Your Favorite 8 inch 2-Way Speakers

[JB1962]

Going on 4 years since I refoamed and recapped my JBL 4301B Control Monitors. I finally got around to refinishing the cabinets last May, during the lockdown. I am still running them in my main system and listen to them daily. I guess that means they're my favorite 8" 2-ways as I have no desire to replace them.

I spy something Marantz...

 

[Fomoco1649]

It's been almost two years since my previous post and after downsizing to a smaller place, I've had the pleasure of experiencing some additional 8" 2-way speakers that I believe are worthy of mention.

The first are the JBL 4301B Control Monitors. These are well built smallish speakers that just sound great. They were designed by legendary JBL speaker designer Greg Timbers and were the smallest member of the venerable 43xx series of JBL Control/Studio Monitors. They are very highly regarded over at the Lansing Heritage site and it's easy to see (and hear) why. Plus, they just look cool with those classic JBL blue front baffles:

Next are their fraternal twin JBL L19A - same drivers, similar crossover in a cabinet that was designed to be more living room friendly (taller, but shallower than the 4301Bs). After a recap and refoam, they sound every bit as good as their 4301B brethren:

Finally, my most recent 8" 2-way find, the Snell Type K/II. Like the JBLs, very high build quality and punch way above their modest dimensions:

For those with limited space, and budgets, I would not hesitate to recommend any of these three.

Agreed, I have a mint pair of Snell K ll….great quality , heavy, with good tight bass & drivers

 

[hpm40]

Phase Tech PC600HO. Tight bass, non-fatiguing highs, great mids. I also like my Human 81's. According to Huw Powell's website the Human 81 are descended from the EPI-100.

 

[GordonW]

These.



Regards,
Gordon.

 

[Bill S]

 

[hpm40]

Gordon those are beautiful. What are they ?

 

[trinhsman]

I’m partial to these. Lots of help from my brother in law and AK member @GordonW, who redid the crossovers. Can you say highly modified Snell E II’s?

 

[GordonW]

Gordon those are beautiful. What are they ?

The 8C Project- Dual-Concentric Speaker System

Speaker system designed by me, about 4 years ago (2008). Based on 8" Tannoy pro/commercial dual-concentric driver, with my own crossover, cabinet design and tuning. These were built and assembled locally (Atlanta GA area). Was also available...

audiokarma.org

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[crispycircuit]

Fried Q5 Loved them! Had them on loan...

 

[nikon f]

Just reformed a pair of Snell KII speakers, next step is to replace the electrolytic caps. They sound great!

 

[Akustic]

One more vote for the Snell's ..
But mostly because they're easier to find than the Tannoy's ..

 

[JRhoBurton]

Beovox 2600





These are rears in the bedroom quad system. I can also switch them to the multiroom amp when it's playing.

These sound a bit better, if a 2 woofer speaker qualifies. SEAS by Sennheiser SE-2.





Both pairs are similar to Dynaco's.

 

[Dudeman7]

Marantz Imperial 5s are my favorite 8" 2-way speakers.

They sound exactly like I think a great pair of speakers should sound. Just the right amount of everything. Perhaps the best thing about them is that they get out of the way and allow me to focus on the music instead of focusing on the gear.

 

[A400]

My current favorite is Epos ES-14.

Since I last looked at this thread I got my KEF 104aB working and would add those as #2 (and for some situations #1).

 

[macgolf]

Marantz Imperial 5s are my favorite 8" 2-way speakers.

They sound exactly like I think a great pair of speakers should sound. Just the right amount of everything. Perhaps the best thing about them is that they get out of the way and allow me to focus on the music instead of focusing on the gear.

I'm a huge fan of the Marantz Imperial 5's. They interact well with my SS units as well as all my tube units.

My favorite 8" 2-way I've ever had was a pair of BOTL Spendor Preludes. Preludes are the "economy" version of their SA-2's. They didn't go as low as the 5's but they imaged like crazy and also matched well with any unit I paired them with. A few years ago I gifted them to a co-worker buddy. He was looking for a pair of speakers to fill out a quad system. Due to health reasons he was going to be spending a lot more time in front of his system than he would have liked. As I thought, they were a perfect match for his other pair of speakers. Maybe someday I'll find another pair of Preludes or SA-2's.

 

[MaxP]

Boston A70s have served me well! They sound much larger than one would expect…

 

[Lux Man]

My JBL 590's, 2-8" is that cheating?

 

[MaxP]

My JBL 590's, 2-8" is that cheating?

Haha - yes it is!

 

[peterp1]

My favorite 8" speakers are likely the smallest, by far, in this thread. The Allison 6's. 11.25" cubes.

They impressed the hell out of me back in the early '80's when shopping for speakers for a friend. We tried literally everything among mid-price ($200-$300 in period) speakers in every hifi store in the area, and the Allison 6''s were best by far, even though they were much smaller than everything else. We weren't even looking for small speakers, they just beat everything else, including my 10" Advents at the time.

Several years ago I bought an early 80's pair of Allison Six's, and they have impressed me just as much.

 

[topdownsound]

My BA A70 Series II. They are the surrounds in my 5.1 system. BIG "bookshelf" speakers, for people who have big books, I suppose.