The 3020i speakers deliver great detail and a spacious sound, and their design and build quality are better than what you get from most speakers in their price range. The KEFs really shine on songs that are heavily layered, for example Emancipator - Rattlesnakes or The Books - Tokyo. Cool, figured it may have been a move up to a pricier speaker. The difference will come down to taste. When we auditioned the Edifier AirPulse A100 for our previous round of tests, it sounded a little better than the Edifier S1000DB (the predecessor of our new powered pick, the S1000MKII), with somewhat clearer treble. When youre comparing speakers around the same price range that both have a good reputation, there is no better one. The video is also on my channel. Sound quality: Arguably the biggest part of picking any speakers, youll want to know that your music or content will sound great when its being played. I have not listened to the Dali nor the Triangle. Seattle Area. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. KEF Q150: 10% With the above considerations and the available specs of the Triangle Borea BR02 speakers I came to the following: Triangle Borea BR02: @25% => 20-80 W(Recommended) Considering the above, I'm assuming that the Triangle Borea BR02 can be powered within the range of 20-80 W @ 8 Ohms. So if you have multiple analogue sources like a record player and cassette deck then you will probably need a traditional stereo setup with passive speakers. Recordings sometimes sounded hollow, as if they had been recorded inside a box. The grille uses magnets instead of plastic tabs and grommets, which gives the front of each speaker a clean look when you remove the grille. The former is a big plus. Good looks plus good sound sealed the deal and the Triangle Borea BR03 are replacing the KEF Q150 in my 2-channel setup. Theyre certainly not as lively as the Dali Spektor 2s not a bad thing if you listen to older recordings. Triangle Borea BR03. The system cant pump out low bass, but it doesnt sound thin, eitherand adding a subwoofer is easy, thanks to an analog audio output whose level you control with the HD3s volume knob. So even though this speaker set seems intended for audiophiles, who tend to prefer acoustic music, its also a great choice for hip-hop, R&B, and electronic music. I have to say I am a little upset that you got so many responses to your question on my post when I got nothing on mine. Is there any of these that should be a clear favourite? Unfortunately, in our tests this pair had almost no bass and distorted easily. DM range out the window, gotchya. Frequency response measurements for the BR03 were excellent, with a variation of about 2.5 decibels through most of the audio range and an even balance of bass to mid range to treble. We take that seriously, too, which is why weve asked the manufacturers of all our picks to answer some basic questions about materials, product life cycles, and other sustainability issues. The rear-facing bass ports make it unwise to push these speakers up against a wall because blocking the ports reduces the bass. Europe's busiest forums, with independent news and expert reviews, for TVs, Home Cinema, Hi-Fi, Movies, Gaming, Tech and more. The only area that I thought was a little off was the midrange. Not the surrealist Dali stands for Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries, and theyre a seasoned brand that has earned near-universal plaudits for its entry-level and mid-range hi-fi speakers. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Part of this clarity comes from the 3020is slightly bright tonal balance, which means the treble seems subtly emphasized. Likewise, the newer HD4a slightly larger version of the HD3 with a bigger wooferhad a muted treble that made it sound less lively than the HD3. Bookshelf speakers arent just for music, either. Theyre well-tuned speakers, but our panelists preferred the similarly sized and priced Audioengine HD3 set (which we describe in Other bookshelf speakers we like). The Dayton Audio B652 had a fairly even response except for a large peak and dip in the middle of the treble range, where the tweeter started to operate. The speakers are also nicely designed for the price, with custom binding posts, magnetically attached grilles, a decor-friendly 10.875-inch height, and nicely rounded corners that resist chipping. I have the Triangles, paired with a Topping MX3 for my desktop setup. These Q Acoustics speakers offer excellent sound quality at a great price in a handsome, wood-panelled package. The sound stage isn't nearly as interesting, but the representation of sound is a lot smoother and more balanced in that they don't have nearly the bite that KEFs have. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. The Micca COVO-S is a cute little concentric (tweeter-inside-woofer) speaker set. AUDIO AND SCOTCH 743 subscribers Subscribe 11 Share 667 views 10 months ago Show more Show more Best Speaker Under $600 - Elac Debut Reference. With most female voices and higher-pitched instruments, such as cymbals and acoustic guitars, the tweeter is more active, and the sound can become harsh and fatiguing if you play it loud. Passive speakers dont require power to function as theyre driven by a separate amplifier; active speakers have an amplifier housed within their enclosures and thus require power. The KEFs will highlight some serious shortcomings in poorly recorded Youtube videos for instance. Otherwise, the S1000MKII set just does its job well without many noticeable sonic flaws, something that we cant say about most powered speakers in its price range. Our panelists found it plays deeper than anything else weve tried in the under-$200 price rangealthough its nearly 16 inches high, and its treble response sounds a little soft, so high-frequency instruments like cymbals and bells sound a bit muted. The mid range, especially, looked extremely flat, varying by only 2 decibels, which is why voices sounded so natural. Where I'm based (Belgium), the following deals seem best to me (but please let me know if you know of any others): Dali Oberon 1 (280 euro)Triangle Borea BR03 (300 euro)KEF Q150 (360 euro). In our tests, the ELAC Uni-Fi UB5 pair offered very good bass response and detail but had a relatively restricted soundstage. I used the output at 1 kHz as the reference for 0 dB. In vocal reproduction, this pair ranked among the most natural-sounding of all the speakers we tested, and each 3020i speaker produces a solid amount of bass for its sizethough fans of bass-heavy music may want more. Measured bass output was impressive, at 106.3 dB from 40 to 63 Hz, and it stayed strong all the way down to 31.5 Hz, where the system output 84.7 dB. Among the powered speakers we tested, the S1000MKII set is the least expensive of our three clear favorites, the others being the Monoprice MM-5R and PSB Alpha AM5. That means voices and instruments will sound pretty much like theyre supposed to. Have you had a chance to compare those two yet? I intend to use whatever I pick for a long time, so I may in the future use it in the living room of a small apartment in New York, if this should in any way affect my decision making. Given you have an AV receiver with dubious power ratings into 6ohm i think the triangles will not be the best idea for it My 607's are on a shelf "alcove" with the wall around 10cm behind and sound great. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. The Dalis are bit warmer sounding. They are notable in part because Triangle is not the most prolific of brands when it comes to new speakers. The higher the speaker line rises above the reference line, the more exaggerated those frequencies are. The lower it falls below the reference, the more subdued the sounds in that frequency range are. They may be best option. The Edifier S1000MKII is the best affordable powered speaker system weve heardas was its predecessor, the S1000DB, the former top pick in our now-retired guide to the best wireless powered bookshelf speakers. However, the inclusion of a subwoofer output does allow you to add your own subwoofer, and the R-51PMs remote control includes subwoofer output-level controls, so you can fine-tune the bass level without adjusting your subwoofers controls. This set produces a generally full and natural sound, though we think it could use a little more bassbut there is a subwoofer output, so adding a sub is easy. But before you take the plunge, theres a bit of research youll need to do as bookshelf speakers arent at all like your average soundbar or Bluetooth device. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. The Q Acoustics 3020i also had a fairly flat response, but with less deep bass. 13.1K subscribers. A great pair of bookshelf speakers is one of the best investments a music lover can make. I used two different switchers to move between systems: an Audio by Van Alstine AVA ABX (with two Outlaw Audio Model 2200 amplifiers) for the passive speakers and a switcher I built myself to test the active speakers. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Press J to jump to the feed. Credit: Triangle Manufacture Electroacoustique These monochrome offerings from Triangle come in both black and white pairs and are pretty sizeable, making a true. With the above criteria in mind, we scanned sites such as Amazon, Audio Advisor, Best Buy, and Crutchfield to see what new models were available, and we reached out to manufacturers we thought might be introducing new models in these categories. In our tests, its treble sounded muted compared with that of the B652; both models had a dip in their treble response around the frequency where the tweeter started working, but with the B652-AIR, the dip was much deeper. I demoed the B&W's 607's when I bought my Rega Brio Amp a before lockdown. We didnt include charts of these results here, but we do mention them in the discussions above for each model. The Monoprice MM-5R offers deeper and more powerful bass than either the PSB or the Edifier sets, and it includes a USB digital input and a mono subwoofer output. Everything on this list sounds great, so youll be happy whether youre a classical enthusiast, a metalhead or anything in between. Using speaker stands like the Sanus BF24B or Monoprice 39494 can also solve this problem. At just 11.875 inches high, 6.5 inches deep, and 7 inches wide, each B652 speaker is compact enough to fit on most bookshelves, and because each speaker weighs only 4.7 pounds, most shelves can support them both easily. In the R-51PMs frequency response measurements, we did see a rise of a couple of decibels in the treble, specifically between 3.5 and 7.5 kHz, which is where cymbals and the upper harmonics of the human voice, snare drum, acoustic guitar, and flute reside. The Pioneer DJ DM-50D-BT is the best-sounding pair of computer speakers weve heard in the $200 price range. We also think few would complain about the BR03s design and shape. The R-51PM has an unusually versatile set of connection options, including a phono input and an optical digital audio input.