What are the best value for the $ new floor standing speakers below $500?

A new pair of JBL 590 would be awsome and they look very sexy but it's $2,000. Less glamorous Klipsch R-28F will definitely be on sale next week at Best Buy for $450 a pair and may be adequate. My receiver is 100 W though and those are 150 W so I guess I don't have to buy a new receiver but if I want to make it real loud (in relative terms, of course), I think I better buy a 145-150 W receiver. Probably Klipsch RP-280F would be even better but I don't think that one will be on sale, not at Best Buy anyway.
What is the sensitivity rating of the Klipsch RP-280F?
 
Sensitivity on Klipsch RP-280F is 98 dB - same as in Klipsch R-28F.
I will not get a used pair because I want to buy a new pair. Of course, if I had a friend who would sell me a slightly used pair, I would go for it but otherwise the plan is to start a new long-term relationship with 2 speakers from zero. It may be a wrong strategy, of course to just look at Best Buy sales without paying more attention to possible Cyber Monday internet deals but most likely a decent pair of new JBLs on sale would still be $1,000 at least which is way above $500.
 
Sensitivity on Klipsch RP-280F is 98 dB - same as in Klipsch R-28F.
I will not get a used pair because I want to buy a new pair. Of course, if I had a friend who would sell me a slightly used pair, I would go for it but otherwise the plan is to start a new long-term relationship with 2 speakers from zero. It may be a wrong strategy, of course to just look at Best Buy sales without paying more attention to possible Cyber Monday internet deals but most likely a decent pair of new JBLs on sale would still be $1,000 at least which is way above $500.
You will not need any more than a 50 watt per channel amplifier with those speakers.
 
Interesting. I currently have 2 Yamaha amplifiers - 1 is 55 watts (RX-460) and another 100 watts per channel. So you are saying that 55 or 100 does not matter and in both cases the speaker at maximum volume will sound equally loud?
So me people believe that Yamaha receivers and Klipsch speakers are never a perfect match but theoretically speaking the receiver brand shouldn't matter.
I also noticed that one guy locally is trying to sell his JBL Studio 590 set of 2 speakers (used) for $650 on CL. I may just go and listen at least. There is just one photo there and condition is not clear from that picture. In any case, that should be a fairly new model, right?
 
I'm glad you are at least open to used speakers now. The biggest advantage to used, besides the cost saving, is you get to weed out the problem models. Once the reviews start coming in, you can tell the good from the bad easily, not as much with brand new models, and it seems manufacturers rarely keep a lower priced model around for long. Your $500 will go much further and smarter on used gear. I regularly hunt 30+ year old speakers, some of which sound better than $3000 speakers today, for a small fraction of that price. I think I speak for many here.
 
Interesting. I currently have 2 Yamaha amplifiers - 1 is 55 watts (RX-460) and another 100 watts per channel. So you are saying that 55 or 100 does not matter and in both cases the speaker at maximum volume will sound equally loud?
So me people believe that Yamaha receivers and Klipsch speakers are never a perfect match but theoretically speaking the receiver brand shouldn't matter.
I also noticed that one guy locally is trying to sell his JBL Studio 590 set of 2 speakers (used) for $650 on CL. I may just go and listen at least. There is just one photo there and condition is not clear from that picture. In any case, that should be a fairly new model, right?

Because the Klipsch you are considering are very efficient you will not need a larger amplifier.
If they were inefficient you might.
You may want to Google speaker efficiency.
You may want to Google speaker input ratings as well.
Input ratings are not written in stone but rather a recommendation.
100 wpc receiver with 100 watt speakers is NOT a perfect match strictly based on the numbers matching.
 
Please allow me to stir the pot a little.......A year ago I was in the OP's position....I wanted a set of floor-standing speakers, new, for <$500. I didn't much like what I heard at BB, there was nothing on Craig's List, and I didn't trust the auction site. Searching the web, I found the Fluance site. The XL7f were $500 a pair with free shipping. Reviews were decent, the Pictures looked nice, and they came with a 30 day money back guarantee, along with a lifetime warranty. I bought them. They arrived a few days before Christmas. I set them up and have been listening to them ever since. Some of my conclusions:
Very nice looking, good construction. Very high WAF. Bi-ampable. Clean, decent sound, especially for HT. Not very efficient. They need a lot more power than their price point would indicate. Rear bass porting and the downward firing woofer require careful placement. All in all, not a bad speaker for the price, and I assume that anything else in it's price range will have other strengths/ weakness. I wish I had the chance to listen to them before I purchased them.....But there are trade offs for everything.....If the OP could increase his budget by couple of hundred bucks there are worlds of (possibly better) choices out there.....my opinion FWIW.

KJR
 
These Polks are right at $499 delivered. Never heard them, but decent brand for that price range.


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https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7VT4T49563
 
Those Polks look pretty nice. Thanks.I need black color though.When I took my wife to BB displays yesterday for some reason she liked a lot the sound of Polk T-50 at $75 a piece which in my opinion was no match to other more upscale models. Maybe the price tag influenced my opinion too because after all they did sound pretty good.
 
Sensitivity on Klipsch RP-280F is 98 dB - same as in Klipsch R-28F.
I will not get a used pair because I want to buy a new pair. Of course, if I had a friend who would sell me a slightly used pair, I would go for it but otherwise the plan is to start a new long-term relationship with 2 speakers from zero. It may be a wrong strategy, of course to just look at Best Buy sales without paying more attention to possible Cyber Monday internet deals but most likely a decent pair of new JBLs on sale would still be $1,000 at least which is way above $500.

Maybe an oddball suggestion, but why don't you save a little more money and start a Long Term Relationship with a pair of speakers better than the $500 limit. You are really cornering yourself with what is available and any good for floor standers in the $500 range. The cabinets will not be solid at that price for the size they need to be. There will also be more compromises in order to make a cheap floorstanding speaker.

In many cases, it is believed that one should purchase the best pair of speakers one can afford, and build the system around them. I did that years ago when I saved enough money to purchase what many would think a ridiculous purchase of a pair of Dynaudio 82s for $2500. In hindsight, it was one of the best purchases I made and then I build a system around them with a Stratos Amp, beefy enough to drive them, and a Sound Valves tube pre-amp.

Don't make any hasty decisions just because of these sales that are tempting you.

Fluance makes a few pairs just under or just over your limit, but I cannot comment on their sound and build quality.
 
Sensitivity on Klipsch RP-280F is 98 dB - same as in Klipsch R-28F.
I will not get a used pair because I want to buy a new pair. Of course, if I had a friend who would sell me a slightly used pair, I would go for it but otherwise the plan is to start a new long-term relationship with 2 speakers from zero. It may be a wrong strategy, of course to just look at Best Buy sales without paying more attention to possible Cyber Monday internet deals but most likely a decent pair of new JBLs on sale would still be $1,000 at least which is way above $500.
Klipsch tends to inflate their sensitivity by about 6db -- real world sensitivity will be around 92db -- however that is still good and they will get quite loud with a 50 watt amp.
 
Be careful, Playing Loud and Sounding Good do not always go together.

Do you want loud boomy bass, or do you want articulate and coherent notes where you can tell round wound strings vs flat wound?
Do you want loud shrill highs, or do you want to hear the decay of a symbol crash?
Do you want distinct mid-range, or do you want it to cloudy the highs and muddy the lows?

Measurements have nothing to do with quality of sound.
 
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