Recent Floorstanding Speaker Reviews

Invisibility and speakers don't often go together. Triad is challenging that notion with their DS700se invisible speaker. Mounted in the wall and mudded in and painted, this speaker is about as invisible as you can get. Now featuring two panels per channel, the DS700se improves upon the previous Triad models by extending the bass down to 50Hz. At $2250, you may not see the speaker, but you will see your bank account take a hit to install a full system. But with the other option being "destroying a marriage over a set of speakers", the DS700se Invisible Speaker may be a deal.

The Legacy Audio Theater Towers aren't exactly your average floorstanding speakers: at less than a foot deep and made to be placed against a wall, they're designed to take up minimal floorspace. Priced at $12,000 in a standard black finish, how do we think the Theater Towers stack up? Keep reading to find out if they could be the ultimate audiophile lifestyle type speaker system.

Induction Dynamics demoed their new ID1 tower speaker. This is a speaker that has been completely revamped from its former iteration. The ID1 was first introduced in the 90s, but the updated version, which was finally released several months ago, has a new front-ported cabinet design. They placed the second woofer on the top and make it a more imposing product. There is a 3” soft dome mid-range driver and a 1-1/8” inverted titanium dome tweeter. The mid-bass is handled by a 6.5” Kevlar woofer, and the two 10” mica-graphite poly cone subs round it out.

Although Definitive Technology rolled out a number of new products at CEDIA 2013 this year, the one we were most interested is the Mythos ST-L SuperTower. Their new flagship SuperTower, with an MSRP of $5k/pr, the Mythos ST-L is a complete redesign of their original Mythos ST SuperTowers. The new ST-L keeps the same tall, slim profile of its predecessor but everything else has been redesigned from the ground up, literally.

The Studio 2 series acts as a replacement for JBL's current Studio 1 series. The overall look is traditional with a little touch of modern, a nice balance for a lineup costing between $249 and $599 per speaker. Although there are 10 different speakers in the lineup, some general are themes found in every one of them, like a new waveguide for the tweeter. We are pretty excited to see the Studio 2 series hit the market and to get them in for review. Read on for more information.

We're always excited to see a new line of speakers. When Cambridge Audio announced their new Aero line, we couldn't wait to take a look. We got that chance at CEDIA 2013. Cambridge Audio was thrilled to tell us all about their new Aero line. The big advancement was the 2" BMR (Balanced Mode Radiator) "tweeter". This driver is designed to play from 20kHz down to 250Hz - far farther than a traditional tweeter. We were skeptical of their claims that they were "revolutionizing audio" but their excitement was infectious. We're curious to see how linear the driver is.

With its quad 5-inch woofers and 1-inch silk dome tweeter covering the top half of the loudspeaker, the 51-inch tall Fluance ES1 tower speaker system is anything but vertically challenged. The ES1’s produce an excellent soundstage, and ability to play cleanly at high SPL, though with a bit too lively treble at times. Paired with a subwoofer, the ES1 tower speakers shine as an attractive and affordable home theater main loudspeaker with superb build quality and aesthetics for a reasonable asking price.

The CM10 is the new flagship of Bowers & Wilkins CM line of speakers. So what does an extra $1000 over the $3k price tag of the CM9 get you? How about upgraded tweeter and midrange drivers? Is that enough? No? Ok, they also offloaded the tweeter to the top of the cabinet, decoupled the midrange, and added a woofer. Is that worth a grand? What if we told you that you'll get more than a 10Hz increase in extension on the bass end and that the new tweeter design promises even less distortion and more dispersion than the CM9? No, don't get your checkbooks out (seriously, you still write checks?), the B&W CM10 floorstanding speakers don't start shipping until August.

Inexpensive. That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of Fluance. For those unfamiliar with the name, Fluance was established up in the Great White North (aka Canada) in 1999, and since their debut they have been known for building extremely inexpensive but good quality loudspeakers. The speaker we'll be looking at today is the Fluance ES1, a slim floorstanding model priced at $450/pair and boasting a quartet of woofers per side. While not exactly dirt cheap, the ES1 appears to pack a lot of punch for the dollar. How does it stand up to a cursory examination from the Audioholics? Read on to find out.

The Boston Acoustics A360 floorstanding loudspeakers are well built and look good at $800/pair. High quality parts are used in the cabinet construction and the drivers are decent quality. Although the measured sensitivity is on the low side and the midrange a bit recessed, the A360’s exhibit nice bass extension. I envision that Boston Acoustics designed this speaker to please the masses and I think it is excellent in that regard. This is our first review employing our new loudspeaker measurement standard so check out how we put the Boston A360’s through the wringer.

When the Legacy Focus SE loudspeakers came in, the debate raged once more in my mind: How influenced should I be by build quality? How much should I allow myself to get excited by the sound of a truly full-range speaker that can play low enough to make a pipe organ sound authentic? Or should I be more impressed and excited about speakers with enough dynamic headroom to handle the delicacy of a five piece jazz ensemble as well as a full orchestra? Legacy Audio's Focus SE speakers aren't exactly new, but Bill Dudleston's 25th anniversary edition adds the dual Air Motion tweeter (AMT) and super tweeter to make this something special indeed. At just under $10k/pair there is a lot of speaker in the Focus SE. So, read the review and find out if these are the right speakers for you.

SVS has re-entered the speaker market with their top-of-the line SVS Ultra Series Tower Speakers. Consisting of 4 models, each of the speakers shares traits such as aluminum tweeters, glass composite mid-low frequency drivers, dual 5-way gold-plated binding posts, and a pin and cup grill retention system. Each is available in either Piano Black gloss or real Black Oak veneer. You can get an entire 5.0 system in the Ultra Series (no subwoofer) for around $2,699 (with bookshelf speakers) or $3,699 (with towers).

Bryston and Axiom Audio have partnered to bring you a brand new speaker with a familiar look. But don't let that familiarity lull you into thinking that this is a simple rebranding. Bryston has worked with Axiom to bring you a speaker line that is completely their own. From upgraded drivers to external crossovers, there are touches of Bryston everywhere on the Model Ts. But those upgrades come at a pretty hefty price increase. Starting at nearly $6500/pr in vinyl wrapped cabinets and topping out at just under $9500/pr, the Bryston Model Ts aren't for the faint of heart or light of wallet. Only time, 3rd party measurements, and listening tests will show if the upgrades to the crossover networks, drivers, design, and more will translate into a sonic improvement commensurate with the significant price increase.

What would you say if we told you that a company historically known for their A/V electronics has redefined the loudspeaker market with their budget speaker line designed by industry veteran Andrew Jones? For under $550, the Pioneer SP-PK52FS 5.1 loudspeaker system includes a pair of four driver 2 ½-way tower speakers (SP-FS52), a matching three driver MTM center channel (SP-C22) and pair of two-way bookshelf speakers (SP-BS22-LR) with an 8" 100-watt powered subwoofer (SW-8MK2). The SP-FS52 tower speakers alone are worth the $549/pr system price. I can comfortably say that I’ve never heard a better balanced, better sounding tower speaker for under $700/pr than these. How is it possible that Pioneer can offer such a low cost speaker line packed with so much solid engineering and performance? Well, you’re gonna have to read the review to find out.