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Review NaN of
Price Paid:
$249.00
from Vanns Summary:
What a great speaker! I had been wanting to set up a budget system im my computer room so i could use the Decware SE84C which came out of my bedroom after building some Bottlehead Paramours. I found some Realistic Minimus 5 at the thrift shop for $5 just hoping the drivers worked. Well they worked fine but completely lacked any bass & the tweeter made noise when turned up. Then i got interested in some Wharfedale Diamond 8.2 after reading some reviews, & they could be found on the net for less than $200. Only downside, thier low sensitivity which i know from trying other similar speakers they would not mate well with the Decware. I wanted to keep the price to $200, but when i found the SB-3's for $249 shipping included i could'nt pass them up. How did i get them for $249? You tell me, they're now $349 again! Anyway the review. First off looks. They are kind of big for a bookshelf, but i have them on some Sanus BF24B stands & they stay very solid. The finish is nothing extraordinary, about what would be expected in this price range. I have the Klipsch RB5-II's in my bedroom & the SB-3's are almost identicle in size. As a matter of fact the grills are interchangable. The RB5-II's are more solid sounding when given the knuckle rap test, but the SB-3's are non reasanant. As some have stated the veneer seems rather cheap or poorly aplied, & the corners on the back of mine have the feeling/look that the veneer could come off easy. Sound: I had these hooked up to my Yamaha 2092,(150wpc stereo) for 4 days while i was at work playing at moderate volumes. Although i tried not to listen critically during this time, i did listen for short periods to see if i could detect any before or after differences. At first they seemed a little bright, but with 150 watts (total dynamic power) most bookshelfs tend to seem a litlle bright. And being so highly sensitive they made great use of the power. These speakers have great bass, & unless you like pipe organ music you may not even feel the need for a sub. I now have them in my computer room being powered with a Decware Zen SE84C with a total of 1.8wpc & the combination has very good synergy. However i would not try to run these with a low powered solid state amp. Even though the manual does not give any recomended amplification i would suggest 50 to 100wpc depending on room size. These speakers, along with the RB5-II's are the fatest speakers i have owned/heard. The RB5-II's have just slightly better tonal balance. Bass is outstanding & treble is well extended without being bright. Drums sound real, & solo vocalist like Dido sound very real & with you. One reviewer said: they sounded like they were in a plastic enclosure". "I guess he should know what plastic boxes sound like!?" These sound nothing like plastic boxes, the soundstage is big & the imaging is presice!! They practically disapear, but as always placement & proper toe-in is important. If i paid full price i would have to give them a 4 for value, but for what i paid for them i have to give them a 5. Overall sound i would say is about 90% of the RB5-II at about half the price! Strengths:
Strong punchy bass,extended highs (without being bright),high sensitivity,good imaging & soundstage Weaknesses:
Slightly large for a bookshelf,veneer could be better (a different color would be nice!), as with all speakers needs to be broken in to sound thier best Similar Products Used:
Klipsch RB5-II
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