bookshelf speakers with excellent mids and highs.

[Anarchist420]

What are some bookshelf speakers that reproduce mid ranges excellently (like 95th percentile or better) in addition to doing the highs well?
The specs given by the manufacturers can't always be trusted so I've decided to ask here.

 

[Soundmanred]

Budget?

 

[Railgun]

The specs given by the manufacturers can't always be trusted so I've decided to ask here.

You just posted the answer to what you should do to find out.

And 95th %ile of what? Subjective opinions?

 

[kornphlake]

I'd guess the speakers that cost in the 95 percentile are the ones that will be best. If you're into DIY it's a lot easier to find speakers that are built for a certain sound and they typically cost a lot less, as long as you ignore the cost of all the new tools you're going to have to buy.

 

[Paul98]

Bookshelf speakers are made for mid's and high's. The only thing they struggle with is low bass. You are just looking for a good set of bookshelf speakers. What is your budget?

 

[Anubis]

there is no "best" its all subjective and depends on the listener, and without a budget its not really possible to suggest things to you

 

[biostud]

I really like my Dali mentor menuet they're around $1200-1500 though

http://www.trustedreviews.com/dali-mentor-menuet_Surround-Sound-System_review

The thing that jumps out immediately is their incredibly lucid detail. Whether they’re teasing out the high frequency hustle and bustle of a movie scene or playing a delicate jazz tune, the Menuet’s don’t miss a thing.

During Hellboy II’s Troll Market scene, the fluttering fairies and tinkle of metal pots come through loud and clear, with half-heard voices and footsteps drifting in and out of earshot. And with Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, it’s like the shuffling drums and cymbals are being played in the room.

The Dali Mentor Menuets are equally assured in the midrange. Corinne Bailey Rae’s mellifluous vocals glide into the room with a richness and texture that lesser speakers gloss over, but when it comes to Adele’s urgent, lung-busting tones on Rolling In The Deep, the Dalis imbue her words with all the drive and emotion you’d expect. That goes for instruments too – trumpet and guitar solos sound wonderfully warm yet upfront and immediate.

 

[Anarchist420]

Thanks everyone. I don't have a budget, I was just wondering.

 

[Rifter]

The Dayton BR-1 DIY kit from parts express sounds awesome for the money, its $100 on sale and you are going to need to get into the $400+ price retail to beat the sound quality.

Ive been using them for the past 2 years for my computer sound system.

 

[Billb2]

B&W PM1 http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Speakers/Home_Audio/PM1/overview.html
Revel M12 http://www.revelspeakers.com/products/details/52
Amphion Argon3 http://www.amphion.fi/en/products/argon3/

These all qualify for the 95th percentile.

I recently auditioned all three. Bought a set of Amphions

 

[Howard]

Thanks everyone. I don't have a budget, I was just wondering.

Meaning you're not going to buy anything.

 

[BurnItDwn]

The best ones are only sold by guys in white vans.

 

[wirednuts]

i think your best value will be to find blown speakers off craigslist for cheap, and take out the cones to replace them with good ones. the cabinets are usually good enough, and new cones will give you the performance.

 

[biostud]

remember it's all about buying the most expensive cables you can find

 

[Howard]

i think your best value will be to find blown speakers off craigslist for cheap, and take out the cones to replace them with good ones. the cabinets are usually good enough, and new cones will give you the performance.

Only if you can find exact matches for the drivers. Otherwise, the crossover won't play nice and it may sound quite bad or damage your amp if it isn't robust.

 

[wirednuts]

Only if you can find exact matches for the drivers. Otherwise, the crossover won't play nice and it may sound quite bad or damage your amp if it isn't robust.

i meant crossovers too. i see it this way- you can buy a prebuilt $250 set of speakers that sound really good, but only handle 60w and likely wont last that long if you like it loud.

or, you can buy a set of used blown speakers for $20, then spend a couple hundred in cones and crossovers. the end result might be similar in price, but sound sooooo much better it will make you laugh.

of course, you need to know what youre doing when selecting the cones and crossovers, but its not rocket science and there is quite of bit of fudge room. might need a drill press if you need to make a hole bigger...

 

[Howard]

i meant crossovers too. i see it this way- you can buy a prebuilt $250 set of speakers that sound really good, but only handle 60w and likely wont last that long if you like it loud.

or, you can buy a set of used blown speakers for $20, then spend a couple hundred in cones and crossovers. the end result might be similar in price, but sound sooooo much better it will make you laugh.

of course, you need to know what youre doing when selecting the cones and crossovers, but its not rocket science and there is quite of bit of fudge room. might need a drill press if you need to make a hole bigger...

By the time you learn enough about drivers and crossovers to select or build good ones, you'll realize that the majority of the time an enclosure that was used for an ex-speaker won't work well with new plans unless major reconstruction is done - by which time you'd have done yourself a favor by building a new enclosure from scratch. It's either because the blown drivers weren't that good to begin with, the drivers you want to use don't fit quite the same, or the enclosure just plain sucks.

If you need to make a hole bigger, good luck doing it for anything bigger than a tweeter or small mid.

 

[Howard]

If you need to make a hole bigger, good luck doing it for anything bigger than a tweeter or small mid.

Well, it's possible but you'd need to use a router and make up a backing plate so that you can get a continuous surface to guide on. It would have to bridge the driver hole as well and it's not easy if you can only get into the box from that driver hole.