Top 5 Bookshelf Speakers
It’s not impossible to find a good pair of compact, inexpensive and great-sounding speakers. You just need a solid set of bookshelf speakers, and this week we’re looking at five pairs that fit those criteria – based on your nominations, of course.
Earlier this week, we asked you which bookshelf speakers you think are best for delivering great sound, space saving, expandability and decent looks without ruining your bank account. You’ve provided a lot more deals across all price points than we could highlight here, but here are your top 5 in no particular order:
Pioneer SP-BS22LR
The Pioneer SP-BS22LR bookshelf speakers designed by Andrew Jones may not have a fancy name or anything else, but they have the honor of being economical (only around $ 127 on Amazon ), and The Wirecutter praises them as their budget choice. for great bookshelf speakers . They sound great, work well on their own or as part of a larger setup, and for their price you can choose them and then add additional channels and speakers later to expand your setup, or leave them on their own with enough power for sound. small space is completely up to you. Their flexibility is their greatest strength. Each features a 4 ” surface structured woofer and 1 ” dome tweeter, 80W power, 6 ohm impedance, 55Hz-20kHz frequency response and, The Wirecutter notes, sounds much better than others. speakers in their price range. Sure, raising to $ 300-400 will open up more options and offer more options, but since our review takes budget into account (and so did theirs), this is a great buy for the money.
Those of you who have nominated the SP-BS22LR commented that they sound amazing for their price, ideal for small spaces like dorm rooms, apartments, home offices and other confined spaces where you might not need the full power of a huge speaker system. … and that they are often sold – to the point where some of you said you bought a pair for as little as $ 60-80. This is an incredible price cut, but many of you have noted it. Others of you have pointed out that these are not the most attractive speakers, but they sound solid. Read more in the nomination thread here .
Dayton Audio B652
The Dayton Audio B652 bookshelf loudspeakers are only about a foot high, but at their small height, they conceal a 6.5 “woofer and 5/8” dome tweeter, which are highly recommended by Stereophile for great sound in their price range. On Amazon, they cost you a paltry $ 43 . For your money, you get 40 watts of power (75 watts maximum), a 70Hz to 20kHz frequency response, 8 ohm impedance, the clarity and sound quality you would normally find in speakers for more than double the price, and beautiful ebony vinyl. peak. the finish. Make no mistake, they are not the best when it comes to sound quality, but if sound quality is a factor and you are using more to determine which is the best, they are worth considering.
Those of you who put them forward simply noted that they produce crisp, clear sound, take up very little space, and are ideal for almost any application in any room in the home. You might need something a little more powerful for your home theater, but if you’re looking for a cheap pair of speakers for side-mounting, home office, kid’s room, or wherever else, you need good sound without spending a ton of money, they’re solid. Read more in the nomination thread here .
Audioengine P4 passive bookshelf speakers
P4B passive speakers from Audioengine, priced at around $ 249 a pair, are widely recognized for being expandable and capable of reproducing sound in both small and large spaces without taking up a lot of space or emptying your wallet. At about 9 inches tall, with a frequency response of 58Hz – 22kHz, 4 ohm impedance, 125W maximum power and a 4 “Kevlar woofer paired with a 3/4” dome tweeter, Audioengine has been quite popular in the round of nominations (If not for of those specific speakers, some of their others also made it to the nomination.) A compact design with threaded inserts for rear panel mounting or bottom mounting to a stand completes the package, with the cabinet being made of thick resin. MDF, which may not be the most beautiful for people who love wood exteriors, but is designed to prevent noise and unwanted sound reflections from inside the cabinet. They even come with their own cloth storage bags, and while they’re not currently on sale on Amazon, they often get discounts from time to time. They are also available in black (shown here), white, or bamboo.
In the nomination thread, many of you praised the P4, while some of you mentioned the P4’s boosted siblings, A5 + powered speakers and A2 + desktop speakers . In each case, many of you pointed out that these were the best speakers you have ever owned, and while there are many compact speakers at this price point, they offer a solid design, good sound, and expandability. if you want to attach them to a larger home entertainment center later, or use them for other purposes somewhere in the future. Full disclosure, although I haven’t nominated them myself, I have a couple and I love the way they sound. To be honest, our very own Whitson Gordon had a couple too, and he didn’t really like them. Read more in the thread of his nominations .
Clip-on RB-61 II
The price of the Klipsch RB-61 II shelf reference speakers has gone up in price, but their quality has gone up again. They cost $ 400 on Amazon , but that’s below their retail price of $ 500 and up. These speakers are very popular with Amazon reviewers (they got five stars after about 50 reviews) and slightly more than some of the others in the review. They are about 15 “high, 12” deep and about 8 “wide, but the copper-on-black design of the woofers and enclosures is definitely striking and beautiful if aesthetics are your thing. The enclosures are made from black ash wood vinyl and the speaker offers 100 watts (400 watts maximum), 8 ohms impedance, 45-24 kHz frequency response and a 6.5-inch cone woofer. This model is likely to be replaced soon, so they are affordable for the price they pack and are specially designed for mid-sized rooms so you can sound in an apartment, living room or study, or any size room. pretty good without leaving a huge footprint in your speaker-only setup.
Those of you who have nominated the Klipsch RB-61 II noted that part of their appeal is that they sound great in mid-sized rooms and don’t cost a fortune like some other stand-up sets, and offer solid, proven sound in a price range that’s absolutely cluttered with models that perform well, but not necessarily great – at least not enough to make you think they’re worth the money. You also noted that they generally require less power to operate than many other speakers of this size and power, and they achieve the perfect balance. Read more in the nomination thread here .
M-Audio AV 40
The AV 40 from M-Audio are well known and popular speakers, and for good reason. They are powered, which means you can connect them directly to your audio source without an amplifier. They are also quite small, about 8 inches high and about the same depth. They have 20 watts per channel at amplified power, a frequency response of 85 Hz – 20 kHz, a 10 ohm impedance and a 4 “woofer paired with a 1” cone tweeter. They are a bit different from the others, but they pack a lot of sound in a small package. They certainly aren’t for large spaces or even in the same arena that you probably could get for home theater systems, but they’ll set you back $ 121 on Amazon and can be plugged into multiple audio sources, making them ideal for desktop systems. mixing stations, or second rooms. Their versatility and significant sound for the money make them really popular with people looking for power and clarity in small spaces like dorms or home offices. They even have front headphone ports or an auxiliary input, so you can plug in something like a phone or music player.
Those of you who nominated AV 40 noted that these things are built like tanks and the wood and MDF cabinets are hard to damage. They’re heavy but small, and portable enough to take with you wherever you go, and despite being designed for small spaces, you’ve said they are very capable of probing large spaces – like a school gym, for example. You also pointed out that they have dropped significantly in value in recent years, making them even more attractive now than before. You can read more in their nominations thread here .
Now that you’ve seen the top five, it’s time to put them up for a general vote to determine the Lifehacker community favorite:
Honorable mentions
This week we received honorable mention KRK RP5G3-NA Rokit 5 Generation 3 , each of which will cost you $ 147 on Amazon’s . They deliver incredible sound for their price, and you pointed out that they were meant for low-end studio monitors, much like the AV 40 described above, but they are expandable and sound great on their own even in home theaters or home offices. settings on your desk. They are also powered speakers, so they are versatile enough to plug directly into a computer or other audio source, or hook up to a receiver. You can read his nominations thread here .
We also have to give credit to the Polk Audio Monitor40 Series II , which will set you back around $ 150 on Amazon. Polk is almost always highly recommended, and those of you who have nominated them said their price does not match the truly excellent sound that can be easily expanded with additional speakers in your home entertainment system. You praise their high quality, solid wood construction, and rear connectivity. All in all, this is a solid investment. You can read more in their nominations thread here .
Of course, if you’re looking for more powerful sound and you’re on a budget, check out our roundup of the top five living room speaker sets for options that can cost more and take up a lot more space in your space but deliver sound in line.
Do you have anything to say about one of the applicants? Want to substantiate your personal favorite even if it wasn’t on the list? Remember, the Top 5 is based on your most popular nominations from the Call for Applicants thread earlier this week . Don’t just complain about the top 5, let us know which option you like best and justify it in the discussions below.