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March 16, 2013 - 10:57am
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<$500 Bookshelf Speakers for HD Radio / Classical Music
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1st off, i'm by no means an expert, i'm just throwin' my own experience here, so take it with a grain of salt.
Back in my 1st home I still have my 1st 5.1 system. When I was putting that together I was looking for budget bookshelf speakers so I went and listened to quite a few of them....all the way up in the 400$ range. Yet I really really loved The BOSTON ACOUSTIC's CS26 (mark I) and kept coming back to them, even after listening to some 3-400$ speakers, and eventually I bought a pair.
PRO - lots of detail and good bass. You gotta consider there aren't a lot of bookshelves out there with a 6'5 driver for 200$ ! they can move quite a bit of air for their size...specially in smallish/medium sized rooms.
- good midrange, although not stellar.
- IMPORTANT: very easy to drive, they need little power.
- good soundstage
CONS - the tweeter is really harsh sometimes, it needs to be tamed (with positioning or settings) and It gets progessively harsher when you drive the volume up.
At normal listening levels you might start with say +4 tweeter setting on the receiver but once you play loud you REALLY need to turn it down to 0 or -2. kinda annoying but hey you get what you pay in the end :D
- needs some space at the back (I was using it at 20 inches from the back wall)
EDIT: 500sq feet is quite big...one more reason to go for a bigger woofer IMO
Thank you for the reply. CS 26 Mark I seems like a speaker with deep bass. We like the good reviews on the internet. The price is certainly right. What kind of music do you listen to?
Any thoughts on a "deep cone" vs a regular cone?
PS, measured the room, it is closer to 300' :-/
Mostly I listen to blues,jazz and some rock and pop in the middle.
About the cones...it's way beyond my knowledge/experience at the moment :-)
I hope more people will give their own experience as i'm sure there are lots more good speakers in your price range.
You may like this combo: Pioneer bookshelf SP-BS22-LR, $129.99 pr. and a Pioneer sub SW-8MK2 $159.99
This would possibly work. Go to Best Buy and purchase, and listen at home, do not listen in the store, they don't sound great there.
I agree with previous comments, if you like bass the Boston Acoustics A26 may work for you. Currently on sale at Best buy for under $300 for the pair.
I have heard both
Currently the Boston Acoustics A26 are $199 on amazon.
Also you might give Polk Audio a chance if you can listen to some of their lower end speakers (also around the 200$ mark).
They have a 5 1/2 inch woofer and I remember they sounded more "polite" when compared to the Boston's (both bass and the treble). On the long run that might be a good thing.
It's just a matter of tastes really.
Hi,
The Pioneer SP-BS22-LR look like a good match. The 4" woofers are a good match for apartment living. Also, the speakers rate at 6ohm vs the Polk Bookshelf's 8ohm so that gives me comfort they will be compatible with the Sherwood receiver which reads 6ohms on the rear terminals. We plan to order the speakers and add the sub in the future.
Bass is nice but not necessary as necessary for our classical music listening.
Thanks again!