Favorite bookshelves under $200

dipiazza

Just curious,

What are everyones favorite bookshelve speakers for under $200?

Im going with the Onix x-ls.


Anyone else?

AndyGwis

Do the Fry's closeout LSi7s for $199 count?

Never even heard the Lsi7s, but, at that price, put those at the top of my list.

I'm interested to see people's responses. I'd like to replace my bedroom speakers with some nicer bookshelves, and $200 would be a good price point. The Monitor 30s and PSB Alpha's are okay, but ready for something newer, better.

shack

An oldie but goodie... Polk RT25i.

dkg999

I've heard the Onix are really good! If you can move up a few dollars, look for a pair of EPOS ELS-3's. The EPOS are a little bass shy, but the mid/upper SQ, presence, and imaging is amazing!

dipiazza

AndyGwis wrote: »

Do the Fry's closeout LSi7s for $199 count?.

hahaha that would be nice. Lets try to keep it to $200 readily avaliable.

kaisersose

I am confused. If you check Fry's online they do not have the LSi7 for $199.00?

AndyGwis

It was a deal they had a few years back. I wasn't into HiFi back then, but members often speak of it as one of the greatest deals ever.

But, no, they are not found for anything close to that price these days. . . even used.

JimBRICK

I always liked my monitor 30's I had

heiney9

AndyGwis wrote: »

Do the Fry's closeout LSi7s for $199 count?

Never even heard the Lsi7s, but, at that price, put those at the top of my list.

I'm interested to see people's responses. I'd like to replace my bedroom speakers with some nicer bookshelves, and $200 would be a good price point. The Monitor 30s and PSB Alpha's are okay, but ready for something newer, better.

That's probably not going to happen again. $199 for LSi 7's was the deal of the century.

My choice which are pretty close to LSi 7's in characteristic is the EPOS ELS-3. They can be bought for $200 used all day long and they are, IMO, the best I've heard so far for a $200 bookie. I used to like my Athena AS-B1's but they really don't compare at all.

H9

VR3

By far Onix XLS...

From build to quality - cant be beat, IMO.

sucks2beme

Seems I can't hardly give away Snell booksheves!

Ron Temple

Mordaunt-Short 902s, not just because I have them, but I did an A/B with the X-LS one afternoon. I preferred the 902s, livelier speaker...I liked the x-series a bunch though.

haimoc

Polk LSI bookshelves are best for price. It is hard to find bookshelve speakers under 1K (retail prices) to compete with Lsi9s or 7s.

jakelm

haimoc wrote: »

Polk LSI bookshelves are best for price. It is hard to find bookshelve speakers under 1K (retail prices) to compete with Lsi9s or 7s.

Unless you go vintage...

Not saying anything about the Lsi line. But my 7's blow them away and cost less than $200.

haimoc

It is nice to know... Thanks. Haven't play with Vintage..

jakelm wrote: »

Unless you go vintage...

Not saying anything about the Lsi line. But my 7's blow them away and cost less than $200.

jakelm

jakelm wrote: »

Unless you go vintage...

Not saying anything about the Lsi line. But my 7's blow them away and cost less than $200.

I hope I dont start a war...WAAAAAAA:p

dipiazza

There was that hype about the insignia's from Best Buy.

They used to be $50, now theyre up to $80 i think.

How cheap can you get?

AndyGwis

For $129, then briefly $80, and more recently $65, the Polk Euro T20eb (Monitor 30s) have to be best available in their price range.

They aren't world beaters at $200 retail or whatever, but can't argue with $65. Hell, most speaker cables cost more than that.

Gaara

Another vote for Onix X-Ls. We have two pairs running currently, and I will probably eventually get a third.

michael_w

Exodus Audio KIT41 = $150 cdn without cabinets. Power hungry, but awesome speakers for the money. They use a CSS WR125S and Hi Vi SS1 II tweeter. Throw them in a 0.2 cubic foot box and you're good to go.

heiney9

jakelm wrote: »

Unless you go vintage...

Not saying anything about the Lsi line. But my 7's blow them away and cost less than $200.

LOL..........:p . I have LSi 9's and even my minty fresh 5b's with RD0's and rebuilt x-overs don't come close to sounding better than the 9's. You certainly are entitled to your opinion, but I have to respectfully disagree. Now the 5b's are loads better than original, but the gap between them and the LSi 9's is still pretty wide.

Enjoy your Monitor 7's Jake, that's all that matters.

H9

heiney9

dipiazza wrote: »

There was that hype about the insignia's from Best Buy.

They used to be $50, now theyre up to $80 i think.

How cheap can you get?

Those are not bad for a $50-80 speaker but don't be fooled into thinking they are anything more than that. I fell for the hype of the wonderful Athena bookshelf speakers (AS-B1 and AS-B2). I have a pair of AS-B1's I paid like $95 on sale and they sound alright, but I expected them to best some other higher dollar speakrs and they didn't.

The little EPOS-ELS3 blew them away in every catagory.

H9

jakelm

heiney9 wrote: »

LOL..........:p . I have LSi 9's and even my minty fresh 5b's with RD0's and rebuilt x-overs don't come close to sounding better than the 9's. You certainly are entitled to your opinion, but I have to respectfully disagree. Now the 5b's are loads better than original, but the gap between them and the LSi 9's is still pretty wide.

Enjoy your Monitor 7's Jake, that's all that matters.

H9

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.:p

I was talking about original 7's, which (with no dissrespect), blow the 5's out of the water too.:D

Gaara

The insignias are a fun little set of speakers. I got one pair on sale for $30 and one pair for $40 and run them together off a T amp and a hand me down sony portable cd player. Sounds better then it should for ~$100 and makes a great system to take outside because of the battery power.

For $80 a pair they aren't that great of speakers IMO, but for $50 they were a nice buy.

heiney9

jakelm wrote: »

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.:p

I was talking about original 7's, which (with no dissrespect), blow the 5's out of the water too.:D

Care to put your speaks where your mouth is . I can see how the almost exact same speaker with a 10" instead of an 8" passive and a bit bigger cabinet volume would blow the other away :rolleyes: . Of course I'm just giving you some **** . The 7's are very nice, but I would never say they blow the 5's away. But they do sound a bit better especially in the bass output.

Rock on and remember I'm just having a little fun!!

H9

jakelm

Im messing with ya too H9. And congrats on your upgrade.

I have a pair of these as my surround back. I dont think you can find much better "new" for the money.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Polk-Bookshelf-Speakers-M10/sem/rpsm/oid/131997/catOid/-16882/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

jerrymb

I had a pair on the Onix XL-S and I sent them back.I know I'm crazy but while they sounded good I just wasn't thrilled with them.Yesterday I picked up a pair of the Infinity Primus 152's for $94 a pair.