What are the best value for the $ new floor standing speakers below $500?

A

Alex11210

Member
Black Friday is coming soon.
What are the best value for the $ new floor standing speakers below $500? They will be in the living room of a rather large house.
 
Hmmm, should be interesting. My bet is most will say you can't get much in terms of "new" at that price point, but you sure could do well with older floorstanders. Not necessarily vintage , but something less than 20 years old.
Any of the Elacs in that range?
 
There was
(I'm not sure if its still on)
A sale on RTI A9s and A7s
IIRC
Is that for a pair or a speaker?
The monitor series really aren't too shabby.
I have 60s (which I'm pretty sure are discontinued)
But there must be something similar.
:lurk:
 
I meant up to $500 for a pair of new speakers, not vintage.
Polk RTI A7 are $300 - same price as
Onkyo SKF-4800
Are they better than Onkyo SKF-4800 ?
 
"Better" is in the ear of the beholder.

Are you equating better with the amount off of list price? Not wise.

But between those two, not having heard either, I'd probably go with the Polk simply they are a dedicated speaker manufacturer.
 
Thank you. I view it as a long-term purchase - so price difference is not an issue. I had my last JBL bookshelf speakers for 25 years when I bought them new (now I need something bigger).
In the specs though I noticed that Polk is up to 20,000 Hz and Onkyo goes above 30,000 Hz. I am not sure if that makes a difference. In any case, someone may possibly recommend something even better than these 2 models in this price range.
 
Like the man said it comes down to your ears.
I bought 60s 12 years ago and replaced with A9s.
The 9s have beat out some much ballyhooed speakers you read about here (My ears)
The 60s became the shop speakers, I bought them cheap (IIRC less than 200 for the pair)
They've been the first thing I've heard out of dynaco, Eico, Fisher, and mac gear. I'm often surprised how good they sound for inexpensive speakers.
Just my 2c and my ears.
Please let us know what you get and what you try
 
I see you're 54
Chances are you aren't hearing much over 15khz.
There's a chart you can look up. No instruments are voiced anywhere near that high
 
The Elac Debut F5 speakers go for around $560 a pair. They seem to get rave reviews. Polk Audio has their Rti series. Two of their floorstanders are in your price range.
 
I don't know if SONY can make good speakers. I thought they make good TVs. Cambridge Audio SX80 certainly looks interesting but unless I listen to them or someone else listens and tells me, how do I know that they sound better than , for example, Onkyo SKF-480 which are selling much better (possibly because of the price difference too, of course)? There used to be a local friendly audio store where I would go, listen and buy and for some reason Best Buy and the Internet destroyed all those stores. On cars you can read expert reviews. On speakers there are expert reviews on some, on others they just don't exist.
 
Alex11210 said:
I don't know if SONY can make good speakers. I thought they make good TVs. Cambridge Audio SX80 certainly looks interesting but unless I listen to them or someone else listens and tells me, how do I know that they sound better than , for example, Onkyo SKF-480 which are selling much better (possibly because of the price difference too, of course)? There used to be a local friendly audio store where I would go, listen and buy and for some reason Best Buy and the Internet destroyed all those stores. On cars you can read expert reviews. On speakers there are expert reviews on some, on others they just don't exist.
Click to expand...
You may have to go down to Tampa to find an audio retailer but it will be worth the effort.
 
Alex11210 said:
I don't know if SONY can make good speakers. I thought they make good TVs. Cambridge Audio SX80 certainly looks interesting but unless I listen to them or someone else listens and tells me, how do I know that they sound better than , for example, Onkyo SKF-480 which are selling much better (possibly because of the price difference too, of course)? There used to be a local friendly audio store where I would go, listen and buy and for some reason Best Buy and the Internet destroyed all those stores. On cars you can read expert reviews. On speakers there are expert reviews on some, on others they just don't exist.
Click to expand...
The Core series is a rare gem for the budget minded, I have owned the Core bookshelf and auditioned the Core tower -- I am a nit picker and they are really nice for the price. The recommendation was not given lightly. I also have some experience with Cambridge Audio and Cambridge Audio is owned by the same company that owns Mordaunt Short.

If you desire, you can also look at the JBL Arena F27 -- however I prefer Sony and Cambridge Audio over them -- the Arena has more of an entry level sound and lacks good definition
https://www.amazon.com/JBL-Arena-F2...pID=31tWDV0sFDL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
 
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