Under rated speakers

[rkgren1]

Graphyx 8's and the 6's aren't far behind. I don't have a whole lot of speaker wisdom but I'm not alone when thinking they are underdogs. The 8s sound great down low and dig deep but they can be very bright but that's the dome highs for ya. The 6's have a cone high and seem a lot softer on peaks. I'm not sure of the 6's xover but as pictured the 8s are beasty!

Seconded.
I have a set of SP-8s. They are terrific!
Their cabinet finish quality is on the low side, chintzy wood grained vinyl aver particle board.
But you cannot fault the sound.

Because of the strength at both ends of the spectrum, the loudness button is effectively on by default.
I listen at modest volumes levels, so this a positive attribute for me.
They are reasonably efficient as well.

 

[Krosya]

ADS L-10s. Evidently they were part of a sub/satellite system, but do pretty well on their own. Small footprint, 7" woofer...typical accurate ADS sound with the "illusion" of deeper bass than they actually deliver.

Agreed - you dont hear much about this model in ADS line, but they are great speakers!

 

[will d]

In my case - not so much underrated, but rather less known. I actually like to discover lesser known, yet good speakers. And was lucky to find a few - Starting from Synergistics S-62A - still my favorite speakers, also have in my collection Jensen System 500 - another great speaker pair. Also - pair of Becker speakers- very rare and very unknown in a realm of home stereo, but rather high end name in vintage Car audio - they were put in higher end german cars back in a day. Some a bit more modern (and already mentioned by somebody ) - Anything Mirage - I have SM 2.5 and 360 - both are fantastic speakers, as well as anything by Athena - in my experience they made some fine bookshelf speakers.
I think one set I can actually call underrated - Advent Heritage - I think they are very good speakers, not that easy to find either, well made and sound very good, even rated very well most other places, but here are in a same category as Bostons or Polks of the same vintage. Having had both - Polks and Bostons of that era - I still prefer Heritages, so IMO they should be in a same category.
I dont think Klipsch are underrated, they are just either liked or not. I have KG 4 and KG 4.5 and like both very much, yet both pairs are used in Home theater systems - for me I like them better for that, less so for just music.

Ya know, I gotta say that the Athena speakers I sold bout three years ago sounded good! I had the (I think they were like ls-300's. They were a tower speaker with curved cabinets in a black finish and the matching center channel speaker (the biggest one,,,,, the Lc-100 and the matching rears, the ( I think Ls-50's. All had the curved cabinets. I got the fronts and rears from Audio Advisor new and scored the center channel speaker from the bay. Yea, there's a bit of seller's remorse on my part for letting them go for sure. But i'm always looking for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and being that my ears have been compromised from thirty years of being a professional musician, I happen to like bright sounding speakers as the Athena's were. Hence the Speakerlab 4's in my living room. I truly like them. So my two remorseful sale of speakers were that set of Athena's and the Klipsch kg-4.2's. But it's all good, i'm happy with the herd I have now. The ADS L-630's I bought from the original owner are not only pristine, but they sound VERY nice. So i'm good,,,,,,,,,,,,,, FOR NOW! Best regards, Will.

 

[bobins08]

I listened to B&W DM-6 speakers for a very long time. After a crossover upgrade they sounded really nice.

Finally replaced with modern Acoustic Zen Adagios. Found a mint used pair on the used market for 1/3 the price of new.

Not much love for them on AK, they are not vintage, but they are lovely.

 

[Kreshna]

Have you ever found reviews or articles about JBL 120Ti's? Me neither. Yet they're a pair of speakers that do many things right. They're transparent and detailed, with crisp top end and precise stereo imaging, and they sound really sweet when driven by tube or tube-like amp like Sansui AU-7900. Yet it's very hard to find articles about them.

 

[bobins08]

Mid to late 70’s I heard some FMI bookshelf speakers and they sounded great. Same with some larger RTR speakers. I cannot recall model numbers.

More people bought JBL, Advent, Infinity, Ohm, etc. but these two brands really stood out to me.

 

[lt.slothr0p]

Not sure if these are considered under-rated, but I don't see them mentioned much.. Polk RT400. For a single 6.5 woofer, they put out some awesome, tight, bass. And the silk dome tweeter is really nice.

Was using them for music/front surround sound til they got banished by the wife for being too big! Now I can't wait to get them hooked back up to my vintage gear.

glad to hear someone else enjoying these! i made a judgment call on these a couple years back and scored a pair in great shape for $100 and i've always thought they were a great value/underrated. seems like they're not common speakers though based on how little they seem to come up online. i drive mine with a pioneer sx-850 and this combo really delivers the goods to my ears. i use them mostly for vinyl.

 

[DirtFarmer]

I love the under appreciated Realistic Nova series.

 

[Roadrash]

My nominee is the Altec Lansing 315. It's a very, very good speaker, but it gets very little respect because of the Sparkomatic connection.

 

[jwhvt]

BIC speakers never got much respect but these aren't bad. BIC Model 66. Many other well respected speakers have come and gone but I still have these (currently in storage).

 

[544man]

Under-rated speakers? I've got a few. RTR EXP-8: fabulous sound and beautiful cabinets, a real sleeper. RFT Carrera: out of East Germany before the wall came down. Interesting design with separate compartment for the mid, sound said to be similar to Canton and Braun; metal grilles. And a pair of ESM-3 speakers I just picked up for low dollars: Wonderful sound at all volume levels. I like them better than the ESM-1 units I sold on a while ago. They have earned a permanent status in my collection along side a pair of Altec/Lansing Altec Model 1! More to follow, though. Gotta try some Sound Dynamics 10S or 12S with the spun aluminum tweeter. And early Mirage. Plus a pair of PSB Passif-1 coming in from Vancouver shortly, needing refoam but in great shape. Can't wait.

 

[Falstaff]

Your gonna laugh but I really like Minimus 26 speakers. I currently have 4 set at different levels and spaced out in my office/listening room and love the way they sound. Driving 2 sounds good, but when I drive all 4 they sound full and balanced and fill the space well. Not the end all, be all but at normally $6/pr they hit well above their weight class.

 

[Sgt.Pepsi]

Pictured: Cizek Model 1


Pictured left to right: Rogers LS1 and Avid 60ab

I’ll join gearhound, ericross3 about Avid speakers.
I’ll also vote for Cizek speakers and these little Rogers LS1 I have pictured. They aren’t as well know as their legendary LS3/5a sibling or their larger siblings.
I will also cast a vote for Bang & Olufsen RL60.2 those blew my mind!

 

[sberger]

AR 2's. I've had them for about a week now, and I'm enjoying more then any AR speaker I've ever used, including 3's/3a's and 2ax's. All great speakers, but there is some magic going on with the 2's that puts them in that place where I don't want to stop listening to music. I might simply chalk it up to the sound that they produce, that sound that others dismissed as boxy, as veiled, as not bright enough, I'm loving. They are so easy on the ears, and mated with a Fisher 500C produce the silkiest, smoothest tones I could want for.

If you find a pair, don't dismiss out of hand. Make sure to place them horizontally, and give the tone pot a good turning or 3 to help with the probable corrosion. It took a little bit of time for one of mine to wake up(pots, and I'm thinking the cap needed to come back to life after having sat, unused, for years) but now all is right.

Give them a little power and those wonderful, alnico 10" cloth woofer produce a glorious bottom end. The dual tweeters do produce high end, just not enough to make you want to turn the music down. I like that.

 

[FoolferAudio]

I'll chime in with my University Medallion XIIs. Countless speakers have come and gone in my life but I've never considered parting with these.

 

[Putterman]

In a more recent vein, I'll mention Infinity Primus 140/1/2/3 with a 4 inch woofer and front ported. They only go down to 100hz or so and therefore benefit from a sub, even a small cheap one. They're pretty flat measuring, outpacing they're better known cousins the 150 series by by not having a midbass bump and they're really cheap both new and used. Infinity as part of Harman as part of Samsung seems to have dropped its speaker line with most of the action now in JBL.

Boston Acoustics seems to share the same fate as part of the D&M/Sound United group that includes Polk and Def Tech. Basically it's all brand consolidation. BA is another brand with underrated speakers. I have CR67's that compare well with anything in that size and price range.

 

[bigx5murf]

I was never really a polk audio fan. I have a pair of SDA-2b, and I have a love hate relationship with them depending on what I'm listening to. Recently I found a pair of RT3 and RT5 at goodwill for $25.

I'm really shocked by how good the RT5 are. Completely unoffensive highs (unlike the SDA-2b), and the low end though not as tight as the SDA-2b, doesn't seem to be behind much in terms of output despite the massive size difference. A quick search shows these are easily available, and don't go for much. Definitely an unknown sleeper gem right now. Mine are going to be keepers though.

 

[justjed2]

I'm running a pair of Polk Monitor70-II's in my main system, MTM with dual woofers. I know they're really home-theater speakers, but with a little bit of clean power and a quality signal, they actually sound pretty good. I got them to replace a pair of the Pioneer/Andrew Jones towers, not because they were bad in any way(they weren't), but my open listening room just didn't let them make much bass. 5-1/4" woofers on the Pio's, vs 6-1/2" on the Monitor70's. Specs for the Polks say they go down to 30hz, not entirely sure I believe that. And even if they do, it wouldn't be in MY room, with the gear I have now. MAYBE, in an anechoic chamber, with a 500wpc amp. That said, there is plenty of bass, and it's not a particularly "boxy" sounding speaker, depending on the program material, of course. Definitely sounds better with the grills off. Not saying I'd buy them again if money wasn't an issue, but I don't regret the purchase.

 

[soundboy]

Boston Acoustics seems to share the same fate as part of the D&M/Sound United group that includes Polk and Def Tech. Basically it's all brand consolidation. BA is another brand with underrated speakers. I have CR67's that compare well with anything in that size and price range.

If you ever come across the original Boston CR series, i.e. CR-6/7/8/9, those would be even better. The CR-7, predecessor to the CR-67, was an excellent little speaker. Good enough to make the cover of the old Audio magazine. The next model up, the CR-8, had the Kortec tweeter and a 7" woofer, is truly underrated.

 

[soundboy]

JBL S38 studio series bookshelves. Not world class, but mighty fine.

View attachment 1028476

Those were reviewed and recommended by Stereophile magazine. I had the smaller S-26 bookshelf speaker.....same tweeter and 6.5" woofer. Underrated.