AVS Forum banner

Best Speakers around the $1000 Range

13K views 65 replies 35 participants last post by  fatallerror 
#1 · (Edited)
Looking for some bookshelf or floor speakers around the $1K mark (give or take). This will strictly be for a 2-channel stereo setup. Amp will be, for now, a Yamaha a-s701.

I have a couple in mind, but I wanted to see any other suggestions as I'm probably missing a few good considerations. Unfortunately, there's not a place locally to demo everything that I want to, so I may order a few sets and pic the winner.

What I like:

- detail, good bass response, warm-ish (without being overly warm or muddy)

What I don't like:

- shrill/bright, too bold of a mid/high range, etc.

Music:

- A little bit of everything
- won't be played too loud (aka I don't really need party speakers).

Bookshelf or floorstander doesn't matter as I can go either way. May not run a sub if the bass is good enough. If it helps, I'm looking to upgrade from a set of Elac B6's in this location (which I do like, but I know there is better).
 
See less See more
#14 ·
#3 ·
Looking for some bookshelf or floor speakers around the $1K mark (give or take). This will strictly be for a 2-channel stereo setup. Amp will be, for now, a Yamaha a-s701.

I have a couple in mind, but I wanted to see any other suggestions as I'm probably missing a few good considerations. Unfortunately, there's not a place locally to demo everything that I want to, so I may order a few sets and pic the winner.

What I like:

- detail, good bass response, warm-ish (without being overly warm or muddy)

What I don't like:

- shrill/bright, too bold of a mid/high range, etc.

Music:

- A little bit of everything

Bookshelf or floorstander doesn't matter as I can go either way. May not run a sub if the bass is good enough. If it helps, I'm looking to upgrade from a set of Elac B6's in this location (which I do like, but I know there is better).
They've released an update of your Elac's that from what I understand are pretty good. Never heard them myself, but all comments I've seen have been positive.
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_970DF62/ELAC-Debut-2-0-F6-2.html?tp=185

I have and like these, in spite of Klipsch's rep, they aren't shrill/bright. I had the previous generation Klipsch, so I have a point of reference here.:)
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_714RP280FP/Klipsch-Reference-Premiere-RP-280F-Piano-Black.html?tp=185


I would say they meet all your requirements except being warm. I listen to mostly rock music, with a sprinkling of almost anything, especially classical. While I think their bass is fine, I use subwoofers, so it's irrelevant to me.
I would think both are worth auditioning if you can.
 
#6 · (Edited)
#7 ·
#17 ·
#9 ·
I would suggest to go demo speakers yourself. Listen to friends' home system, visit audio stores, low-end, mid-fi and high-end alike. I sometimes find myself on weekends checking those Kplisch, JBL, Polk, Elac, and Pioneers at Fry's, even if I wasn't interested in buying them. It's a good way to discover the diverse sound signatures of different brands without spending a dime. In my area, apart from Best Buy Magnolia, there are many specialty audio stores/dealers who sell pre-selected speaker-amp combos aimed at specific demographics. They are more than willing to demo for you.
 
#11 ·
Been there, done that (as far as I can in my limited area, and this is why I know that, for example, I don't necessarily like horn tweeters for critical music listening). I didn't want to jade the thread with what I think I want, but I'm more looking for things that I have not heard/cannot hear. If it looks intriguing and they have a good return policy, I may try it.
 
#10 ·
#13 ·
A few options:

The Philharmonitor. Bass down to 45hz, RAAL tweeters, very nice Scan-Speak woofer, only slightly over your budget at $1,225 shipped.

Hsu Hybrid 1 Package with CCB-8s (includes two CCB-8 bookshelves and a VTF-1 subwoofer). Dr. Hsu had this exact system set up in his demo room at Axpona, and it sounded amazing. While the coincident tweeter technically uses the pole piece of the woofer as a 'horn' it doesn't have any excessive brightness. Toe them in aggressively to cross in front of the MLP and they throw a great soundstage. He was running it off of a basic Onkyo receiver, so your Yahama will have no issues (and it looks like it has built in bass management and a sub output). Only slightly over your budget at $1,190 shipped.

These open box Kef LS50s at Music Direct (in a snazzy white and blue combo) for $1,075 shipped.

Revel Concerta2 M16s - I've auditioned these and they're amazing for the price, only $900 shipped. Nice open and full sound, solid bass for a bookshelf. Very linear, no harshness, great ability to resolve.

Finally, if you want to stay with Elac and upgrade, just go for the Uni-Fi series. I use a pair of the UB5s as computer speakers, which you can get for under $500, or go for the Uni-Fi towers for under $1,000.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Looking for some bookshelf or floor speakers around the $1K mark (give or take). This will strictly be for a 2-channel stereo setup. Amp will be, for now, a Yamaha a-s701.

What I like:

- detail, good bass response, warm-ish (without being overly warm or muddy)

What I don't like:

- shrill/bright, too bold of a mid/high range, etc.

Music:

- A little bit of everything
- won't be played too loud (aka I don't really need party speakers).
Slightly warm & open/neutral: I'd look at the Q Acoustics 3050 or Concept 40 towers:
https://www.qacoustics.com/floorstanding-speakers.html

Warm & lush: the Wharfedale towers...the Revas should give you a little bit more detail/neutrality than the Diamonds:
https://www.musicdirect.com/brands/...SC&page=2&pagesize=24&c1=tab-products&c2=grid
 
#20 ·
Well, you have a bit of an issue with "good return policy" on towers as they are hugely expensive to return other than at Best Buy, Aperion, HTD, SVS, JBL.

So you might consider bookshelves from Best Buy or Crutchfield with 6.5" main drivers or larger Crutchfield has $10/box returns on bookshelf speakers).

Focal Chorus 706 or Dynaudio Emit M20?

KEF Q350, B&W 685, DefTec D11?

If it were me I'd likely wait for the new Q Acoustics 3050i towers to come out...but no free return shipping.
 
#30 ·
The JBL Studio 580's and 590's go on sale from time to time,either one of these would be great,they have Compression Drivers for upper end.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#34 ·
Why not go with a powered studio monitor like the jbl lsr308? It may look like a horn but it's really a waveguide. Check it out at your local guitar center or equivalent. Great priced speakers, lots of detail and some roll off options if you think it's too bright out of the box.

Seriously, these offer a lot of detail for an obsurd price

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
 
#36 ·
Some good recommendations so far. For your budget anything from Philharmonic and the Wharfedale's are priced well and have a mellow, warmer sound. As do Aperion Audio speakers. I would certainly also look for something used. Someone just sold a pair of Ryan Audio R610's for only $700 including shipping on another site. If you're patient looking used or open box/closeout is the way to go. Here's a good deal on Quad 23L floorstanders for under $1000 new. And I think you might be able to find new Kef R300's for about $1200 a pair now. That's a great deal if any are still out there.
 
#39 ·
When it comes to music, I like some of the older 3 way box speakers. I have a nice pair of Kenwoods that I used to rock out to. Might be to warm, but there are other brands with better mids and highs. If you don't mind that look, it will open more options in your search.
 
#40 ·
Looking for some bookshelf or floor speakers around the $1K mark (give or take)...May not run a sub if the bass is good enough...looking to upgrade from Elac B6's...(which I do like, but I know there is better).
How about ELAC towers?
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ELDF62 $800/pr
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ELUF5 $1000/pr
A somewhat conflicted choice-I really like the concentric mid/tweet Uni-Fi technology and they sound great, but twin 5" are not "no sub" territory without strain...depending what you're playing I suppose. There are also Uni-Fi Slims in satin black and in white, since the basic Debut black woodgrain looks like, well, vinyl, ugh. ELACs are pretty much plain rectangles though, can you say raw-ther boooring, darling?

Now speakers last a VERY LONG TIME, literally decades, so I think it is well worth it to wait and save up more if at all possible. Then you can get to:
- Wharfedale Reva 4s, which were on sale at Audio Element for $1600/pr. We played a variety of stuff from Aja and Lauren Hill to Rush and it all sounded good. No sub needed.* Lovely looking cabinets, rounded i.e. NOT plain rectangles. Audio Element was playing through a Rogue Sphinx from...jeez, the disc player was a funny looking one, Rega Apollo I believe.

- Monitor Audio Silver 300s. Spent a fabulous couple of hours listening at the lovely Upscale Audio. Everything sounded good, the above stuff plus a session with Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind at levels not ear splitting but quite cranked. Then I put on Motorhead No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith and was quite astounded. No, it was not like when I saw them at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago, but no non-massive speakers would be.* But surprise #1 : cranked up a lot, they did NOT turn all harsh and distorted like so very many speakers would. And the drum fill at the start of "Iron Horse" amazed me: I could hear each distinct drum hit in space with a lot of PUNCH. I actually never knew this recording sounded so clean! Highly highly recommended, $2k/pr. According to some post I saw on sale from Oregon for a chunk less. Rectangular look, but with a mid/tweet aesthetic element that gives visual interest, and some nice finishes including the no-longer-as-common light oak.

- If you wanna go more nuts, Upscale also had Focal Aria 936s which my buddy bought. Those did a 96% imitation of the massive (90" tall, several hundred pound, $296,000 no that's not a misprint!) Von Schweikert Ultra 11s playing Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Tin Pan Alley" which sounded like a window into the studio. We simply could not believe how good and how coherent the Focals sounded. No hint of "oh there's the tweeter, there's the midrange, there's the woofers." All the same music sounded even better than on the Monitor 300s. $4k is large chunk of change, but worth it if you can swing it. My friend is disconnecting his 12" sub and selling it!* These are fairly rectangular but with a bit of curve and nice finish (or gloss) on the side.

Upscale's setup was Tidal/Roon into Lumin network players into PrimaLuna Prologue -pre+power in the Focal room, integrated in the Monitor room.

*None of these would need a subwoofer, except if you want to play depth charge or explosion movie scenes, or crank heavy metal concerts to live sound levels, or play long organ pipes...actually I bet the organ pipes would be fine...
 
#47 ·
You could consider the previous generation Monitor Audio Silver. There are some very good deals to be had on the Silver 8, S6, as well as S2 and S1 bookshelf speakers. I run the S2 with a Yamaha A-S701, and the results are very good, IMO. I also have the silver 8 in a different 2 channel system, different room. I love MA. I almost bought a pair of Silver 6 because the price was so good, but common sense prevailed. MA are excellent speakers, especially at a discount.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top