One of the most FUN questions to answer is, "What’s the best product I can get for X dollars?" It’s fun because it allows us AV geeks who play with stuff every day to do what we really got into this business for- to enjoy the hobby and help people get the best performance for their money.

The other thing that’s cool about it is, the answer is often different because YOU are unique. We need to take YOUR needs into consideration when we’re sharing sage advice on such a topic.

Perhaps the most common question along these lines these days is, "I have two grand to spend on my theater speaker package. What would you recommend?"

This is a wonderful price range! There are a lot of terrific products out there.

Regardless of the brand name on the speakers you buy, you want them to be in thick wooden cabinets. No cheapy plastic enclosures allowed! We’d like you to insist on a speaker with 1" thick MDF walls all the way around. If the walls are thinner, the speakers can still sound OK, but the thicker walls definitely help develop solid, taut sound. As you shop, you’ll find… there aren’t many companies that build to this standard.

Regardless of the brand name on the speakers you buy, you want them to have drivers of cast construction, as opposed to stamped construction. Cast drivers provide a more controlled, muscular performance. As you shop, you’ll find… there aren’t many companies that provide cast drivers in a moderate price range. B&W and Paradigm do!

Regardless of the brand name on the speakers you buy, you want these cast drivers to have support that doesn’t splash or reflect the back wave of the drive element to a significant degree. Note our example of good vs not so good!

Regardless of the brand name on the speakers you buy, why settle for paper drivers? In this day and age, why settle for plastic drivers? Why not get speakers that take advantage of technology that we’ve had for almost 30 years? Please consider asking for Kevlar, the most sophisticated drive elements in our business. They sound quicker and more controlled- on music and movies! They can be made in superior shapes, such as trumpet contoured diaphragms. B&W won’t even settle for the stock Dupont Kevlar. They treat it with two processes that cure the drivers into a molecular structure they’ve measured as superior to stock Kevlar.

Most companies feel the aluminum tweeters are the best choice in this price range. Sorry, you can’t get diamond tweets in a 5.1 array for $2k! You’ll note most companies use flimsy magnets on the back. Most don’t control the back wave of the driver’s pulsing. Most require a "spider" or lens to disperse high frequency energy like a flood light- since the majority of tweeters want to disperse like a spot light.

We are very forceful in encouraging that you buy speakers from a company that actually manufacturers its own drivers. For example, B&W and Paradigm both make their own drivers. Their drivers are consequently unique and cost effective.

There are many speaker "manufacturers" out there that don’t actually manufacture anything. They don’t even make their own drivers or crossovers. These parts just show up on the UPS truck. Laborers with electric screwdrivers open the boxes and zoom zoom zoom, the components are "installed" in some cabinet. There you have it- it’s been designed & manufactured! Having been in the biz 30 years, we know that the "design" is typically jobbed out to a driver house or done at home on a computer with an off the shelf program.

Now that we’ve blathered on for most of a page, you have probably inferred, there are precious few companies that can do all these things at ANY price, much less the desirable price point of $2205.

Might we suggest… B&W does all of the things we’ve described above, and much more!

Front R&L: B&W 685s are a great choice! At $650pr, they use a 6.5" Cast Kevlar woof in a 1" thick cabinet which has been braced, damped and has serious diffraction design. The shape and surface of the face of the speaker contributes considerably to the ability of a speaker to image well- and not sound like it’s coming from a pinpoint spot. The tweeter is a 1" aluminum dome with B&W’s patented Nautilus design. Nautilus technology is … an ascending, tapered tube loaded at the rear of the tweeter. Instead of the back wave splashing immediately back into the listening environment, it is dissipated to allow cleaner, clearer high frequency response. For years B&W has been known as a company with very extended high end- that doesn’t sound bright or aggressive. We’d like to see you place these on B&W’s own, very heavy metal, 24" tall stands, $150pr.

Center: B&W HTM-62 $425ea: HTM-62 uses two 5 ½" Kev drivers and the 1" Alum Nautilus tweet described above. It still has the 1" thick cabinet walls and diffraction methods of the 685. HTM-62 isn’t just a few "car" drivers slapping in a thin cabinet.

Surrounds: B&W 686s are a superb choice! At $480pr the 686s use a 5" Kevlar woof, 1" Alum Nautilus tweet and the same sophisticated cabinet considerations of its siblings above. The 686 is a prodigious performer! It’s able to keep up with high level demands in a modest bookshelf sized cabinet.