Monitor R90, NHT Absolute Zero, any others?

[orientblue330]

I'm in Hong Kong right now. Looking for some bookshelf size speakers. Willing to go up to US$600 / pair.

So far I have found NHT Absolute Zero which sounded quite nice. I read about Monitor R90s as well. What do you guys think about these 2 speakers?

Any other speakers in that size range that you would recommend?

We have a dining room, living room and master bedroom to fill. For Living room, we will add a sub, and dining room and bedroom sub is an option depending on how good the speakers are.

We don't have a lot of space so can't afford the space for big talk speakers in the dining or bedroom. Living room maybe able to put those big talk speakers.

Anyway, any recommendations for bookshelf size speakers would be great!

Thanks!

 

[Davemcc]

You are right in the range of the Era Design 4. It is a small speaker that comes in beautiful finishes that has a warm, rich sound that fills a room more than its size would suggest. It also reaches down to about 60hz so it can blend well with a sub, but still sounds good without. I really liked them and I've also read good reviews here from others that have also heard them.

 

[Frugal]

Epos ELS 3

Just bought 2 pair of Epos ELS 3s and I really like them. Shopped around and compaired them to Paridigm, Polk, Energy, Warfedale, Quad (twice the price) and others. My gage is how long you can listen before fatigue sets in and how well they image. Top marks for both. If you want deep bass you'll need a sub though.

 

[Davemcc]

Just bought 2 pair of Epos ELS 3s and I really like them. Shopped around and compaired them to Paridigm, Polk, Energy, Warfedale, Quad (twice the price) and others. My gage is how long you can listen before fatigue sets in and how well they image. Top marks for both. If you want deep bass you'll need a sub though.

I had a chance to audition the Epos M5's. I really liked them. My final decision was actually between the Design 5 and M5. Pricewise, I think the M5 is closer to the Design 4 and the ELS 3 is a fair bit less expensive than both. I haven't heard the ELS 3 but my overall impression of Epos bookshelves is that they build a speaker with full, rich and detailed sound that is quite capable of filling a room nicely, but could use a sub. If you have a chance to audition, Era and Epos are both contenders.