• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Upgrade or Downgrade?

H

hi_fi82

n00b
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
22
Looking to replace my Audioengine A5's with a decent bookshelf/combo set, prefer to be better than the a5. Range would be about $200 for the pair, any suggestions?
 
Last edited:
Kind of hard to beat a pair of speakers that retail for $350 with a $200 budget, IMO. At that price range you are looking at a t-amp/gizmo and a pair of used speakers on ebay/craigslist/audiogon, maybe something like SVS SBS-01. I've seen them go for $100 used on audiogon. I know the Boston Acoustics CR67 was considered legendary back in the day with it's kortec tweeter and you might be able to find them for about $80 on ebay, but they are hard to find.

So the answer to your question is, $200 budget would be a downgrade if you want brand new, but an upgrade if you have an eye for deals on used speakers.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the recommendations, will keep my eye out for those.

Yes, the Audioengines aren't cheap, but I am looking for a passive system that can outperform them at a lower price point.

I say this because I feel that the Audioengines are overpriced and the premium is due to their additional, but useless to me, ipod/mp3 specific features, as well as their weak competition in the computer market. I am sure that for $250 their is a better passive option than the Audioengines. Right?

Even the Insignia's from Best Buy seem to outperform them spec-wise at a $85 price-point, though they don't have the build quality.
 
There are passive bookshelves that are superior to the A5s at the $200-250 price point, yes. Do you happen to have an amplifier already, or does that $250 budget include the amp?

I know the Tweak City Audio WAF-1 bookshelf speakers and 25Wx2 gizmo amp combo goes for $310 delivered, and $229 delivered for just the bookshelf. It's the best combo brand new that I know of in this price range.

But if you need an amplifier/receiver as well you have no choice but to look for used. The good thing is, used speakers (that aren't the super big name brand items, but still high performance) tend to go pretty cheap. For example the Boston CR67 retailed for $500 about 8 years ago, and modern speakers will last decades if well taken care of. Buying speakers used is not typically a risk, although there's always the possibility of damage during shipping so I would always ask if the owner has the original foam surround packaging.
 
Final Choices:

BIC DV62si 120/pair
Polk Monitor 40 150/pair
Yamaha NS-6490 150/pair
Yamaha NS-333 200/pair
Polk Audio Tsi100 200/pair
Infinity Primus P162 250/pair
Energy CB-10 250/pair
 
Your prices on some of the speakers are a bit high. ex: the NS-333 can be had for about $140 shipped.

Instead of getting new speakers and an amp, why not get audioengine's subwoofer?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top