What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.

I have heard good things about Bose speakers, and I know that Yamaha
NS-10M's are the standard for studio mix-downs. However, I don't know
whether either the Bose or the NS-10M's are the best for under $400.

I would greatly appreciate all suggestions.

Thanks.

"fan" wrote in message
...
What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.

I have heard good things about Bose speakers, and I know that Yamaha
NS-10M's are the standard for studio mix-downs. However, I don't know
whether either the Bose or the NS-10M's are the best for under $400.

As for the Bose- I don't believe that any Bose is a bad speaker, as any
speaker today sounds OK if you are not particular or critical. It's just
that if you wish to get the most value for the money the Bose brand is not
one I would consider. In my experience over 24 years in the stereo business
all of the good things you hear about Bose are from Bose ads or from people
who have believed Bose ads. As for Yamaha, I haven't heard or heard about
the NS-10M, so have no opinion.
Hers's the deal - for any price speaker you get a choice of a mix of
colorations and/or limitations, and you must choose which ones please you
most on average for what you listen to and how you listen. $400 is not a
lot of money for a pair of good speakers so you will have to accept more
colorations/limitations. If what you are you at willing to accept is
limited SPL and limited deep bass there are very positive things said about
the Monitor Audio Bronze 2's and the Quad 11L. But there are many other fine
speakers that might suit you as well or better than these. The problem I
see is that you seem to be trying to make a choice based on words on a
computer monitor screen instead of which ones have a sound quality that
suits your tastes. You seem likely to do one of two things: pick a speaker
based on positive words on your screen, or give up and pick a speaker based
on a large online discount.
May I suggest a third way? Find a local audio store with a selection
of better brands and use a combination of their advice and your ears to
choose a speaker that does the things well that you value, and forget about
finding the "best". You may have to pay retail price, but in my opinion its
better to pay more for something you will enjoy for years than to get a
great deal on something that does not satisfy.

Wylie Williams
The Speaker and StereoStore

P.S.- Yes, I am in the stereo business but I am not soliciting your
business. I sell only in my local market, Saint Louis Missouri. I just
enjoy 2 channel and sometimes I try to give advice. ww

none wrote:

fan wrote in :


I have heard good things about Bose speakers


You don't follow audio newsgroups or forums much do you?

I'd recommend the Tannoy MXm2. They are shielded and sound great.

fan wrote in :

What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.


Mirage makes nice speakers:

http://www.miragespeakers.com

Their AVS line is very cheap and sound nice (bright and clear). Mirage also
has more expensive speakers.

Otherwise... Athena makes a nice set under the Audition series:

http://www.athenaspeakers.com/

--
Lucas Tam )
Please delete "REMOVE" from the e-mail address when replying.
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/coolspot18/

In article , says...
What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.
I have heard good things about Bose speakers, and I know that Yamaha
NS-10M's are the standard for studio mix-downs. However, I don't know
whether either the Bose or the NS-10M's are the best for under $400.
I would greatly appreciate all suggestions.

find a store that sells both speakers. Bring a couple of your favorite
CD's with you. Then compare the two speakers. Then buy the one that
sounds best to you.
---------------
Alex

Paradigm

Cambridge Soundworks m60 or m80


"Christopher" wrote in message
...
Paradigm

"fan" wrote in message
...

What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers
are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.

Experts whose opinions I value have strongly recommended the Paradigm
Titan, which sells for about $200/pr.

Norm Strong

"fan" wrote in message
...
What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.

I have heard good things about Bose speakers, and I know that Yamaha
NS-10M's are the standard for studio mix-downs. However, I don't know
whether either the Bose or the NS-10M's are the best for under $400.

As you can see there are many recommendations, and every one is a good
recommendation from a contented owner. The fact is that the quality of
lower priced speakers from most all makers has reached a high level, but
they vary by having different colorations (or sound personalities, or what
ever you want to call it). You can probably be happy with almost any well
regarded name brand speaker purchased sound unheard so long as you do not
compare it to others. You will be better pleased in the long run if you do
some listening in a store to several choices to narrow the choice to
speakers that suit your taste.

Buying to suit your taste may seem like non-audiophile advice, but it
is based on the idea that you will not get perfection in any speaker, much
less at $400 a pair, so you need to find the "best" speaker by finding one
whose good points suit what you consider important and whose weak points
fall into areas that matter less to you.

Wylie Williams

I bought Axiom M22's (via their website) -- $400 including shipping. I
am very safisfied. I had listened to B&W, Paradigm & Mirage costing
more. The Axioms turned out to be comparable if not better. I
eventually added a $300 subwoofer (low bass is a weakness of all
bookshelfs). I am only using the speakers for stereo.

Mark


fan wrote in message . ..
What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.

I have heard good things about Bose speakers, and I know that Yamaha
NS-10M's are the standard for studio mix-downs. However, I don't know
whether either the Bose or the NS-10M's are the best for under $400.

I would greatly appreciate all suggestions.

Thanks.

"normanstrong" wrote in message news:6mF%c.4287$D%.1801@attbi_s51...
"fan" wrote in message
...

What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers
are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.

Experts whose opinions I value have strongly recommended the Paradigm
Titan, which sells for about $200/pr.

Norm Strong

I'll add the PSB Alpha series. The Athena speakers, sold in Best Buys
stores, are also good choices.

Most of all, I'd suggest you take some CDs you know and like around to
local audio retailers and listen to what they have, then buy what
sounds and looks good to you.

The Bose Acoustimass satellite/subwoofer speakers won't please the
audiophile crowd, but they're visually unobtrusive and take up less
space in your room, if that's important to you. I have the smallest
set, the Acoustimass-3, in a room where anything bigger would be
unacceptable, and they sound good enough for my needs in that room.
The other brands in this group would generally sound better, at least
to the audiophile crowd.

Some other places to read reviews:

consumerreports.org

epinions.com

audioreview.com

....or just go to Google.com and search for reviews. But remember, what
matters most is that the speakers sound good to you, so I strongly
suggest you shop and buy locally.

Our friend with the $400 junk, obversely has no-idea, what he's talking
about or what good audio consists off.. Never mind he's probably very happy
in his own deluded little way.

I personnel would steer clear of Bose and a few of the cheaper brands,
Whatever you do decide on, ask to audition them with a choice of your music,
take a couple of C.D.s with you, [ Less and less retailers are equipped
these days for the Vinyl fan. ] Look for B & W, Nautilus, Whatmough, etc.
You should get something presentable for under a Grand, There's a great deal
of traded stuff, that can be had for a song, if you go to a Specialist
Audio Store. Most will allow you to audition in your own home,
and if they refuse, make for the door. But remember different room sizes,
furniture configurations will effect the sound.

Different speakers react differently in the home environment. To my way of
thinking, the heaver they are the better they will sound, and I make no
excuses for using spikes,.. Stuff the carpet

bassett

"fathom" wrote in message
...
fan wrote in
:

What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The
speakers are to be used in a home environment for stereo
and TV.

I have heard good things about Bose speakers, and I know
that Yamaha NS-10M's are the standard for studio mix-downs.
However, I don't know whether either the Bose or the
NS-10M's are the best for under $400.

I would greatly appreciate all suggestions.

Thanks.

Get an entire kickass powered 5-channel system for $400. Blows
away any pair of wooden boxes you can buy for that price.

http://tinyurl.com/3qf35

--

fan wrote:
What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400?

Since you are on that side of the Atlantic, it might be a good
idea to check the Canadian brands, particulary Mirage, which
someone else had already mentioned:
http://miragespeakers.com/products.shtml

Considering the British brands, you can check what "What Hi-Fi?"
( http://www.whathifi.com/ ) recommends:

Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo One
B&W DM601 S3
KEF Q1
Monitor Audio Bronze B2
Tannoy Mercury mX2-M
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1

http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/
http://www.bwspeakers.com/
http://www.kef.com/products.htm
http://www.monitoraudio.com/
http://www.tannoy.com/index.cfm
http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/hifi.htm

and I know that Yamaha NS-10M's are the standard for studio mix-downs.

Take a look at this article, which mentions the Yamaha NS10M.

MONITORS versus HI-FI SPEAKERS
For Project Studio Monitoring
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jun0....asp?print=yes
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jul0....asp?print=yes

I would greatly appreciate all suggestions.

Whatever bookshelf speaker you buy, the response below about 60 Hz
will not be great. So, if you have the space, you could later buy
a subwoofer. Most models I have seen have speaker levels inputs
and a variable crossover, so you can insert them between your
amplifier and the speakers.

--
http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/

..pt is Portugal| `Whom the gods love die young'-Menander (342-292 BC)
Europe | Villeneuve 50-82, Toivonen 56-86, Senna 60-94

"bassett" wrote in message ...
Our friend with the $400 junk, obversely has no-idea, what he's talking
about or what good audio consists off.. Never mind he's probably very happy
in his own deluded little way....

--
Thank you so much for enlightening me, oh great one. I forgot it's not
the sound; it's the brand name and cost that counts. I'll also hurry
out (as you no doubt have done) and invest in $2000 interconnects
along with a pyramid to sit under to optimize the karmic
harmonics...Get off it, bud

Lucas Tam wrote in message ...
fan wrote in :

What are the best bookshelf speakers for under $400? The speakers are
to be used in a home environment for stereo and TV.


Mirage makes nice speakers:

http://www.miragespeakers.com

Their AVS line is very cheap and sound nice (bright and clear). Mirage also
has more expensive speakers.

Otherwise... Athena

Agree. I'll add that Energy and Athena are sister brands of Mirage.
All make good speakers.

makes a nice set under the Audition series:

http://www.athenaspeakers.com/

Athena speakers are available via Best Buy stores and (I assume) their
web site:

www.BestBuy.com