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Quality of Stereophile Class A speakers at 2K?

It seems over the last few years the lower bound of “A – Restricted Extreme LF” in Stereophile’s recommended components is getting much cheaper. I have not had the chance to compare many of the speakers in class A, but I wonder if speakers are getting much better for the money, or if the reviewers are getting older and more complacent in reviewing?

Any thoughts?

Current class “A-Restricted Extreme LF” speakers at about $2000 are:

Infinity Intermezzo 2.6 $2200 (street price $1100)

Revel Performa M20 $2000

Triangle Celius $1995 (street price $1750)

I just wonder how these really compare against the more expensive Class B and Class A speakers

PS I know we should not read reviews etc etc, but it is still a metric that many people use.
sargon2003
kthomas
911 posts
 
I like Stereophile a lot - it's not what it once was, but it's still an enjoyable read and the price is right. The Recommended Components section, however, has gone from suspect to laughable. I'd love to see somebody try to put the "meaning" around the ratings - I can't imagine even Stereophile is trying to say that the $2K monitors in Class A truly outperform some of the $8K speakers they list in Class B. Those of us who have heard one of each often loudly disagree that that would be the case. I don't know how anybody could or would take anything meaningful out of those ratings other than that Stereophile liked the speakers they list in Class A.

They've always been so protective about their Recommended Components list - "we might make it available but we'll charge for it". With the way the ratings are now, that's comical.
flemke
596 posts
 
Class A means it is worth a listen. For 2K I thought the celius sounded very good.
Tim
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
TAS is a lot more in line with their rating system

I still think Stereophile is fun reading - just more like fiction these days :)
judit
217 posts
 
Tim is exactly right. Worth a listen. I have never been sorry I listened to (or read about) a recommended component. I have liked some of them.

I have never found a $2K speaker that sounds as good as a great $10K speaker. However, I have listened to $10K speakers that do not sound as good as some great $2K speakers.
kthomas
911 posts
 
If Class A == "Worth a Listen", what does Class B == ??

I agree, by the way, that your definition of Class A is how people should take it. Unfortunately, it's the same definition I have for Class B.
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