# On the hunt for "Quality" affordable speakers



## onemoresheep (Apr 9, 2013)

I know I"m not the only one struggling with this so I thought I would share what I have found. I have always had MartinLogans and Ethos Reserve Series ESL Speaker would be my choice but out of my budget for now. thanks to amazon's liberal return policy I have demoed several speakers uder 1500.00 in home narrowing it down to either MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL or Kef Q900. The ElectroMotion took the high with a clear sound with good sound reproduction. The midrange was also very nice. Contrary to reviews I read good placement difficult and very necessary. I was leaning toward them. Now to the Kefs. I already had 2 Q900s for front speakers so for my finale test I got 2 more Q900s for surround speakers and a Q600 for the center. The sound-stage was incredible!! Bass was tight and accurate, Midrange was to true, and highs were acceptable but not in the class of the ElectroMotion. My conclusion was that the Kefs had the better overall sound for music and was pleased to find as a bonus where an excellent settup for home theater also. So my search is over until my budget increases.

Songs used for comparison All Flac streamed from network using PS3 media player
B52s-Planet Claire 
Sam Cooke-A Change Is Gonna Come
Roxie Music-Avalon
Yes-Heart of the Sunrise
Silverchair-Pure Massacre
Bob Marley-Stir It Up(Legend Version)
All opinions welcomed and requested


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Did you look at the thread here that we just concluded searching for the best speakers under $1000?
http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...r-evaluation-home-audition-event-results.html


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## onemoresheep (Apr 9, 2013)

I did and demoed several of them. Had great information and helped in my search.

BTW in my Kef assessment I forgot to mention The Q series is the ugliest speaker I have ever owned.


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