Price Paid:  $250.00 from Ebay

Summary:
Heard these in the store, and they didn't sound bad, then saw them on ebay for half the price and picked them up. All and all good sound comes out of these things, but the best thing I found with them was placement. It was dead simple. Took all of about 5min to get great sound out of them. Later I played around with the placement, and found that most places, angles, and distances produced just about the same good sound. This was a bit of a surprise as other speakers varied wildly in different positions. Overall good clear mids and highs. Not the greatest in the lows (no big surprise). Needs a fast/tight sub. Other people have commented on the binding posts. I agree with most of them. The stock posts are pretty bad, but they are easy to replace. Just about any good standard spade post will do. Replaced mine with some Cardas copper, and life was much better.

Strengths:
Simple placement Pretty big sweet spot Clear mids/highs High WAF They look cool

Weaknesses:
Binding posts (easily replaced)

Similar Products Used:
MMG Maggies B&W DM602 S3

Price Paid:  $480.00 from blueroom

Summary:
I love bookshelf speakers, I am always looking to upgrade one of the three pairs I have. So I figured with all the buzz I would try the blueroom speakers. I bought them, hooked them up and gave a quick listen...not bad. So I let them break in, 2 days at enough volume to keep the cones moving. Highs were good, mids were good and upper bass was good. I have to say I liked the way the shape reduced in-cabinet interference. I opened one up and noticed the nice crossover and good driver quality. BUT HERE ARE THE PROBLEMS I FOUND: 1. The construction is poor, very poor for almost $500 a pair. It feels like they took nice drivers and put them in a cheap plastic enclosure like those found at k-mart. 2. Price is almost Boseish. Seriously for this price you can buy B&W 601s, JM Lab 706, PSB 2B or even Triangle Titus. Any of those speakers will spank the blue room speakers. Don't get me wrong they sound good, are different and impressive for their size. But for less money you get equal or better sound: B&W dm303 Acoustic energy ages one Warfdale diamond 8.2 Heybrook hb2

Strengths:
Good divers and good crossover. Shape does reduce reflections

Weaknesses:
For the price, poor construction and poor value.

Similar Products Used:
Still Own: B&W 601s2 $450 pair PSB 2B $250 pair BIC dv62 $120 pair Have tried: paradigm mini mon cambridge m50 warfdale diamond 8.2 acoustic energy aegis one

Price Paid:  $230.00 from eBay

Summary:
An absolutely fantastic value and among the most articulate speakers I have ever heard, the Blueroom Minipod is unbeatable at twice its MFRP of $480. The cabinet design, while controversial, provides for an enormous sweet spot and makes placement a breeze. I would recommend looking elsewhere for a pair of stand alone main speakers as the bass response, while fast, is very thin. However, when used with a subwoofer, the Minipods provide soaring highs that even the most astute listener will appreciate. I must agree with other reviewers: the break-in period is a long one. With a little patience, a quality subwoofer and not a whole lot of power, the Blueroom Minipod will outperform just about any bookshelf or satellite speaker in production.

Strengths:
Value, articulate sound, enormous sweet spot, 90db sensitivity doesn't need a lot of power.

Weaknesses:
Thin bass, subwoofer is a necessity, extraordinarily long break-in period.

Similar Products Used:
PSB Alpha, B&W DM303 and Magnepan MMG speakers.

Price Paid:  $270.00 from eBay

Summary:
I've had these for a while now, but only recently got good equipment to go with them: Amp: Creek 4330R CDP's: Reviewing various: Marantz 67SE, Rotel 971, Arcam 7SE With a MSB Link DAC3 Anyhow I just modded them by adding a few layers of fiberglass internally (very messy and unpleasant job)... WOW what a difference in definition and clarity :) And now works equally well at lower volumes too. Treble is cleaner also.

Strengths:
Great out of the box but modding helps a lot too. Look great too.

Weaknesses:
4 ohm impedance a little hard for some amps to drive. Nothing else for the price

Similar Products Used:
B&W P4 slim floor stander, get 'em if you find them available used.

Price Paid:  $450.00 from blueroom.com

Summary:
These are the best speakers Ive ever heard for under $500. Slightly larger than a foot tall... but. thats the only thing little about them. BIG sound.. they match my AR-S50s for volume. these speakers are extremely accurate. I have nothing bad to say about them.. and for a 5.4 inch woofer.. youde sweare it was a 12"... no this will not replace your subwoofer...DUH..

Strengths:
they sound so good they will make you cry. they are small about 12 inches so you can place them anywhere.. i bought the wall mount.. which is way cool cuz you can position the speaker in almost any position. damn good conversation piece.. this is about the coolist thing ive come across. after the bose minicube (these are far superior) and the wharefdale loud panels..(good sound not great but a 9.5 on the coolness factor) the snowman is one of the best sets of speaker you can obtain for under $500

Weaknesses:
at first the snowman look was real cool.. but it got old fast.. about 10 mins after all my friends got around to seeing them and falling over.

Similar Products Used:
bose minicube (over 2x the price) and not as good)