Recent Floorstanding Speaker Reviews

Italy's Sonus Faber has been crafting finely sculpted speakers near Vicenza for over 30 years. Today, we take a comparison look at the range of tower speakers Sonus Faber offers, from the merely expensive to the truly high end price range, to find out what you get when you mortgage your house for a sweet new set of speakers. We explore their marketing claims to see if they have any merit and take a close look at design details behind each of the speakers.

As a Monitor Audio Enthusiast, when we heard that they were coming out with a new version of their “Gold” series of speakers we were ecstatic. Using its GX Gold speakers as a model, Monitor Audio refined its high-end speaker line with this new series. Equipped with optimized drivers and empowered by the production quality of their Platinum flagship range, their Gold series speakers turn another page in the story of Monitor Audio's audiophile speaker family.

Sonus Faber has announced their newest Chameleon Speaker Collection Series. This new series has been designed for both stereo and multi-channel applications and consists of three models: Chameleon T (floorstanding), standmount speaker Chameleon B (bookshelf), and the Chameleon C (center). The Chameleon speakers place themselves at the bottom of Sonus Faber's price segment and will be a direct competitor to price ratio most affordable Venere models in their respective categories despite the Chameleon series are handcrafted in Vicenza, unlike the Venere.

NHT is a small but highly respected loudspeaker company located in Benicia, CA. They have earned a well-deserved reputation for speakers that sound superb, feature innovative, straightforward engineering, and utilize the highest quality materials for great cosmetics and fit-‘n-finish. At $1,349 each, the Classic Four 4-way floorstanding speakers certainly can’t be considered inexpensive, but just based on the quality of the materials and workmanship, they appear to more than justify their asking price. How do they sound? In a one word superb! But, you're gonna have to read the review to get all of the details.

XTZ has found a relatively untapped niche in the Internet Direct market by offering showroom grade speakers at a fraction of the price point. The Divine 100.49 Towers are a 3-way 4 driver design using high end drive technology and components throughout. They offer exceptional midrange detail, elite bass resolution, and an almost calming presentation that was voiced with a lot of care and even more ambition. They are big and heavy and just may be your last speaker purchase if you find them to your liking. If not, XTZ offers a very generous 60 day trial period but we doubt you will have to use it.

The Imagine T3 is PSB's new flagship loudspeaker and continues the legacy of Founder and Chief Designer, Paul Barton. The T3 is a sleek, five-way transitional design loudspeaker that's triple ported, ti-amp capable, and has lots of options to fine-tune the sound to your room. The Imagine T3 has reported bass extension down to 24 Hz. Check out our full preview of this great-looking, new flagship speaker from PSB.

The new GoldenEar Triton Five towers take the successful Triton Seven towers and upgrades everything but the tweeter. Putting more drivers than seems reasonable in a small box with a massive 1600-watt amp, the SuperSub XXL promises output down to 10Hz. If you've got $2000 to spend, you've got two new offerings to consider. The only question you have to answer is if you want bone crushing bass or a new pair of tower speakers. Happy shopping!

Wharfedale's Diamond 200 series loudspeakers made their US debut this week at CES 2015. The new lineup consists of two bookshelf speakers (the Diamond 210 and 220), three towers (the Diamond 230, 240, and 250), and a center channel (the Diamond 220C). In addition to a clean profile, all of the speakers in the line feature layered cabinet construction to minimize the effects of resonance, as well as woven kevlar drivers. Check out the details on these new Wharfedale speakers and let us know what you think in our forum.

The new Prime series Towers and Center loudspeakers come in a compact form factor, yet perform with homage paid to SVS’ subwoofer roots. A rare 3.5-way tower and 3-way center deliver a wide sweet spot, brisk dynamics and clean extended bass response; and they look fantastic doing it! What do you get when you mix good parts quality with competent engineering? An SVS product. Discover how impressive the SVS Prime series are in this review of their budget-oriented lineup. Check out our comprehensive objective measurements to better understand the engineering know-how behind their speakers.

Axiom has updated their M80 v4 tower speakers and added a new flagship called the M100 v4. The two towers both sport dual 1" titanium tweeters, dual 5" aluminum mids and two 6" aluminum woofers for the M80 v4 and three higher excursion 6" aluminum woofers for the M100 v4s. The price of the M80 v4 is almost double of what it was a decade ago despite the fact it still comes in a vinyl wrapped cabinet. The M100 v4 costs almost $1k more than a pair of M80v4's just for an additional 6" bass driver. Can these speakers compete in a fiercely competitive ID marketing place?

After some hints dropped on their Facebook page, SVS unveiled their new Prime series loudspeakers and PC-2000 subwoofer at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest this year. The new Prime speakers are aesthetically similar to the costlier Ultras, and benefit from trickle down technology. The kicker is the price: the new line runs from $270/pair to $1,200/pair, or roughly half the cost of the Ultras. The PC-2000 is not quite as exciting an announcement, being the cylinder version of the PB-2000, and featuring identical performance to its boxy brother.

After weeks of dropping hints, Paradigm finally unveiled their new Prestige Series loudspeakers at the CEDIA Expo in Denver. Boasting six new models including three towers, one bookshelf speaker, two center channels, and surround speakers, the Prestige line is designed, engineered, and crafted in Canada. Pricing is yet to be determined, though we were able to sweet-talk our friends at Paradigm into giving us some estimates. Want to know more? Click to keep reading!

Pioneer Elite's new line of loudspeakers has a lot going for it: all models are true three way designs featuring an advanced concentric driver array, and their designer is none other than Pioneer's speaker genius Andrew Jones. In addition, the bookshelf and tower speakers feature integrated Atmos Elevation speakers, giving buyers an easy upgrade path to the 3D surround format. On the downside, the new Elite lineup is available in a black vinyl finish...and that's it. Want to know more, including our initial listening impressions of how the integrated Atmos Elevation speakers work? Click to read the full article.

Infinity has been relatively quiet for the last few years in the home audio market. Today that changes with the release of their new Reference series of loudspeakers. A comprehensive lineup consisting of nine new models, Infinity unveiled a pair of towers, bookshelf speakers, center speakers, and subwoofers, as well as a dedicated surround channel. Prices range from $350/pair for the R152 bookshelf speakers to $1,000/pair for the three-way R263 towers. Click to find out all the details of Infinity's new line.