Best bookshelf speakers

The best bookshelf speakers provide a full fidelity experience from a small package. These speakers are often used as studio monitors, depending on their build, but they are also at home on a shelf in a home theater setup. They usually are built with high quality tweeters and woofers and provide a decent representation of the frequency spectrum. Here are the some of the best rated bookshelf speakers:

The Linear Polk Audio LSi9 Bookshelf Speakers

Best Bookshelf Speakers: Polk Audio LSi9

The Polk Audio LSi9 Bookshelf Speakers feature 5.25-inch aerated polypropylene composite drivers, as well as 1-inch tweeter. The tweeter is specifically designed as a Ring Radiator Tweeter, which is actually preventive to the ringing affect that plagues some speakers. Its rear firing ports provide bass support, and the frequency response of these best bookshelf speakers is 38Hz – 27kHz. Each speaker box weighs 33 pounds and has a five-year warranty on parts and labor.

Amazon users like these best bookshelf speakers, giving them a four and a half star rating. Not only do they appreciate the classic and beautiful look of the cabinets. Owners find that the spectrum is well represented and the bass especially is quite warm. While they may be a bit high-priced, you pay for quality when it comes to best bookshelf speakers.

The Polk Audio LSi9 Bookshelf Speakers are available at Amazon for $999.

The Soft Dome Canton GLE 430 Two-Way Speaker

Best Bookshelf Speakers: Canton GLE 430 Two-Way

The Canton GLE 430 Two-Way Speakers feature a soft dome tweeter. Each speaker can handle 140 watts of power and the 7-inch woofers provide plenty of low end. These speakers have a two-way design, and midrange system is comprised of aluminum cones. There is also a rear firing port for bass response. They feature a frequency response of 38Hz – 30kHz. These speakers also have a gently curved front baffle that are designed to alter the frequency response linearity as well as the bandwidth

Owners like the bottom and mids in this speaker, commenting on their warmth and lack of boomy response. They found them to be quite clear and receptive to many types of sources and while the price is midrange, they’re still a great value overall.

The Canton GLE 430 Two-Way Speakers are available at Amazon for $650.

The Wall-Mountable JBL L820CH Six-Inch Four-Way Bookshelf Loudspeakers

Best Bookshelf Speakers: JBL L820CH

The JBL L820CH Six-Inch Four-Way Bookshelf Loudspeakers are wall mountable and are equipped with Aluminum waveguides, which create a wider and more pure listening area. Its one-inch pure titanium dome tweeters enhance the treble and mids, along with its 3/4-inch Mylar-domes. They can handle 150 watts of power and feature a bandwidth of 55Hz – 40kHz.

Users really like these speakers, giving it a four and a half star rating at Amazon. They loved the compact construction of these speakers, and also appreciated the fidelity overall. A few users noted that wall mounting these speakers made a big difference in the sound of their home theaters. They also appreciated how light they are at only 20 pounds each.

The JBL L820CH Six-Inch Four-Way Bookshelf Loudspeakers are available at Amazon for $569.

The Front-Firing Klipsch Reference Series RB-61

Best Bookshelf Speakers: Klipsch Reference Series RB-61

The Klipsch Reference Series RB-61 best bookshelf speakers are equipped with a front-firing port for placement in AV cabinets. Its Tractrix Horns are designed to make the output sound more natural overall, and the baffle fitted around the horn mouth actually increases the acoustic response of the speakers. They can output around 100 watts of power and weigh just 22 pounds. This best bookshelf speaker’s frequency response is 43Hz – 23kHz.

Owners found a lot to like about these best bookshelf speakers. While a couple users noted that these speakers may need a bit of break in time at first, as they can sound a bit bright out of the box, this is natural for most higher-priced models. While they don’t have the heaviest bass response compared to other models, they are plenty adequate in a good-sized home theater setup.

The Klipsch Reference Series RB-61 speakers are available at Amazon for $499.

Audiophiles have long been presented with an unending dilemma, pitting the need for sonic perfection against the desire to maintain a comfortable, aesthetic living environment (and happy spouse). This is usually a precarious balance, since the best-sounding speakers are often the largest and, dare we say, ugliest. While many technologies have addressed this dilemma in part, none have laid it to rest.

Flat, Flexible Loudspeakers have a shot, if indeed they perform as advertised. These speakers designed by University of Warwick spinoff company Warwick Audio Technologies are an astounding quarter of a millimeter thick. As the name designates they are also quite pliable and can be molded in or wrapped around virtually any type of surface. They are also printable and capable of being cut into various shapes. Size them, cut them and bend them into whatever space that you are working with and experience high quality audio, without any spacial imposition. Warwick has provided several such examples of just how easy they’d be to conceal in a vehicle, in the ceiling or even right on the wall disguised as a piece of artwork. These speakers could easily be the most seamless audio component ever designed.

Of course, you’re thinking: “How could something that looks like a flimsy piece of plexiglass ever sound as good as my 250-pound KEF Muons?” And you’re correct. These speakers can be micro-thin and flexible until they vanish into thin air, but they won’t be worth the raw materials used, if they don’t sound good.

Until we hear a pair of these loudspeakers or at least see some testimonials outside of those offered by company officials, it will be difficult to tell. The information that has been offered has been very general and polished. However, Warwick has claimed that the audio is both accurate and powerful. The FFL material is a laminate composed of sandwiched insulators and conductors, which with the addition of the electrical audio signal, vibrates and produces a planar wave with high directivity and precise imaging. The wave spreads evenly across a listening room or audience and doesn’t drop off sharply based on distance.  Warwick has also expounded upon the fact that FFLs are inexpensive to manufacture, meaning that they could be a viable option for basic home and car audio.

Warwick describes the speakers as efficient and low power, driven by voltage and dissipating little current into heat. Distortion is also said to be minimal. This statement offers a very promising glimpse:  “By significantly improving the electrical to audio efficiency, we have broken the conventional link between the power rating and the loudness of a speaker. The loudness of cone speakers is often linked to the electrical power consumption. This is not a relevant relationship for the FFL.” Perhaps, in addition to space, you can save a little money on the amplifier.

While the company’s claim that the speakers will serve well for public PA systems because of the ability of the sound wave to travel further and deteriorate less than conventional speakers is rather uninspiring (who really cares about the sound quality of a supermarket price check), the company has stated some perceived interest amongst manufacturers of car audio applications and others. No word as to exactly where they might show up, but “the company is currently in negotiations with a number of commercial partners and continues to welcome fresh approaches. It expects to launch its first commercial product following the next funding round later this year.” Currently, they are offering evaluation kits to audio engineers to work toward applying FFL technology.

Hopefully, the Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker design will do more than just fizzle into faded memory like so many promising ideas. If FFLs can perform up to the hype (or at least some of it) and are truly inexpensive, they could quickly take over home audio as we know it.