Desktop 2.0 Stereo Speaker Advice

[geniusmusicman]

I just recently sold some KRK Rokit 5 Monitors that I purchased only 2 weeks ago as I decided I wanted to go back to a bookshelf speaker set up. There was nothing wrong with them, but there was just something that drew me to the bookshelves, not sure why. I bought them for $150 for the pair and sold them for $200 so know my budget has widened a bit.

The question now is what speakers to choose for my current budget. I know the Philharmonics AAM's are great based off of the many, many people that have replied to me in other posts and from reviews I have read online, but those are just slightly more than what I have and at the moment and I have nothing more to spare. I did email the company that sells the AAM's to see what the final cost would be and if they had any "B" stock available for purchase and I am still waiting to hear back on that.

What I want to know now is the following:

1) How good are the Philharmonics compared to the Elac B5, Klipsch R-15M, Sony SSCS5, and the Polk S15?
and
2) Between the Elac B5, Klipsch R-15M, Sony SSCS5, and Polk S15, which is the better speaker?

The four speakers on question 2 are all currently within my budget with the Sony's being the cheapest and on sale for $120/pair. I have heard more good things about the Sony's than the Elac's and Klipschs, but the S15's are still new enough that I haven't seen as many comparison reviews.

What do you guys think?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The question now is what speakers to choose for my current budget. I know the Philharmonics AAM's are great based off of the many, many people that have replied to me in other posts and from reviews I have read online, but those are just slightly more than what I have and at the moment and I have nothing more to spare.
I did email the company that sells the AAM's to see what the final cost would be and if they had any "B" stock available for purchase and I am still waiting to hear back on that.

• Philharmonic AA's are passive speakers, where KRK are active studio monitor. This means in addition to spending on speakers, you'd need to provide your own amplification for them.
• "The company that sells AA's" is a single guy - Dennis Murphy. Chances of B-stock are about as remote as a blue moon

What I want to know now is the following:

1) How good are the Philharmonics compared to the Elac B5, Klipsch R-15M, Sony SSCS5, and the Polk S15?
and
2) Between the Elac B5, Klipsch R-15M, Sony SSCS5, and Polk S15, which is the better speaker?

The four speakers on question 2 are all currently within my budget with the Sony's being the cheapest and on sale for $120/pair. I have heard more good things about the Sony's than the Elac's and Klipschs, but the S15's are still new enough that I haven't seen as many comparison reviews.

What do you guys think?

a) Philharmonic AA are much better than all of these speakers
b) One thing which stands out, is Polks - these are significantly worse than others.
c) Sony is generally well reviewed for it's price, but AA's as I've said are better speakers

If you have very tight budget and spending money on amp is no option, then maybe you could find good deal or used model of JBL LSR305. I have the previous model, LSR2325p and I love them, but didn't directly compared it with LSR305.

 

[geniusmusicman]

Philharmonic AA's are passive speakers, where KRK are active studio monitor. This means in addition to spending on speakers, you'd need to provide your own amplification for them.

• "The company that sells AA's" is a single guy - Dennis Murphy. Chances of B-stock are about as remote as a blue moon

I already have a Sony receiver, so no problem there. That's too bad about the "B" stock though. I actually got that idea from another forum member so I thought I would check.

a) Philharmonic AA are much better than all of these speakers
b) One thing which stands out, is Polks - these are significantly worse than others.
c) Sony is generally well reviewed for it's price, but AA's as I've said are better speakers

I knew some of the Polk's were worse, but not the S15's. AverageJoeAudiophile gave them a pretty good review here:

http://averagejoeaudiophile.blogspot.com/2017/08/budget-fighter-ii-championship-edition.html

 

[zieglj01]

I just recently sold some KRK Rokit 5 Monitors that I purchased only 2 weeks ago as I decided I wanted to go back to a bookshelf speaker set up. There was nothing wrong with them, but there was just something that drew me to the bookshelves, not sure why. I bought them for $150 for the pair and sold them for $200 so know my budget has widened a bit.

1) How good are the Philharmonics compared to the Elac B5, Klipsch R-15M, Sony SSCS5, and the Polk S15?
and
2) Between the Elac B5, Klipsch R-15M, Sony SSCS5, and Polk S15, which is the better speaker?

What do you guys think?

Philharmonic would be my first choice

From the other four speakers, the Sony would be my choice -- they are nice for sure

If budget was really tight -- then the EOS speakers -- they are surprisingly good
https://www.amazon.com/Intellitouch-EOS150SP-Eos-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B0030II40W/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1526934523&sr=1-3&keywords=IntelliTouch+EOS+5+Inch+Bookshelf+Speakers+(EOS150SP)

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I already have a Sony receiver, so no problem there. That's too bad about the "B" stock though. I actually got that idea from another forum member so I thought I would check.



I knew some of the Polk's were worse, but not the S15's. AverageJoeAudiophile gave them a pretty good review here:

http://averagejoeaudiophile.blogspot.com/2017/08/budget-fighter-ii-championship-edition.html

Look on bottom of his review elac b6 vs polk s15. Elac is missing bump in midrange around 1khz and much more even in highs.
I don't want to say that all Polk are terrible, but only Polk speakers ever getting to my place are lsi or lsim series and if i get them at less than half of the price.

 

[KEW]

How far back (from the speaker) will you be listening?

 

[geniusmusicman]

How far back (from the speaker) will you be listening?

Not far back at all. It will be right in my face on the desk. Maybe 3 feet. it's not likely I will be using this for a home theater in the future, only for my small desk in my very small room I use as an office/entertainment/gaming center. The room itself is probably not bigger than 8' x 8'.

 

[geniusmusicman]

Look on bottom of his review elac b6 vs polk s15. Elac is missing bump in midrange around 1khz and much more even in highs.
I don't want to say that all Polk are terrible, but only Polk speakers ever getting to my place are lsi or lsim series and if i get them at less than half of the price.

Good to know. I have always liked Polk speakers that I have heard in stores, but never have I once thought they sounded bad. I don't have a lot of speakers experience though so I don't know any better I guess.

What I am looking for now is just something better than my Infinity SM65's. They have great highs and mids, but absolutely no low end. I just want a set that can produce some descent lows. I don't need the absolute best speakers in the world, just the best bookshelf speakers I can find within my budget that will give me what I need.

 

[KEW]

Personally, I would get the AA's.
Generally, I don't trust manufacturer's own specifications/measurements; however, Dennis is an exception.
The AA's go down to 48Hz +/-3dB!
Furthermore, I can testify that they don't fall like a rock once they reach 48Hz. No other <$400/pair bookshelf has ever had me double checking to make sure I did not have my subs turned on the way the AA's do! As Dennis says, they produce very audible output at 34 Hz.
The Polk is 70Hz +/-3dB.
Edit: However, this is all moot because the AA's are not designed to be listened to from so close as 3 feet (I am not sure about the others).

 

[KEW]

You may want to read the first few pages of this thread. This guy did a pretty good job of evaluating budget speakers and I can agree with all of his comments about speakers I have owned at one time or another.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/2233954-2-0-bookshelf-compared-wharfedale-philharmonic-chane-musichall-elac-energy-kef.html

I can easily recommend the Sony at $120.
It is a shame that the AA's won't work for you given you are looking for better bass, they are solid that way and easily worth the extra cost.
Will your receiver output for a subwoofer? If so, I would be looking on Craigslist for something like a Dayton Audio SUB-800 or SUB-1000 for the remainder of your $200 after the Sonys!

 

[geniusmusicman]

Great suggestions on the AAM speakers so far, but I just found out the AAM's will set me back $250 and I can't go that high. Anything else suggested at $200 or under would work out best for now. I still plan to upgrade further down the road but for now, $200 is the max I can spend.

What is everyone's best advice for speakers at that price point? So far I am leaning towards the Sony's. I have also heard that the Q Acoustics 3010 are pretty good and they are at $200 on amazon right now.

 

[geniusmusicman]

You may want to read the first few pages of this thread. This guy did a pretty good job of evaluating budget speakers and I can agree with all of his comments about speakers I have owned at one time or another.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/2233954-2-0-bookshelf-compared-wharfedale-philharmonic-chane-musichall-elac-energy-kef.html

I can easily recommend the Sony at $120.
It is a shame that the AA's won't work for you given you are looking for better bass, they are solid that way and easily worth the extra cost.
Will your receiver output for a subwoofer? If so, I would be looking on Craigslist for something like a Dayton Audio SUB-800 or SUB-1000 for the remainder of your $200 after the Sonys!

I know, I am actually really sad I can't get those AAM's. I have never heard a more suggested speaker in my life. There is always the future and always something better though. I will keep them in mind for later.

Good advice on the Sony's and sub idea. I am leaning that way at the moment. I have heard that whole Dayton line is the way to go on subs from many people.

 

[zieglj01]

Great suggestions on the AAM speakers so far, but I just found out the AAM's will set me back $250 and I can't go that high. Anything else suggested at $200 or under would work out best for now. I still plan to upgrade further down the road but for now, $200 is the max I can spend.

What is everyone's best advice for speakers at that price point? So far I am leaning towards the Sony's. I have also heard that the Q Acoustics 3010 are pretty good and they are at $200 on amazon right now.

I would go for the Sony over the Q A 3010 -- the 3020 is out of your budget -- you may like the Polk S15, as it comes down to your ears

 

[geniusmusicman]

Thanks zieglj01!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

If you have a very tight budget and spending money on amp is no option, then maybe you could find a good deal or used JBL LSR305

I still encourage you strongly to consider JBL LSR305. While MK2 is now out, it mostly marketing "upgrade". A quick check on fleebay show me than getting a second-hand LSR305 within your budget should not be a problem at all. Keep in mind that these would be ideal for the close range at the desktop.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/JBL-LSR305-Active-Studio-Monitor-Powered-Speakers/173326130758?epid=2238258908&hash=item285b0ade46:g:9LYAAOSwRcFbAHo0
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-JBL-LSR305-Active-Studio-Monitor-Powered-Speaker-Pair/253634884136?epid=2238258908&hash=item3b0dd13228:g:8jUAAOSwJdBbAQ6U

Good review here:
http://noaudiophile.com/JBL_LSR305/

 

[geniusmusicman]

I was actually looking at these for a long time and are my at the top of my list for monitors. Do you feel they are better than the bookshelf choices I mentioned?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I was actually looking at these for a long time and are my at the top of my list for monitors. Do you feel they are better than the bookshelf choices I mentioned?

I feel overall they are a better choice, due to accuracy, constant directivity (very large sweet spot) and they are meant to be used in near field (close range).
The Only thing against them is the volume control is on the back and power button as well.
Then again, I may be biased (check my signature below)

 

[geniusmusicman]

Thanks for your input BoredSysAdmin. I already have Micca Origen DAC/Amp so volume control is no issue.

 

[KEW]

I was actually looking at these for a long time and are my at the top of my list for monitors. Do you feel they are better than the bookshelf choices I mentioned?

These are definitely a step up from the Sony's or any of the others you have been considering! (although I don't know anything about the Polk).
They also have pretty fine bass!

 

[geniusmusicman]

T

These are definitely a step up from the Sony's or any of the others you have been considering! (although I don't know anything about the Polk).
They also have pretty fine bass!

Thanks Kew!