tonal quality, sweet highs, great new looks, and great price!

none found so far

this is a review of the "new" phasetech 4.5's bookshelf speakers, (plus matching center model 6.5), A little larger than the 2.5's but same basic design! These can be seen on phasetech's web sight. I was looking for a bookshelf speaker that was under 13" tall to accomodate my entertainment center design and I reviewed "many" in this size range. After hearing the center channel and deciding that was the one for me, I proceeded to audition small mains and heres what my ears told me. The 4.5's had very clear highs that didn't hurt and plenty of mid-range and low accents.The soft dome tweeter is very smooth and the titanium driver looks good and delivers! Styling was alittle better than most I looked at. For the money, I felt they were by far the "best buy".The tannoy r1 was very sweet but also very expensive. My experience also showed me that you have to pay attention to the "source" that is used to audition various speakers, most stereo shops will play these speakers thru $2500.00 units with "high dollar" cables which will increase the tonal quality of almost any speaker! Then you take them home...... well you get the picture!! Make sure they will let you return them if they sound different on your equipment! well, back to the speakers, Phasetech makes a great product thats not too expensive, sounds great, has good looks -but- can only be purchased at upscale audio shops. Go listen and hear for yourself. I'll be surprised if your not impressed!!

Similar Products Used:

bose 201, polk rt25, tannoy m1,r1, b&w 302, mirage frx-1,deftech 100

Very Musical, Sweet treble, Great soundstage

I was really shocked the first time I listened to this speaker at a local dealer. I wasn't expecting much from this little $200 dollar speaker. The musicality of this speaker will blow you away. Vocals, strings, and acoustical instruments seem to envelope the room. I don't think there is a better speaker avaiable at twice the price.

Clean, linear sound; good sound staging with excellent
detail.

Can't make a good quiche?

As a former commission audio salesman I demoed or bought
the above speakers, but they are really not to be compared to the 2.5. Alike in price and performance the 2.5 is the
winner hands down. In so many words, the $200 price tag for
a pair of these speakers is a steal!
I am a jazz, classical, and international music fan, and
listening to these idioms on the 2.5s is a real treat. The sound staging of Brazilian artist Gilberto Gil's "Palco"
gave me that "being there" feeling.
These speakers are highly recommended by this reviewer
whose friends think he got them "hot". Come to think of it, at this price, they very well may be.

Similar Products Used:

Inifinity, Polk, Optimus, Eosone

Imaging, clear warm mid-range, surprising amount of bass.

clip-type speaker terminals

I was looking for a pair of small bookshelf speakers in the less than $300 range for a bedroom stereo system. I have been a Polk fan for many years, but all their current speakers don't image worth a darn and sound flat. I listened to the Boston CR-7's, which imaged great, but lacked mid-range, making vocals sound thin. The Paradigm's were so bright they were difficult to listen to for extended periods. I found the Phase Technology 2.5T's on sale for $150 a pair at B'Jorns in San Antonio, and they blew away everthing I had listened to in the $300 price range, and even compared well with smaller tower speakers I have heard. Phase Technology invented the soft dome tweeter, and it really shows. The imaging is outstanding and highs are clear and bright without a hint of harshness. The mid-range is where the 2.5's really perform better than other speakers this size. Vocals are clear and warm and coupled with the great imaging, it sounds like the singer is in the room with you. The bass was the real surprise. It rolls off gradually below 50hz making the driver sound much larger than it really is. I believe the 2.5T has been discontinued and can be found at rock-bottom prices. I recommend you go get a pair if you are looking for an outstanding value in a bookshelf speaker.

Similar Products Used:

Polk RT25i, Boston Accoustics CR-7, Paradigm Mini-Monitor

Phase Tech 2.5T
When I audition speakers I try to leave my pre-conceptions behind. I go in prepared to have my expectations challenged. I am sometimes genuinely surprised. I must confess that I did not have high expectations for the little Phase Technology 2.5Ts. They have had no press and are so ordinary in design and appearance. Looking at them, I asked myself, what can they do?

A whole lot as it turns out. It is so wonderful to discover a product that exceeds your wildest expectations. The Phase Tech 2.5Ts are just such products; small un-remarkable bookshelf designs with a 5 1/4 inch woofer and dome tweeter. They are available in drab black vinyl as well as drab white vinyl. Moreover, the 2.5Ts have cheap spring clip speaker connections. They are clearly a budget, probably rear channel design. Appearances can be deceiving. Judged on sound quality, the 2.5Ts are knockouts!

My strongest gut observation of these speakers concerns their treble. SWEET, SWEET, SWEET. It is easy to forget that dome tweeters can produce sweet treble. Yet the 2.5Ts at least prove that domes can sound sweet, unbelievably sweet. I listened for glare, grit, and shriek, yet I just did not hear any. Without treble harshness, music seemed to leap from the tiny speakers, as if freed from confinement. I heard lots of treble detail, and the lack of grit allowed the music to sound that much more effortless and transparent.

Listening to Brahm's Symphony No. 4, I heard strong rhythm, breathtaking separation of musical instruments, and a lovely freedom from restraint that allowed the music to breath. Instruments possessed the natural qualities of real instruments. Furthermore, I heard nice bloom and depth underpinning the detail. The longer I listened to the 2.5Ts the less concerned I was about the ingredients of the sound and the more I just enjoyed the music. By the end of the audition treble, mid-range, and bass were the last things on my mind. I was simply amazed at how good music could sound.

The 2.5T's bass capabilities were unbelievable. I actually searched the listening room for a subwoofer because I could not accept at first that the speakers could be producing all of the bass I heard. Try as I might, I could not detect a subwoofer.

Imaging was unreal. The 2.5Ts disappeared and the orchestral sections simply took shape in the listening room. I must admit that it all seemed too good to be true, as if I were being fooled, but I gradually accepted that the Phase Tech 2.5Ts were indeed remarkable.

To check reality, I listened to the B&W DM302s that the dealer also carried. This model has received enormous press and I was prepared for the best.In comparison to the 2.5Ts however, the DM302s sounded shut-in. They lacked the transparency and effortlessness of the 2.5Ts. Moreover, they lacked the 2.5T's imaging capabilities. The sense of a 3rd dimension was lost. Switching back and forth between the two speakers just reinforced my amazement at the performance of the Phase Tech 2.5Ts.

I should have snatched these little speakers up right then and there. My dealer has been out of them ever since and I fear that they may have been discontinued. Yet, I feel enriched just to have heard the 2.5Ts. Now I know what can be acheived in budget, two-way book shelf speakers.

If you come across these speakers, listen to them carefully, be prepared to be amazed, and be ready to purchase them on the spot. They are ridiculous value. Out of the four dozen or so speakers that I have auditioned in the past year, I rate them in the top three (regardless of price).How do you spell STEAL! I rate them six stars ******!

1. Orchestral Strings ******
Accurate and articulate with the quality of real instruments. Tremendously musical and involving.

2. Bass Rhythm ******
Unbelievable. Transparent. Present only when needed. Extended and fantastically musical.

3. Build Quality **

Looks **

Value ******

SIZE, MIDS, HIGHS, AND YES BASE!

NONE!

I WAS LOOKING FOR SOME SMALL SPEAKERS FOR MY OFFICE SETUP. I HAD AUDITIONED THE SPEAKERS LISTED ABOVE. THE BOSTON ACOUSTICS WERE TO BRIGHT FOR MY OFFICE'S POOR ACOUSTICS, AND THE PSB'S WERE JUST NO MATCH FOR THE ACCURACY OF THIS LITTLE WONDER. I READ ALL THE REVIEWS, AND FELT ALMOST CRIMINAL WHEN I FOUND THEM AT A CLOSEOUT SALE FOR $100.00 A PAIR. I BOUGHT TWO PAIR, AND I'M USING THE OTHER FOR MY HOME OFFICE. THIS IS A SUPERB LITTLE SPEAKER. IT DEFINITELY WAS SURPRISING WHAT KIND OF SOUND THEY PRODUCE. "SWEET" TO SAY THE LEAST. THEY HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY THE 4.5, BUT I THINK THE 2.5 HAS A MUCH BETTER SOUND. I'M VERY PLEASED!

Similar Products Used:

PSB ALPHA MINI'S, BOSTON ACOUTIC CR-7'S
PSB ALPHA MINI'S, BOSTON ACOUSTIC CR-7'S