Affordable Floorstanders to Rock Your World
Some of the finest values in high-end audio today come in the form of cleverly designed, attractively priced, overperforming floorstanders. Some, as you you’ll see in a moment, start out as monitors (or LCR speakers) to which high-performance bass modules have been added–often with astonishingly good sonic results. Let me illustrate this theme by describing tower-type offerings from DCM, Gini Systems, Mordaunt-Short, and Definitive Technology.

Audiophiles of a certain age may recall a firm called DCM whose famous Time Window loudspeaker enjoyed a cult-following for many years. Well, DCM is still around and building speakers that offer astonishing value for money. A case in point would be the firm’s three-way, four-driver TFE 200 tower-type speakers, which sell for $1000. Though not the last word in transparency or refinement, the TFE 200s are brilliant all-round performers whose well-balanced sonic virtues include near-full-range bass.

TAS readers may know Gini Systems as the distributor of Audio Space electronics, but Gini also offers value-priced speakers. One of its sweetest deals is a replica of the LS3/5A BBC mini-monitor, which was being demonstrated with a clever companion bass-extension module that also acts as stands for the LS3/5As, effectively turning the classic mini-monitors into compact, near full-range floorstanders ($1190 for the monitors plus bass stands). Two things stood out for me about this system. First, I was wowed by the sheer faithfulness of Gini’s recreation of the original LS3/5A’s sound. Second, I was floored by the gorgeous and absolutely seamless integration between the LS3/5As and the new bass modules. This is a music lover’s speaker system, pure and simple–one that offers ridiculously high performance for the dollar.

Mordaunt-Short is a venerable British speaker maker (and the sister company of Cambridge Audio), whose expensive, flagship Performance 6 floorstanders have earned critical acclaim. At CES 2008 the firm’s affordable new 2 ½-way Mezzo 6 floorstanders ($1900) took centerstage. The speakers look conventional on the outside but bristle with trickle-down technologies on the inside, including the firm’s distinctive rubber-mounted, ATT (aspirated tweeter technology) high-frequency drivers, CPC mid/bass and woofer drivers, and enclosures that feature a variant on the bracing system used in the top-tier Performance models. The result is a floorstander that offers open airy highs and impressive transparency for the money.

Not content to rest on the laurels earned by its Mythos ST speaker, Definitive Technology announced a size- and cost-reduced version of the ST called the Mythos STS ($2998). Following the pattern established by its bigger brother the slim Mythos STS sports a top-mounted D’Appolito array below which reside a powered subwoofer module based on a distinctive oblong woofer and two similar-shaped passive radiators. Though about two-thirds the size of the ST, the less costly STS sounds remarkably similar to the larger model, with slightly reduced dynamic capabilities and a slightly higher low-frequency cut-off point. Even so, the STS is surely one of the most refined, well-rounded, and thoroughly capable $3000/pair speakers on today’s market–an instant classic if ever I heard one. [I was also impressed by the sound and value of the STS–RH]

Next: Chris Martens’ Best of Show

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5