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Graduation gift - Speakers under $500. Help Please?

post #1 of 11
5/28/12 at 5:48am
Thread Starter 
Hey guys I need some help. A really good friend wants to buy his newbie audiophile son a system for graduation. I was asked for a recommendation for speakers under $500 and I am drawing a blank. I suggested the Magnepan MMG which is slightly higher than $500 but he is adamant about staying under that price. Any and all help is appreciated.

TONEAudio Magazine suggested the Definitive Technology Studio Monitor 45 and I ordered a pair but now I see Peachtree Audio has the DS5.5 for $400. I don't know that much about the DS5.5 but the D5 is an amazing speaker and the 5.5 uses the same drivers.

Any other suggestions?

Info: Medium size apartment and the kid listens to rap, electronica and dub-step
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post #2 of 11
5/28/12 at 5:54am
Magnepan's are power hungry, what receiver does he have?
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post #3 of 11
5/28/12 at 5:58am
Thread Starter 
The Magnepans were ruled out, he will not go above $500. He has an Onkyo 8050
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post #4 of 11
5/28/12 at 6:05am
I suggest that you consider the KEF iQ30 speakers, which were $599, but are available for $399 now at the KEF Direct website. I can't think of anything that comes close in sound quality for under $500.

By the way; SOME Magnepan speakers are power-hungry, but that is absolutely NOT true of the MMG speakers. A friend of mine is running them with a NAD 325BEE, which only puts out about 50 watts, and he has way more power than he needs for them.






Quote:
Originally Posted by TKYR1967 View Post

Hey guys I need some help. A really good friend wants to buy his newbie audiophile son a system for graduation. I was asked for a recommendation for speakers under $500 and I am drawing a blank. I suggested the Magnepan MMG which is slightly higher than $500 but he is adamant about staying under that price. Any and all help is appreciated.

TONEAudio Magazine suggested the Definitive Technology Studio Monitor 45 and I ordered a pair but now I see Peachtree Audio has the DS5.5 for $400. I don't know that much about the DS5.5 but the D5 is an amazing speaker and the 5.5 uses the same drivers.

Any other suggestions?

Info: Medium size apartment and the kid listens to rap, electronica and dub-step
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post #5 of 11
5/28/12 at 6:27am
How about Boston E60's?
http://www.amazon.com/Boston-Acousti...8210324&sr=8-1

Ascend Acoustics CBM-170SE
http://ascendacoustics.com/pages/pro...70/cbm170.html

KEF iQ30
http://www.kefdirect.com/iq30-booksh...udspeaker.html

KEF Q300
http://www.accessories4less.com/inde...query=kef+q300

Energy V5.1
http://search.vanns.com/sitesearch/search?q=energy+v5.1



there are so many bookshelf speakers in the $500 and under range that you'll get many recommendations.
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post #6 of 11
5/28/12 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys. I had no idea they still made KEF speakers.
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post #7 of 11
5/29/12 at 3:05pm
for that kind of music my first choice was a pair of polk lsi 9's $499free ship. but they are 4 ohm and might not be to well suited for that onkyo reciever. my second choice would be the wharfedale 10.2 's at music direct for $449 if you want bass these 2 sets of speakers will give it to you just my 2 cents
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post #8 of 11
5/29/12 at 3:12pm
So I assume we're looking for a stereo set?
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post #9 of 11
5/29/12 at 3:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smasher50 View Post

for that kind of music my first choice was a pair of polk lsi 9's $499free ship. but they are 4 ohm and might not be to well suited for that onkyo reciever. my second choice would be the wharfedale 10.2 's at music direct for $449 if you want bass these 2 sets of speakers will give it to you just my 2 cents

I have both the Onkyo TX-8050 and the Polk LSi9 and am very pleased with both. Between sound quality and features its quite a good bundle. The Onkyo is advertised as supporting 4 ohm speakers and I've had no problems with the pair at high volume.
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post #10 of 11
6/4/12 at 11:51am
PSB Alpha B1 ($300)
PSB Image B5/B6 (I think they straddle the mark at $450/$550)
Paradigm Atoms (I know the Mini Monitors are $560, the Atoms should be less)

I'd actually suggest the Mini Monitors if the dealer's willing to deal down to $500 - they're lively enough to be interesting on a lot of music, and go lower than some of the offerings above.
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post #11 of 11
2/26/13 at 5:58pm
If he is an audiophile, there are a lot of gifts under $500 that you can choose from. You can also give him a samsung galaxy tab which is very useful when he is listening to music. Gifts for under 500 dollars like these will surely be loved.
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