I had planned to buy a set of KEF Coda7 with Marantz CD receiver CR2020. A sales person suggested Teatro 4.5 strongly. I had thought it was a sale at the end of its model life then.

Now I want to send many thanks to him. They are working with MarkLevinson 26L and 29L now, a titanium coated mid-bass unit creates well-balanced sound, and small enclosure makes almost pin-point sound source so that they create clear sound stage.

I have found CR2020 its characterized high frequency range has too much bright, but replaced CR2020 with a cheap Toshiba DVD player SD-250, the sound has dramatically changed into well-behaved. So I can tell you Teatro 4.5 their singing is free of mannerisms.

Cost / performance ratio is excellent!! Most of audiophile who has small listening room satisfied with the cute musical boxes.

clear consise vocals, compact size, good sound stage, excellent bang for buck

no maple finish available (but black is, hence no major loss),

What a great littly speaker that will not break the bank but still provide a $1000 sound. I previewed speakers ranging from a $600 6-speaker set from Polk to a $38,000 collection from Mark Levenson. Although the $10+ market did provide superior sound, for $1700, the Teatro 4.5s (front), 6.5 (center), CI40s (rear), and Power10 (sub) provide the most bang for buck. I rented IceAge the first night, and the audio was phenominal. As stated in previous reviews, the highs are crisp yet smooth and the bass response, although not earth shaking, is very respectable. Due to the rear firing port, however, speaker placement is key. On stands and away from the wall a bit is ideal. Inside a bookshelf, the speaker may seem a bit boomy although still very good. A very close (if not identical) product is the Infinity Modulus. The Infinitys, however, were vetoed by the wife as the rears were not recessed into the wall.

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previous fronts were McIntosh XE-10

Even though they only use a 5.25" midrange, the 4.5's still put out a respectable amount of bass, down into the mid 50hz range. They have a clear, undistorted, laid back sound with tight, controlled, and ample bass. The 4.5's have absolutely no sibalance problems and an overall thick, rich texture. They are VERY easy on the eye, especially with grills off, and they're physically compact in size. Perhaps most importantly of all, the Price::Performance ratio is very nice!

If you really crave deep bass (under 50hz), you'll want to eventually add a sub. Other than that, it's tough to criticize these.

In my search for a great sounding bookshelf speaker that doesn't break the bank, I made many outings to several major Hi-Fi retailers in the Central Texas area. In their listening rooms, I auditioned Klipsch's, B&W's, and Def Techs among others. When the salesman plugged in the Phase Tech 4.5's, they immediately caught my attention. They handled my favorite albums extradinarily well (mostly heavy rock, but some pop and classical organ), and when I examined them up close they looked and felt like they sounded: Solid. Then I asked, "How much do they cost?". The answer to that question was what sealed the deal for me on the 4.5's . I power mine with a Denon DRA-395 85x2 Stereo reciever. The Phase Techs will get louder than I can stand with this amount of power, but I'm yet to hear any audible distortion out of them.

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This is one of my first ventures into home audio. I used to have some old paradigms with an 8" woofer. I also used to have a JVC all in one unit from the mid 90's, but both of these are, of course, co

its bang for the buck

still waiting for one to appear

I am still learning to be an audio enthusiast, but enjoying the ride. Own a pair of the 9T's for several years now and I wanted some rear speakers to compiliment the mains. I don't do home theater in the livingroom and still love my Yamaha 100W 2channel amp. Not many dealers carry PhaseTech, so you have to go looking for them. As soon as I saw the 4.5's I knew these were the ones. They say its finished in rosewood but it matched my teakwood corner curios perfectly. They sound great and I have more than enough power to run them. I am still positioning them, looking for best angles but that is part of the fun. I think I have found the sweet spot for my chair, and can't help think I look like the Maxell guy sitting there. I am very pleased with results and would recommend anyone to listen to these before deciding on more well known brands.

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9T's

These are absolutely incredible little monitors. Clear sweet highs and nice bass for a bookshelf speaker.

None at this price!

I'm going to keep this review short and sweet. I've read so much about the PSB Alpha Mini that I thought it was going to be an incredible little speaker. It is good, and non fatigueing, but it sounds like the sound is stuck in a box. This speaker on the other hand is very transparent. It creates a great soundstage and has the sweetest highs without any harshness. The only speaker I found that even comes close is the Bay Audio "BeBop", but at 6 times the price it should have blown it away. It was very close, trust me. Give this baby a try. 5 stars for American Made Phase Technology!

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PSB Alhpa Mini, Boston Acoustic Cr6

Good imaging, wide soundstage

None for the price

If you have a Home Theater system and want to buy a set of wonderful little speakers, I highly recommend the Phase Technology Teatro 4.5's. These speakers are a two-way ported design with a vinyl rosewood finish. The vinyl is good and thick but not well finished at the speaker edges. I don't expect great finishing work on a speaker that retails for $260 U.S. as of 5 July 2000. It's amazing to me that a speaker this inexpensive is beveled on its front edges. Many speakers under a thousand dollars don't do that because of the extra machining cost. As far as the sound is concerned this overachiever really shines. The imaging is very good and the soundstage is a bit oversized (instruments seem to be wider than they should be). For home theater, these speakers sound great and work great. Just don't forget to purchase a good subwoofer for all the big explosions:) The speakers do a fair job of bass reproduction as long as you don't ask too much from them. They really sound better down low than the B&W's or NHT's listed in the similar products section. If you want something that does Home Theater extremely well and music reproduction pretty decently AND don't want to spend much money on speakers, look to these speakers. You'll be surprised. I certainly was.

My Home Theater system:
Toshiba SD-3108
Denon AVR-1700
Phase Technology Teatro 4.5 Front Channel
Boston Acoustic A-60 Series II Rear Channel
Ohm Sat-1 (spares I may wire the pair in series for center channel)
M&K V-125 Subwoofer

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B&W 302 and 602, NHT Superzero

Spacious, wide sound stage

none at this price level

I could not believe what these speakers sounded like out of the box. Simply put...OUTSTANDING! For $100 bookshelf speaker? They sound better than $500 bookshelf speakers! Build quality is excellent. It produces great spaciousness. Horizontal and vertical dispersion is incredible for this price range! Phase Tech uses their Phase crossover design and it works! I can't say enough about these speakers. I'm using 2 of them as my surround L/R and 2 as my surround backs in a 7.2 EX setup. Here is my setup:
DENON AVR 4800 Receiver
DENON POA 5200 Amp
DENON DVD 1000 DVD player
BetterCable cables
SPEAKERS:
2 Phase Tech 11.5 towers for front L/R
1 Phase Tech 6.5 center
4 Phase Tech 4.5 bookshelfs for surrounds
2 Phase Tech 10" Subs
Buy these speakes!

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Aerial, Infinity

Extremely good soundstaging and imaging for their size, very good treble reproduction and better than average bass

DEFINITELY susceptible to placement- work with 'em a while!

Well, these are not Phase Tech's top of the line, and don't sound quite as accurate as the 60 Mark II's I had (from the company's Premier Collection) but for what I paid these babies can shine. And I mean "can" in the sense that you may have to work with placement a while. Luckily, I got good sound from them right where my stands already were. But I agree with the previous review that they can sound a little bloated if too close to a wall or corner. I have them placed at angles about 16" away from the walls and they excel with lots of music. Good overall sound, treble (as stated below) is nice without being fatiguing, and bass CAN (there's that word again) be very good. Use the tuned port to your advantage thru different placements.
Anyway, now to the real deal- what really gets me about these speakers are the soundstaging and imaging. The soundstaging especially is very wide for these small boxes, and really envelops the listener, yet somewhere in there you can pinpoint the location of instruments. For me, these two virtues working together is what makes these speakers impressive. Coupled with very good sound quality, the 4.5's really do the job.

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Phase Tech PC 8.5's and 60 Mark II's

treble response, imaging, warm (but uncolored) midrange, great cost

none really for the price; sometimes not *quite* as tight-sounding as I'd like

I've had the Teatro 4.5's as my main speakers for about a month now, which has been enough time to work out speaker placement and to spend plenty of time listening to them. I thought I would post my impression for the sake of anyone interested in these speakers.
For the first couple of days, I'll admit that I was somewhat unhappy with their performance. The higher frequencies were quite impressive, having a good amount of presence without being harsh or fatiguing, but the midrange seemed too pronounced and the bass was too imprecise and overbearing. These are my first pair of bass-reflex speakers, and I am convinced they are more sensitive to placement issues than acoustically sealed speakers.

I moved the speakers, which were about 12 inches from the wall, to about 22 inches away. What a difference! The heavy, blotty bass went away and was replaced with tighter, punchier bass. I'll take bass quality over quantity any day. With the bass problem fixed, the midrange and high end now balance out much, much better. Instead of sounding like good speakers are playing off in the distance, the sound is very immediate and well-defined. I think the 4.5's have really good mid-range for the money. Guitars and saxophones sound nice and warm, but without much coloration, and without losing definition.

I still imagine that a good M&K setup might sound a little better, but after I get a couple more 4.5's and a 6.5, I'll have a really good quality surround system (minus subwoofer) for less than $600! Even if I can afford to upgrade in a few years, I haven't dropped a lot of money into the Teatro system, and it will definitely be worth what I spent.

I am planning to add a subwoofer soon. The speakers have fine bass response for most music, but I want more bass for movies. Anyway, I want to let the mains and surrounds focus on their job, and give the rest to a good sub.

Feel free to write me if you have any questions about these speakers!

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Infinity RS-3 speakers, circa 1990

Where should I start.........?

Grilles are cheaply made.

I had been looking for a home theater system that would replace some large towers that I had been using. After searching for about six months and listening to every speaker system that you could possibly imagine I came across the Phase Techs.

These speakers are amazing. I bought them @ American Theater Systems (www.amsound.com, 800-889-5845) from Mike. I paid $200 a pair for the Teatro 4.5's. I also purchaed a Teatro 6.5($180) for a center channel, and a Power 8 sub ($249). Mine came with a rosewood finish. They also come in black, but the rosewood finish is stunning to look at. The Teatro 4.5 consists of a 1" soft dome tweeter and a 5 1/4" driver with nice butyl rubber surrounds. They are ported in the rear and have 5-way binging posts. The polypropylene drivers have a very cool metal-like finish on them, and the cabinets have beveled edges. You would not expect to pay only a $100 for a speaker that looks this good.

These speakers sound better than they looked. The imaging and the sound stage are awesome. They have a very detailed,smooth midrange,crystal clear highs, and suprising bass response from a bookshelf. I wanted a speaker that would sound good on both 2 channel stereo and 5.1 digital. I was not let down. All of my favorite cds sounded better than I had ever heard them.

I really can't say enough good things about this speaker. The grilles were pretty flimsy, but the speaker looks better with the grilles off. I could live with that minor flaw. They are not shielded (the teatro 6.5 is though), so just don't set them closer than 1' to your T.V. and this won't be a problem either. I can honestly say that there is no better speaker within this price range.


My system consists of:

Sony es333 reciever
Panasonic DVD-a110
Dynaco tube cd player
(4) Phase Technology 4.5
Phase Technology 6.5 center
Phase Technology Power 8 subwoofer
Monster Cable speaker wire and interconnects

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none