What budget speakers you like to see reviewed?

[sfdoddsy]

Absolutely.

I completely understand the difficulties of getting someone to send their $10,000 speaker to Amir. Especially since one would assume that most of the members here have not bought expensive subjectively designed speakers in the first place.

And I'm not holding my breath that B&W will choose to send the 802 Unobtanium to Amir rather than Stereophile, whereupon JA will describe gross frequency response errors as having a 'sound'.

But I continue to wonder what new things we'll learn from the 50 pages of budget speaker requests. We know what is needed to make a good speaker, and we know that if the manufacturer doesn't care enough to provide simple measurements it is unlikely their product will perform well.

Hence why pro speakers do so much better on average than consumer ones.

When a well-designed speaker such as the Pioneer can be had for $100 what will we learn from testing other $100 speakers?

 

[EEG]

Wharfedale Evo 4.2
https://www.wharfedale.co.uk/evo4-2/
And the "stepsister" or "cousin"
Castle Avon 2
https://castle.uk.com/avon-series/

 

[audiojoe]

Mackie HR624 and HR824

Yes please! I'm VERY intrigued by these. Heard they sound quite similair to the JBL offerings at a similair price, but are supposed to have slightly less noisy amplification and are sounding really great even at quiet volume levels, which is exactly what I need in my apartment. Granted, these are subjective impressions by some possibly biased reviewers, but still, I would love to see an objective, properly measured review by Amir!

It obviously isn't scientific by any means, but this is a fun comparison of the lower end versions on youtube^^

 

[mil]

Wharfedale Evo 4.2
https://www.wharfedale.co.uk/evo4-2/
And the "stepsister" or "cousin"
Castle Avon 2
https://castle.uk.com/avon-series/

I also wanted to see the EVO 4.2 & 4.4 measurements, but I gave up hope of it happening any time soon.

I have found this for the 4.4s:

https://www.hifitest.de/test/bildergalerie/lautsprecher_stereo/wharfedale-evo_44_19615/4

and together with trying to read between lines in every subjective review I could find, I concluded they must be "the flat and cost effective speakers I was looking for", so I bought them (the 4.4s in white). Until I got to listen to them you cannot believe how scared I was I will end up with 2x 25.6Kg door stops.

Subjectively speaking, they are the best speakers for me (for the price) and the only reason I would consider replacing them it is only if amirm says so in the future

 

[Thomas_A]

Perhaps this has been brought up before, but I would think that the interesting tests are those of "good to excellent" speakers in different price ranges, including BT speakers. I don't know how interested people are in poor performing speakers. An interest would be for those that wants to change/upgrade and have a choice of speakers in different price ranges to choose from. Some of the so far tested speakers have already been tested by e.g. Soundstage or Stereophile with quite similar measured results from Audiosciencereview and have faired rather poor, according to measurements.

What's the point of testing such speakers (again)? I don't get it.

 

[rajas]

Ikea Symfonisk

Sonos One

Sonos Five

Although I have no idea how you will manage to do so because AFAIK these don't have any line in....

 

[Thomas_A]

Ikea Symfonisk

Sonos One

Sonos Five

Although I have no idea how you will manage to do so because AFAIK these don't have any line in....

If anything from IKEA the IKEA Eneby 30 is the most interesting one IMO and has been suggested before (and it has line in).

 

[b1daly]

I also wanted to see the EVO 4.2 & 4.4 measurements, but I gave up hope of it happening any time soon.

I have found this for the 4.4s:

https://www.hifitest.de/test/bildergalerie/lautsprecher_stereo/wharfedale-evo_44_19615/4

and together with trying to read between lines in every subjective review I could find, I concluded they must be "the flat and cost effective speakers I was looking for", so I bought them (the 4.4s in white). Until I got to listen to them you cannot believe how scared I was I will end up with 2x 25.6Kg door stops.

Subjectively speaking, they are the best speakers for me (for the price) and the only reason I would consider replacing them it is only if amirm says so in the future

I’m not meaning to be critical but if I understand your meaning you are saying a test from Amir would change your opinion of speakers you own?

That is understandable and highlights how challenging it is to evaluate speakers. But it doesn’t make rational sense and it is an inversion of the uses of objective measurement in audio.

To an individual the subjective experience is the only one that counts. It can’t be wrong.

It’s worth it to learn to “trust your ears” which is really about learning to trust your perception and impressions of a speaker. Your ears will “tell you the truth” the data is there, it’s a matter of improving attention and learning to ignore the part of your mind that will cause you to start second guessing your own perception!

 

[mil]

I’m not meaning to be critical but if I understand your meaning you are saying a test from Amir would change your opinion of speakers you own?

That is understandable and highlights how challenging it is to evaluate speakers. But it doesn’t make rational sense and it is an inversion of the uses of objective measurement in audio.

To an individual the subjective experience is the only one that counts. It can’t be wrong.

It’s worth it to learn to “trust your ears” which is really about learning to trust your perception and impressions of a speaker. Your ears will “tell you the truth” the data is there, it’s a matter of improving attention and learning to ignore the part of your mind that will cause you to start second guessing your own perception!

I do not disagree with you, you are absolutely right. But I also have to confess that I did NOT buy these speakers based on any auditions (i.e. trusting my ears)... I did it based just on reviews and the few measurements I found. I had my simple goal (of flat, details instead of sound coloration and within a price range that the wife won't kill me when she finds out about the price) and I tried to match it with all the information I could find online. This was a blind (deaf?) purchase decision, maybe an experiment if you wish, so it could easily go very wrong.

That is the reason I said that if Amir was to find a serious fault in these speakers it would make me feel bad about my decision for sure. Of course I love these speakers now because I did get the sound signature I was looking for, so yes Amir can make me sad, but not sad enough to replace them

BTW my goals where very easy to achieve because my requirements as I said, were very simple, "clean, uncolored sound", so I started building my audio stack based on that:

Topping DX7 Pro + HD 660s (used as a reference)
Purify 1ET400A amp
Wharfedale EVO 4.4

The only negative so far is that I have to think twice before moving them around, need to exercise a bit more I guess.

 

[b1daly]

I do not disagree with you, you are absolutely right. But I also have to confess that I did NOT buy these speakers based on any auditions (i.e. trusting my ears)... I did it based just on reviews and the few measurements I found. I had my simple goal (of flat, details instead of sound coloration and within a price range that the wife won't kill me when she finds out about the price) and I tried to match it with all the information I could find online. This was a blind (deaf?) purchase decision, maybe an experiment if you wish, so it could easily go very wrong.

That is the reason I said that if Amir was to find a serious fault in these speakers it would make me feel bad about my decision for sure. Of course I love these speakers now because I did get the sound signature I was looking for, so yes Amir can make me sad, but not sad enough to replace them

BTW my goals where very easy to achieve because my requirements as I said, were very simple, "clean, uncolored sound", so I started building my audio stack based on that:

Topping DX7 Pro + HD 660s (used as a reference)
Purify 1ET400A amp
Wharfedale EVO 4.4

The only negative so far is that I have to think twice before moving them around, need to exercise a bit more I guess.

Speakers are tough because it’s so hard to audition so I understand where you are coming from.

It’s easy to start getting neurotic about sound reproduction and I suffer from this. After 30 years of working with and a lifetime of listening to music I find myself constantly dissatisfied with my playback systems. But I’m an extreme case and I recommend avoiding this mindset!

One of the things that make listening evaluations challenging is that audio playback never sounds the same when repeated, even if nothing changes. Our brain adjusts in real-time and we can focus on different aspects of the recording.

In addition, it’s hard to determine if aspects you like or dislike about a particular playback experience derive from the recording or playback system.

It sounds like you have a great set up, I hope you remain satisfied for years to come

 

[MarsianC#]

Yes please! I'm VERY intrigued by these.

Measured by S&R:
HR824
MR824
XR824
deepl.com works quite good as translater.

 

[adrianobadman]

Gibbon AIR
https://www.monkey-banana.de/project/gibbon-air/?lang=en

 

[MZKM]

Gibbon AIR
https://www.monkey-banana.de/project/gibbon-air/?lang=en

Why on earth is their Photoshoped images of them outdoors on a stone ledge?

 

[Chromatischism]

Measured by S&R:
HR824
MR824
XR824

I have the MR624's which have a similar response to the 824's. When you shelve the tweeter with the switch on the back it's a pretty neutral speaker.

 

[MZKM]

Sony SRS-XB01 Compact Portable Bluetooth Speaker: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G7SP5WB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_N3FlFbY58W89P

You have 5hr to waste only $23 instead of $35; it does have an 3.5mm input.
>1,500 reviews.

it’s bigger brother with ~4000 reviews is also on sale for $38 instead of $58:
Sony SRS-XB12 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SW7NFY1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_R5FlFb3PM8JSD

 

[wgb113]

NHT SuperZero 2.1

 

[nick-v]

M&K 150 or 300 series

 

[adrianobadman]

Why on earth is their Photoshoped images of them outdoors on a stone ledge?

They probably wanted to style the background like a zoo for monkeys.

 

[LearningToSmile]

Why on earth is their Photoshoped images of them outdoors on a stone ledge?

Monkey Banana seems like an... interesting company. I wanted to find a video review of their Silverback speaker(coaxial design with a 15 inch(!) woofer, I love funky stuff like that) and run across some interviews with a company at some trade show - their booth was not only jungle-styled, it included performers in full-on monkey costumes. Interesting approach for a company that seems to sell(mostly entry level) studio gear.

 

[anorphirith]

Adam sent me a pair of T8Vs for review. Would that do?

looking forward to it !