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Five bookshelf loudspeakers

By Michael Jones

October 2006

Kef iQ3, $899. Klipsch Synergy B3, $799. Paradigm Mini Monitor v4, $899. PSB B25, $999. Rega R1, $899.

Yes, it is possible to buy floor-standing speakers for less than $1000, but most of them are poor performers compared to equivalently priced stand-mount (or, to use that anachronistic term, “bookshelf”) speaker. Cheaper floorstanding speakers can easily become boomy in the bass and resonant in the midrange, often due to the larger cabinet panels.

Listening panel

Auditioning of the five speakers took place by myself over a period of three weeks, plus an evening with the AudioEnz Listening Panel, an informal and changing group who come together occasionally to listen to products under review.

Listening was carried out in my lounge, a medium sized rectangular room. Equipment used includes my Plinus 8150 amplifier and Meridian 508 CD player, with the speakers placed on Sound Creations single column stands.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this listening panel was the split between those who valued tonal balance above all else and those who placed a greater emphasis on the speaker’s ability to portray pace and timing. This split resulted in some panel members appreciating speakers that other panel members disliked – and for reasons that usually made sense. More on this in the individual reviews.

Kef iQ3 $899

“How much do you think these are worth?” I blindsided an unsuspecting AudioEnz writer as he walked through my front door. He hazarded a guess: “Somewhere around two or three thousand?” he said uncertainly. The iQ3’s certainly look more expensive than their $899 price. With their curved cabinets and excellent finish they’re about as far from a typical “budget box” as it’s possible to get.

The main differing point of the iQ3 is the use of Kef’s UniQ driver, with a tweeter placed in the middle of the woofer, where a dust cap is normally found. The UniQ driver puts the originating point of sound at the same spot, rather than be separated vertically as with almost all speakers.

The Kef iQ3 was a firm favourite of the listening panel from the first note. “There’s a hint of class that’s been missing,” said one panellist. While the Kef was felt to felt to lack some of the subtlety of the PSB, it was also found to be more fun to listen to. This was due to the Kef’s deft handling of rhythmic information, second only to the Rega. Vocalists were well defined and articulate, while bass instruments were also well portrayed.

The Kef was the overall favourite of the listening panel. It’s a great speaker at a great price.

Klipsch Synergy B3 $799

The unique selling point of Klipsch loudspeakers is their use of horn loading, mainly for tweeters. Horn loading can offer advantages, particularly to increase the sensitivity of the speaker.

If the Kef’s quickly became a listening panel favourite, then the opposite was true of the Klipsch B3’s. “Shouty”, “honky” and “wirey” were the comments from most panellists, with voices in particular being badly affected. Oh dear, can anything save the Klipsch speakers? Unfortunately not, as panel members rated the bass as bloated and indistinct.

Solo listening by the author showed that the major problem was the uneven frequency response, with the midrange and upper midrange being very prominent. This explains many of the comments from the listening panel.

So a big thumbs down for the Klipsch.

Paradigm Mini Monitor v4 $899

Canadian speaker manufacturer Paradigm is known for their high value loudspeakers. The Mini Monitor v4 is no different, with its heavy and solid construction suggesting that there’s a lot of speaker for the money. Listening confirms this.

Over the past decade there has been a trend towards speakers being more upfront and forward in tonal balance. The Paradigm goes against this trend, having a warmer and arguably more real tonal balance. The Mahler sounded tonally more like an orchestra in a hall, and the Ella Fitzgerald track was described by one listener as “warm and club-like.”

This comes at a cost, however. Dynamically, the Paradigms were muted, with descriptions of “polite” and “unchallenging”. Sometimes the bass was felt to be a little boomy.

The Paradigm is a well-built speaker with more than competent sound. It’s particularly suitable as a match to cheaper electronics, which tend to be more forward and upfront in sound.

PSB B25 $999

This is the second appearance of the B25 in AudioEnz, with the speaker previously being reviewed by Michael Wong in our April issue. I’ve included it in the group test partly as a control, and partly because I wanted to hear the successor to the speaker I’d previously praised.

The PSB was generally very well liked by the listening panel. On our Mahler test piece the B25 received many positive comments about the timbre of instruments, particularly string tone. The ability to hear the sound of kettledrums decay in the hall ambience was also praised.

Voices sounded largely realistic through the PSB speakers – an excellent result for tonal qualities of a cheap speaker. It was easy to “listen through” the speaker through the broader midrange and treble, with instruments and reverberation (either from a real room or a black box in the recording process being easy to differentiate.

There was a little comment that the PSB had a touch too much “thrum”, or a bit of congestion in the lower midrange and upper bass. This also gave a feeling of reduced dynamic contrasts.

But the PSB really impressed the panel. The “treble was much better” than many of the other speakers, said one panel member. Another listener described music through the PSB as “more addictive” – a great recommendation!

Rega R1 $899

The smallest speaker in this survey, the Rega R1 was also the only speaker manufactured in England. The R1 was really tiny compared to the larger speakers, such as the PSB.

“Typical Rega” said an existing Rega owner, enjoying what he heard. Others were not so sure, as the R1 split the listening panel more than any other speaker, with some loving and others hating what they heard.

The negatives first. The R1 was not a tonally neutral loudspeaker, with a leaner than life tonal balance and a prominent upper midband. This immediately turned off the members of the listening panel who preferred the more tonally laid back Paradigm and PSB. Even placed close to a wall, to try and “fill in” the sound, the R1 is still on the lean side.

Yet the R1 was also described by one listener as “the little engine that could”. The R1 was able to unravel musical lines in a way that the other speakers could not. For example, the Mahler track made more sense through the R1 than the other speakers, in spite of the tonal inaccuracies.

Perhaps an acquired taste, the Rega R1 can do wonderful things with music, as long as you can get back the tonal balance.

Conclusions

Five very different speakers caused some very different reactions from the listening panel. The Kef was probably the overall favourite, followed closely by the PSB. The Paradigm appealed for tone and scale, while the Rega appealed for musical information. The Klipsch, unfortunately, appealed to no one.

For your nearest Kef dealer

For your nearest Klipsch dealer

For your nearest Paradigm dealer

For your nearest PSB dealer

For your nearest Rega dealer