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Bookshelf Speakers - 3 Choices - Which ones?

Zeego

Zeego

Illegitimi non carborundum
Okay guys...Going to pull the trigger on bookshelf speakers in the next two days. Going to be powered by a Pioneer SX 626. Here are my choices:

- Polk Audio Monitor 4's
- Boston Acoustics A40's II
- Klipsch KG 5's

What say you? Thanks! :music:
 
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With only 20wpc, sensitivity will definitely be an issue. Tough choice. I'm more of a Boston fan in terms of voicings go, but would the KG5 be the more-sensitive, able-to-run-off-20wpc choice here? Not sure without doublechecking the specs.
 
Zeego said:
Okay guys...Going to pull the trigger on bookshelf speakers in the next two days. Going to be powered by a Pioneer SX 626. Here are my choices:

- Polk Audio Monitor 4's
- Boston Acoustics A40's II
- Klipsch KG 5's

What say you? Thanks! :music:
Click to expand...

Room size, budget, how loud do you listen and music genres.....please. :)
 
I have a pair of Polk Monitor 4's that I picked up at a garage sale. They are currently off line because I want to check them out for possible recapping. They have a well balanced sound with surprising bass response. They presented an easy load and were very pleasant to listen to. I am currently listening to my AR215PS speakers driven by my Yamaha
A-S500 amplifier. The ARs have a warm smooth presentation, but probably will need a sub-woofer to match the Polk's bass response.
 
I have the A40 IIs, with a Polk sub, on a 737. I absolutely adore them. However, I am noticing at higher volumes they lose some of their sweetness in the mids/higs on some tracks (though my other half can't hear anything amiss). Perhaps it's age-related (had them for about 25 years; didn't start using them as mains until a year ago), or a quirk in their crossovers that some reviewers noticed 30 years ago.

If you are paying < $60 for a pair, by all means try them out!

With just about any bookshelf with an 8" or smaller woofer, you are almost surely going to want a sub to fill-out the bass. On a 626, a powered one is the only way to go. I have the Polk PSW-10. It's a bit feisty to get right, but the payback is worth it. On other units, make sure they take speaker-level inputs because the Pios don't have outputs for subs.

I auditioned the Polk Monitor 4 and I did not like them at all on the 737. Sounded kind of hollow and unremarkable. Vocals on Rumours and early Doobies were flat; on the BAs you can almost hug each of the musicians and vocalists. However, they sounded right at home on a friend's HT. I get the feeling they simply were not designed to be used on a 2-channel setup.
 
I recently acquired some KG .5's (I assume that's what you meant since there is no KG 5) and was quite impressed by them. They are being used with an 8 inch Yamaha sub so not sure how low they go. All 3 choices would benefit from a sub although the Polk does appear to go furthest down in the bass.

I have no real experience with the other 2 choices, but would point out that the Klipsch are new enough not to need a recap for best performance and that you need to check the Boston's to see if they need to be refoamed.
 
Unless those choices are dirt cheap or you are cut off from civilization, I think you could find better speakers that those.

None of those are on my "good" bookshelf speaker list.
 
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