Imaging, soundstaging, bass & overall balance, appearance

None so far, maybe slightly recessed sounding with some recordings

This must be one of the best kept secrets in audio. Picked them up on a whim for a great price from a distributor, I remembered Snell from the Type D's I had (and liked) awhile back. I wasn't prepared for how good this speaker would sound right out of the box. Imaging, detail, and bass never sounded better on my Anthem Tube/hybrid set up. Very smoothe. I used to think by CD player was bass light, but now I know it's not. I'll echo everything the guy states below. These speakers just ooze high end sound and looks for $750 retail. The beautiul real cherry wood finish is one of Snell's quality signatures. Five Stars.

Similar Products Used:

PSB, Totem, NHT, other Snell

Imaging, openness, dynamics, craftsmanship

At this price point, nothing.

Well, as you can see from the "similar products used" category above, I've shopped around A LOT, and I want to enthusiastically recommend the Snell QBx 20's.

Everyone knows that choosing the correct audio equipment is a matter of personal preference, but for my money, nothing at this price point can compare with these speakers. Their sound is airy and open and they manage to separate instruments both spatially and tonally better that ANY of the above mentioned speakers. They also pack plenty of low frequency punch. I'm not a bass fanatic, but I sure notice when it's missing or muddy, and in my opinion the vast majority of bookshelf speakers suffer from either missing or muddy bass.

They are also well-built and attractive speakers. If you are in the market for a pair of speakers that cost under $1,000 you must listen to these. I was very excited about the Paradigm Studio 20's and the PSB 4t's and similar models from Dynaudio and B&W. But compared to the QBx 20's the Paradigms and PSBs sounded like I was listening to music in a tube--there was all sorts of unwanted resonance and none of the instruments were separated very well from each other. And the Dynaudios and B&W's were cleaner and imaged better, but they just couldn't produce the clean and clear low-end frequencies that are very important to me.

Run out and listen to these speakers today!

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio, B&W, Linn, Mirage, PSB, Monitor Audio, Thiel, NHT, Paradigm