S&V <$400 Bookshelf Blind Listening W/ Measurements

[MinusTheBear]

Not surprised with the great performance of the KEF but Polk is putting out some excellent performance and aesthetics for $324. Hot damn!

Review: Clash of the Minispeakers | Sound and Vision Magazine

 

[bikemig]

I enjoyed these reviews. As the reviewer pointed out the audioengine P-4s do better in a desktop set up than they do on stands (which is how they were tested. Putting them near a boundary really tightens up the bass and they image really nicely on a desktop.

 

[alphaiii]

Interesting review...

The measurements confirm why I found the Audioengine P4 to be very thin/forward sounding on stands, and still bright on my desktop. Yes, on a desk they get some low end reinforcement... but it won't bring them to a flat response...

Could be a more interesting speaker for me if they would pad down the tweeter level a bit...

 

[woensl.itis]

Not surprised with the great performance of the KEF but Polk is putting out some excellent performance and aesthetics for $324. Hot damn!

Review: Clash of the Minispeakers | Sound and Vision Magazine

Woot! Not hating on Polk is cool!

I have the A3's and am currently selling them for 275/pr.

Thanks for the link, btw. I need to give some Kef's a listen.

But money is tight now

Have to wait til after this next phase is complete.

 

[alphaiii]

I thought the Kef measured pretty poorly. Those peaks in the 1-3kHz range probably wouldn't be fun to listen to for any extended time.

The Polks did measure well though... just a little hot in the treble... but some really like that.

 

[woensl.itis]

Yea the A3's can be a little like that too. Took me some time to get the crossover set up just right, too. Like the guys were saying in the review, lacking a little in the bass end on its own. However, very detailed on the highs. And I could hear that reverb thing.

Of course, like I have mentioned quite a few times, my set up and room were TERRIBLE.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I thought the Kef measured pretty poorly. Those peaks in the 1-3kHz range probably wouldn't be fun to listen to for any extended time.

The Polks did measure well though... just a little hot in the treble... but some really like that.

Yeah you're correct about those peaks in the midrange. Polk is the most impressive of the bunch to me by a fair margin. Great looking speaker too. Props to Polk on a well executed design.

Though I have a feeling the Ascend acoustics CBM-170 would trounce them all if they were included in this shootout. Fits in well with the price class they are looking at. Except I would still like the looks of that Polk better.

 

[woensl.itis]

I have yet to check out ANY ascends, and from my time on this forum, it would appear this means I'm missing out on a lot.

 

[bikemig]

Interesting review...

The measurements confirm why I found the Audioengine P4 to be very thin/forward sounding on stands, and still bright on my desktop. Yes, on a desk they get some low end reinforcement... but it won't bring them to a flat response...

Could be a more interesting speaker for me if they would pad down the tweeter level a bit...

I thought they were a little bright when I had them on a desk that was away from a wall but still very good. We moved homes and now I have them up near a wall. This made a noticeable improvement.

 

[woensl.itis]

I'm gonna need to do some serious reading about speaker placement.....


Here we go....

 

[shadyJ]

This isn't the best article for Axiom, I don't think they will like it at all. I also thought the KEF would score better than a "fun party speaker". The comments about the Hsu's upper mid-range recess is interesting, I think it may be voiced that way to lessen listening fatigue.

There was a good observation from the article in the section on the Marimbas:

That's the flattest response I measured of all the speakers in this roundup. Which leads me to believe that Music Hall's claim that this speaker was tuned by ear is mostly hoo-hah, pandering to audiophiles' prejudices and fears of technology. While it's possible Music Hall tweaked the Marimba by ear, I strongly suspect that CAD software and/or measurements were used for the box tuning and crossover

.

 

[MidnightSensi2]

Interesting review...

The measurements confirm why I found the Audioengine P4 to be very thin/forward sounding on stands, and still bright on my desktop. Yes, on a desk they get some low end reinforcement... but it won't bring them to a flat response...

Could be a more interesting speaker for me if they would pad down the tweeter level a bit...

Yeah, I used the active ones for a while. Not bad, but, they are the garage speakers now lol.

I really want to hear the HSUs. Could be a good budget alternative for those who's listening ratio is more toward home theater.

 

[shadyJ]

A few more comments. Something dumb I noticed about the Klipsch speakers is it has a keyhole mount on the back of the speaker, but it is also rear-ported. If you mounted it on the wall by its keyhole, it would completely cover up the vent! Which, of course, would badly diminish what little bass it could produce with it's tiny 4" woofer.

A couple speakers I would have like to seen included which would have been very appropriate to this round up would have been the Cambridge S30 and NHT Superzero. Also I think the Hsu and Axiom speakers don't quite belong, they are larger then the rest, that gives them an advantage in bass and dynamics. I think a 'mini-speaker' should be something like 5.5" woofers and less. 6.5" and larger should be classified as something like full size bookshelf speakers.

 

[jcunwired]

Nice reviews, it's great to see this price range getting some attention, and there were several often-recommended speakers reviewed.

I'm not surprised at the good showing for Polk. I had made a whimsical Polk LSi9 purchase some time ago and they were both a very pleasant surprise and many hours of listening pleasure. Their measurements are very flat. The Kef Q300 that has taken their place doesn't trump them in any way.

 

[gtpsuper24]

A Also I think the Hsu and Axiom speakers don't quite belong, they are larger then the rest, that gives them an advantage in bass and dynamics. I think a 'mini-speaker' should be something like 5.5" woofers and less. 6.5" and larger should be classified as something like full size bookshelf speakers.

For being a larger bookshelf, SV did say that the Axiom pretty much was dead last. If I was Axiom i'd be quite embarrassed to have the 3rd most expensive and one of the largest in the "shootout" finish in last or close to last place. I wonder if we'll see them dispute this test as biased or not performed correctly?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Yeah you're correct about those peaks in the midrange. Polk is the most impressive of the bunch to me by a fair margin. Great looking speaker too. Props to Polk on a well executed design.

Though I have a feeling the Ascend acoustics CBM-170 would trounce them all if they were included in this shootout. Fits in well with the price class they are looking at. Except I would still like the looks of that Polk better.

After quick check for S&V contenders I quickly came to same conclusion, while aesthetics of cbm-170 are not it's strong side, it's would surely devastate everything else performance wise

 

[j_garcia]

Yeah you're correct about those peaks in the midrange. Polk is the most impressive of the bunch to me by a fair margin. Great looking speaker too. Props to Polk on a well executed design.

Though I have a feeling the Ascend acoustics CBM-170 would trounce them all if they were included in this shootout. Fits in well with the price class they are looking at. Except I would still like the looks of that Polk better.

I've heard the 170SEs and previously reviewed the RTiA3 and I do think they'd seriously give anything there a run for its money. I was not displeased with the RTiA3 though, but my thoughts on it sort of mirrored theirs of the A1 - forward treble and nice mids with very nicely built cabinets, fit and finish.

 

[MidnightSensi2]

Something dumb I noticed about the Klipsch speakers is it has a keyhole mount on the back of the speaker, but it is also rear-ported. If you mounted it on the wall by its keyhole, it would completely cover up the vent! Which, of course, would badly diminish what little bass it could produce with it's tiny 4" woofer.

I have a pair of Dynaudio's that came with plugs intended for if you were placing them near a wall to compensate for corner loading. Likely, Klipsch intended to block the port when wall mounted.

 

[shadyJ]

That's a good point, but I don't believe that the boost you get from half space placement can come near to making up for the bass you get from the port. I'm not an expert though, maybe someone can correct me on this point.

 

[j_garcia]

I think it will kind of depend on how close to the wall and how much angle. Right up against the wall and you WILL get gain, but even a few inches away can go a long way. I had some Paradigm Titans that I had right up against the wall and I had to plug the ports, but I turned them at about a 30 degree angle and was able to remove the plug. I have my BS22s within a few inches of the wall right now and they seem to do OK, but I can hear the gain in the lower midrange. I don't typically listen loud in there though so it hasn't been an issue.