Insignia vs Sony, the cheap speak shootout....

RuSsMaN

Ok, I've needed something to take my mind of current events, so this shootout was kind of fun, and I'm glad I did it, because I found a real bargain, a real gem - and plan to build the home theater rig around it.

First off, the speakers in question -

From Circuit City, the Sony offering:

Sony Speakers SS-K30ED - $66/pair

What Sony says:

Power handling 130 Watts
Frequency response 50Hz - 70kHz
Sensitivity 88 dB
Nominal impedance (in ohms) 8
Bass driver 6 1/2" aramid fiber woofer
Tweeter driver 1" carbon dome tweeter
Dimensions (HxWxD in inches) 17 x 9.3 x 14.8 / 17lbs each

From Best Buy, the Insignia offering:

Insignia NS-B2111 - $39.99/pair

What Insignia says:

Product Height 18-3/10"
Product Depth 12-1/5" (width not listed, approx 8")
Product Weight 13.3 lbs.
Speaker Type Bass-reflex
Maximum Power Handling 120W
Frequency Response 50Hz - 20kHz
Tweeter Size 1"
Tweeter Composition Silk dome
Subwoofer 6-1/2"
Subwoofer Driver Carbon fiber
Connector Type Binding post
Sensitivity 90dB
Impedance 8 ohms

//////////////////////////////////////////////

What I says:

First of all, it's easy (for me) to be excited about good sounding, cheap audio. Emphasis must be on GOOD SOUNDING, or the cheap is well - just cheap. Audio isn't rocket science, nor simply a hobby for the mega wealthy. Good sound CAN be had for not a lot of scratch - IF you do your homework and demo demo demo.

*NOTE*
Both speakers have been run in for between 40 and 50 hours, on an entry level Onkyo receiver, and NAD dvd player. I didn't log exact times, but I checked the clock at the end of each night.

The test rig:

Anthem Amp 1 Tube Amp, modded with Jensen caps
Melos SHA-1 Line Amp
Arcam CD-73 CDP
Rapport Interconnects and Speaker Cable

The music:

Garbage - Bleed Like Me
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana (Prague Festival Orchestra & Chorus / Pavel Urbanek)
Sheryl Crow - Self Titled
Kenny Chesney - When the Sun Goes Down
Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales
Keb Mo - Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues
Van Halen - 1984 (Remaster)
Patricia Barber - Cafe Blue (MOFI Gold HDCD)
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Allison Krauss - New Favorite

The results:

There is a CLEAR winner in this shootout - stay tuned, read on.

First of all, fit and finish on both speakers is fine, and as I stated in another thread, either would fit in the snottiest of living rooms.

My personal preference leans toward the finish of the Insignia. It's small, and tasteful. Good lines, but not overdone (it doesn't look like something from a post modern Battlestar Galactica). The piano black finish on the front baffle is a nice touch. The grille is plain, and the logo very unassuming. These speakers could easily compliment, yet at the same time disappear into your decor.

The Sony is nice also, but more convential, more plain (despite the obvious not so common box design). The worst part of the finish on the Sony, is the grille. It's that vomit grey that Sony puts on EVERYTHING - it's has a sort of pantyhose sheen to it. If these were fixtures in my abode, I'd throw the grilles away and let 'em be naked.

Second, construction, design, and features.

The Insignia features a very neat driver design. It's a 2-way, concentric driver. A design you would typically see from the likes of Tannoy, KEF, etc. The posts on the rear are insulated 5-way binders, and very 'WBTish'. The speaker has a good weight and feel to it.

The Sony features a more typical two way design. The tweeter has a protective, non-removeable metal grille over it - which is something I have never really cared for. A phase shield is one thing, but the metal grille just bothers me. That's probably why I've never owned a Canton speaker. The posts are small, but still insulated 5-way types.

Ok ok, how do they friggin sound already?

Insignia

The Insignia sounds phenomenal. Is it the best shelf speaker I have ever heard? Hell no, it's not even close. That being said, I would NOT be embarassed to have these in a two channel listening room.

Depending on room size, you may or may not need a subwoofer. Bass extension is adequate, moreso on some recordings, less on others. Break in did make a difference in the bass response of these speakers. Out of the box, they sounded like the phase was shifting big time between bass and midbass, they just sounded a little 'off'. They don't anymore. Mids are a touch hot, but female and male vocals sound as they should. The top end is there when it needs to be. Listening at very loud levels (95~db), the top end starts to break up, but at 'normal' levels, it's very pleasant - I wonder what a simple cap upgrade on the tweeter might do?

Imaging is great, and the point-source design certainly helps. I'm not hearing much behind the speakers - but in my intimate (a nicer word than small) listening room, I'm getting about a 120 degree wide soundstage, with good height to boot.

Sony

The Sony sounds ok. Let me explain. They don't have the bottom end that the Insignia does. They are rated to have it, but in my room they fall short. Not extension, but impact and weight simply isn't there. To be fair, the Sony driver (spider and motor structure) seems a LOT more rigid than the Insignia right out of the box. They may just need 40 or so more hours to 'get loose'. I will give them that chance and follow up later.

The midband is real good, again both male and female vocals sound natural - and the Sony may actually have the better sounding midrange - but I can't listen to them at any sort of 'real' volume. Why? I'll give you one guess, and it's made out of Carbon. (isn't EVERYTHING made out of Carbon at the end of the day?)

Yep, that tweeter. It's detailed alright. It's very horn-like, and even my mellowest of Amperex EL34's can't tame it. I'm not getting listening fatigue so to speak, but I just find myself sitting here, annoyed, with music playing. Now for some, ie - those that like the top end hot - this speaker could be just the ticket.

Imaging is great again - nice and wide - but not as much height as the Insignia - again, I'll give the Sony a little leeway here, a taller stand (using Lovan 18" on 2" spikes) could help.

In a Nutshell....

I went and picked up a second pair of Insignia, and plan to build the HT rig around 4 of them for now. I'd use a 5th as a center, but my cabinet won't allow it - so I'll have to find something (or build something) close to the sound.

So....go out a get a pair of the Insignia, just for the pure joy of it, and hear them for yourself. They are easy to drive, easy to place, FUN speaker to listen to. Like a lot of other speakers, these REALLY show a difference, depending on what you have hooked up on the front end of the rig. Better electronics REALLY wake these things up.

The next step....

I want to see how much of a value these things really are. I'd like to get them up against some of my favorites in the $200-$350 /pair shelf speakers, eg: Onix XLS, B&W DM303, etc and see if they can hold their own. I'm willing to bet they will against some.

Cheers,
Russ

....so much for being able to peddle the Sony's in the flea market now - oh well.

aaharvel

Russ, you're the man. Fantasic writeup. I'm buying some Insignias this weekend, maybe dabble back in 7.1 again... Do these speakers have "keyhole" slots? I can't tell from the photos.

RuSsMaN

No keyhole broham.

Sherardp

Nice write up. Those speakers look great by the way, and I definitely like the speakers stands youre using. Were those made or can I purchase something similar somewhere ? Anyway awesome job.

RuSsMaN

They are probably 10 years old, but Lovan offers several affordable designs these days. I actually have them placed 'backwards', I don't like the front 'foot' sticking out in the room.

Cheers,
Russ

dipiazza

Sweet write up! I have the Onix x-ls, im looking foward to that comparison!

wallstreet

Let me know if you want to run them up against the rti6's. I've also heard great things about these speakers. Hard to believe at $40.

MacLeod

Excellent review Russ. As you said, a nice diversion.

I was pulling for the Sonys myself. I have a set of their old bookshelf speakers from back in the late 90's when I got my "high end" Dolby 2.0 system they sound very good but as you pointed out, they get a little obnoxious in the higher frequencies.

The bass extension is top notch especially for 6.5's and the kick is not too shabby either but I think all that is due more to the box and port design as opposed to the speaker itself.

The midrange is quite detailed albeit a little glassy sounding at times. Female vocals are pretty good but male vocals can be a little thin.

With the speaker grills on (plastic grill with grill cloth) a lot of the brightness and all of the sibilance is gone but they still can get shrill.

The imaging and staging is about right. Everything on my MECA CD is right where it should be.

Oh well, I guess like most things audio by Sony, theyve gone down hill over the years.

Toxis

Are the Insignia's really 18"x13"??? They don't look THAT big. Anyhow, I would like to know the difference between them and the RTi4's.

Mike682

Nice write up. Guys, these Insignias are $39.99 for a pair! Sounds like a lot of speaker for 40 clams

Mike682

Toxis wrote:

I would like to know the difference between them and the RTi4's.

Me too.

RuSsMaN

14 H, 9 3/4 W, 12 D (rough drunk inches)

Where they got the measuremeants from, who knows.

A stellar deal for $39, a great deal for $99, a good deal for $149, after that, they start to see real competion, imo. Granted my X-LS are modded, but they pretty much wipe the floor with them. Off the shelf stuff, to be determined.

Cheers,
Russ

Schris22

great write up russ,

I'm gonna go grab some from best buy in the next few days.

Chris

reeltrouble1

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa:D I love it, I have some old sony floorstander speaks that have been collecting dust for years in the closet, maybe I should dig them out.

Maybe a better a front end on them so they could really shine broham.......I mean its only a Melos line stage.......Arcam......Anthem..:D

I can just hear the voice coils say oooh whats that tickling me, sure diff from that panny in the store!!!!

RT1

PolkThug

Nice write up. Not suprised by the results, I never liked that Sony line, it always seemed to really color the music, especially vocals. That Insignia is a good looking speaker, haven't had a chance to hear them yet.

The binding posts seem to be up a little too high on the Insignias.

tommyboy

thanks russ for the review. I am going to head down to best buy today and pick a pair up and use them as B speakers in a different room. If they sound really good, I might have to switch them up with my r15s...

WilliamM2

If they sound really good, I might have to switch them up with my r15s...

I have not heard the Insignia's, but if they are better than the Sony's, they will sound better than the R15's.

I ordered the Sony's for my garage, I compared them to my R15's and my Rti28's. In my opinion, they sound better than the R15's, cleaner midrange, and they don't break up like the R15's do at higher volume. They didn't sound as good as the Rti28's, for the same reason Russ found, no impact in the bass.

Wonder how the Insignia's would compare to the Rti's?

Mike682

Here is a mod site for the insignias.

Has pics of the internals

http://www.gr-research.com/insignia.htm

Boonaroo

Thanks Russ for the great review.

Got my Sony's in yesterday, but haven't pulled them out of the box yet. Also popped on the Insig's a few seconds ago since they are back on sale.

The sony's will ultimately go into service with my SS-K90ED's to complete an all Sony SSound system in the family room.

I will put both thru the paces in my 2 channel rig this weekend just for $hits and giggles!!!

Boonaroo

noimposse

Just stopped to Best Buy for a few things and decided to give these bad boys a listen for a few minutes.

I was pretty skeptical at first, but they didnt sound too bad. They seemed a bit lacking in the low end compared to my rti4's, but then again they are in that giant store and not in a small room. I think I could have gotten a better feel of them if I could have NOT listened to their INSANELY OUTDATED TEST MUSIC. Christ those same songs have been there forever.

Anyway, I am almost considering picking up a pair for the hell of it. Possible surrouns? Or pc speaker replacements?

tommyboy

well, just picked up a pair today (what else am I supposed to do on my day off:) ), and for them running on my crappy reciever and through 2nd zone, they sound pretty good. When I worked at CC, we had these pioneer speakers for $25/piece (the cheapest bookshelf, if you must know what...http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Pioneer-Bookshelf-Speaker-S-HF21-LR-/sem/rpsm/oid/133873/catOid/-12950/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do) and these sound ten times better than the pioneers. the insignias are nothing special, but for $40, you can't get anything better for the price...

mantis

I saw the Sony speakers at the Sony Show when they where just coming out. They where showing off SACD. I actually thought they sounded pretty good. They showed off the entire line. We kicked sony for the B&W rip off design. But for Sony speakers I agree, they do sound good. For that price they are now selling for, I'd grap a pair.

Dan

adam2434

Nice write-up Russ, thanks.

What the heck, I picked up a pair of the Insignias last night too. Breaking them in right now. Fit and finish is way better than a $40/pr speaker should be, especially those nice binding posts. Haven't broke them in or listened much, but my initial impression is that they sound pretty decent, especially for the money.

Probably give them to my sister, mating them with a little Onkyo stereo receiver I picked up for her apartment.

Schris22

breaking them in right now, using them as computer speakers. Really nice speaker as well. Blows the R15 away (what it replaced on my speakers).

Chris

tommyboy

Schris22 wrote:

breaking them in right now, using them as computer speakers. Really nice speaker as well. Blows the R15 away (what it replaced on my speakers).

Chris

I agree to a point. when it comes to bass response and cleaner bass in general, the insignia is the clear winner. Yet with the highs, I would have to give it to the r15s. the r15s are brighter and clearer (I know brightess isn't a great thing, but I like speakers bright). maybe the insignias aren't broken in yet...

when it comes down to it though, The insignias are better stand alone speakers. but hey, they are both cheap speakers so we should expect much out of them anyways.

I still have $100 gift card us tv guys won at circuit city. I think I might buy a cheap onkyo stereo reciever (the 8011, if they still have it) to drive these babies, I just don't like running 2nd zone from my 603.

tommyboy

adam2434

tommyboy wrote:

I agree to a point. when it comes to bass response and cleaner bass in general, the insignia is the clear winner. Yet with the highs, I would have to give it to the r15s. the r15s are brighter and clearer (I know brightess isn't a great thing, but I like speakers bright). maybe the insignias aren't broken in yet...

when it comes down to it though, The insignias are better stand alone speakers. but hey, they are both cheap speakers so we should expect much out of them anyways.

I still have $100 gift card us tv guys won at circuit city. I think I might buy a cheap onkyo stereo reciever (the 8011, if they still have it) to drive these babies, I just don't like running 2nd zone from my 603.

tommyboy

Mine are not broken in yet either, so I'll have to reserve final judgement. However, so far, I don't feel the Insignias are better than R30s. I know this is not really a fair comparison due to the fact that R30s are towers and about twice the price at the Outpost sale price. I don't have R15s anymore for comparison, but I always thought they sounded really good for the money, as long as you don't push them too hard. I do not consider the R series bright at all, however. I think they are pretty laid back on the top end.

Regarding the Onkyo 8011, that's the same receiver I bought my sister. Got a refurb (actually per the box, "slight cosmetic damage" that I can't even see) with a 1 year factory warranty for about $80 shipped:
http://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecsport/shop/detail~dpno~185910.asp

I hooked it up to my R30s and her iPod at her place yesterday, and it sounded fine for background music - obviously much better than the little JBL speaker/dock she has (and the R30/Onkyo combo cost considerably less than the JBL thing).

Schris22

still breaking them in, and I really liked the r15's tweeter esp. for the money, but these seem to be more revealing and slightly warmer, the bass is also a little better like everyone has been noticing, but I also think the midrange is much richer, especially with male vocals. Then again I'm just breaking them in on my computer and will try them later against my r50's and possiably my energy c-3's in about 2 weeks.

Chris

Shizelbs

Nice review. I love this stupid hobby.

I'll bite and grab a pair.

Sometimes I wonder if this is just an exercise in effing with us and seeing how much crap Russ can convince us to buy.

tommyboy

Shizelbs wrote:

Sometimes I wonder if this is just an exercise in effing with us and seeing how much crap Russ can convince us to buy.

What, russ does this all the time?;)

tommyboy

adam2434 wrote:

Regarding the Onkyo 8011, that's the same receiver I bought my sister. Got a refurb (actually per the box, "slight cosmetic damage" that I can't even see) with a 1 year factory warranty for about $80 shipped:
http://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecsport/shop/detail~dpno~185910.asp
.

Thats a good price for that reciever, but I wanted to use my CC giftcard. What would you guys get with a $100 circuit city gift card?

CallingMrBenzo

i picked up a pair of these speakers today and i am breaking them in as we speak...


i paid 59.99 did i over pay?