What are your favorite non-polk bookshelf speakers

mhardy6647

Favorite non-Polk bookshelves?

hmmm...

of the ones I own or have owned:
(not really a big fan of bookshelves for 'serious' listening)

ads L-710
IMF SuperCompact
DIY Fostex FE-207E fullrange drivers in 1.0 ft^3 BR cabinets
AR-3

If my list can exceed my grasp, I'd add BBC LS 3/5A specification nearfield monitors.

nguyendot

concealer404 wrote: »

Do you mind threadjacking a little and telling me what you think of the 5ses? I have a chance to get a pair of 7ses for $150 in good shape, and i've been resisting, but i'm starting to think it would be stupid to pass them up. Haven't heard them yet, though.

They sound quite good... I actually took them from my friend after 10 years. They put them in the garage since they never used them.

I like the smoothness.

gdb

+1 to the vote for Advents, another vintage b'shelf that sounded pretty good were the Dynaco A-25 They're so vintage that the technology is stone age compared to most others listed here !:)

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://homepage.mac.com/planet10/TLS/classics/images/A25.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.t-linespeakers.org/classics/dynaco.html&usg=__OzGVNzsmU4nyFKILxHHXpl01qzE=&h=496&w=300&sz=35&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=NCgTwU6qufnRuM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=79&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddynaco%2Ba25%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26um%3D1

TECHNOKID

thuffman03 wrote: »

I just bought a set of Athena S2 book shelf speakers. They are pretty nice.

I have a pair of used Athena Audition AS-B1, the price was right and the frequency range is good enough so I don't need a subwoofer for the bedroom set-up. The below review does them justice, my own listening couldn't say any better than the review does. I will more likely pair them with one of my vintage receiver... good enough for my bedroom set-up (some TV and music)

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/athena_asb1.htm

For the portable 2 channels, I use M-AUDIO monitors but this is another story (not a vintage)

Cheers!
TK

Kex

1) Well, these Cabasse speakers surprised me quite a bit:

http://www.cabasse.com/old/loudspeakers/goelette301.php

Amazing workmanship, they were absolutely stunning in African Bubinga wood, with brass pins to hold the covers on, but I usually left then nekkid. They came with a lifetime warranty against failure, and their own cables. Huge output in a huge room with high ceilings, when paired with a NAD integrated amplifier rated at a mere 50w/ch. A little bit too revealing, I thought, sometimes, which is why I'd absolutely love to try these out again with my JoLida integrated. Unfortunately, I left them at a friend's house (a very good friend, so it's a worthy cause) and I won't be taking them back any time soon. I haven't seen any Cabasse products in years ...

2) The Mark & Daniel Maximus Mini are quite surprising too, both visually and otherwise, if not quite so undeniably gorgeous as the Cabasse! Quite the equal to the huge Polk Audio RT55, though, at less than one quarter of the size. Big sound in a very small enclosure. I'd love to get two more pairs to try a full 6.1 setup with the NAD T754. Mine are a terrific shocking orange color, just like the ones in the first link below:

http://www.mark-daniel.com/Pro_En.asp?ProID=47
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/markdaniel6/twosome.html
http://www.affordableaudio.org/M&DMaximusMini.pdf
http://www.sonicflare.com/archives/mark-and-daniel-mini-speaker-review.php

danz1906

1.B&W Nautilus 805s
2.B&W Matrix 805s
3.Monitor Audio GR10s
4.Paradigm Studio 20s v3

Conradicles

Keep rolling with some other suggestions folks...maybe some that can be found on Fleabay in the $100 range.

concealer404

Conradicles wrote: »

Keep rolling with some other suggestions folks...maybe some that can be found on Fleabay in the $100 range.

For that range there won't be much.

You MAY be able to get an older pair of Titans for that, or Atoms.

I dont have much bookshelf experience beyond my polks and paradigms, sadly.

Bubinga99

DO NOT CLICK ON the mark-daniel link in post 37.
High severity attack.

MLZ

A few years back I got a pair of Fosgate Audionics FA51.0s, which are rebadged Hafler M-5 speakers. These near field monitors at my fishing cabin started me on the path to upgrade my home 2-channel system, since whenever I returned from a trip, I found my home system sorely lacking.

Conradicles

A/D/S or Paradigm seems to have my vote so far from a price standpoint. Picked up some sweet stands from Goodwill yesterday.

George Grand

AR-5. A great loudspeaker.

[Deleted User]

Hello,
Hard to find, but the Spica TC50 are excellent. In the basement with a Fisher 500C, Chicago Speaker stands and a souped-up Sony SDA player. Mighty damn good!
I put a couple of "L" brackets on the back of the cabinet and added some Decca ribbon tweeters, but now use without them in a simpler system.
Ken

BigMac

The best sounding bookshelf speakers I have had my ears on are the Jamo C603 and the C803. I first listened to the 603 and was VERY impressed. Next we fired up the 803 and they sounded just as awesome but on a larger scale. When listening to these speakers they reminded me of the Polk LSi7 and LSi9. Thinking back now, they sounded very similar with the exception that imo, the Jamo 603/803 were a little bit more musical. These Jamo's sound their best when driven by a high quality amp just like the Polk LSi line. Very well built and nice looking speakers. A real sleeper that must be heard to be appreciated. I almost sold my M10b and bought the C803. I didn't want to have to buy all new speakers for my HT setup so I passed. Every few days though, I think about getting these speakers and selling my M10b........I just can't make up my mind. I am torn between the C803 and a pair of Dali speakers at the moment. Here is a little review with graphs for those that are interested.

http://igs.avhub.com.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/Jamo_C803_Loudspeaker_Review%20LO.pdf?128964300881690000

GMiller

Pinnacle PN5+
PSB Alpha
Paradigm Titan

Have owned all 3 and still have the Paradigm's.

Conradicles

Finally got some bookshelf speakers to throw in the mix just for fun. Got a killer deal on a set of black 1988 Klipsch KG2 (8" woofer, 10" passive radiator on the back and a 1" Phenolic dome horn loaded tweeter) for $20.50 local pick-up. Very nice all around speaker. Great high's and some punch in the low end.

Listened for a while this weekend to the KG2's and the SDA-1C's and it made me realize how much I really like SDA's. The so called "SDA Effect" is really not an effect. Just massive stereo separation. Like a good set of headphones. SDA's rule!:cool:

mantis

Conradicles wrote: »

Finally got some bookshelf speakers to throw in the mix just for fun. Got a killer deal on a set of black 1988 Klipsch KG2 (8" woofer, 10" passive radiator on the back and a 1" Phenolic dome horn loaded tweeter) for $20.50 local pick-up. Very nice all around speaker. Great high's and some punch in the low end.

Listened for a while this weekend to the KG2's and the SDA-1C's and it made me realize how much I really like SDA's. The so called "SDA Effect" is really not an effect. Just massive stereo separation. Like a good set of headphones. SDA's rule!:cool:

Nice system. I want to sit in that chair for a while . It looks like a lot of listening has taken place there. Nice man Nice.

anhchungdoan

obieone wrote: »

The DT Studio Monitor 350's. They're like the miniature versions of the BP7000 series speakers. Instead of an active sub, they use a passive one. 8" for the 350's, and 10" for the 450's.
VERY sweet sounding!

I love the SM 450s. But I love the Paradigm S2 more.

zarrdoss

This one currently http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/energy_c3.htm

Attachment not found.

is currently pulling main duty on my living room rig and love them

Attachment not found.

dorokusai

Cheap - KEF C15

Expensive - Sonus Faber Concertino

pearsall001

Phil Jones AAD 2001 monitors...staggering performance!!

george daniel

My favorite affordable (for me) is the Tyler Acoustics Taylos Reference Monitor with the Scanspeak Revelator Tweeter,,, great detail,inner detail,whopper of a soundstage,,goes deep enough for me,but YMMV.

vc69

Genelec. Absolutely amazing. I have a pair of Yamaha NS10's I listen to sometimes and though they may "not" be bookshelf speakers, JBL 4412's are very good near-fields.

cnh

I agree that the JBL 4412s are pretty good near field monitors....and that the Pinnacle
5+ was something of a small phenomenon in its day.

I also like an old pair of db Plus speakers I have from the late 80s/90s a Canadian subsidiary no longer around.

And the KLH Model 6.

cnh

davidfmartin

The ones I made myself.



See: http://www.1414audio.com/Recession_Buster_Speakers.html

Cogito

Oh, easy one... Phase Technology's PC3.1 II

http://www.phasetech.com/products.html?product_id=PC-3.1II

steveinaz

ACI Sapphire XL's will be my choice if I ever go bookshelf.

Bubinga99

obieone wrote: »

The DT Studio Monitor 350's. They're like the miniature versions of the BP7000 series speakers. Instead of an active sub, they use a passive one. 8" for the 350's, and 10" for the 450's.
VERY sweet sounding!

The DT 350's and 450's must be in liquidation mode. Several eBay sellers have in total about 20 pairs of new-in-box 450's, with some selling in the low 300's including shipping.
I'm almost tempted...

Only 1 seller has the 350's, and if it weren't for the low priced 450's they would be a good deal.

RuSsMaN

B&W DM302's, if you can find a pair. Simple, small, paper cone woofer, soft dome tweeter - magical.

My RT7's will go to the grave with me.

Cheers,
Russ

markmarc

Until you've heard them you have no idea about how incredibly good the ACI Emerald XL's are. They are so accurate, smooth and musical that they defy their price.

Runnerup is the Mark & Daniel Maximus Mini.