Price Paid:  $900.00 from Stereo Barn

Summary:
I was looking for some floorstanders for my modest home theatre setup and having owned and loved Snell KIII bookshelf speakers for over 5 yrs i wanted to hear the QBX25.In typical Snell fashion these speakers are neutral with very good voice reproduction.I auditioned the QBX25 agaisnt the B&W 603S2 and it was no contest.The B&W in comparison had a very bloated bass and imaged poorly and its center image was terrible i thought.The Snell's and B&W were set up adjacent to each other hooked to the same equipment,so the A/B comparison was easy.The Snell's on the other hand imaged like Bast@#$%^&,if you know what i mean.Their low end was tight.Their top end was very smooth but not at all dark sounding.I would call their overall sound musical.And they could dissapear as if you were not listening to speakers,just music.On DVD's they were just as good,very dynamic.I purchased a pair of demo's with a very nice cherry finish.Snell's are hard too find but they are one of the very special loudspeakers at any price.At their retail price of 1200.00 they are a tremendous value.Highly recommended.

Strengths:
Impeccable Midrange,Accurate Bass.

Weaknesses:
None That Iv'e Found Yet.

Similar Products Used:
Mirage,Snell Bookshelf,Paradigm.

Price Paid:  $1100.00 from Local dealer

Summary:
My God! These are the speakers that will make you curl up on the floor and cry "Mommy!"!

I picked up a pair of QBx 25's last week and am absolutely impressed. They are very neutral sounding, and the imaging is incredible. If there are speakers in this price range that don't require a center channel, these are them.

They are slightly warm by some standards. I like that. They're in a medium-sized room with a hardwood floor, big window, and sparse furniture, so a lot of the high-end speakers I auditioned were bright and lively to the point of harshness. Seriously considered the Paradigm Studio 80's but preferred the smoother sound (and looks) of the Snells.

These are apparently brand new from Snell. I am also a fan of their .5 series; if I had a much bigger room and $600 extra I may have bought those instead. These don't have rear-firing tweeters like the .5 series, and are a bit smaller.

I listen to acoustic jazz, jazz/classical piano, some rock and techno. They really shine with piano, string instruments, vocals, and even horns. If I buy a sub it will be for movies.

BTW, also demoed the QBx 15's (bookshelf version) but found these to be worth the extra $400 (especially faced with spending $200 on decent-looking stands).

Strengths:
Imaging, clarity, detail, range, construction quality

Weaknesses:
Finish not quite as nice as the .5 series

Similar Products Used:
Demoed B&W, PSB, Paradigm Studio 80's