Best Bookshelf Speakers under $500

Monitor Audio RS-1's...a choice of real woods, and probobly can be had for close to $500 if you talk to the dealer. Also, Boston Acoustics is closing out the E- series...E50's and E60's should be in that range, also with real wood and aluminum enclosures...they were 1000-1500 before closeout, so worth a look if you have local dealer.
 
You at least owe it to yourself to listen to a pair of JBL L830's. I picked up a pair for my wife figuring she'd never notice whether they were any good or not. When I heard them, I was blown away! Especially by the bass. So I bought another pair for myself. Great looking, great sounding. Fantastic bass! The black-finish ones are listed on Amazon, as we speak, for $307.59.
 
Bostons are always a safe bet. But, I have to admit, I'm actually thinking of selling my faithful ole Yammy NS-1000M's for a pair of something from "Definitive Technology". I've heard a few that friends own. Sweet and tight.

(One of those friends was a dealer. He didn't hawk them because he was a dealer. He acquired the line because they sounded so good. Same dealer I bought the Yammy's from.)
 
You at least owe it to yourself to listen to a pair of JBL L830's. I picked up a pair for my wife figuring she'd never notice whether they were any good or not. When I heard them, I was blown away! Especially by the bass. So I bought another pair for myself. Great looking, great sounding. Fantastic bass! The black-finish ones are listed on Amazon, as we speak, for $307.59.

A friend of mine has a pair of those. I was surprisingly very impressed. Maybe some concern about durability but the sound was great. Something that cheap can't last long?
 
Something that cheap can't last long?

My AR 4x's which I paid $57 each for in 1967 are still with me and working fine, although I did replace the tweeter controls, so cheap CAN last!:D
 
I really like that set of ADS L300s I picked up at AKFest.
Big sound out of a speaker the size of half a loaf of bread.
Nice teak cabs too.
Mine aren't going anywhere soon. :no:
 
I really like that set of ADS L300s I picked up at AKFest.
Big sound out of a speaker the size of half a loaf of bread.
Nice teak cabs too.
Mine aren't going anywhere soon. :no:

I own 3 pairs of the ADS L300e speakers and love em...
 
I'm looking for some bass, so frequency response down to at least about 55hz is a must.

Ya got to go lower than that for bass.

Not made anymore, the NHT SB3 (about $300 used) is a sealed box with a 6.5" mid/woofer that has a -3dB of 39Hz.....impressive to say the least. Upgrading the caps takes them to even greater heights.
 
That EBay Polk store looks like fun! I'm very happy with my polks and if I could find a way to add them to the living room, I would pick up a new set for there.
 
I don't know how they can get a 5.25" woofer to go that deep, but in my room they certainly are impressive and do seem to get down into the low 40hz range if not lower. :thmbsp:

Mike,

It's a lot easier when the design is ported as your B&W's (42Hz/-3dB) are verses a sealed design, but either still requires a high excursion driver with a large motor structure.

This one will probably boggle your mind, it does mine. The AAD 2001 with a 4.75" mid/woofer rated at 32Hz/-3dB! Granted it's a ported design, but still it shouldn't go that low. I heard a pair at a friend's house and they impress. If it wasn't for the fact that a rear ported design will not work in my office rig, I'd own a pair myself.

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/aad_2001.htm

Jesse
 
I'm having a bit of trouble following this thread -was the OP looking for speakers for actual book shelves, or looking for floor standers in the < 24" tall range? If going on stands, there are lots more choices. If going on shelves, we need critical dimensions?
 
Mike,

It's a lot easier when the design is ported as your B&W's (42Hz/-3dB) are verses a sealed design, but either still requires a high excursion driver with a large motor structure.

This one will probably boggle your mind, it does mine. The AAD 2001 with a 4.75" mid/woofer rated at 32Hz/-3dB! Granted it's a ported design, but still it shouldn't go that low. I heard a pair at a friend's house and they impress. If it wasn't for the fact that a rear ported design will not work in my office rig, I'd own a pair myself.

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/aad_2001.htm

Jesse

they look like something Adrian Newey would design, eh...very striking in appearance, I must say..I wonder how difficult it would be to fashion them out of carbon fiber, lol :thmbsp:
 
they look like something Adrian Newey would design, eh...very striking in appearance, I must say..I wonder how difficult it would be to fashion them out of carbon fiber, lol :thmbsp:

LOL.....yeah, they do now that you mention it.
 
Here we are in August.

The OP never let us know what he picked, if anything, but the thread is still a very interesting one, so I'll add a new note.

The Warfdale Diamond 8.2 lists for around $300 a pair and is still available on the web. I saw one place had them for sale at $150 per pair with free shipping. I've read a lot of favorable reviews about it and I might pick up a set myself one of these days. The only caviat is that they are medium efficiency and are 6 ohm impedance. Might be worth looking at.
 
Here we are in August.

The OP never let us know what he picked, if anything, but the thread is still a very interesting one, so I'll add a new note.

The Warfdale Diamond 8.2 lists for around $300 a pair and is still available on the web. I saw one place had them for sale at $150 per pair with free shipping. I've read a lot of favorable reviews about it and I might pick up a set myself one of these days. The only caviat is that they are medium efficiency and are 6 ohm impedance. Might be worth looking at.

All of the Whardales are easy to drive. We have 2 sets, the Diamond 9.1's and the Evo2-10's.
 
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