Jbl vs Kef

Well Debu,

JBL is a true blue american speaker which generally needs to be partnered with Warm sounding Amps and CD players. JBL has some Gems in the high end section and is one of the more preferred brands by Japanese Audiophiles

KEF, who are one of the leaders in concentric soeaker tech are british and a bit more laid back.

Northridge is pretty good at that range, but there are many more options beyond these two also which you could take a look at... you should find quite a few names in some of the earlier threads (Mission, Quad, deftech...)

quad definately an option along with cadence, def tech, dynaudio, jamo, bose, psb etc etc etc. Listen to as many as you can and make an informed decision.

manek.

Dear Debu,

KEF Coda 90 is better than Q 4 (& similar price range). It has a good bass 38 Hz - 27 KHz (side firing woofers). And ProFx the Banglore based importers are really professional in their approach and give excellent service (even throuhg their dealer in Delhi) - one of my tweeters was slightly deformed due to mis-handling and was giving some distortion in the highs - they readily replaced it.

But, yes, you must audition all the speakers in your budget range.

Regards

Sanjay

Thanks, I shall try to audition as many of them.

Two more questions:
- Do floorstanders give a lot better sound compared to bookshelves. I prefer bookselves as they can be neatly mounted in the wall. Do I really have to go for floorstanders to get great sound.

- Bose seems to have some controversies. Someone told me Bose is really bad and they are surviving only on hype. Any thoughts.

- Debu

Debu,

If you are looking for pure music - floorstanders (3 way) are decidedly better. With bookshelf the bass may not be all that great. So you may feel the need to add subwoofers. Small speakers along with subwoofers work best with HTS especially when there is a constraint of space and budget.

Bose has a lot of glamour value because of their "small" speakers and they hide their "large subwoofers". In terms of sound quality they may not be the best value for money.

But these are MY personal opinion. Lets hear what others have to say.

Regards

Sanjay

Mounting good quality bookshelves on the wall would not be proper. Bookshelves or any speaker needs to be at the height of your ears and need a solid/stong base to sit on and some space behind them, especially rear ported ones. My opinion is to buy bookshelves and buy stands with it. If you buy stands then consider also the 2-way floorstanding option of the bookshelf as the will occupy the same space but you may get better bass(they keyword is may get...). It all depends on your budget and your room.

Bose really is selling on its name and to people who are not very picky about their sound or have not heard good sound and are taken in by the hype and first impressions. Once you have heard and owned other good speakers I have not heard of anyone buying bose.

Debu,

I just bought PSB Image 4T. It is a floor standing 21/2 way speaker. Quite sleek and elegant looking. The reviews are good and I love the sound. The midrange is great and the bass is actually quite good (I am not very fond of too high bass). I was listening to Phil Collins the other day and I had to lower the bass settings, otherwise it sounded too boomy from the drums. They also come in the price range you are interested in, as the new models Image 45 are about 15% higher priced (Check out www.psbspeakers.com). If possible you can take a look at it. If I were you, I wouldn't go for Bose, as I also have a pair of old Bose 201 series IV and frankly speaking they don't sound good.

Saugata

Debu schrieb:

Thanks, I shall try to audition as many of them. Two more questions: - Do floorstanders give a lot better sound compared to bookshelves. I prefer bookselves as they can be neatly mounted in the wall. Do I really have to go for floorstanders to get great sound.

Hi Debu it all depends on what kind of music you like..but typically , a bookshelf gives a much better midrange/high freq than a Floorstander of the same brand with identical drivers (Typically 2 way)
The cost of a speaker does inclrease due to wood and the extra wood for the ame set of drivers make it expensive for a small additional bass.
In case you primarily listen to vocal, indian classical, hindi film music most Booksshelves going down to 50 Hz at -3 db is good enough (Guitar min is around 45-50 and it goes down to 40 Hz at -6db)


Rock & Westenr classical go down to 30Hz and around 16Hz..hence a floorstander is better off.

Debu schrieb:

- Bose seems to have some controversies. Someone told me Bose is really bad and they are surviving only on hype. Any thoughts. - Debu

Well as said before they are good but not worth it at that price point. they are targeted at a different segment and have an ornamental/Snob value as well hence should be taken in that category and not as a value for Money Item..But must say it does have a lot of unnecessary critisicm leveld at it as well.
I do own a bose based HT setup..and it does have advantages of Small size, easy placement etc...but i got a very good deal on it..would have never bought it at the retail price