Best sounding inexpensive bookshelf speaker ?

Ned

Ned

Ikon Class
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Location
Litchfield County
I'm looking for a good sounding but relatively inexpensive second hand pair of monitor speaker to tide me over when selling my current B&W PM1's. I tend to lean towards UK speakers - KEF, B&W, Mission, Quad & so on. I do have a REL subwoofer so low end is not a consideration. I would prefer something that can be biwired as well.

Any thoughts -
Ned
 
Ned said:
I'm looking for a good sounding but relatively inexpensive second hand pair of monitor speaker to tide me over when selling my current B&W PM1's. I tend to lean towards UK speakers - KEF, B&W, Mission, Quad & so on. I do have a REL subwoofer so low end is not a consideration. I would prefer something that can be biwired as well.

Any thoughts -
Ned
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i use Optimus pro LX5 with my sub. They don't make them anymore but can be found on ebay. I love them.
 
I'm not familiar with the speakers you listed and realize that we all have a certain speaker preference. For my money, I'd recommend a set of early Advent ("yolk' tweeter) book shelves. These are usually described as more of the "New England" / "Boston" sound.
 
I think that ELAC is the best value in inexpensive bookshelf speakers today. I have a pair of ELAC B6 speakers in my record room as well as a pair in my office. They sound suberb. They cost $279 a pair. The ELAC Uni-fi UB5 has received rave reviews. They are $499 a pair. Both are desined by Andrew Jones, famous British speaker designer. The best bargain in Hi Fi today may be the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR. Also designed by Andrew Jones, they are $129 per pair. Speaker design technology has advanced so rapidly lately that I would consider a current model over one from even 5 years ago.
 
One caveat. All the "bookshelf" speakers that I mentioned must be put on a stand. They don't sound nearly as good on a bookshelf. I made DIY speaker stands with 2 2x4s in a T shape for the pole. 1x8 pine for the speaker to rest on. You want it just smaller than the speaker bottom to avoid edge effects. The floor piece I made out of 1x12 pine. Less than $20 for the pair of stands. I screwed them together with decking screws. You want them to be tall enough to put the tweeter at ear level in your listening chair. You also want them at least 12" from any room boundary & 24" is better. I'll upload a picture if anyone is interested.
 
I've yet to find any loudspeakers that don't need to be completely re-built as soon as you buy them. Most of them are jam-packed full of horrific crimped spade connectors, cheap internal wiring, and other useless convenience features, lights, dials and switches.
 
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