Comments on: Best Speakers Under $500 You Should Own

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:18:12 +0000

Also, How about PSB Image B6′s?

By: ElSales

ElSales — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:17:47 +0000

What about Adam A5X? I love it!

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:25:44 +0000

I would recommend the Totem Dreamcatcher…….

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:32:11 +0000

Any list of sub $500 speakers has to have the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170′s – period. An incredible accurate monitor speaker. Add a decent sub and you will blow away most anything under $1200.

By: MRGUMBY

MRGUMBY — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:53:52 +0000

Bose 301′s being included in the list tells me something very clearly. At an audio shop where there are 20 pairs of speakers stacked on one another, during a click click click switch-through comparison by the salesperson…they can impress at their price. When you take them home and live with them for a couple of days however…
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cough
cough
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now, turn to the side and cough again, Mr Gumby

…
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cough
cough
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…

They SERIOUSLY fail to satisfy. Muddy bass (BTW, BASS is how you spell the low notes of a speaker…not, “BASE”) does not bother me nearly as much as the sparkle in the highs…no, SIZZLE would be more accurate.
Lots of highs initially sounding clean, till you live with them for a bit and realize all it is doing is frying bacon (sizzle sizzle sizzle).

If I was outfitting a bar room and needed sound reinforcement speakers to place around the room at 8 feet mounted to the wall…you know, the speakers that a smart bar owner runs with multiple stout integrated amps…welllllllllllll, they might be okay for that.
In the living room? NO WAY.

Maggies+BIG S/S amp (Even the old massive Adcom monoblocks)=GOOD!

All of this does not matter though, since someone can never be taken seriously when the spelling and diction is better in the readers comments than in the reviews themselves.
God, guys! Hire someone who speaks English!

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:15:25 +0000

A list of sub $500 speakers and no Paradigms? The shame! I also have to agree with the previous poster in that any “best speaker” list that includes Bose is pretty worthless. I’ve heard the 301s over the years and have never been impressed in the least. Their idea of “improvements” is to find cheaper ways to make their speakers while keeping the selling price as high as possible… They still use untreated paper cones for goodness sakes… Made in China no less. And their innovations are nothing more than insignificant mods to already existing designs… Direct Reflecting = omni-polar. Waveguide = Transmission line (aka 1/4 and 1/2 wave). Acoustimass = Heimholtz (sp?) resonator. Ok. End of rant.

By: sb01

sb01 — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:41:19 +0000

Sorry but any “best of” speaker list that includes a Bose product immediately loses its credibility with me (although I do agree with the Maggies.) Not necessarily because the 301s are a bad speaker– they may be great for all I know, I don’t really care to listen to them and find out– but because Bose as a company has lost any goodwill it ever had when it became far more concerned with obtaining as many meaningless patents it could, and worming its way into every department store and niche shop in America to drive out the competition (which it will never do.) They have become the Monster Cable of speaker companies.
On a side note, how did Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 not make the list? I have never heard them, but they have a 4.91 rating and for a good long while they were the speaker to beat on audioreview (if they still aren’t.)

By: sam

sam — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:23:50 +0000

do one for studio monitors. tannoys?

By: oakland_stan

oakland_stan — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:19:06 +0000

For under 500 let’s not forget about the NHT Classic Three. There have been plenty of professional write-ups done but as a real world user, I can confirm they are worth the money. I use them in combination with a Rotel amp and their performance is stunning – particularly for the money. They have great separation resulting from their three way design and bass is impressive from a speaker its size. I will also add that I use NHT’s Evolution U2 subwoofers for low end and the combo is fantastic.

By: JDCD

JDCD — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:05:00 +0000

Hmm if we are going to add speakers in the $500 to $600 range I say the KEF Q300 bookshelf speakers should be included in this bunch. They can be found for under $500 used or as an open box item. New I believe they go for $650 shipped. I have them in my system and love them. They are powered by a re-built Sumo Nine amplifier along with a Grant Fidelity DAC-09. The imaging is dead center and the music is just sweet to me.