if you have to take 6 months and save some coin, is the best way to insure you get what your looking for.

I don't know that I would put BIC on any top 5 list. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the welcome.
Yes I figured Bic is mid range at best by their affordable prices but the reviews are quite positive. There are so many good brands out there these days it is hard to decipher between them.
What would your top ten list be?

Of course I realize that better speakers are going to be more expensive.
I also understand that manufacturers have mid and high level speakers.

Maybe the Klipsch dual 8s are the way to go for me.

 

[shadyJ]

Just 5.1.
Good enough for fronts?

I'm curious if this is a good quality brand or not.

I can't tell you that. My guess is it is probably not the most refined speaker, but it should be able to get loud. Probably overkill for surrounds.

For a front left/right in this vein, I would go for some Fluance Signature towers. A couple hundred more, but they do have good bass response, and good performance metrics. The only problem is I think that their corresponding center channel speaker might not be worthy of them. Also, they are not near-field, speakers, so you want to give them some distance for the sound of all the drivers to coalesce, at least 9 or 10 ft or so.

But again, the bass extension of these speakers do not matter if you are using subwoofers, so I wouldn't worry about woofer diameters unless you have no plans to use subs.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

A well-known, for a while, mid-fi speaker line from the 70's and 80's. If these are vintage speakers, I'd pass.

If they are new production, maybe they sound OK. I didn't know they were still in business.

They were sold to dealers as a kind of "House Brand" speaker (industry-speak for artificially high profit margins between wholesale and MSRP, which encourages dealers to sell them over other national brands, and to be able to offer "discounts" that effectively result in sales at the same % markup as other brands if those others were sold at MSRP). PRC manufactured.

Not sure about the "good reviews". Even on Amazon, where buyers tend to be fairly low-fi consumers, there are complaints about a lack of bass, poor quality control, and unresponsive customer service. Rumoured to have manipulated eBay feedback from the distributor.

Did you listen to them?

 

[amayseng]

I can't tell you that. My guess is it is probably not the most refined speaker, but it should be able to get loud. Probably overkill for surrounds.

For a front left/right in this vein, I would go for some Fluance Signature towers. A couple hundred more, but they do have good bass response, and good performance metrics. The only problem is I think that their corresponding center channel speaker might not be worthy of them. Also, they are not near-field, speakers, so you want to give them some distance for the sound of all the drivers to coalesce, at least 9 or 10 ft or so.

But again, the bass extension of these speakers do not matter if you are using subwoofers, so I wouldn't worry about woofer diameters unless you have no plans to use subs.

No center channel for me I defer that to the front towers which sounds to me 100x better than a cc. I'm about 10-13 feet from the tv/front towers.
I don't have a sub right now as my fronts have 10inch woofers there is really no need for one.

 

[amayseng]

A well-known, for a while, mid-fi speaker line from the 70's and 80's. If these are vintage speakers, I'd pass. If they are new production, maybe they sound OK. I didn't know they were still in business. Did you listen to them?

They are new in their top line.
No I have not heard them.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

They are new in their top line.
No I have not heard them.

Yes, I decided to google the model # and revised my post accordingly. I'd be cautious if I were you, but that's just my opinion. I could find no actual professional reviews, which should be a Red Flag for a company that claims to be in business for 40 years*. All I found were lots of rehashes of the company's press releases by sites that accept cash payments, and a few forum posts.

I would never buy any of the models I'd heard in the past. We were offered the line when I had my store. We declined.

* I suspect that this is an example of someone buying up a dead brand and using the goodwill to market a new product. I never heard anything from them since the 80's, and now these new models out of the blue.

 

[amayseng]

Yes, I decided to google the model # and revised my post accordingly. I'd be cautious if I were you, but that's just my opinion. I would never buy any of the models I'd heard in the past. We were offered the line when I had my store. We declined.

Ok thanks.
What do you think about the Klipsch 280f ?

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Ok thanks.
What do you think about the Klipsch 280f ?

Haven't listened to that model.

 

[everettT]

Woofer size and watts dosent make a speaker good or better. These at $749 for the pair on closeout would make a nice addition

https://www.amazon.com/Boston-Acoustics-3-Way-Floorstanding-Speaker/dp/B00FJGGJ7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512172742&sr=8-1&keywords=boston+m350

As for center channels, if you here a properly setup good system, you will change your mind about them. I've run a phantom center before, but I wouldnt have if I'd had room for the correct center.

 

[amayseng]

Woofer size and watts dosent make a speaker good or better. These at $749 for the pair on closeout would make a nice addition

https://www.amazon.com/Boston-Acoustics-3-Way-Floorstanding-Speaker/dp/B00FJGGJ7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512172742&sr=8-1&keywords=boston+m350

As for center channels, if you here a properly setup good system, you will change your mind about them. I've run a phantom center before, but I wouldnt have if I'd had room for the correct center.

Those are small woofers would they be able to reproduce the depth of say an avalanche, or the scene from the dark knight rises when Bane crashes the plane? My 19 year old vegas with 10 inch woofers sound phenomenal with that scene. Even watching enemy at the gates last night they are superb during all scenes, punchy bass and deep long bass from explosions. To replace them I have to go better.

 

[everettT]

Those are small woofers would they be able to reproduce the depth of say an avalanche, or the scene from the dark knight rises when Bane crashes the plane? My 19 year old vegas with 10 inch woofers sound phenomenal with that scene. Even watching enemy at the gates last night they are superb during all scenes, punchy bass and deep long bass from explosions. To replace them I have to go better.

As mentioned in the other thread, you are better off with a sub for those frequencies. The impact of a good sub is only rivaled by a small group of tower speakers.

This is one of them that covers that group

http://jtrspeakers.com/noesis-215rt.html

 

[KEW]

Give us a budget and we can suggest a 2.0 system with decent bass and a 2.1 system with a subwoofer!
I think you would do better to buy quality bookshelf speakers and a sub than buying quality towers.
Also waht receiver do you have?

 

[everettT]

Those are small woofers would they be able to reproduce the depth of say an avalanche, or the scene from the dark knight rises when Bane crashes the plane? My 19 year old vegas with 10 inch woofers sound phenomenal with that scene. Even watching enemy at the gates last night they are superb during all scenes, punchy bass and deep long bass from explosions. To replace them I have to go better.

Woofer size doesn't tell the story of a speaker. The CVs play loud and can go deep, both at a cost.
This is an example of speaker with smaller a single woofer (7.5") that plays into the low 30hz

http://www.salksound.com/model.php?model=Song3-A

 

[yepimonfire]

You can do better. I’d recommend JBL 580s or Klipsch Entry level “Reference” towers are much better designed, and can be found at a similar price. I seriously doubt they can achieve a flat response to 25hz with 8” woofers with high efficiency. The physics involved with the lossy damping characteristics of poly woofers combined with a relatively small cabinet and low fs drivers does not add up to super high sensitivity. Even the Klipsch RF-7 III only extends to 32hz with dual 10” woofers. Most likely you’d be lucky to get 35-40hz. It is extremely unlikely they’re 98dB/1w1m. Likely they’re about 92dB. Klipsch only lists in room sensitivity, but you can figure the anechoic sensitivity by subtracting 4dB. For the r-28f, that equals to 94dB. They have a rated response to 32hz. In my experience, Klipsch has always listed honest -3dB points, and their speakers have always met or slightly exceeded the claimed response in room by about 10-15hz on average.

The other issue with the bic is the horn is a straight exponential horn. Exponential horns have problems with beaming and lousy treble dispersion, vs the CD designs in the Klipsch and JBL. In addition, the xover is way too high for dual 8” woofers. Expect breakup and lobing off axis.

IIRC, a few reviews showed a less than stellar frequency response as well.

 

[amayseng]

You can do better. I’d recommend JBL 580s or Klipsch Entry level “Reference” towers are much better designed, and can be found at a similar price. I seriously doubt they can achieve a flat response to 25hz with 8” woofers with high efficiency. The physics involved with the lossy damping characteristics of poly woofers combined with a relatively small cabinet and low fs drivers does not add up to super high sensitivity. Even the Klipsch RF-7 III only extends to 32hz with dual 10” woofers. Most likely you’d be lucky to get 35-40hz. It is extremely unlikely they’re 98dB/1w1m. Likely they’re about 92dB. Klipsch only lists in room sensitivity, but you can figure the anechoic sensitivity by subtracting 4dB. For the r-28f, that equals to 94dB. They have a rated response to 32hz. In my experience, Klipsch has always listed honest -3dB points, and their speakers have always met or slightly exceeded the claimed response in room by about 10-15hz on average.

The other issue with the bic is the horn is a straight exponential horn. Exponential horns have problems with beaming and lousy treble dispersion, vs the CD designs in the Klipsch and JBL. In addition, the xover is way too high for dual 8” woofers. Expect breakup and lobing off axis.

IIRC, a few reviews showed a less than stellar frequency response as well.

Thanks I appreciate it.