What budget speakers you like to see reviewed?

[geoemm]

Your tests so far have been extremely informative. In retrospect I'm glad I went for some Paradigms rather than Klipschs last year for a similar budget. That's assuming Paradigms are as good as their methodology promises, but I'm perfectly happy with them so far. So far JBL and Revel have held their promise. The logical upgrade for me would be in the $700-1000 range and you've already done two conclusive Revel and Elac tests in that range. Most of all you've established that $1000 can indeed get you state-of-the-art speakers, contrary to widespread audiophile legends. I'd be interested in tests of European brands such as Triangle, Focal, System Audio, Dali, Dynaudio, Piega, Phonar... simply out of curiosity, and those may not be widely available in the US. As far as I'm concerned if I decided to "upgrade" I'd simply go with some Revels, or anything equivalent you've tested at that time, and call it a day.

Which Paradigms did you go for and from where did you buy it (since you are also from EU)

 

[detlev24]

Canton GLE 416.2
Multiple of these might work well in a home theatre with an acoustic screen. Canton claims that they can play down to 45Hz, but I really doubt that.

I am considering the Canton AM 5 for home theatre use, instead. They are powered, accept balanced input and do have an automatic on/off feature. [Which is missing on the JBL 70xP series; but that's a different topic.]

In Europe, the price varies between 200-230 EUR/piece [220-250 USD/piece] vs. the MSRP of 369 EUR/piece - but that's all including ~20% VAT (depending on the country of purchase).

Of course, at this small size, they do have a limited low frequencies output but that's not an issue in a home theatre, where usually one or multiple subwoofers are in place.

Furthermore, Canton claims in the manual "Maximum sound quality requires a breaking-in time of 15-20 operating hours". Probably just wrong advertisement for a loudspeaker, that is considered to be a professional studio monitor.

 

[infinitesymphony]

I'd be interested in tests of European brands such as Triangle, Focal, System Audio, Dali, Dynaudio, Piega, Phonar... simply out of curiosity, and those may not be widely available in the US. As far as I'm concerned if I decided to "upgrade" I'd simply go with some Revels, or anything equivalent you've tested at that time, and call it a day.

Out of those, Focal and Dynaudio have the widest availability in the US. I suspect we are going to see an obvious house curve with a BBC-like dip in the sensitivity range from Dynaudio based on the speakers I've heard. Great for music listening--non-fatiguing and pleasant--but almost impossible to get a mix to translate.

 

[vert]

Which Paradigms did you go for and from where did you buy it (since you are also from EU)

From Europe, though not the EU ; ) I got the Atom Monitor v7 from a Swiss store that carries the Paradigm brand, https://www.mueller-spring.ch/shop/Speakers_1

 

[JR4321]

Some type of panel or electrostatic speaker. Magnepan, Sanders, MartinLogan, etc. I've read that Magnepan won't even submit their's for test as they don't get good results. Yet lots of people like them (myself included). It would be interesting to see the data and resulting discussion.

 

[Ron Texas]

As a general rule the speaker should be in production and easily available. If it is generating a lot of buzz elsewhere that's a plus. My definition of budget is $1000/pair for stand mounts and $1300 for floor standing.

 

[JR4321]

https://www.cnet.com/news/are-you-ready-for-bona-fide-high-end-speakers-for-650-a-pair/

This one. $650.

 

[detlev24]

[...] I suspect we are going to see an obvious house curve with a BBC-like dip in the sensitivity range from Dynaudio based on the speakers I've heard. [...]

I doubt this would be applicable to the Core series which, btw., are still undergoing further firmware optimizations. At Dynaudio, they definitely have the know-how and the facilities to build world-class professional gear. For instance, have a look at their 'Jupiter' measurement room. This reminds me a bit of the research facilities at Harman International.^^

If Dynaudio screwed up those loudspeakers, then it must have been on purpose!

Sorry for the slight off-topic; the Core series can certainly not be considered "budget" by the definition of @amirm. [But I'm absolutely looking forward to some independent measurements...]

 

[sejarzo]

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/triangle-borea-br03

"The Boreas also demonstrate an excellent sense of timing. There’s plenty of precision and no trace of lag as Nina Simone’s My Baby Just Cares For Me trots along. The snare drum and piano sound like they’re having plenty of fun in each other’s company."

I just HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE IT when my woofer is walking and my tweeter is cantering, don't you?

 

[ta240]

BR03 seems like a favo of almost all reliable sources

edit: corrected the quote. I was lazy and had went with an existing picture but didn't want one that said "You keep using that word" because that didn't fit.

 

[Terry Stahly]

The best home theater center channel regardless of cost. The one that creates the most dramatic full depth sound like you are in the theater.

 

[ta240]

The best home theater center channel regardless of cost. The one that creates the most dramatic full depth sound like you are in the theater.

Thread title:
What budget speakers you like to see reviewed?

see picture in above thread.

 

[somebodyelse]

I suppose it's too much to ask to get the quote right...

 

[amirm]

https://www.cnet.com/news/are-you-ready-for-bona-fide-high-end-speakers-for-650-a-pair/

This one. $650.

I will think about it.

 

[Terry Stahly]

Thread title:
What budget speakers you like to see reviewed?

see picture in above thread.

It clearyy says the best regardless of cost. Obviously there are two or three perhaps more that people feel are at the top of the heap it would be great to find out what that is, I have a very high end system and before I spend $6,000 plus tax on a Bowers HTM1 D3 I want to make sure there is not a better one or one that is less money that is either better or equal. Pretty simple question but perhaps a little more detail here will help explain it.

 

[amirm]

BR03 seems like a favo of almost all reliable sources

Well, it seems they have sent a bunch of free loaners to online youtubers so I would not call any of those sources reliable.

With tax it costs $600 shipped to me from Amazon so not cheap. Looking at the design, I doubt that it will perform well.

 

[amirm]

It clearyy says the best regardless of cost. Obviously there are two or three perhaps more that people feel are at the top of the heap it would be great to find out what that is, I have a very high end system and before I spend $6,000 plus tax on a Bowers HTM1 D3 I want to make sure there is not a better one or one that is less money that is either better or equal. Pretty simple question but perhaps a little more detail here will help explain it.

This thread was for cheap speakers that I would buy to test. So anything expensive is definitely outside of the scope of this thread/request.

 

[thewas]

I doubt this would be applicable to the Core series which, btw., are still undergoing further firmware optimizations. At Dynaudio, they definitely have the know-how and the facilities to build world-class professional gear. For instance, have a look at their 'Jupiter' measurement room. This reminds me a bit of the research facilities at Harman International.^^

If Dynaudio screwed up those loudspeakers, then it must have been on purpose!

Sorry for the slight off-topic; the Core series can certainly not be considered "budget" by the definition of @amirm. [But I'm absolutely looking forward to some independent measurements...]

You can see the sound power problems from the Dynaudio monitors already optically (missing waveguides) and it is confirmed at the measurements, for example from Bob Katz, here his listening position measurements without and with correction with his ex Genelec 8260 monitors

(source of measurements: https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/katzs-corner-episode-one)

and his later top of the line huge Dynaudio Evidence M5P monitors which he unfortunately even EQed to the same target curve which made more sense on his ex Genelec

(source of measurements: https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/katzs-corner-episode-17-perfecting-perfection)

 

[detlev24]

You can see the sound power problems from the Dynaudio monitors already optically (missing waveguides) and it is confirmed at the measurements, for example from Bob Katz, here his listening position measurements without and with correction with his ex Genelec 8260 monitors [...]

[OFF-TOPIC:]

Thank you for the information. I'm not sure the M5P Evidence can be compared to the Core series, as it is a totally different design approach and it also does not have the new drivers, e.g., the 'Esotar Pro' tweeter - which to date is Dynaudio's best and an evolution of the M5P's 'Esotar 2'.

This of course rises the question whether every loudspeaker would benefit from a wave-guide. As far as I know, it's a quite complex procedure to design a matching wave-guide and it probably could even make things worse.

Katz's previous Genelecs certainly are a pair of well designed loudspeakers but from what I understand, what can be seen on their (semi-)anechoic measurements has already undergone quite some factory calibration.

...Couldn't (some of the) imperfections be fixed on every loudspeaker via internal DSP, mainly limited by/limiting distortion-free max. target SPL? [Probably the 'Dutch & Dutch 8c' is one of the most advanced loudspeakers in these regards.]

PS: There are definitely too many target curves around; although there's no "truth" yet.^^ The one that Bob Katz uses is different to, e.g., what we see from research at Harman International.

 

[thewas]

Couldn't (some of the) imperfections be fixed on every loudspeaker via internal DSP

Directivity problems cannot fixed by EQ/DSP, only partially in the case you can change the crossover frequencies.

I'm not sure the M5P Evidence can be compared to the Core series, as it is a totally different design approach and it also does not have the new drivers, e.g., the 'Esotar Pro' tweeter - which to date is Dynaudio's best and an evolution of the M5P's 'Esotar 2'.

The problem also of the Core series is not their tweeter, but the missing waveguide.

This of course rises the question whether every loudspeaker would benefit from a wave-guide. As far as I know, it's a quite complex procedure to design a matching wave-guide and it probably could even make things worse.

Of course it is not easy, but for in these times and a huge company like Dynaudio it shouldn't be a problem, just needs the correct targets and people. But it seems they are now getting aware of it and make a kind of waveguide in their new top of the line passive ones https://www.dynaudio.de/home-audio/confidence

Katz's previous Genelecs certainly are a pair of well designed loudspeakers but from what I understand, what can be seen on their (semi-)anechoic measurements has already undergone quite some factory calibration.

I am not sure what you mean with it, of course any active loudspeaker is calibrated to some target curve.

PS: There are definitely too many target curves around; although there's no "truth" yet.^^ The one that Bob Katz uses is different to, e.g., what we see from research at Harman International.

I didn't criticise the different target curves but that Katz obviously used one for his Dynaudio that used to match the directivity of his ex Genelec but not of his Dynaudio.