Bang for the buck


Hi all, I'm looking to get some feedback on great value/sound used speakers for a 14x11.5' room in an apartment. Are there any suggestions from audiosciencereview or your own experience that mate great sound with excellent value on the used market? I recently found a pair of Salk speakers at a good price, but their frequency response is the only measurement graph I can find. Plus, I wonder if a large part of that speaker price is due to the cost of the cabinet and its elaborate finish. I'm looking to put my money towards the music more than the cabinet jewelry finishes. (I'm on a budget <$2k). Thanks for any recommendations 

128x128labguy

I have a pair of PMC Fb1i Signatures listed (on the free site) that are perfect for that size room.  PMC’s use transmission lines so they have superior bass for their size, and are used in many major recording studios.  Only downside is the high price when new.

@kota1 thanks for the info! I saw the 30 day home trial, but assumed I'd be on the hook for return shipping if I didn't keep them. Shipping those heavy beasts would likely be expensive. 

Do you know how close I can run the 580's to the wall (unfortunately the port is on the back and not the front)? We are planning a dedicated theater room in our renovation, and I'd like to keep the speakers flat against the wall, so I can run an acoustically transparent screen in front of them without using a bunch of room depth. The JBL's might be perfect for this application.  

The 580 don’t reach too low in the bass and should be fine just a 1’ or 2 off the wall. They are a good balanced speaker and really special for the money. I would want to run subs with them. This cheap JBL subs kind of suck but they are super cheap lol. 
 

the only think with the 580s is the center is total junk and way too small. If you are going to use a AT screen I would buy 3 580s. 
 

the new line is the 6 series and looks much nicer and has a much better center.

 

https://youtu.be/P9mCCW5Xq-A  

@onebean

Re: placement page 3 in the manual states you move them closer to the wall to increase bass but doesn’t give a minimum distance for back walls, only side walls (20 inches for side walls).

In my experience if you find that you have too much bass you can either:

A) Place a sock loosely in the ports.

B) Place an absorption panel behind the speaker.

https://www.jbl.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-masterCatalog_Harman/default/dw356fc2fb/pdfs/STUDIO580_OM_EN.pdf

The matching sub is marked down from $599 to $179 and JBL makes excellent subs, I own the JBL 10 inch for the Studio 2 series. At this price you might want to get a pair.

There are some very good suggestions here, but I'd like to weigh in with my own: Ryan R610. I've owned a pair for several years now and have not really been tempted to upgrade. On the used market they sell for way under $2K (they're about that new), but the problem is that they almost never come up on the used market. That's how good they are. Of course, as with any speaker, the electronics driving them are a factor, as are the cables (and in this case, the jumpers unless you bi-amp them) but for musical, balanced, non-fatiguing sound, very few speakers in this price range can beat them.