|
Review 1 of 1
Price Paid:
$1200.00
from onecall.com Summary:
I am a big fan of Boston Acoustics. The "Boston Sound" as they call it, just works for me and my ear's. I can listen to speaker's costing 5 grand and still like the Boston's better.
I wrote a review on Boston't VR3's here about a year and a half ago. I love(d) the speaker's, but since I have upgraded to the Sony STRDA-7100ES "receiver" (actually it's more like an amp and pre-amp in one unit), and since it output's 170 watts through all 7 channels, and since it just plain makes everything (compnenet's) sound better (and brings out any weakness that might be there in speaker's),I wanted a better set of mains-but I wanted to stay Boston Acoustic's. I have been considering purchasing the new E100 speaker's that Boston is coming out with this summer. The VR3 is an excellent speaker, but my amp does reveal it's shortcomings. One thing, they could be clearer-especially at higher volumes. It's not that they aren't clear-I just wanted better. I don't blame the VR3's-they do what they are supposed to do for a $625 (ea) speaker, and they do it better than anything else in it's price range.
The problem was/is, the E100 is going to be 5 grand the pair. OUCH! But,even so I have been trying to figure out a way to finneagle a way to be ready for them by the time they are out this summer (June '06). But with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray coming out (HD-DVD just hit store's today April 15th in fact) my list of want's is more than my budget!
I monitor onecall.com regularly and have browsed through the description of these BT2's occasionaly. "Ugly and Expensive" has alway's been my thinking. I figured if I ever had a whole lot of money, maybe I could buy them for the basement I would have to buy. I also figured they must be pretty awesome since the spec's are pretty amazing (400 watts power handling). They only go down to 60hz but I have a Sunfire True EQ Signature sub so that didn't bother me. In fact, since I have plenty of sub I was looking for better mid/high's anyway.
A short while ago I saw these BT2's for $599 each "refurbished" on my weekly onecall search. I was taken aback by the amazing price and suddenly had to rethink this whole "ugly" thing. Problem is, there are ZERO reviews on this product, and I looked everywhere ! So I called Boston, and spoke at length with one of the tech's (nice to see that D&M Holdings-which bought Boston recently-didn't move phone support to India), and found out that Boston's idea of refurbished is "rebuilt". All brand new driver's. Well, this was too good of a deal to pass up. When I picked up the speaker's and unboxed them, I unhooked the VR3's and wrapped them up to give to a freind of mine. I loaded them in my truck (I don't like to change my mind) and went back in the house to finish hooking up the BT2's. I noticed that the enclosure's had a few scratches on them, but the driver's were, in fact, brand new. I got out my phillips screwdriver and rotated the mid/tweeter unit to Boston's recomendations (why they didn't come like that I don't know but I love the versatility). I ran some Scotch Liquid Gold over them and they now looked brand new on the outside, with the few scratches now gone. If you click on "enlarge pics" at Boston's website you will see the build quality of these things. The woofer's have these giant fins on the back for cooling. When I rotated the mid/tweeter array I pulled it out (as Boston recommened's for easier turning) and was able to look inside these things. The crossover network is mounted on a 1ft long 8in wide circuit board, with MASSIVE voice coils, and an array of other electronic gadgetry (capicator's, etc). The mid/tweeter array is also a massive surround of solid aluminum-quite heavy in your hand. I knew instantly that this is a serious piece of equipment-well braced and lot's of insulation stuffed behind the woofer's since it's not ported. The entire front baffle (the front of the speaker) is solid aluminum, which makes a huge difference in the sound quality.
I "bi-amped" them off my A/B speaker output's (hey-it works and it works GREAT) instead of bi-wiring-a little trick I learned that does quite well-but they come with jumper's attached so you can hook them up as you would any other speaker. They come with very nice metal grille's, and when you put them on for company coming over- they look quite nice actually! I'm surprised Boston doesn't have picture's of them with the grille's on. But yes, these do not look like typical speaker's. They are strictly business. But ,trust me, they are NOT ugly either-the pic's don't do them justice. But speaker/sound/technology wise they are Boston's best effort to date.
How do they sound? Just like the VR3's but BETTER. Very, very clear and uncluttered. In fact, the best adjective I have come up with so far-and it fit's perfectly-is "effortless". If I crank my 170wpc amp in pure stereo mode-no surrounds-up to 3/4 and they don't even break a sweat. I can't turn it up any louder unless I put ear sound muffs on-and what's the point of that. ZERO distortion. Whatever you can dish out, these speaker's can handle (up to 400 watts anyway). If you love the Boston Sound, this is the epitome of it. This is Boston's most expensive speaker-by far-so you can imagine the quality of the sound is going to be reflective of the price-since Boston does not make junk.
Don't throw away the black foam block's that are in the box. You will need them if you mount or set these speaker's in a cabinet for proper sound resonance. Which bring's me to another point-I think that these speaker's are purchased primarily BY professional installer's FOR client's who say "Just give me great sound but where I can't see them and off the floor", and then they are either mounted in a big cubby hole made in a wall or in a fancy entertainment center with cloth doors/panels in front of them. Strengths:
The finest Boston Sound currently available.
They can handle anything you throw at them-anything!
Excellent with both music AND movies.
Very attractive with the screens on.
Weaknesses:
With the screens off-they look like something you would see up on a sound stage, not a living room.
You need a sub (if you like a lot of bass) since they only go to 60hz-which is exactly what they are designed to do
You have to improvise since you don't want them sitting on the floor. After going to several store's, I found some absoloutely perfect small black tables that look like they were tailor made for these speaker's.
Understand that in the world of high end audio, when you reach a certain level of quality (like the VR3's), the incremental improvement in performance is not matched by the dramatic increase in price. No matter what brand you buy. You are paying for perfection. If money is an issue, you will more than likely be satisfied enough with the Boston VR3's. If you demand the very best and like the Boston Sound, these are the speaker's for you.
Unfortunately, mine is proabably the only review you will find on these amazing speaker's. Hopefully I was helpful. Similar Products Used:
VR3
P460 as a center
Bravo Surrounds
VRi565 in celing for surround backs
| 
5 of 5
