The ELAC can now be purchased for less than $250, getting closer to the $200 threshold.
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-fAZiuUPCetL/p_970DB62/ELAC-Debut-2-0-B6-2.html
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What budget speakers you like to see reviewed?
- Thread starter amirm
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The ELAC can now be purchased for less than $250, getting closer to the $200 threshold.
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-fAZiuUPCetL/p_970DB62/ELAC-Debut-2-0-B6-2.html
mhardy6647
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So... is this thread still open for input? 
I stumbled upon discussion of some add-on 'supertweeters' yesterday @ audiokarma and thought to myself "self, it might be interesting to subject those to some sort of quantitative assessment!" Maybe not practical as test articles, and maybe too expensive (since they seem to be sold in pairs only?) but yet... intriguing. So I figured it was worthy of mention. YMMV, of course.
https://www.aperionaudio.com/produc...super-tweeter-speaker?variant=636581026746774
I stumbled upon discussion of some add-on 'supertweeters' yesterday @ audiokarma and thought to myself "self, it might be interesting to subject those to some sort of quantitative assessment!" Maybe not practical as test articles, and maybe too expensive (since they seem to be sold in pairs only?) but yet... intriguing. So I figured it was worthy of mention. YMMV, of course.
https://www.aperionaudio.com/produc...super-tweeter-speaker?variant=636581026746774
Objectivist01
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Smaller genelecs would be good idea, just to see if the company manage to get reference grade sound to their smaller monitors or to see if they are using the fame from their bigger brothers.
Vindermere
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Klipsch rp160m, i'am curious if they are better than the rp600m.
Archsam
Senior Member
Revel M126Be and M106 will be really interesting. I know the M126Be is pushing the definition of 'budget', but I am very curious to know how two nearly identical speakers with different drivers will compare.
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D
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Neumann KH 120
A kind man is sending his 8030C "soon": https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...genelec-83x0-vs-83x1.10945/page-2#post-412902
and we have Princeton's data for the 8030A: https://pierreaubert.github.io/spinorama/Genelec 8030A/Princeton/default/CEA2034.html
Pretty sure you can trust Genelec with the data they give, anyway.
As for recent speakers, I vote for the Infinity R152's and R263's! Like their predecessors in the Primus lineup (the 150 and 360), these are the super-achievers in the Reference family. Also, I haven't heard the R253's but the Harman spinorama measurements look very good as well. One of these three models should get very close to the more expensive Revels.
For instance, the R152 achieves an Olive Preference rating (5.3) very near that of the Revel M16 (5.5). (Source: https://pierreaubert.github.io/spinorama/Infinity R152/Infinity/index.html ), although in practical listening these two speakers provide somewhat divergent presentations. Interpreting the spinorama data helps explain why (and shows why a full set of measurements is more useful to predicting sound than just a single preference score). On one hand, there is the midbass richness of the M16 and, on the other hand, the slightly elevated top end of the R152. What this translates into during daily-driver listening is that the R152 behaves more like a near-field minimonitor, whereas the M16 sounds more like a floorstander squeezed into a bookshelf form-factor. The R152 feels a bit faster and more resolving of transient information, while the M16 sounds way bigger and effortless than its size might suggest. I suspect this is because the R152 lacks the bass-frequency masking of the M16, while the M16 is a lower-distortion configuration that stays linear (same frequency response) through a wider SPL range.
Getting a handle on just how far we can trust the Olive Score and Spinorama measurements as predictors of sound, and to what extent they fall short, would be aided by testing out the broader Reference line, as they all are: 1) Inexpensive to acquire, 2) Designed to score high on the Olive Factor, and 3) Generally lacking in serious design defects, being typically-Harman in their thoroughness of design. Comparing these to the more expensive Revel lineup and understanding their similarities and divergences would be instructive.
Also, scouting out and testing older Audiophile Classics such as the Spica TC-50, Snell K/II, and the Dunlavy SC-I would be interesting. Those speakers represent budget state-of-the-art circa the mid-1990's and got all the rave (subjective) reviews back then. It's 30 years later and we've come a long way since then thanks to the science of testing, measurement, materials science, and computer-aided optimization of design, to say nothing of lower foreign manufacturing costs.
More recently, in the mid-2000's, the PSB B25 and T55 speakers were really something special in the budget domain. And, of course, the fascinating Primus 360 (not the P362 or P363, which tipped up the tweeter output on-axis to achieve a flatter in-room response).
We could learn a lot by testing out and comparing these well-designed budget speakers and pointing out those where the stars do seem to align and produce a bulletproof listening experience (as I feel the Primus 360 and Revel M16 do).
For instance, the R152 achieves an Olive Preference rating (5.3) very near that of the Revel M16 (5.5). (Source: https://pierreaubert.github.io/spinorama/Infinity R152/Infinity/index.html ), although in practical listening these two speakers provide somewhat divergent presentations. Interpreting the spinorama data helps explain why (and shows why a full set of measurements is more useful to predicting sound than just a single preference score). On one hand, there is the midbass richness of the M16 and, on the other hand, the slightly elevated top end of the R152. What this translates into during daily-driver listening is that the R152 behaves more like a near-field minimonitor, whereas the M16 sounds more like a floorstander squeezed into a bookshelf form-factor. The R152 feels a bit faster and more resolving of transient information, while the M16 sounds way bigger and effortless than its size might suggest. I suspect this is because the R152 lacks the bass-frequency masking of the M16, while the M16 is a lower-distortion configuration that stays linear (same frequency response) through a wider SPL range.
Getting a handle on just how far we can trust the Olive Score and Spinorama measurements as predictors of sound, and to what extent they fall short, would be aided by testing out the broader Reference line, as they all are: 1) Inexpensive to acquire, 2) Designed to score high on the Olive Factor, and 3) Generally lacking in serious design defects, being typically-Harman in their thoroughness of design. Comparing these to the more expensive Revel lineup and understanding their similarities and divergences would be instructive.
Also, scouting out and testing older Audiophile Classics such as the Spica TC-50, Snell K/II, and the Dunlavy SC-I would be interesting. Those speakers represent budget state-of-the-art circa the mid-1990's and got all the rave (subjective) reviews back then. It's 30 years later and we've come a long way since then thanks to the science of testing, measurement, materials science, and computer-aided optimization of design, to say nothing of lower foreign manufacturing costs.
More recently, in the mid-2000's, the PSB B25 and T55 speakers were really something special in the budget domain. And, of course, the fascinating Primus 360 (not the P362 or P363, which tipped up the tweeter output on-axis to achieve a flatter in-room response).
We could learn a lot by testing out and comparing these well-designed budget speakers and pointing out those where the stars do seem to align and produce a bulletproof listening experience (as I feel the Primus 360 and Revel M16 do).
dasdoing
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Infinity R263 are $199 right now(normally $499)
OP
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- #694
I have bought a 253 which I will test in the future. What is different about the 263?
Cahudson42
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At $199, a review would likely be of great interest to many members.
Also the R152 bookshelves are back to $135/pr. A test of these would put to bed speculation that, with the exception of lower bass, these might perform better than the R162 because of better complementary matching of the two drivers.
Arthurdent
Member
After looking the review, I considered and bought Infinity R162,second hand just 225$.After calibration, it sounds great.I think it better than LSR3.
Now I am very interested in the measurement of IK MTM and Micro Monitor, because I found the directivity strange. Like to See what is going on under CEA2034
The R253 its also interesting，thx amirm
https://speakerdata2034.blogspot.com/2019/06/harman-consumer-brands-spinorama-data.html
Now I am very interested in the measurement of IK MTM and Micro Monitor, because I found the directivity strange. Like to See what is going on under CEA2034
The R253 its also interesting，thx amirm
https://speakerdata2034.blogspot.com/2019/06/harman-consumer-brands-spinorama-data.html
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Still available @ $200 shipped. Ordered a pair yesterday.
Outlaw Audio LCRv2.. They got speaker of the year from alcoholics, but I haven't seen them discussed (at all) on other forums. I own the first version of the LCR and think they are great. Preferable to Paradigm studio, Polk LSi, which I've also owned.
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