Small bookshelf speakers that impressed you...

11tsteve

Mystery wrote: »

Those are 5jr+.

yes they are, I am a lazy typist.

TNHNDYMAN wrote: »

Very nice work Steve. They turned out great.

Thanks! But really, once all of the upgrades were finished, I was completely suprised by what these little guys will do sonically. Best $24 investment on Ebay ever. Just been fun from beginning to end.

cnh

I wouldn't worry about that. Typing is one of those "savant" talents. Mine hasn't improved since the 8th grade and I've typed thousands upon thousands of pages. I just suck. And I'm always making the most absurd typos, for someone in my profession. Perhaps I'm a tad dyslexic, no one ever tested for that back in the day!


cnh

11tsteve

ha ha.... I am sure most of the concern is for accuracy in identification, so I will make an effort to include the "+" here on out.

Conradicles

Epos ELS8
Focal 705

Timothy Smith

QUAD 11L's

Make me wonder why I have so many "big" speakers

Dobermann

Advent Mini



They really have no business sounding as good as they do. They're very small, they're aren't particularly well-contructed, or built with the best material, the cabs are mostly plastic, and the woofer is a plain old non-treated, non-poly coated cheap paper thing with a foam surround. But man, they can sing. I have two of these hooked up to a 1970's Realistic receiver and a PSW10 in the bedroom and I'd rather listen to music in there than my Denon/Monitor 60 setup in the theater room.

Conradicles

Those Advents bring back good memories.

Devlon

about.com on their review of the top 10 desktop speakers gave M-Audio first place

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-computer-speakers/

marvda1

here are some nice monitor speakers I had a chance to live with.
http://www.stereomojo.com/Element%20Millennium%20Speaker%20Review/MusicHallMarimbaSpeakerReview.htm

http://www.stereomojo.com/Element%20Millennium%20Speaker%20Review/ElementMillenniumSpeakerReview.htm

http://www.stereomojo.com/Outlaw%20Audio%20Speaker%20review/OutlawAudioSpeakerReview.htm

On3s&Z3r0s

Devlon wrote: »

about.com on their review of the top 10 desktop speakers gave M-Audio first place

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-computer-speakers/

Those would all seem to be active speakers with amplification built in. That's a way more limited sample set than just small-ish speakers in general.

RamZet

I took home a pair of Kef Model 102 speakers. They are from 1986. I matched them up with my 1986 Mcintosh receiver for some vintage goodness.
They have nice highs and very dynamic base for 25+ year old 6" driver. I was only going to use them to fill my entire house with audio for a party ( sonos zone). I ended up keeping them.
They are also in great condition because our clients dont actually use their summer homes.

http://kef.com/html/us/explore/about_kef/museum/1980s/Reference_Series_102/index.html

click to enlarge:



Other speakers that impress me are the CM1s by B&W. They are tiny but produce some awesome sound without skipping a note. Tiny 3.5" driver pushing some serious bass.

Nightfall

I enjoyed the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1's I had a few years back. The Peerless Monitor 4's i'm using for rear channel aren't bad but they aren't better than the Wharfedale's.

BKphoto

my Infinity RSe's have really impressed me...not all that small but still labeled as a "bookshelf speaker"

steveinaz

Fritz Speakers Carbon 7; not only did they sound great, the bass response was incredible for a speaker of this size.

madmax

I find the KEF LS50 to be amazing in soundstage and detail.

mhardy6647

I'm sittin' here being impressed by these even as I type... but then I am extremely biased...


DSC_5663 by mhardy6647, on Flickr

(needless to say, not a current photo - way more junk in here now...)

Mystery

mrh,
That's a huge room. You need 1.2TL's in there.

mhardy6647

Not with 3.5 watts per channel - I've got just what I need (that I can afford).

steveinaz

DSkip wrote: »

Steve, can you compare that Fritz to some more well-known brands? There is a pair of those in Austin that I was curious about.

Well, they have a very smooth, analog character to them--reminiscent of early advents, the treble is laid back--moreso than any other speaker I have owned, but addictive. The crossover blending is superb, and they can play quite loud without any stress or compression. Again, the bass will knock your socks off for a speaker this size. I ran them without a sub, and being a "tower" guy most of my life, i didn't miss a thing.

My review from a few years ago....http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?99646-Fritz-Speakers-Carbon-7&highlight=Fritz

marvda1

http://www.stereomojo.com/Fritz%20REV7%20and%20REV5%20Speaker%20review/FritzREV7andREV5SpeakerReview.htm

steveinaz

Those Rev 7's look mighty interesting! His speakers are beautifully made and feel like cinder blocks when you lift them from the boxes.

MillerLiteScott

I enjoy a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22-LR $ 77 powered by the $ 20 Lepai amp using a Apple TV as a source and Maverick Audio D1 as the DAC.

I may have to turn in my Audiophile Card for this but it is actually a very enjoyable Cheap and Cheerful system. The Pioneers are the only speakers that I own that I have not opened up to try and modify.

I also build a speaker designed by Chris Rhoemer from the Parts Express forum using a budget format and dayton drivers. I built them for $ 77 dollars including $16 for the binding post and they sound pretty good and have more bass weight than the Pioneers.

I hopefully will get my hands on a pair of Totem Mites to hear in the near future.

I am a sucker for a over achieving mini monitor.

SoundField 1's were a very impressive monitor also made by a guy named AJ from Florida.

Joseph Audio something or other, small monitor was also an impressive monitor.

I would love to hear a pair of KEF LS50's.

That's my 2 pence.

drummer86

MillerLiteScott wrote: »

I enjoy a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22-LR $ 77 powered by the $ 20 Lepai amp using a Apple TV as a source and Maverick Audio D1 as the DAC.

I may have to turn in my Audiophile Card for this but it is actually a very enjoyable Cheap and Cheerful system. The Pioneers are the only speakers that I own that I have not opened up to try and modify.

I also build a speaker designed by Chris Rhoemer from the Parts Express forum using a budget format and dayton drivers. I built them for $ 77 dollars including $16 for the binding post and they sound pretty good and have more bass weight than the Pioneers.

I hopefully will get my hands on a pair of Totem Mites to hear in the near future.

I am a sucker for a over achieving mini monitor.

SoundField 1's were a very impressive monitor also made by a guy named AJ from Florida.

Joseph Audio something or other, small monitor was also an impressive monitor.

I would love to hear a pair of KEF LS50's.

That's my 2 pence.

I still have yet to hear the Pioneers but it's on my to-do list. Get your ears on the the Mites. It took me a whole 4 or 5 minutes to fall in love with mine and start waving my wallet around. If you're down my way over the summer come on over and check them out

Inspector 24

Focal Diablo Utopia's $14,000/pr
http://www.focal.com/en/utopia-iii/186-diablo-utopia-3544050698017.html

Coupled with the Sub Utopia EM $14,000
http://www.focal.com/en/utopia-iii/304-sub-utopia-em-3544050698079.html

That combo beat a lot of $30-40k speakers at CES IMHO.

drummer86

The Diablo Utopia's are on a a friend's bucket list. He heard them once and has been saving pennies ever since. Hoping he picks them up soon and hands his Paradigm Inspirations down to me!

Jayce1971

DSkip wrote: »

Well, that combo is $30k, so makes sense.

Yeah, if it hits around 125-130db in room. Otherwise.... No. Makes no sense, whatsoever, at any price.

PSOVLSK

Jayce1971 wrote: »

Yeah, if it hits around 125-130db in room. Otherwise.... No. Makes no sense, whatsoever, at any price.

Think he means it makes sense that it would "beat a lot of $30-40k speakers at CES"

Inspector 24

Was it the most impressive or best sounding thing I saw at CES? No. But considering it was a total of two 1" tweeters, 2 6" midranges and one 13" subwoofer it was the most impressive sounding thing I heard. There's a lot of ways to beat another speaker. In terms of clarity at volume, impact, size of sound, and the fact that I could tolerate it at what I'm guessing was 110db easily, probably more like 120db in the low notes is what impressed me. Basically the sheer amount of sound that was coming from so few drivers and it was all clean and tolerable!

There were many other multi ten-thousand dollar setups that for whatever reason did not impress me nearly as much as those little guys did. But if you must know the top award from my ears was a pair of $50k speakers powered by I'm guessing $20k worth of amps and cables.

Runner up would be these guys:
https://totemacoustic.com/en/hi-fi/compact/element-fire/
If I had to describe their sound in a word it would be 'Tight' Coupled with an equally awesome subwoofer I bet they would put on quite a show as well!

Danny Tse

I've always had small bookshelf speakers for my system. The below are my favorites:

JBL HLS-610
Boston Acoustics CR-8
NHT SuperOne
Polk Audio RT25i
Energy Connoisseur C-3 (still own)
Monitor Audio Bronze B2 (still own)

Currently in use:

Pioneer SP-BS22-LR
NHT Classic Three

FastGame

Due to the low cost the Dennis Murphy modified Pioneer SP-BS22-LR can raise an eyebrow http://philharmonicaudio.com/folio-me/html/Phil%20Pages/AALS%20copy.html