Best speakers under $500? Fire away!

xyobgyn:

"B&W Matrix 805 used

Used is about $500, and will retain that value for some time. Remarkably hard to beat for $500"

The only ones I've seen for sale recently ran $795 unless they were seriously damaged. There's a pair without tweeters for $395 on eBay, $749 for a pair in which two front clips on tweeter housings were broken and glued back on.

There was a pair on Audiogon for $795 IIRC a week or two back. I guess they sold for that amount, as I no longer see them when I search. There's even a guy who's had a pair for $995 on US Audio Mart since September.

If you have a pair you'd like to sell for $500, xyobgyn, please let me know.

I have as surround a pair of def tech sm 45, just do some research on them, they are very very good

The Monitor Audio Bronze 2 I recommended before is much better than the worfedale 10.1 (9.1 the predecessor was better if you can find one) the Elac is better but less than MA Bronze it can’t matck the strong dynamics of the Bronze I was really overwhelm once I first heard it ,you are buying speaker worth 1K in terms of capability  for $ 400 it’s really a bargain. It’s almost as good as the B&W 685.

seriously, the Gallo CL2's I bought are still breaking in and have detail, accuracy, spaciousness and natural tone that will put many of these suggestions to shame. They are 90db and a transmission line - the bass is extended and accurate, you can actually hear the tone and articulation of the bass, not just boom like the B6. I heard them up against the B&W 685 mentioned above - the Gallos are in a whole different league for sure. That CDT tweeter and crossoverless design is special. Call Dan at Gallo!!!

One other option is a used pair of Tekton Lore Reference - They can be had about $500. Very efficient, huge effortless dynamics and soundstage.